well yesterday I got into an accident. front leftfender, bumper, lip, and blinker are all dead. rear quarter panel slighted pushed in, rear bumper scratched, rear tail light cracked but still operational, and rear panel under the tail lights w/ the Type-R sticker needs to be replaced.

I got an estimate and it came out to around 2,700


Now how do I go about telling insurance that I want to buy the JDM parts instead of the OEM USDM parts? Or do they just give me a check once the adjuster looks over the damage, and i do what i want?

also, question for the vendors...

Is it possible to order separate pieces, or do I need to buy the hood, fenders, bumper, and lip all together? (i.e. if i wanted to purchase a cf hood instead of the oem hood, and a different lip instead of the oem lip, could I just order what i need?)

TIA

 

I got a firend who is an insurance agent. He tells me the ins. company will try and get you to goto one of there recommended places, refuse that and go to someplace you trust. Ask them for a flat out check covering parts and labor. Its up to do what you want after that. You don't even have to fix it if thats what you want!


[Modified by TorontoR, 2:12 PM 4/3/2002]

 

if you have good insurance, they usually just cut you a check and let you do what you want with it. I know both of the makor one I work with just cut you a check to do it the way you want.


And FYI if something happens to your JDM conversion, have the recipt ready to show they so they dont total out USDM parts... It will be covered especially if you used the sheet metal OEM ones since some companies just say OEm parts replacement. JDM Honda is still OEM...

 

I had the samething happen to me a lil while ago. The insurance co.'s arent stupid. What they usually do is give you a preliminary rough estimate. While the shop is fixing your car, there will be supplemental costs; Costs that are unforseeable during the preliminary estimate (which they do on purpose). So if they are quoting 2700, dont be suprised if the final cost is near 4g's. I believe this is one of the reasons why the insurance companies want the job to be done at one of there sites. So if you have them cut you a check for 2700, you are gonna be spending almost an extra 2g's for the kit and installation. Flip-side is that you are paying for the kit and installation for about half the price.

Hope this helps

 

ahhh no. If they give you a check for X amount of dollars in parts and you spend that much, but the labor is more, you should be sending them the bill. They are still obligated to cover ALL costs of fixing your vehicle. Now if they give you x amount for parts and you go over that limit... then No they dont have to pay for it, since they are paying to replace it back to its orginal form. So you would be liable for the extra in parts. But labor is harder to judge. Id find an excellent body shop to do it, and make sure it gets done right if you plan on doing it.

 

typically, dont they just send you check for parts and not labor, cuz labor is not included the prelim estimate?

 

check that last response.....result of working, typing, and reading at the sametime.
ok....given what you said.....they send him a check for 2700. he goes and spends all of it on parts and then spends another 1300's. so what youre saying is that the insurance company has to reimburse him for that? I dont think so, but if you dont agreee....please explain.

 

I see.

I am under allstate, and my agent told me to go to any body shop that I would like to go to. So I don't think they're going to try to push me to go to one of their shops.

I was thinking about taking it to the acura dealership here. Its either that or this really big place that guarantees their work forever...

The acura dealersihp my friend went to totally missed the PY shade and his car looks orangeish from the side...my car is black tho, and its a different dealership (with their own body shop)

I'll have to get a quote from them too.


as far as supplemental costs...

So basically, if ins sends me a check for 3K lets say. And i spend that on parts(jdm oem), but labor ends up running over, they still have to cover it? Sorry for all the ?s, im confused and still upset about my accident

 

i always thought no. but it seems that it depends upon the insurance co and how strict they are. i would pose that question to your insurance agent and see what he says.....just dont mention the JDM kit....haha

 

the way i did mine was:
take it to a body shop that has done the jdm conversion before
have my insurance adjuster look at my damage and say the cost they will pay
i tell the body shop to use the jdm parts instead of usdm parts when fixing the car
and that i will pay the difference (i paid about $900) on top of it

this way it was legit, and i didn't try to "scam" the insurance
good luck!

 

the insurance company is going to low ball u with there first estimate trust me i have been there. got hit on the freeway from behind about 4 months ago. it didnt look like much damage to me so the insurance adjuster cut me a check for 1800 for the repair of the bumper and a check for 5 days of retal car. well i took it to the body shop that my local acura dealer recomended and they took it apart etc etc. anyways 1 1/2 months later the bill totaled like 9600 dollars and they covered that and covered all the days it was in for repairs which i didnt rent a car so free money cause i have a 2001 chevy too so dont cash that check right away take it to a repectiable body shop and have them give u a quote.

 

I'm in no way trying to "scam" my insurance Co.

I just wanted to know how everyone went about doing their conversions. The estimate I got was from one of the "better" shops in the area. I'm still going to get one from the Acura Body shop as well..then I have to see what my Insurance says and gives me...

So that's basically it then, tell the body shop to use the parts that I provide (jdm parts) instead of the USDM parts and thats it?

 

you should be able to negotiate with a body shop.. say Im gonna use X amopunt for this front end. You tell the insurance it cost X amount to fix my wrecked car..
they will get the picture as you are prolly not the first to ask them to do this..

the way i typed that it sounds shady.. but its really not.. and they can usually squeeze the full cost out of your insurance company.. otherwise you'll pay a bit out of your pocket.. but its better than where you began..

and for all the aforementioned damage i can tell you that 2700 is a really shitty estimate.. more like 4700 to 5700.. thats a lot of paint and prep. if done right.

 

If the check for 2700 is just for the USDM parts that need replacing. Then he goes out and spends 4Gs on parts. No he would have to pick up the 1300 tab. But the parts are easy. Hell its 6xx.xx for 1 USMD head light unit!!!!! 2 and you already in the 1200+. The labor to do the conversion is what should for the most part be covered since different body shops take different lengths of time to do the work.

To answer your question. Yes he would have to pay the 1300 if he spent it on parts where they gave him 2700 for parts. But these days, you can get a basic stock JDM for about 3500-3800 with HIDs.

 

Hmm, so what can I do about the estimate? They guy did say that he put down there was a possibility for additional costs or something like that

I guess the first thing to see about is how much ins. gives me. then see.

like a tail light. im sure i can find some ricer who got altezzas to give me one for like 20 bucks. instead of the ~200 quoted.

 

I think you should take your car to a bodyshop that have done JDM conversions before, tell them to give you a quote if your car is to be fixed with the USDM parts, see how much it would be. Then tell your insurance to pay you a check of that instead of the 2700. Like everyone has said, It's very common that the insurance does not do a "good" job in estimating the things that need to be done.

And then you can talk to the bodyshop again, see how much money you have to pay on top for the JDM conversion, and make your decision from there.

 

The 2,700 quoted to me was from a body shop, before I even called insurance.

Maybe that body shop is retarded

here are the pics of the damage, u guyts really think this is more like 3-4 K worth of work rather than ~2,700 quoted?

 

First of all unless you actually own your car (have the pink slip) will the insurance company send a 1st party check. If your car is leased, or financed it will be a two or three party check. One payee being you, one payee being the leasing bank and one payee being the body shop. The lease or finance company has a vested interest in the car and thus wants to make sure it is fixed. If you own the car outright then insurance doesn't care what you do with the money. Claimants also receive 1st party checks, it's your responsibility to repair your car, if your a claimant and you don’t repair your car and it is leased or financed prepare to get F***ed.

That is a really easy repair just by looking at the damage. Hidden damage would be minimal and the body shop would just supplement the insurance company. Usually if the supplement is over $300.00 they send the appraiser out again to make sure repairs or being followed according to the original estimate, take some more pics and as long as the supplement is related to the original loss then it's ok.

Your best bet is to locate a shop that has done this conversion before, have them wright an estimate for the conversion then compare with your insurance estimate. Negotiate with the shop the amount your insurance won’t cover. You should get a pretty good idea how much you will be spending. I think it's gonna be allot more than you think. The radiator support needs to be replaced with the conversion, left and right fenders will need to painted as well as blended into the doors (if you want it to look right) as well as hood.

Keep us updated on your JDM adventure.

 

Don't know how much this helps. All i can tell you is that when I got rear ended(stupid girls from CT. can't drive ) My rear bumper, oem lip, and bumper support needed to be replaced and I got an estimate for like almost $1500. I did make it quite clear to the body shop that it was insurance that was paying so I think that may have affected the price a little. HTH

 

CKDC2 THANKS!

i/my family does own the car so I dont think theres going to be any problems that you mentioned.

However, I dont think there are any shops in my area that has done the conversion. I *can* head up to Toronto and find a shop there but that's pretty far, and then i run into problems w/ having it done in another country and insurance will be like wtf?

or maybe that is a good alternative? everything would probably be cheaper ...

 

When you get the paperwork for the damage accessment, make sure they indicate they are using an OEM bumper and fender and fixing everthing which is damaged. There is a book used for insurance companies and body shops that gives the standard or average time for a repait. Is the car drivable? Make sure that these isn't an steering/suspension damage. Usually the insurance company has a list of "preferred" shops you can go to and they'll settle the bill directly. Or you can go to another place of your choosing and the insurance compnay will send you a check directly if there is no lien on the car, otherwise the check is made to you and the bank.

If you want a new OEM nose conversion, pretty much every vendor will be able to give you credit for the hood.(maybe $250-300?) Most places don't include the lip. It's usually like $350 extra for the OEM R chin.