Holy cow! I had no idea the fan was that big on those diesels!!

Hope your wife is still feeling okay and that your move goes well. Too bad this could not have happened after your move.

 

You're in the wrong business Sand_Man. If you can do a $4800 job for $1200 you've got a lot of room for profit. Just think you could make an additional $3000 ($4200 total) and still undercut the shop ($4800) by 10% or more. I bet you'd have a line of cars waiting, and insurance companies and customers happier than a clam at high tide.

Remember though that insurance companies are held to a standard regulated by state law. Body shops are held to a standard by their customers and the warranty they provide on the work they do. A job may be done in four hours, but is an independent customer going to accept that work if the insurance company feels it's a 12 hour job? Would your brother have accepted $1200 worth of work from a body shop or expected $4800 worth of work? Would the state insurance commissioner agreed it was a $1200 repair if the insurance company cut a $1200 check to the customer/body shop? Or, would the insurance commissioner fine the insurance company for bad faith if they paid $1200 for that repair when no body shop in town would have done it for that? It may be a $1200 repair or a 4 hour repair for you, but it may not be for the average customer. What would be the profit margin for a body shop if they repaired your truck for four hours, or your brother's truck for $1200? Probably not enough to keep the insurance company out of hot water with the state insurance commissioner, and probably not enough for the body shop to provide an appropriate warranty on the repair.

 

Good reply, Ace!

I would add, that anyone who tries to run a business on a $30/hour labor rate is destined for BK court in double quick time. And the idea that bodyshops are getting rich quick on insurance work is ridiculous, at least in my experience. The employees work their asses off in sweatshop like conditions, and the owners have the government and customers breathing down their necks every day.

As far as prices for parts go, you or the insurance company is going to pay list price for all those Ford parts. The bodyshop is entitled to buy at resale rates, and sell to you at list price. They have the right to expect to make a margin on every gallon of paint, body panel, and bolt that they use. Not just their labor to install them.

Welcome to business for profit, course 101.

 

Yep. Especially with the overhead associated with a business.

 

Yeah, every time I hear the fan kick on in my truck, I'd swear I could move down the road at 30mph on fan-power alone!

Karri, hope you continue to recover.

Tom, looking forward to pics of your new purchase!

 

how uch do you want to repaint my truck? holy crap with me fixing the small dings and doing the prep work myself, i went to 3 body shops to get quotes on leaving it the color all 3 were with in a couple hundred of each other at $6000 and to do what i really want (i.e. blue base coat with a candy black over coat) they were close to $10,500! when yes i can do it myself and get a decent paint job, with out a warranty, and still will cost me $2k.

 

I had a "bent" A-Pillar about 9 months ago, the guy at the body shop looked it over and quoted me 7 hours of work to fix it and another hour to put in the windshield. I instead went to a place that installed windshields and once the guy removed the windshield, he hit the A-Pillar twice with a hammer and fixed a tiny little diamond in it. The body shop wanted to chop out the A-pillar, weld a new one in, sand it off and repaint it. For the body shop, it would have been $95 an hour for labor, plus $275 for a windshield without tint, and idk what it was for painting, and tax on top of all that. I got it done for $266 out the door at the other shop.

I could understand if the A-pillar needed to be fixed, but it really didn't it was hit just hard enough to be damaged externally, and the paint would have to be chipped off to repaint it, because there is only a single crack in the paint, thats how minor the damage is.

 

What the guy at the windshield shop did was illegal and he can an will go to jail if that truck is ever in a roll over and its traced back what he did. The guy at the body shop was just trying to cover his ***

 

I can understand that the state might find it wrong, and I can agree with that. The only reason I had it fixed was for a safety inspection. What would happen to the worker who passed the vehicle if that happened, same thing?

 

+1 on that, the A-pillar and windshield are a main structural component of the vehicle. Furthermore, in the event that vehicle rolls and the ANY of the black around the windshield is missing, the person who performed the repair WILL lose their butts. If the A pillar was adjusted it is not as strong as it should be (plastic deformation) and it most likely not perform as it is supposed too.

 

No, it isnt evident to someone doing an inspection what was done underneath a windshield. Its not really the state having a problem as much as a civil suit resulting in him getting charged with something along the lines of negligent man slaughter or something similar. For that matter, if you sell the truck and it happens to someone else you are liable if they ever find out or know about the repair.

 

Here's the estimate I was able to get a copy of. This was done by the insurance adjuster, NOT the body shop.

I can see a couple things wrong here, but nothing that would change the outcome.

 

Sorry to hear your truck is gone....glad your wife is ok and hopefully the road to recovery is an easy one.

I gotta tell you though...I got about half way through the second or third page and looking at the things they needed to replace, I could understand why they totalled it. Still a shame though...

Good luck on your new truck search...

 

I believe I have some prank calls in order, thanks Tom!

Anyhow on a serious note there were a few things that caught my eye... $1400 for a right rear rim?

Oh well in all reality it doesnt change a thing considering its a total loss. How's the wife doin? Get a shiny new one all picked out yet?

 

Notice the quantity. Apparently they think he needs 2 of 'em...

Good to hear the move is going well Tom. As I mentioned, I'll pass your number on to the commercial guy at my dealership to see if he can get you a better deal on a 2011.