[A/S] Damage to Suburban

[Terry Tyler <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Warren, 

You didn't mention an accident report filed with the local cops. If you
haven't done that, be sure to include a list (pictures are good) of all the
visible damage AND specific sentences which describe your concerns about
invisible damage. I assume you did that and have a copy of it.  Keep the
copy and xerox half a dozen more.

Odds are you will go to all three businesses (a,b,c) before your adventure
over. That's not a smart ass remark; it's what you'll end up doing to ensure
confidence that all systems are/will be restored to original condition.

If it was me, I'd go to my friendly, trustworthy auto body repair shop first
and get the obvious stuff estimated and the restoration scheduled.

State all your concerns to the body shop manager. You want him to have this
data for his conversations with your insurance agent. You and your insurance
agent will become friends before all the service work (a, b, c) is done to
your satisfaction. 

A quick settlement can be your undoing; so play it with extreme patience,
intense logic and obvious efforts to hold yourself accountable for the
quality of workmanship done on your vehicle. The more you understand about
every stinking little detail, the more likely each of the service mechanics
will be thorough -- and your insurance agent will be paying a legitimate
bill. In spite of that, "errors" and "misundertandings" will occur.

Dollars to donuts, there will be several checks written or reimbursed
(depending on your insurance company).  Remember - you bought the insurance
and you are in charge of how the benefits are paid and to whom and for what.
The repair of your Suburban is not the time to exhibit a passive or
dependent attitude.

My one suggestion is to keep detailed records of all conversations and all
concerns. Keep the check-off box for each concern empty until you have
confirmation it is/was being dealt with to your satisfaction.  Add a second
box to keep track of work you believe was actually done as promised.

A clipboard with graph paper works well for compiling this data. Have it in
your possession each time you talk with anyone about your Suburban.

Finally, it's important that every single detail you and others identify -
are in the mix before you settle with the insurance company. Otherwise,
you'll be eating expenses you forgot to mention or no one told you would be
part of the total cost.

One final comment. Insist that the rear bumper be replaced with an original
chromed bumper, not a generic bumper, nor an old bumper off a wreck. There
are dozens of tricks that can be pulled on you which may sound legitimate at
the time. A generic bumper will begin rusting before next winter rolls
around. 

Been there, done that -- and learned more than my share of hard lessons in
the process. 

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Terry 

mailto:tylerbears@airstream.net