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One more thing about body shops, if they say it will be a pain to match the paint find another shop. Good shops dont have trouble matching paint, House of color paints included
Sorry to hear about your Vette.
I think your research of $6K is about right, maybe even on the low side.
If my front bumper needed replacement, I'd go Tiger Shark. Your Vette would look sweet with one.
And do not forget to go against the other insurance company for lost of value because of an accident if your state laws allow. There is a reduction of resale value just because a car has been in an accident. Get some appraisers to support your position. If necessary, go to small claims court if the negligent party insurance carrier refuses to pay.
Once in a while you have a situation where both vehicles are insured by the same insurance company, which was the case in the event I had a couple of years ago.
Other than send out an investigator to look at the Vette, they didn't do anything else, except demand I pay the $1000. deductible.
I refused because the dude that hit me ran a stop sign.
The body shop said they would not repair the car unless the deductible was paid, so reluctantly, I paid it.
That infuriated me, so instead of relying on the insurance company, I started my own investigation of the accident.
First, the guy that hit me stated he did not run a stop sign, which he did.
The (I don't call it an accident, because it wasn't)event happened at a large shopping center in Burbank.
Lots of traffic in the huge parking lot, which is why they have posted stop signs in various places.
I had entered the parking lot from a smaller street within the parking lot, (I had no stop sign for the direction I was moving)the guy that plowed into me ran the stop sign
He was to my left, and at that was going to make a right hand turn to the same small street I was on.
He was half way through the turn when he hit me.
Well the guy gave a completely different story as to how the event occurred.
Now, hearing that,along with the fact that I had to pay the deductible, I did my ow investigating.
I returned to the parking lot where the event happened, and decided I would ask the managers of the three biggest stores that were in proximity to the scene, if they had video cameras showing the parking lot.
They all did, but only Target had the actual video of the event.
It showed the guy never stopped at the stop sign, and turning right just before he plowed into me.
The manager gave me his contact number and said he would be happy to show the video to the insurance investigator, and to have him/ her call him.
A week later I received a call from the insurance company that they were prepared to refund the deductible I had to pay the body shop.
Insurance companies are all out to get us, and unless one does their home work, they will be screwed royally by them.
My sons '94 F150 XLT 4x4 pickup was "T" boned by a driver w/ cut rate insurance in 2012. The appraiser wanted to total the truck and offered $1350 w/ them taking salvage. The tires were worth that much. The truck was in great shape w/ 75k miles and the damage was $3,500. The appraiser wouldn't budge and after 3 months I took it to my Sate Farm agent. They wrote a check for the total damage less the $250 deductible on the spot and we kept the truck. I did get the $250 a month or so later.
The only damage was the panel behind the drivers door which both body shops were going to replace.Growing up in a body shop we could have fixed it easily with a 1' x 2' patch in a day or so plus paint. My son did sell the truck as-is to a high school kid who fixed it in shop class for $3,500. Much better deal than the low ball offer.
