justoracle

After a crappy day at work (no joke!), I came out to the employee parking lot to find a note on my windshield and a big dent on my passenger door. At least there was a note but holly crap, how careless do you have to be to put such a big ass dent like that . What's the best way to deal with an adjuster? Do I have to take it where their insurance tells me to go? Any suggestions on good shops in San Diego? If the door panel has be removed to get to the dent, I'd like to make sure it goes back correctly and the paint matches, I'm guessing they'll have to paint the whole side of the car.

tonyb635

Sadly to say, but you might just be at the mercy of the adjuster. I would get a few estimate beforehand so you know if he is low balling you, and show him the highest before he finalizes the estimate. Hopefully, he will correct his estimate and then you don't have to deal with him anymore. Often, they will low ball you and then pay up to the repair shop when completed. This saves the insurance co money in case you decide not to repair the car etc... You should also check to see if the BMW dealer can recommend a good shop or perhaps someone here that is in your area. Silver is a tough color to match up, so I would not take it to just anyone. It’s possible they will get lucky and just have to do the door but in this case, they will probably need to blend and clear the adjacent panels. Make sure you stress to the repair shop at the time of your estimate how picky you are and that you have HIGH expectation! He might even add a little more to the estimate. In the end, when you go to collect the car, if you are not satisfied, don't take the car. Once you drive away and they have the money it be difficult to get them to correct something like the paint not matching etc. They may tell you it will get better over time, this is in most cases not true. If the car stays there, then they will typically do what they need to do to make you happy so they get the money.

Rez

I guess it depends on your insurance company. On a previous similar occasion, my insurance company gave me options to either take it to one of their Service Centers and drop off my car there for them to take care of everything and pick up a loaner, or drop the car off at my prefered Body Shop (ofcourse the dealer) and the adjuster would visit the car over there at the Body Shop directly, assess, and look at their estimate all at the same time.

Hopefully, the other driver's insurance is paying? Regardless, it's a non moving claim and shouldn't affect your insuance premium even if you claim your own.

KLR4LIFE

It looks like that dent can be pulled out with a suction cup, and the paint marks can be buffed out. It maybe just how the pic looks to me

luigi524td

A quality body shop, with lots of experience working on high end cars, will get this sorted out easily. Depending on your insurance provider and state regs, this might be handled as a comprehensive (no "points") claim. While modern colors are difficult to match, a good shop can do that easily - probably not needing to blend into the adjacent panels. But, there are lots of "things" in our cars' door panels. Whoever you choose to do the work be certain that any electronics or moving parts (regulators etc) haven't been damaged or banged up. If the crease is too difficult to correct they might re-skin the door.

Good luck with getting this straightened out.

justoracle

I called the two local BMW dealers and based on yelp, I chose the better of the two. Probably not the best way to choose a shop but without personal experience hard to pick one over the other. Thanks for all the suggestions, the adjuster was fine with letting me choose the shop, but they're not very helpful at getting a rental car, they'll supposedly approve the rental car once they approve the appraisal from the shop, chances are I'll waste most of my morning dealing with this crap on monday.

rob2388

damn brother that sucks, at least they left a note .. that wouldn't of happened here in Miami haha .. good luck

justoracle

After all said and done, the shop replaced the door skin and repainted the door and adjacent areas (front fender and rear door), total parts/labor $2600. Handled it through my insurance, they waived my deductible since it wasn't my fault, now they'll collect from the person's insurance that caused the damage. Overall, a lenghty process but glad it's taken care of.

KyleB

Impossible. BMW hasn't sold just door 'skins' in, well, forever. You got an entire new door shell - it's the only way they're sold.

Beware of bodywork threads, there is more misinformation in them than just about any other.

Glad to hear it worked out for you.

justoracle

oops, youre right, i mispoke, its a door shell.