How well will insurance fix my car?

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  Hybroid on 09/10/2018 - 23:02

  Most likely they'll replace as it'll be cheaper than trying to repair cracked and warped plastic but it's entirely up to the insurance assessor. The garage will just do whatever (s)he tells them they'll pay for.

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  Godric on 09/10/2018 - 23:09

  Ozb obligatory MS Paint diagram pls

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 10/10/2018 - 01:25

    ascii is way cooler

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  hawkeye on 09/10/2018 - 23:22

  +2

  If they can't sorce new parts they can get undamaged ones and paint to suit. They won't waste time trying to patch up old broken plastic parts as they won't get paid for the time taken by the insurance.

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  AdosHouse on 09/10/2018 - 23:24

  How old is the car? Looks like a 2017-2018 model. And how much is it insured for?

  Those panels will have to be replaced. New or old panels used, you won't tell the difference.

  Also depends how much damage is behind the panels.

  A push good enough to move your car forward into the next car is a half decent impact. So I imagine the rear at least has damage behind the bumper.

  I don't think they can repair plastic bumpers like that, but I'm no smash repairer. And if they get new panels supplied, they aren't painted when delivered. All the paint will be done by the repairer. And I would hope they blend them into the adjacent panels, any decent place would.

  Does Suncorp have guaranteed for life repairs?

  • 

    R-Man on 09/10/2018 - 23:34

    And if they get new panels supplied, they aren't painted when delivered. All the paint will be done by the repairer. And I would hope they blend them into the adjacent panels, any decent place would.

    Yes to all of this. In my experience they do a decent job of ensuring paint blends with rest of car.

    Does Suncorp have guaranteed for life repairs?

    Also yes

    • 

      resisting the urge on 15/11/2018 - 15:57

      But few shops paint flexible plastic panel/covers in the correct paint type, steps or in an appropriately controlled process to ensure the paint will not crack or be otherwise damaged through normal wear and teat like a factory cover.

      Auto companies and smash repair shops make a lot of money out of making bumper covers that have to be replaced after a short period of normal use. The money comes from you, insurance companies and impacts the environment.

      If your car is a city car which is likely to be bumped when parked, consider leaving a bare plastic finish, or not painting the parts that protrude on the edges, as this will prevent you having to deal with costly scratches from 'feel-parkers', not to mention your own mistakes!

      I've never had to touch a bumper since I did this. When buying a car new it is very easy to negotiate a pair of spare, bare covers be supplied, that way you can wrap and store the originals in an attic or under the house- and sell the car looking like new 20 years down the track- and never have needed to fix a bumper in between

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  R-Man on 09/10/2018 - 23:32

  Sorry to hear about the mess. As regular Suncorp insurance customers, we have had Capital Smart Repair fix our cars a few times now.

  like order new painted parts from hyundai and snap them on or dodgie patch it up and sand the plastic or something

  In 2015 I had similar cracks on my front bumper for my 2001 Mitsubishi Verada (Silver). They replaced the bumper so no dodgy patchwork. My understanding is the part was unpainted at first though so you have to trust them to get the colour right. I think you'll be alright then.

  When you drop off the car, talk to the assessor. In my experience they are quite happy to discuss the repair, but we have never had to argue with them so don't know if they can actually be swayed

  The repair is under lifetime guarantee and one time we did immediately demand panel work be redone when we noticed gaps between the panels were uneven. Capital had sent it to another repair shop - they were whingers but then did agree to redo the work.

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  [Deactivated] on 10/10/2018 - 00:01

  clears throat

  vocal pitch practice

  Dashcam

  • 

    AdosHouse on 10/10/2018 - 00:32

    Not many people have a rear dash-cam.

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 10/10/2018 - 00:40

      -1

      The front one would have caught the number plates of the fleeing driver. Dashcams have very wide angle lenses.

      • 

        AdosHouse on 10/10/2018 - 00:52

        When OP said " take a sharp right and speed away" im thinking she didn't drive in front of the car.

        And having viewed some comparison videos between some very nice Blackvues and the new A129, a lot have some difficulty capturing number plates when there is a significant speed difference between the camera and other vehicle.

        • 

          [Deactivated] on 10/10/2018 - 15:01

          @AdosHouse:

          When OP said " take a sharp right and speed away" im thinking she didn't drive in front of the car.

          I imagine they still have to follow the road.

          I'm using a Blackvue 750 2 channel. The rear one doesn't do the best job for stationary vs moving but the front one does.

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  maybeamacy on 10/10/2018 - 02:51

  They'll order new bumpers for that and paint. White paint is extremely hard to match. My car got rear ended earlier this year too and it's metallic grey, one of the easier ones to match, but I can still tell that it's not factory paint when I walk past it which is a bit sad but anyone else would have a hard time picking - I've heard whites are the hardest to match though since shading is so important.

  I got them to re-do the job twice though as the first paint job was bad. Now my boot is leaking 6 months down and I found out they didn't use a seal seamer for the boot which was letting water in so have to go back and get that sorted - such a hassle.

  I went to a Bentley/Jag/Audi/Porsche, etc. premium approved repairer too. In the future, I'd just stick with my local workshop that I know does a good job from the get-go.

  • 

    singlemalt72 on 10/10/2018 - 10:03

    A good painter will blend the new bumper, making the mismatch in paint colour almost imperceptible but I doubt most insurers would cover the extra cost (time) of blending. Also it is a skill a lot of shops do not appear to have these days.

    • 

      Euphemistic on 11/10/2018 - 07:13

      A good painter will not blend, they will get the colour right and paint the whole panel.

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  JimmyF on 10/10/2018 - 08:00

  +2

  what are the rules on how perfectly they have to fix it?

  It'll come back looking like near new. Don't stress.

  • 

    Euphemistic on 10/10/2018 - 08:05

    +1

    This. They have to make it as good as before the crash. If you aren’t happy with the repairs, take it back.

    For a relatively new car they’ll replace panels with new rather than try to repair as it is quicker to do a decent job.

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  87percent on 10/10/2018 - 11:35

  I'm with AAMI, and they use Capital Smart Repairs as their nominated repairer. When i got rear ended about a year ago, car was sent to Capital

  First Repair - boot wasn't closing properly, took it back
  Second Repair - boot was ridiculously hard to close, took it back
  Third Repair - Scratches all over the rear bumper

  Lodged complaint with AAMI, who sent assessor to my house (note that while all this was happening, it took about a month of me going backwards and forwards and AAMI gave me a rental car). Assessor came to my house and basically told me that he didn't think Capital were equipped to fix the car properly and he recommended I take it to my own nominated panel beater. Took it to one that I've gone to previously, and they fixed it first shot.

  • 

    Shibuya on 10/10/2018 - 11:51

    I had the same experience a couple of years ago with AAMI and Capital smart repairs. The damage they had to fix was the front side panel, front bumper and apparently bonnet.
    First repair - front bumper wasn't installed properly and was loose, complained and they took it back
    Second repair - front bumper slightly fixed, i could see the gaps weren't even but now the side panel was misaligned so the gap between the side panel and bonnet was uneven.
    This time I didnt complain to the repairer but I complained directly with AAMI. Had to book the car in to be re-assessed and the assessor pretty much said it's not done properly and told me to take it to my own repairer at their cost.

    After I got it repaired properly I changed insurance companies, to one that allowed me to choose my own repairer

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  Mrbean007 on 10/10/2018 - 11:55

  +1

  New bar repair beaver panel (behind back bar)
  Front new bar and so on looking at around $2000+ in repairs parts and paint.

  As for repairer all comes down to who's repairing it should be fine if your not happy just go back.

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  minniethemoocher on 10/10/2018 - 14:37

  +1

  I’ve used Capital Smart repair before and they were great with a quick turnaround. Really depends on the people who work there, but you could get lucky. If you aren’t happy you can complain to AAMI.

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  ol mate on 10/10/2018 - 22:08

  +1

  Smart Capital was "created" by Suncorp Insurance as a way to reduce the cost for "small" quick jobs - a panel replacement + paint or other small things.

  The thing with this is that a lot (I've read something like 40%) of jobs go back for rework. Once it gets "too hard" and you start complaining, they'll send it off to another repair to fix up. Massive mess around - would avoid if you can get around it.

  As for your repair, it'll be replacement bumpers, etc. for sure (keep an eye out when you pick it up - if there are any scratches on the damaged parts, I'd get them to replace it). Not many repairers will bother trying to repair plastic - the business case for it just isn't there. A new genuine bumper is $300-400 and is ready to paint, whereas repairing will be at ~$100/hour (with overheads, etc.) and having to sand and prime most, if not all, the bumper back for paint.

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  doctordv8 on 11/10/2018 - 07:51

  Dude, you actually need to discuss these questions with your Insurance Co for specific repair rules. If your vehicle is brand new, and if it in the repair policy, you will get new parts. But if it is not brand new and or if they state 2nd hand but 'insurance quality' parts are acceptable, then that is what you will get. With life time repair warranties around so much on insurance repairs these days, your fears are misguided. This policy also supports a save the planet recycling programme, which you should approve of.
  But seriously, ask the policy makers for details on specific policy questions for an exact and qualified response in this particular case with this claim. Remember though, not every business has a perfect record, as everyone makes mistakes.