Bambi 0, Corolla 0?

[supton]

Need to pull out the electrical tape and "fix" the dashboard. All these years, I wanted my cars to tell me what CEL codes it has, rather than having to go get a scanner. Well, they managed to make it as annoying as possible: it has a headlight fault, and a pre-collision system fault, and it cannot quit showing that to me. I cannot cancel out of it, and it keeps alternating between the two messages on the dashboard, every 2 seconds it flips to the other one.

I don't have any black painter's tape but I'm going to do something to tape over this. I am reminded of when I turned off TC, it did the same thing, it just took massive offense that I might dare drive the car like that.

 

[supton]

Liberty's estimate was $4,400. I guess that's close enough that, eh?

Not looking forward to dropping the car off. Not sure if I want to rent a car, seems like a bother. The reimbursement won't cover it, I suspect I can be the only driver, and I'm not sure if there would be any issues with mileage.

 

[The Critic]

Liberty's estimate was $4,400. I guess that's close enough that, eh?

Not looking forward to dropping the car off. Not sure if I want to rent a car, seems like a bother. The reimbursement won't cover it, I suspect I can be the only driver, and I'm not sure if there would be any issues with mileage.

Those numbers are just the starting point. I wouldn't think too much of it at this point.

Assuming you have rental reimbursement, Enterprise should be able to work with you on a solution.

 

[supton]

Talked to the body shop, they'll get to it in July, and should only take a week. With any luck I can find another vehicle in the meantime, or just WFH that week, and avoid the rental headache.

 

[The Critic]

and avoid the rental headache.

Not sure if I understand how it's a headache. Your adjuster will arrange it with Enterprise and they'll usually be able to find a rental within the allotted per day allowance. Enterprise will pick you up, or if it's a larger body shop, Enterprise is often on-site.

 

[Hermann]

Need to pull out the electrical tape and "fix" the dashboard. All these years, I wanted my cars to tell me what CEL codes it has, rather than having to go get a scanner. Well, they managed to make it as annoying as possible: it has a headlight fault, and a pre-collision system fault, and it cannot quit showing that to me. I cannot cancel out of it, and it keeps alternating between the two messages on the dashboard, every 2 seconds it flips to the other one.

I don't have any black painter's tape but I'm going to do something to tape over this. I am reminded of when I turned off TC, it did the same thing, it just took massive offense that I might dare drive the car like that.

Gotta love the nannies, NOT

 

[Owen Lucas]

I bet they want the photos with embedded meta data in them from your phone in case they want to investigate for fraud.

For sure! Special Investigations Units (SIU) have been doing this for years.

Less impressive: Liberty wants me to upload photos. But I have to do it from my phone? Why oh why? I'm sitting at my desk, multiple monitors, nice keyboard--but it wants me to do everything with my thumbs? this is devolution.

Phone apps are used to reduce field staff from having to go to body shops to write estimates or using shops to write estimates. Insurance can control cost smore effectively and write a lower more inaccurate estimate by an inexperienced WFH or cubicle dweller employee.

Take the vehicle to a Toyota shop, not one of the recommended insurance co shops FYI.

Talked to the body shop, they'll get to it in July, and should only take a week. With any luck I can find another vehicle in the meantime, or just WFH that week, and avoid the rental headache.

July??? I'd take it out of state to get it done faster. I guess there aren't as many body shops where you live in NH? If you decide to wait that long, make sure they preorder all of the parts so you don't have any delays when you drop the car off.

 

[supton]

Not sure if I understand how it's a headache. Your adjuster will arrange it with Enterprise and they'll usually be able to find a rental within the allotted per day allowance. Enterprise will pick you up, or if it's a larger body shop, Enterprise is often on-site.

I think she said it was $45/day. I thought rentals cost way more than that, so I didn't really want to spend the difference, not if I could get around it with WFH and/or vacation time.

I only found out today that the shop thinks it's only a week to do the job; I had been thinking it might take longer, no idea what it takes to get Corolla parts. That was part of the problem, did not want to be stuck with a rental for weeks.

Take the vehicle to a Toyota shop

And go against the BITOG mantra of "dealerships suck"?

I thought I'd use a local place, only 10 or 15 minutes away. It would be tempting to use the dealership near work, if I could get a rental and basically swap vehicles, coming and going. Going off what my mechanic recommended in the past.

 

[supton]

Come to think of it... I think this is the first time I've had body work done, in 32 years of driving. I know I've gotten a couple of estimates over the years, but just pocketed the money. Otherwise, all of this is rather new to me.

I rented a car once, but that was like 15 years ago.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I think she said it was $45/day. I thought rentals cost way more than that, so I didn't really want to spend the difference, not if I could get around it with WFH and/or vacation time.

I only found out today that the shop thinks it's only a week to do the job; I had been thinking it might take longer, no idea what it takes to get Corolla parts. That was part of the problem, did not want to be stuck with a rental for weeks.


And go against the BITOG mantra of "dealerships suck"?

I thought I'd use a local place, only 10 or 15 minutes away. It would be tempting to use the dealership near work, if I could get a rental and basically swap vehicles, coming and going. Going off what my mechanic recommended in the past.

Insurance companies have discounted rental rates with Enterprise and other rental cos. You can easily get another Corolla sized vehicle, or larger, for $45 / day.

I'd check the dealer near your work on their availability. They are more qualified to run diagnostics and reset all your systems than any other body shop or mobile tech. You have a higher chance of getting OEM parts as well if they price match OEM with CAPA aftermarket.

 

[supton]

I already had the check sent to this local shop and got an appointment. Doesn’t seem right to back out.

 

[supton]

Rained today, so I taped over the light and drove it. Seemed fine but when I got home, the headlights are strobing. Whatever fault it has, its decided to make it worse. At least I can set it to parking lamps and get by for now.

Not sure if the strobing is a system fault or the system trying to shame me into fixing it / not drive it until fixed.

 

[JTK]

I already had the check sent to this local shop and got an appointment. Doesn’t seem right to back out.

You'll be good to go. At least in my area, there's no difference in going with a reputable "independent" collision shop vs one with a dealer name on it. They all service all makes/models and have access to the same resources.

Keep us posted on the outcome. I'd be surprised if they're able to stay w/in that initial $ estimate. That's great if so. Makes a corolla a good buy IMO.

A co-worker of mine had a mild deer hit just a few days ago with his 2020 Ram 1500 warlock. Broke a headlamp, tweaked the bumper slightly, cracked the grille, etc. His preliminary estimate was $8K!!

 

[Skippy722]

I think she said it was $45/day. I thought rentals cost way more than that, so I didn't really want to spend the difference, not if I could get around it with WFH and/or vacation time.

Insurance gets better rates, my Grand Cherokee 4xe rental was $40/day.

 

[Thermo1223]

I'm impressed--I stopped off at 3 at the body shop, got the estimate via email at 4:30. Pretty quick.

$5,900. New hood and left fender, front bumper, bunch of parts. Of course, as we all know, it can go up from there.

Less impressive: Liberty wants me to upload photos. But I have to do it from my phone? Why oh why? I'm sitting at my desk, multiple monitors, nice keyboard--but it wants me to do everything with my thumbs? this is devolution.

View attachment 281816

Edit: ok, their "app" has an overlay so that you can take various photos in the right angles. Oddly enough, they seem to want to duplicate the photos that the body shop took... weird. Regardless, it wasn't an "app" but just a webpage, so not so bad--still have no interest in yet another program to have to download.

Had this issue with Progressive in the past...

In fact the guy on the other end got really irrate as to why I couldn't just use the app. I told him I took the photos and video and saved them on my PC because number one "Your app sucks" and number two "It's easier to review them on a large monitor" He didn't understand what a monitor was and kept calling it a computer "screen". I wanted to insert q-tips in my ears aggressively after that phone call.

 

[R18Civic]

I almost nailed a deer the other night. However I could sense that my diection and speed relative to the deers direction and speed wouldn't leave us on a collision course, however the guy behind me swerved out of the way.

 

[supton]

Just picked up from the shop. Would have been only 1 week but apparently the radar thing was out of cal and so that took one extra day.

Total bill was $4,386.43 (my deductible was $500). $2k labor, nearly $2k parts, I think $450 paint.

 

[supton]

I'm impressed--I stopped off at 3 at the body shop, got the estimate via email at 4:30. Pretty quick.

$5,900. New hood and left fender, front bumper, bunch of parts. Of course, as we all know, it can go up from there.

Less impressive: Liberty wants me to upload photos. But I have to do it from my phone? Why oh why? I'm sitting at my desk, multiple monitors, nice keyboard--but it wants me to do everything with my thumbs? this is devolution.

View attachment 281816

Edit: ok, their "app" has an overlay so that you can take various photos in the right angles. Oddly enough, they seem to want to duplicate the photos that the body shop took... weird. Regardless, it wasn't an "app" but just a webpage, so not so bad--still have no interest in yet another program to have to download.

Oddly enough, this popped into my email today.

Insurance companies and dealerships in the U.S. now have access to an advanced AI-driven vehicle inspection platform that can detect hidden damage to vehicles – technology already gaining traction in Europe and Israel. For insurers, it offers a powerful tool to reduce fraudulent claims. For dealers, it can streamline appraisals and help secure more used inventory directly from consumers.

Click-Ins, founded in Israel with offices in Europe and Overland Park, KS, takes smartphone photos and, using photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and AI generates highly accurate vehicle damage reports.