Car vandalized......need advice
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,956
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From: Tampa
go to the dealer and get their quote on reupholstering the interior and replacing the top and airbag. Go to an expencive upholstery shop for a quote and presentthose figures when the appraier gives you his/her lowball. I have delt with insurance before and you will have to give your numbers to counter theirs. It sometimes takes 5 or 6 weeks or more to get a real payout as the insurance company is ALWAYS going to lowball you sometimes offering less that 50% of the amount you end up geting.
My last dealing was with an old car that was totalled by no fault of mine. The insurance company originally offered $1766 and I ended up getting $4000 5 weeks later, after doing what I described above
My last dealing was with an old car that was totalled by no fault of mine. The insurance company originally offered $1766 and I ended up getting $4000 5 weeks later, after doing what I described above
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 306
Likes: 1
From: Orange County, California
do what johns2000 said, and get quotes, then take it to a place you trust to have the repairs done... and if you can, get them to pay you and then get aftermarket parts. that's what i would do. as good as a soft top is... a new one from Honda was like $2800 installed (don't ask me why i know that...) so hard top might actually be better, unless you go top down all the time.
best wishes to you my fellow hk brotha!
best wishes to you my fellow hk brotha!
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 167
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From: Diamond Bar, CA
Check your policy, here in ca we can take our car to where we want to get it repaired. I could even take my car to Beverly Hills to be fixed if I wanted. Check your policy, states differ.
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my best bet is to get a hardtop to not letting this happens to me again, but i love driving with top down, this is why i bought my02, so i rather to get out from the car scene and buy myself a family car to prevent something happen to me again
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go to the dealer and get their quote on reupholstering the interior and replacing the top and airbag. Go to an expencive upholstery shop for a quote and presentthose figures when the appraier gives you his/her lowball. I have delt with insurance before and you will have to give your numbers to counter theirs. It sometimes takes 5 or 6 weeks or more to get a real payout as the insurance company is ALWAYS going to lowball you sometimes offering less that 50% of the amount you end up geting.
My last dealing was with an old car that was totalled by no fault of mine. The insurance company originally offered $1766 and I ended up getting $4000 5 weeks later, after doing what I described above
My last dealing was with an old car that was totalled by no fault of mine. The insurance company originally offered $1766 and I ended up getting $4000 5 weeks later, after doing what I described above
thanks, i know what i should do after the appraiser get the estimate done
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Joined: Jan 2012
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Well, insurance settlement people will try to take the lowest cost option to return your car to the way it was.
You didn't have brand new OEM parts on the car. They were 10 year old OEM parts, so they're probably looking for LKQ (like king quality) or salvage parts. If you want brand new OEM, you're going to pay for it. Sorry.
Think about it this way, if your top just wore out, would you insist on taking it to a Honda dealer? Or would you look at a robbins top or something... those are aftermarket parts. Seats, I'd look for salvage.
Now, they also have a good relationship with the recommended shop. And to them a good relationship is being able to hold schedule and not have any cost over-runs on the rebuild along with accurate estimates. Their shop's quality of repair doesn't play into this at all. So be careful there.
If it were my only car, I'd probably get the repairs done. You don't have the time to buy your own parts and do the work yourself.
Just some more food for thought.
You didn't have brand new OEM parts on the car. They were 10 year old OEM parts, so they're probably looking for LKQ (like king quality) or salvage parts. If you want brand new OEM, you're going to pay for it. Sorry.
Think about it this way, if your top just wore out, would you insist on taking it to a Honda dealer? Or would you look at a robbins top or something... those are aftermarket parts. Seats, I'd look for salvage.
Now, they also have a good relationship with the recommended shop. And to them a good relationship is being able to hold schedule and not have any cost over-runs on the rebuild along with accurate estimates. Their shop's quality of repair doesn't play into this at all. So be careful there.
If it were my only car, I'd probably get the repairs done. You don't have the time to buy your own parts and do the work yourself.
Just some more food for thought.
it is my only car, but since i dont want to pay $500 to have a rental car for two weeks, i know there nmight be some money left over if i take the check with a good price, but i lready lost my radar detector and gps ($700 in total), i dont feel i like to spend some extra money yet
i personality would like to have an oem top instead of aftermarket, althought i heard a lot of goods about the robbins top
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thanks for telling me that