anyone know of a reputable auto collision place? i prefer a place near Gulfgate (southeast side) but am willing to drive it further if i need to. basically, the front bumper, left headlight and hood need to be repaired. at least that's what it looks like from the outside.
the car only had liability so it will be out of pocket. it's a 2000 mazda protege. i've found this place Collision plus . 5 stars on the reviews. over 40 reviews too.
My dad managed to back into my car this evening, so I will be heading to a collision repair place as well. I go to South Main Paint & Body (was recommended on this board a number of times); the guys there always do a great job and are very reasonable with their rates.
My brother had collision damage on his car and the whole front was wrecked. Bumper, fender, headlights and hood damage. He only had liability and was quoted 3K USD to fix everything at an collision shop. We found a guy on Craigslist and he fixed everything for 1000 USD. He even came to our house and did all the repairs with all new parts in about 3 days time. So I suggest maybe search online.
No, actually my bro. is in Austin. But there are similar ppl in Houston though as well who would do the same work.
i have to check the policy. does it matter that the other party IS insured? also, i believe it was her fault. it's actually my sister's car. i feel really bad because its her first car. it's ten years old and 5 months ago i convinced her to change from full to liability only because the car isn't worth more than $2500 and i didn't feel the premium was justified.
They have my car right now. I'm supposed to get it back some time today. If I do, I'll come back to this thread and tell you how I like their work. So far, my impression is the owner I've dealt with (Sam) knows what he's doing in assessing the work (better than the insurance adjuster), quoted a price accurately, and has been straight with me. We'll see how good they are with the actual work soon. The job has taken longer than it should (almost 2 weeks), but that's due more to the insurance company than the shop.
No. Samit Patel. Anyway, I got my car back today. You've probably picked a place by now anyway, but the work they did looks good. They ended up charging the insurance company $1,300 when they originally quoted me $1,100 when I came in without the insurance claim. No skin off my nose. They were a good deal cheaper than the dealership either way. My only complaint about the experience is that I went 16 days without my car. A lot of that is the insurance company's fault because the adjuster had to go to the shop twice to sign off on supplementals and they took their time. But, I know I was delayed an extra 1-2 days because a part the shop ordered was late arriving. All in all, I'd probably use them again.
Thanks for the update. actually, i haven't picked a place yet. i was waiting for the adjuster to determine fault. well, it was my sister's fault so we're not getting any money. i went to one place near the house that originally quoted me $2800 but since no insurance is involved, they will do it for $1950. That's about 33% off the original quote which seems very high and makes me suspicious. just seems like too much of a discount. it makes me think that amount is still higher than it should be. btw, what did they do to your car?
The passenger-side door was banged in, so they ultimately replaced the door, painted it, and blended to the color of the rest of the car. They were going to give me a no-insurance discount as well, but it was more like 15-20%.
1 of 2 things. 1) The $2,800 is right on the money and they are going to eat $850. This is not likely as body shop profit margins are only about 25-35%. I can tell you from my 18 years experience, no reputable body shop does work to just break even. 2) The $2,800 is high and the $1,950 is more accurate, but they are presenting as a "discount" to make you feel good. This is the more likely scenario IMO. Just be careful. In body work, you almost always get what you pay for. In the League City area, I would recommend League City Body Shop or Bill Fogle Collision. I can give you contact names for both. Neither will be the cheapest or the most expense, but they will be honest and give you a price to put the car back in pre-loss condition. Keep in mind that $2,800 is not far from that vehicle's value. Don't pay more than the car is worth to fix it.
Don't go to Bill Fogel in Cypress. I took a car there about 3 years ago and the quality wasn't great, they forgot to fix somethings I pointed out on the original estimate and afterward claimed that could not have happened due to the accident like they are some physics majors. i proved them wrong with before pictures I had as i had recently purchased the car and had some pictures from the ad as well as picture I took.
