Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

thats some prettyys weet work you ready to do my truck yets lol

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Then people sometimes dogs the body shop for it when there insurance doesn't pay for stuff such as this. This car came in like this with the bumpers not matching. They picked it up a couple of weeks ago and have not been back yet. Knock on wood.

:thumbs:

Just for comparison I snapped pics of another MAzda 3 that hit a deer, spun around and hit a mail box. Guess what a different insurance totaled this one. Go figure.

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/DSC01870.jpg

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/DSC01871.jpg

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/DSC01872.jpg

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/DSC01873.jpg

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/DSC01874.jpg

http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/DSC01875.jpg

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

can i ask what you use for the spot welds? awesome work. also what was the total job cost? total hours? im just curious.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

damn that's awesome. i was thinking you were using something like a rotabroach or something. but that tool is awesome... i guess if you do it day in and day out, you have all the good toys.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

lol i cant believe they wanted you to fix that...but you did a hell of a job. i think i would have taken a week off after dealing with that mess. and then to see them total the second mazda....wtf?

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Thanks for the compliment, the tool is awesome. No effort at all to use it. Just pull the trigger and it clamps down and drills the spot weld.

:thumbs: It was a big job and I felt really good after it was all done. BTW insurance is reconsidering the white mazda 3. It might not total after all. Usually that means it's totaled but worth repairing. :lol:

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Holy sheet that's freaking insane that they made you do that! Awesome job though can't believe its the same car lol!

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Really Nice work Alan. In defense of the Insurance Company, They did give you work instead of just totaling it. Some one told me the other day that their shop sees nothing over 2 years old if the airbag is deployed (Disposable little cars) . The insurance just totals it and the shop misses out on the work.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

wow im just floored by the type of skills you posess. i wish i can be half as good as you. well done

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Agian very nice work she turned out great...

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Wow Allan. You are the master. :metal: Great job. I hope it paid you well. How come the insurance company didn't total it??

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Thanks. Your right it was something to work on.

:thumbs:

:thumbs:

Thanks Dennis, I probably broke even on the job. Side hits are one of the worst paying jobs there is as far as collisions go.

I've got another job I did a few years ago it was a F-450 Longhorn and the final cost of repairs was around $38,000. I might post pics of it in time.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Thats cool Alan! I used to work in a body shop as a body shop mechanic pulling engines and complete wiring harnesses and getting them ready for you guys ;)
I kinda miss it because i thought it was fun, and the best part was seeing what you tore apart into pieces completely rebuilt and seeing it finished :metal:

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

When I was a BMW Tech at a dealer, I was the main mechanic that tore apart the cars for the body shop. I would take the suspension, engine's, tranny's, complete ABS brake systems, dash boards, wiring, and anything else that was needed to straighten a frame. When the Body Shop was finished and it was painted where they did the frame repair. I would get it back a month later, and even more taken apart from the Body Shop guys, Then I had to replace the bad parts, figure out how it all went back together. After the Body Shop completely finished the car, I would align it. Lucky I worked at the Dealer, and had lots of other new BMW's to see exactly how it should go back together. Like vacuum, fuel, and brake lines. Some guy at the shop would complain that I got all the good work, so they gave the big mouth one of the Body Shop jobs. The A Hole quit before he could put it back to gether. It was a 750 BMW with a 12 cylinder engine. What a jerk. No body complained after that. I made big bucks doing it, and never got a come back. These young kids were the ones that complained the most. The older guys knew better and didn't want to touch them. Except me :lol:

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

You do great work Alan. I would have no problems riding in something you worked on.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

I used to do it all, but then the insurance companies started getting cheap and are starting to pay only body rate on some items when it should be at mechanical rate. The insurance will pay a sublet for someone else (an outside company) to do it and it ends up costing more. :crazy: It would have been cheaper just to pay the shop the mechanical rate.

I really appreciate the vote of confidence. ;)

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

At the BMW, and VW dealer's I worked, they didn't have an in house Body Shop. We used an approved shop to do it. So I did the estimate, and got the insurance company to approve it. I even talked to the inspector, and had to prove what was damaged. That was in 1990, and the mechanical labor for BMW was $75 an hour. When a Body Shop is doing mechanical work the insurance company's chew them down, and only want to pay the body work rate. Times have changed. Not for the better though.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

I had an ss silverado (best truck ever) and totaled it , they fixed it , replaced the frame , front end , and what seemed to be several hundered other parts. it never was right had to trade it in after many attempts to get the body shop to staighten it out . so I got the raw end of the deal , w/ carfax nowadays you can't hide the facts .of course this was one of the best body shops in central fl. that was the prob. -florida is the worst state to get any sevice work done . traded it on a new h-2 and hit a mail box with the mirror , messed up the door and same thing -crap work. the guy asked what did i expect and I said I pulled in with a new hummer and would like to leave with one . northern shops are not this way !!! but I was not driving up north to get it fixed . great job on the car Eric

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

funny thing, I know a guy that bought a silver mazda sedan with a salvage title, at first i was thinkin' this could be it till I looked at the date.

nice work man it looks great.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

:thumbs: Appreciate it!!

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You are doing great work for even if it's not the way you'd want to. Damn insurance companies.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Back in 74 my wife got hit in the right door of our new 73 Gran Torino. The insurance company checked the work, and the had the body shop do it over again. They were supposed to replace the door skin, instead they repaired it. Damn flat raters. :lol:

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

I can attest to this! I was rear ended in my 03 ECSB several years ago. The bed was folded in half and mashed up against the back of the cab, so of course the back of the cab was jacked, and the frame was wasted. The shop I took it too is one of the most respected in town. The insurance company made them assemble a new bed piece by piece (no salvage bed for some reason??) but used a salvage tailgate, replaced the back half of the cab, and replaced the frame from just under the cab all the way back, misc drive train parts, etc. The repairs totaled something like $13k.

When I traded the truck off for my 1500HD a year later, the salesman (a friend of 15+ years) asked about any damage. Of course I told him about the wreck. My wife and I took the 1500HD home that night, and when we went back the next day he had got the boss to take an extra $1000 off the price because we were honest and had told him everything about the wreck, and it never showed up on Carfax.

Awesome work man! I'm in awe!

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Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

I hear ya on that, but they did a ****ty job and used a lot of bondo. I'm glad the insurance company was looking out for me.

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So, this might be out of line -- if it is, just say so. But which insurance company was it? I mean, if they are so desperate to save some money (and I can't imagine they saved much) that they would put that car back on the road, I want to avoid them like the plague.

BTW, I'm in awe like everybody else, you do great work.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Me too.

I know people want to know the name of the company, but I don't want this info to get out of hand. I just want people to know how some insurance companies are repairing cars. So if/when the need arises you will be familiar with the process. BTW thanks!!

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Understood.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Nice job Alan

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:thumbs:

Thanks Ronnie!!

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

wow just looked throught the thread, and wow that car should of been totaled, im real glad i got out of the autobody industry and just do side jobs for extra money, i went and got my cdl and drive a tri-axle dump truck now, if there doin that where you are i gurntee its the same here fixing cars that need to be in a junk yard good work tho it turned out nice, hope you dont have to do another:smoke:

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Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

wow that sucks we had cases like that all the time, bout insurance companys wanting used replacement parts put on a year old or new car, where i worked we also had a case that someone sewed the insurance company for useing old parts on a newer car along with a bunch of other issues, i tell you the insurance companys do what ever they can to get as much money as possible into there pocket and not helping there customers at all

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Insurance companies are all capable of making poor business decisions. I have fixed a lot of vehicles that should have been wrote off but the insurance ass hats have no Idea of how to write as sheet because most of the estimaters are washed up ex bodymen that were'nt worth a damn to begin with thats why the go and get those jobs or they were hired off the street and sent to estmating school and brain washed into being useless drones. Ihave no use for insurance companies all they care about are themselves. We quit working for them and went back to private work becuase it was to much hassle being told how to do the jobs and what parts to use.

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

WOW ive done a couple wrecks. simple r/i after pull that my friend is too much work for me. i have seen them done where they will cut floor and lap weld used rocker and post in. would be faster but unsure of durability

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

Most of the new insurance adjusters are college grads that don't know a front bumper from a rear. There are exceptions to the rule, that's the trend that I am seeing.

Wish I was in a position to do that. Private work that is.

Thanks!!

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

My first job offer out of college was as an adjuster. The one thing I remember them saying in the interview was "you'll write more checks in the beginning, but as you get more experience you'll write less and less". It's a business and in business you don't make money by writing checks to customers...

3 weeks later I was in flight school and didn't have to worry about screwing people in that industry...

Re: Look what the insurance wants me to do.
 

[QUOTE=Alan's Classic;3840261]Most of the new insurance adjusters are college grads that don't know a front bumper from a rear. There are exceptions to the rule, that's the trend that I am seeing.

Alan, that so true. i just ran across this posting too. That m3 should have been totaled. your boss / estimator *who ever* didn't write it up right. I would not have fixed it! 143 hours is a total loss all day long!!!
i dont want to live with these cars thats for sure.

good venting about it though.....
start posting those videos and maybe we can get them sent to Stacy David and get you a co hosting spot!!!!!:metal::metal: