Car wreck, lowball offer.

@gregk24 Try not to stress, while my Sonata's damage didn't go into the quarter panel, the paint match was great. There was no way to tell an accident happened.

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The newer the car the easier it is to match the paint because it hasnt faded yet. Most reputable body shop will have a lifetime warranty on their paint and as long as high quality paint and clear coat refinishings are used they will usually be fine. It's up to the painter to properly prep, and apply the refinish. There are a lot of steps involved especially if water based refinishes are used.
 
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The newer the car the easier it is to match the paint because it hasnt faded yet. Most reputable body shop will have a lifetime warranty on their paint and as long as high quality paint and clear coat refinishings are used they will usually be fine. It's up to the painter to properly prep, and apply the refinish. There are a lot of steps involved especially if water based refinishes are used.
They are pretty much all aqueous based these days. When it comes to color matching-my eye is pretty critical. I'm retired from companies that used to supply the commercial print industries. I have been looking at color matching on different substrates for 25 years.
 
The newer the car the easier it is to match the paint because it hasnt faded yet. Most reputable body shop will have a lifetime warranty on their paint and as long as high quality paint and clear coat refinishings are used they will usually be fine. It's up to the painter to properly prep, and apply the refinish. There are a lot of steps involved especially if water based refinishes are used.
The body shop we are using has solid reviews and offers a lifetime warranty. Hopefully we won't need it.
 
Sorry to hear about the accident. I hope it gets fixed well enough for you to get a decent trade in amount. I already know you will not keep this one 😁
I don't know. If it looks good we just might, lol. Hard to find a silk blue Jetta S w/ driver assistance anywhere within 200 miles. We are pretty set on the color, its a looker.
 
Update. I dropped the Jetta off at the body shop this morning. Hoping for 2 week or less turn around time. I will provide updates as I receive them. Rental is a Jeep Compass, I can post a review on that if anyone is interested.
 
Update: the agent I am working with at the body shop called and said they found more damage once they got the bumper off (to be expected). Just waiting on insurance to approve (or deny) the supplement submitted by shop so they can get to work. Body work will include removing quarter panel dent, repairing the rear bumper and installing new retaining clips. Paint work will include painting and blending the bumper area, upper and lower rear quarter panel, and blending into rear passenger door and rocker panel. Sad that all this has to be done on our new car with only 4K miles that has been immaculately maintained. Just hoping it comes back in the condition is was in before the accident.
 
Update: the agent I am working with at the body shop called and said they found more damage once they got the bumper off (to be expected). Just waiting on insurance to approve (or deny) the supplement submitted by shop so they can get to work. Body work will include removing quarter panel dent, repairing the rear bumper and installing new retaining clips. Paint work will include painting and blending the bumper area, upper and lower rear quarter panel, and blending into rear passenger door and rocker panel. Sad that all this has to be done on our new car with only 4K miles that has been immaculately maintained. Just hoping it comes back in the condition is was in before the accident.

That's pretty common. The adjuster can only write up the damage they can see, even if it's obvious there is damage underneath. Supplement will be approved...that quarter damage did look pretty significant. Surprised they're blending into the rocker.
 
Probably best to keep it locked in the garage, never drive it, and just admire it's current state of "flawlessness". :ROFLMAO: That way no one can ding it with their car door in a parking lot, a shopping cart won't get rubbed up against it, stone chips from other cars on the road can't hit it, and so on...
My wife and I work hard and take pride in what we own and try to keep things nice for as long as we can. Her previous Jetta was 6 years old with 65K and looked NEW because we take care of our property. There is nothing wrong with that. No need to berate someone because they don’t view their cars as disposable. It’s a real kick in the pants when your new car gets backed into months after purchase. Yeah, I get it. It’s just a car, a material possession. It still stings a bit though when something avoidable like this happens.

Anyway, carry on. Still hoping for great results from the body shop.
 
Update. We are up to $3050 worth of damage and our estimator said insurance is lowballing at that number. They have to order parts still. At this point no work has been completed. Still looking like we are 3 weeks out if everything runs on schedule.
 
Update. We are up to $3050 worth of damage and our estimator said insurance is lowballing at that number. They have to order parts still. At this point no work has been completed. Still looking like we are 3 weeks out if everything runs on schedule.

what specifically is it that they are not paying for that constitutes low balling?
 
Update. We are up to $3050 worth of damage and our estimator said insurance is lowballing at that number. They have to order parts still. At this point no work has been completed. Still looking like we are 3 weeks out if everything runs on schedule.
So, basically the insurance company wants to pay as little as possible to repair it. No insurance company has ever said "we will pay the highest estimate, no problem."
 
what specifically is it that they are not paying for that constitutes low balling?
Cheapo insurance companies typically don't want to pay for paint blending into other panels, and all the labor that entails because when you blend into a door, you need to take off the door panel, any trim moldings, the belt molding, the weather stripping, etc.
 
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