WHY SHIT IS SO EXPENSIVE
ALL FIXED UP
OK, I apologize,
that should be WHY STUFF…It is just that I am so incensed!
“What
Happened, Cranky?”
I’ll tell
you.
A few weeks
ago, while racing from the Bowlero parking lot as I was a bit late for league
warm up, I realized my key fob had fallen out of my coat and was lost in my car’s
interior.
In my haste
and panic when I could not find the fob, I pulled open the passenger side door to
check if the fob had somehow flown into the passenger side. (I eventually found it barely peeking underneath a seatbelt
anchor cover.) When
I yanked on the passenger door, it grabbed onto the front side car panel and buckled
it. The door would not operate without
effort due to the door panel obstruction.
WTF?
I had no
idea how this happened, but apparently the panel had been pushed ½ inch or less
backwards where the passenger door would not open unobstructed. There was no apparent damage to the car
otherwise. Not a scratch or a dent.
I had my
friend who is the head mechanic for the local AAA and a borderline genius (just trust me) look at the issue. I was informed that yes, somehow the panel
had been pushed. He estimated it would
cost from $1500 to $2000 to repair.
The first
shop I took it to said “Somewhere from $1500 to $2000 to fix.”
I called the
insurance company.
“How did
the accident happen?”
“I have
no idea.”
“When did
it happen?”
“Somewhere
between end of March and beginning of May.
Possibly someone bumped me in a parking lot…I have no idea.”
I was told
the shop I took it to had no relationship with that insurance company.
I took the
car to an accredited collision shop that has a working arrangement with my
insurance company.
I have $500 deductible,
so what ever the cost, that is all I stood to lose. Truth be told, if the cost was all coming out
of my pocket I would have asked,
“Just
pull the panel, bang out the crumple, adjust it back where it does not impede
my door, and I will spray some paint over the damage so it won’t rust.”
Probably
cost me $750-$800. With the deductible,
I left it to the discretion of the insurance company and the body shop.
I was
without my beloved Harvey (Honda HR-V) for two weeks. Yesterday it was done and I picked it up.
The car is
beautiful, no dings, no dents, years of minor scratches were buffed out and the
car was completely detailed.
It is now
gorgeous, not that I really care that much…scratches and dents do not really
bother me that much, they are inevitable.
“So why
are you so incensed? It only cost you $500 and they did a great job!”
The insurance
company was billed $7500
to fix a dented ½ inch
moved front panel.
$7500!!!
OK, no more
than $500 dollars of skin off my teeth, but damn, no wonder insurance is so
dang expensive.
The shop
charged for every screw and face mask, every rubber glove and every second of
labor. They adjusted shit that did not
need adjusting and they painted stuff that did not need painting.
I wonder,
did the insurance agent who approved the job get a little extra in his sandwich
bag?
Just got me
thinking. Where else does this sort of
thing happen?
BTW,
after further reflection, I am pretty sure the damage was done when Harvey was
parked in my tiny garage almost abutted against a cabinet when New Jersey was
hit with a 4.9 earthquake the shaking of which pushed Harvey’s panel.
The news
reported back on April 5 that the NJ quake shook lots of people up but there
was no known damage.
Apparently,
they did not know of the $2000 damage to Harvey that was turned into $7500.