kp_vtekniks

Anyone know any good Geico preferred shops? They have reccomended Autohound in Queen Anne and Kermac on rainier to me. Any info on those two?? Thanks

jerrypeterson

There is no need to use an insurance companies preferred shops.

kp_vtekniks

Can you recommend anyone?

integrapunk67

If you don't mind the drive across the water Showcase in Kirkland is really good.

misterwaterfallin

Very true. It does make some things easier however. The company that I work for has a list of preferred shops, and all that means is that we have had good experiences with these shops and the past, and that they stand behind their work. Again, for the company I work for, if you send your car to one of these shops, they have the liberty to do whatever it takes to get the car back on the road. If initially it looks like a dented bumper, but when they take it off there is frame damage, they can go ahead and fix the frame if need be. If you send your car to an unproved shop, they would have to call an adjuster, and have him come out to sign off on the next step every-time an unforeseen problem arises.
Another plus is that the work in guaranteed as long as you have the car. Because the shops like to keep on our approved list, if anything happens as a result of their work they are usually pretty quick to fix it.
/end long post

integrapunk67

In other words its how the insurance companies control the industry and have shops charge them discounted rates in exchange for fed work. Most body shops gaurantee their work and most paint companies gaurantee theirs for life so there is no real advantage other than maybe being slightly quicker. To be quite honest a number of shops on insurance company direct repair programs put out pretty much hack work but it still seems to meet the main requirement: price.

misterwaterfallin

[QUOTE=integrapunk67,May 28 2010, 09:13 PM] In other words its how the insurance companies control the industry and have shops charge them discounted rates in exchange for fed work.

kp_vtekniks

I started this thread to see if there really was any benefit to going to a preferred shop other than saving some time. Thank you to all who have replied. Some great info in here.

integrapunk67

[QUOTE=misterwaterfallin,May 28 2010, 11:12 PM] Price doesn't play into it as much as you seem to think. Like I said, you are free to take your car anywhere you want to get the work done. But there must be ways for the insurance companies to safeguard themselves from paying too much.

bahula03

In the end, going to a quality shop of your own choice can often end up saving more time for the consumer- even if there are multiple supplements while it's getting repaired, odds are you're not going to need the work to be under warrantee because it was done right the first time. The time spent either having a crappy shop do the repair again or (even better) having to take the car to another shop....much longer than any supplement I've ever heard of