Marv

Be careful with this because of the injury to your wife.

Once you reach an agreement with the other insurer you are done and if something else turns up with your wife as a post complication, things could get sticky, if not sour.

As much as a pain that this is, take it slow and make sure you don't close any doors or burn any bridges you may need later.

Kirill

You can call your insurance and ask them to do an estimate - just so you have a second opinion. Your insurance is more likely will try to please you at somebody else's expense.

cfiiman

Interesting idea but here is what I have decided to do, if anyone disagrees please let me know as I'm new to this. If they want to fix it fine, it will be at a shop I choose which is going to be the best one bar none in my area. They do all the high end lambos, ferraris, classics, etc. I spoke to the owner and let him know what is going on. He said to bring it down and he would take care of it. In this guys hands I think it would be done correctly so that is fine with me at this point. I'm worried about what some of you all have talked about with drive line, etc. damage (lights on dash, etc.) and how to go about getting that fixed at their expense, any ideas? Do I just take it to someone after it is fixed? I'm assuming the labor hours for a top rated shop that does the quality of work this shop does (lambos, mcclarens, ferrari, porsche, etc.) will be many more than this "adjuster" has allotted, not sure what happens then. My neighbor had a scratch and dent caused by a careless driver that let the wind blow her door into his new X5 and the labor hours on the repair (seems a hell of a lot less than my car would be) was close to 16. My estimate is 20 so we will see. Please keep any advice coming, it is really really appreciated guys.

​​​​​​​Agreed

Kirill

We can only guess what's going on with your C - sounds like you found a good shop - they can probably tell you if the frame is bent or if alignment moved. If you take your car to the high-end shop - the adjuster may scream that he will never pay that much (ammount of hours and labor rate) - but you don't have to listen - they will pay, may after a lot of bitching and moaning, but they will pay. The reason is - You never signed a contract with a guy who rear-ended your wife limit his liability to use of cheap body shop and used parts. There is a law that he has to carry insurance and insurance has to pay for repairs he caused.
Drop your Cayenne at the shop, get yourself rental - ask them to call you when it's done.

cfiiman

That is the plan, thanks for the help.

cfiiman

Well dropped the Cayenne off today but not before having the battery completely die. While it is old I find it suspect it just died after the accident but guess I'll know if there is some kind of drain b/c of the damage in a few days. The shop was great, I pulled up and saw a Lambo Aventador, Porsche GT3, and Ferrari California in one of the bays of their massive shop. They kind of chuckled at the estimate and said "we will be writing a supplement, we'll know more when we pull it apart." He assured me it would be back to looking new though and based on the cars I have no concerns about their work. With that said I noticed they were telling me how the liftgate will come with everything, just plug n play, and I said "ummm, did you look at the estimate close?" which revealed insurance only is paying for a liftgate "shell" and they had to swap every little thing (including crushed wiper electronics, etc.) themselves to which they said that would not happen. So I can only guess a fully loaded one will be 3X what a shell would be basing that on junkyard prices on ebay. Anyway, the saga goes on

v10rick

It is highly unlikely they will locate a bare shell, unless its new. Since the adjuster refused to allow new parts let them find one.

I know this not a car but its related somewhat to your situation.

My roof skylights were hail damaged, the adjuster had a stupid low price on the estimate. I contacted the insurance company and asked that they deliver the identical skylights for that price for my roofer to install.

They could not, the actual price was 3x the estimated price.

WhipE350

Sometimes these things end up OK. When my 2005 Boxster (105k miles) got backed into the estimate was done with pictures and it came to like $1100. I went to my favorite body shop 70 miles away. I told them I wanted it done right. They told the insurance company they couldn't insure a 'fixed' bumper and got a new one. Total in the end was $3000. Let me tell you it was a whole lot less damage than yours.

I told the other insurance company I was considering diminished value. I knew the formula they use (which I would never accept) but in the process they valued the Boxster at $17k!! I sold it recently for $12k. Just goes to show some insurance companies don't always low ball. Now I'm not saying they they would have given me $17k if it had been totaled but it sure seems like it.

Marv

From my experience, once you determine where you want it fixed, the insurance company will bargain with that shop for the best price.

I've had one shop of my choosing refuse the insurance company's negotiation and that shop told me why. In the end I had the insurance company total the car and bought it back as salvage. I drove it for at least a year unrepaired and sold it for the same price I paid the insurance company for it to a private individual to use as a parts car.

I also had injuries. I used a lawyer who was a friend of mine and that made a HUGE difference in the settlement. I got more cash for the car than Blue Book and a reasonable payment for my injuries, I am not a fan of milking insurance companies, but this was definitely one accident that my attorney resolved favorably and in a timely fashion.

You need to be very careful with what you do. Everything you say to that insurance company will be recorded and used against you or at least to their favor. They are experts in human psychology and making you feel good.

My advice is to talk to an attorney and seek their advice before you do anything else.

You get one shot at this to make it right and the best thing you can do is to quietly seek legal advice (talk to many different firms) and not speak to the insurance adjuster. Refer him/her to your attorney while you get on with your life.

There are some really good people here, but we (at least most of us) are not licensed attorneys and can't give you legal advice. Anyone that is will contact you via private mail.

Good luck and may your wife recover quickly!

cfiiman

Thanks everyone for the advice, I'll keep updating as I know more so you guys can help, this board is really great, thanks again so much.

tjrob2000

My '06 CS hit a deer that was stupid enough to run in front of us at 60mph and the initial estimate by the adjuster was ~$3900. Final bill, after two or three supplementals, was ~$7500. They never know the total damage until the dismantling begins. My body shop was also very careful in what they ordered since everything was special order through the dealer in San Antonio and not returnable. Overall I was very pleased with the repair and actually think the deer did me a favor as the front end seems to line up better. Good luck with yours and definitely hope your wife is good soon!

cfiiman

Got a call from the body shop today, their estimate came in at 4000 with the new parts needed so looks like it is getting fixed. Question, they gave me 1 new exhaust pipe (was cracked from the impact). Problem is it won't really match the other one b/c of the age. Since it would look weird back there with one brand new exhaust tip and one old one, do you think I could push for both pipes getting replaced, or do the aesthetics have nothing to do with it? I think I know the answer, which sucks, but thought I'd ask anyway.

Kirill

Well, you can try to make a case - i.e they have to match paint to the rest of the car, they can't put a green door on the blue car - based on that logic - both exhaust sides have to match. Talk to the bodyshop owner - he should be on your side - he dealt with this before and should know more than us.

cfiiman

Well I talked to the body shop, guy said to call the appraiser and ask so I did, he said no

Kris Murphy

You could pick up this used set on eBay. They would match (and I assume be cheaper than the new one)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/04-Cayenne-...ZZjQYH&vxp=mtr