Rip off uk .... Body shop costs

Pyscho_Si

Pyscho_Si

Pyscho_Si

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Joined
30 Nov 2002
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Bolton
Following an incident involving ladders on the carriageway of the M61 and a HGV running over them causing projectiles to be launched at my car, I've just found out the ridiculous cost of dealer accident repair centres.

£2,200 to take out a few small bumps in the doors, a scratch on the door and a new front fog light. And as the originator of the ladders is unknown it is goodbye to my insurance excess.

If it wasn't for the car being under 2 years old I might have shopped around.

I fully understand now why our insurance is so expensive.
 
Body shops charging stupid amounts for insurance claims has been going on for longer than I've been driving - it's not a new thing sadly
 
Pyscho_Si said:
It annoys me that it encourages you to claim. If it was under £1k I would have paid it myself.
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The thing is if you shopped around you could get it done for a lot less but they see insurance claim and it's basically the ability to get a blank cheque from the insurance company for them.
 
I'm surprised insurers don't start shopping around themselves. If one were to and could get work done for slightly less than the competition it would have an advantage, e.g. it could charge lower premiums or just pocket the saving.
 
I think it's insurance tax unfortunately - I got a fairly sizable scratch removed from the bumper of an E60 530d a while ago though the BMW body shop and it was only £250.
 
joeyjojo said:
I'm surprised insurers don't start shopping around themselves. If one were to and could get work done for slightly less than the competition it would have an advantage, e.g. it could charge lower premiums or just pocket the saving.
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Considering most use the same Audatex network to do quotes ... The cartel will continue.
 
My uncle reversed at about 5mph into my neighbour's fiesta, ended up scuffing the bumper and cracking the reflector. Total bill to his insurance was just over £2k, I suspect the repair would have cost at most £300 if done privately.
 
Dealer bodyshops tend to be more expensive as they are manufacturer approved rather than insurance approved so labour rates tend to be higher and generally they will replace panels instead of repairing them. Get some other quotes from a variety of bodyshops. You haven't said what type of motor it is, what colour it is or even how many doors are damaged so that would give more of an idea of how OTT your quote is if you had provided that information.

I find the majority of people have little to no idea just how labour intensive body repair is. That's just a general comment, not aimed at anyone in particular.
 
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Minxy said:
You haven't said what type of motor it is, what colour it is or even how many doors are damaged so that would give more of an idea of how OTT your quote is if you had provided that information.
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Pearl White Lexus GS. 2 damaged doors with dints that don't look that deep and scratches around the damaged front fog.

Labour is over £1k and body shop estimate they need the car for 6 days.
 
The carbon fibre blade on my spoiler cost £180 to get fixed. All they were doing was sanding it back to the bare carbon and then applying a couple of coats of lacquer. It's never cheap!
 
If the dents in the doors haven't cracked or scratched the paint through to the undercoat then get one of the dent removal guys to fix them. Should be under £100 per panel to remove the dents. Check breakers yards for a replacement fog light and fit yourself. Scratches - some places will repair these without spraying the whole panel using a smart repair and it might only be a few hundred or less. Pearl pain might be more expensive though.

You should be able to get all the bits fixed for less than your excess and increased premiums for a few years..
 
I know I had a quote from a Porsche Approved body shop to fill and paint the holes (As it looks better without a front number plate :D) where they mounted my number plate and fix a few stone chips. It came out to more than I was expecting. :eek::eek:

However, you'll often they will put it all in a computer and then that generates the quote.
 
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Was the incident reported to police? With the amount of CCTV cameras on motorways it probably wouldn't be hard to see a van go past the camera before with ladders and then go past the camera after with them missing to see who they belong to.

Though tbh, I doubt they'd actually care or bother to look...
 
Pyscho_Si said:
Pearl White Lexus GS. 2 damaged doors with dints that don't look that deep and scratches around the damaged front fog.

Labour is over £1k and body shop estimate they need the car for 6 days.
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That will be down the pearl paint, as its notoriously hard to match. That's going require a lot of blending in as well...
 
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Being a pearl they are possibly allowing for not getting it right the first time round. I reckon that probably includes new door skins but I might be wrong. Did you ask them for a breakdown?
 
Minxy said:
I find the majority of people have little to no idea just how labour intensive body repair is. That's just a general comment, not aimed at anyone in particular.
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This. Plus some people here seem to think that "acceptable" is fine, whereas a good bodyshop is aiming for "looks like new". Of course there's a tendency for bodyshops to inflate the price a bit on insurance claims, but GOOD bodywork repairs are very time-consuming. Of course your mate down in the under-arch repair shop can do the job for half the price. But he'll also do half the job. And as soon as you park the car in the wrong light it will be obvious which bits have been repaired. But not everyone wants that. And a great job costs. To quote the old saying: "fast, cheap, good - pick any two."
 
Unless you need major surgery you are better off just stumping up yourself.

The wife's Mondeo was hit in Morrisons car park last month, didn't leave any details, just buggered off.
Dented and cracked the OSF wheel arch and scratched the bumper.

Required a full bumper respray, and the arch panel beating and welding plus full respray (this is a 4 year old car btw)
£650 Inc vat.
 
I had a dented bolt on/bolt off wing and the world's smallest scuff to the front bumper. It cost nearly £2000 for the insurance company.
 
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