James517

Sorry to see/hear about the damage. I think it's also a testament to the car (and driver) that it remained under control & was relatively stable so the damage was limited -- rather than cascading into some of the rollover stuff we see at guardrails.

snagitseven

I'm in the market for a small dash mounted combo juicer and electric shoe polisher. Hard to find one that will fit up there though.

Back on topic, the adjuster was out to my home this morning to take photos and process my claim. Looks like the entire right side of the car will need to be repainted, some minor body work on the front fender and door edges, a few small dents, a new RF wheel and replacement of Xpel Ultimate film and Opti-Coat Pro once the paint is hardened. This won't be inexpensive when all is done. The wheel by itself will be close to $800 and $1200 for the film and Opti-Coat alone. I'm guessing $7500..we'll see.

I'm having the Audi-Porsche collision center do the work. I've been there before and it's quite an operation. They are owned by the same group that owns my Audi dealership along with other brand dealers. Crossing my fingers it all works out.

snagitseven

Well, I received the initial estimate to repair my car. While we are still working on a couple of minor things, it appears it will come in about $7500 all in. My deductible is $500. (Amazing what can be wrought from a slight kiss of a guard rail). This includes a new RF fender and a new 19" Audi OEM wheel. Apparently, because the fender is aluminum and was compound bent, they want to replace the fender which they say will require a paint blend of the hood - that one worries me a bit wondering how it will look when finished - they assure me it will look great. It also means a new Xpel Ultimate full hood replacement piece from a 60" roll which is about $600 all on its own. Hopefully, there will be no hidden damage found when they take things apart. The car seems to run and track fine. (There's a 4 wheel alignment factored in the estimate, something I was going to have done soon anyway).

I should be dropping the car to the collision center on Monday and expect it will take 2 weeks or so to finish. I'll have to wait a few days after the body work is done for the paint to cure before my detailer can install the new film and reapply the Opti-Coat Pro. One benefit to all of this is my installer will do a complete in and out pro detail at no extra cost - he normally charges about $350-400 on high end cars.

BTW, there is no legal requirement in MA for an insurance company to provide diminished value. In fact, insurance companies have wording in the policies to prevent this and contractually, no one seems to win challenging that here. Guess I may have to take the bite down the road although, my dealer is pretty cool ab0out this kind of thing if I trade. We'll see.

Wish me luck. My fingers and toes are crossed.

BillBoost37

I think that having the work done at the Audi dealership goes a long way toward a buyer knowing it was repaired properly.

Hulamau

No worries on the paint job since its done by the Audi trained collision center. That is one reason why they will not start the paint job, say like in our case with my wifes A4 with just a replacement bumper where they technically could paint it first and then install it teh same day you bring the car in.

Instead they wanted a full week for the car to be there just for the careful and specific step process they go through as trained by Audi to exactly match paint with a given car as even though they have the paint codes obviously, you cant tell just what the humidity was like in Neckarsulm or Ingoldstadt when the car was originally painted and can subtlety effect the paint hue.

Anyway, when getting back my wifes A4 the paint was a perfect match to the rest of the body and it was impossible to tell anything had ever been done on the car as we too went to the main Arizona Audi certified collision center.

Good luck with it, Snagit, I got the 3M Crystalline 70% tint put on the front windshield yesterday and its very hard to tell and yet it really cuts down heat gain and minimizes the HUD display glare off the windshield as well..

Was really surprised how well the heat gain is knocked down just from adding such light tint on the one window along with the darker tints everywhere else, with our 108 degree 'easy-bake-oven' heat here yesterday.

newmoon

I don't think you can claim for diminished value when you are making a claim on your own insurance policy. That is what the policy wording prevents.

You might be able to get diminished value when someone else is at fault, but it's usually an uphill battle, and also depends on your state.

snagitseven

moon, actually, googling the subject, in some states it's possible to be awarded diminished value even if you are at fault; depends on the policy and locale. In any case, it's a moot point in Taxachusetts. Everyone here gets squat when it comes to diminished value, even if not at fault.

snagitseven

Good to know. Even though I have to drive a good ways to get to them, I felt it was worth it. To be specific, the collision center is owned by a large car dealer group (Prime) which among other brands they own are the Audi and Porsche dealerships (including my Audi dealer). I would think their techs are factory trained by the premium brands under their umbrella including Audi. It's a big place and I would guess they have techs that specialize in certain brands.

snagitseven

Update: I dropped the car off at the Prime Collision Center today. I was fortunate to have a knowledgeable sales advisor to walk me through the process they will perform and provide a time estimate to complete the work (2-3 weeks depending on how long to get the parts).

They first will disassemble the body panels then do a suspension check and four wheel alignment to ensure there is no damage (I doubt it since it was a glancing blow and the car is tracking normally).

Body repair and painting will follow. They will be able to heat repair the small aluminum dents in the door panels and edges in a special, dedicated area in their shop. The front fender is being replaced. After the paint and clearcoat, they "bake" the painted panels at high temps to cure the finish before replacing on the car. I'm still a bit reticent on the paint matching but he assured me I won't be able to tell. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm driving some kind of a Hertz Dodge-o-matic-mobile rental until the work is complete. (Thankfully, the insurance co. is paying for the bloated couch on wheels). I had to recalibrate for the mushy steering response this thing exhibits - plan for the the corner ahead, turn the wheel before the turn, enter the turn, hope it follows through. Gawd, I miss my car already.

snagitseven

Day 2. (They are sending me photos as the job progresses which is kind of nice...I think).

Oh my heart be still.