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#21 · (Edited)
First off, I'm glad your wife is OK. That's the important part.

I was involved in an accident with my JK about 2 months ago. A guy ran a red light and I t-boned him. I did suffer some frame damage. At the bumper, it was shifted about 3" and the bend point was just behind the shock towers. I researched a lot and found a shop that I trusted with a good drive on frame machine. They're total bill to straighten the frame was on $500 and it turned out great. The best part was the advise the guy running the shop gave me.

I told him that I wanted to do most of the repairs myself and didn't want a shop deciding what replacement parts to use. He suggested I have my insurance company come to my house and write up a repair estimate. That way the money would be sent to me and I could make the repairs as I saw fit. Once you have an initial estimate, you can submit supplement claims for any additional expenses that are incurred, either from problems that are discovered later, or for repairs that were underestimated on the original assessment. I ended up using about 4 different shops for either repairs or estimates to repair damage that I repaired myself. That way I had an estimate from a shop so it would be easier for me to claim supplements. In the end, I got about $6,000 and the repair cost to put it back like it was about $2500. The rest went to extra goodies. :smokin:

My next fight is for a fair diminished value check. The insurance company offered me $250. :shaking: I have spent a lot of time researching this and have learned a bunch. In Georgia, the insurance companies try to use a bullshit formula that is slanted towards the insurance companies. The state Insurance Commissioner has instructed them to stop using it and quit telling people that it is there only option, but they still continue to do so. The best way to fight it is to hire a private appraiser to appraise your vehicle and show loss of value. I found a company that will do just that and then pick up the fight for me, but it costs about $350.

Their guy will appraise it and come up with a diminished value, then the insurance company will do the same. The two appraisers will try to agree on a value and if they can't, the case will go to arbitration with what they call an umpire. Both parties have to agree to accept the umpire's decision.

In my case, I have a 2007 Rubicon with that will show a wreck with a damage claim of $6000 and some level of frame damage. According to the appraisal company who hasn't done an official appraisal yet, I should be looking at about $3000.

Here's a link to my wreck:
http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28458
 
#22 ·
From another one that has been through this- glad to hear that everyone (including your dogs) are okay.

Hope this headache will be resolved soon. Best of luck.
 
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#23 · (Edited)
tx2010jk said:
If anyone has some good suggestions on body shops in the Austin, TX area, I would appreciate it.
THANKS!
Click to expand...
PM BodyGuy (Joe) on here he works at the best body shop in town (Austin). For the life of me, I can't remember the name of their shop right now. Its on South Lamar between Manchaca and Barton Springs (I know that's pretty broad :D). He knows Jeeps better than anyone and their shop will take good care of you, Glad everyone is ok :beer:

Edit: Name of the shop is Caliber Collision 1804 South Lamar
 
#24 ·
Caliber Collision in Austin Tx is the best. Joe (bodyguy) is one of their top guys and is a member on jkowners.
 
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#28 ·
Not a fun repair at all. You are looking at replacing the entire side of the jeep all the way up to the cowl panel. Cut will be inner and outer all the way into the floor probably. If they do it right you should have no problems. If they try and save the inner quarter structure you may run into some issues. Make sure the shop doing the repairs has a laser measuring system. That is pretty standard in most shops now and they should have one if they do quality work. That way they can show you a printout when you are done of where the frame was before and after the repairs. Almost like an alignment machine does. Good luck.
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
Just thought I'd give y'all an update. It's with Joe now, and has been disassembled. Looks like a little over $10K in damage right now, but could become more, the guys at Caliber seem to really want to do this the right way. My insurance company (the other party turned out to be uninsured) apparently is not agreeing to pay for all that Caliber thinks is necessary, and Caliber is pulling for me (no pun intended) They are going to check the frame soon, and we'll take it from there.
 
#30 ·
I know I've said it before, but......

Your Jeep right now, could NOT be in better or more capable hands. Joe and Caliber are proud of what they do. Joe is incredibly passionate and detailed about his work. No idea what the outcome will be (I hate ins companies), but rest assured, your JK is being taken care of by the best in the business.
 
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#32 ·
Yeah the insurance company is being a pain in the ass, but whatever its not the first time. The frame is ok, I will do some rough pulls on the body to see where we need to go from here. I'll pull it tomorrow and then let the ins company know how it is and then we wait (on them) again.
 
#33 ·
Hey bodyguy. What ins. company is it (just curious). I own an independent collision center here in Florida and was curious if you guys have trouble with the same carriers as we do. Just finished fighting with a guy from Progressive over a JK with a frame that was diamond over 27mm. Showed him the Genesis printout and I could tell he had no idea what he was looking at but he damn sure knew he was not paying for whatever it was. Ha.
 
Discussion starter · #35 ·
CoachMitch said:
Hey bodyguy. What ins. company is it (just curious). I own an independent collision center here in Florida and was curious if you guys have trouble with the same carriers as we do. Just finished fighting with a guy from Progressive over a JK with a frame that was diamond over 27mm. Showed him the Genesis printout and I could tell he had no idea what he was looking at but he damn sure knew he was not paying for whatever it was. Ha.
Click to expand...
Probably more appropriate for me to answer this, but it is Allstate. I'm confident they'll come through in the end
 
#38 ·
FWIW--And I know I am stiring the pot but...

I noticed in several of these threads (including the one by the bodyshop poster) that refered to the jeep as a unibody....ITS NOT A UNIBODY---ITS A BODY ON FRAME...

Hence---TUB sits on fram... TOTALLY DIFFERENT CONCEPT that translates into different body repairs/damages.


(Stirring over)
 
Discussion starter · #40 ·
This afternoon I decided to check how the girl is doing in Caliber's hospital. I met Joe and I'm confident that our little JK is in good hands.
The frame checked out alright, so I guess that is good news (unless you consider the insurance company might total it if it was bent). The floor was buckled, but it seems that with a few pulls it's getting back into shape, we'll see how far we get with that. And then it's waiting for Allstate to come out again, still quite a discrepancy between repair cost and Allstate estimate. Estimated repair is now around 14K....should have been just a little higher....Joe, I know you earned the business, but darn I wish we could total it! Adding some pics of today
 

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