I haven't been active on the forums latey but I need to get this word out;
On October 28th 2013, I was rear ended by a 70 yr old guy in a brand new Buick LaCrosse. The damage was so severe that the truck lid was stuck shut, passenger rear door was buckled, whole quarter panel was twisted and the fuel tank vent system was breached. Many warnings lights was on, parking sensors malfunction, fuel tank system warning, etc. The car wasn’t drivable.
The insurance carrier of the person that rear ended me is State Farm.
I filed a claim thru my insurance company (Esurance) and with State Farm. Esurance claims rep called me back and said he wanted to make sure State Farm is handling this because they’re the party at-fault and is 100% responsible.
While I cannot talk about the injuries I have per my attorney, I will tell you how State Farm handled the repair of my 2007 BMW 328xi.
I brought my car to North State Custom bodyshop in Bedford Hills, NY because they’re trained and certified by BMW to repair their cars. I told them only OEM parts can be used to repair the car. I made it a point that they need to contact me and discuss before repairing the car as I know it doesn’t look good.
A week later I get a message on my answering machine from State Farm saying the car is repairable and it costs aprox $9,000.
I called State Farm back and like expected, no one picked the phone up and they want to have a voicemail left.
Aprox 2 weeks later, more damage was found during disassembly. The bodyshop had to make a supplement twice.
I called State Farm and again no one picked up the phone. I stayed on the line and demanded someone pick up this claim right now.
The lady who read out my claim said my car was flagged for a total loss and it costs $13,600 total for the repairs. She went on to say she doesn’t know why they repaired my car because it was supposed to be a total-loss and she doesn’t know who authorized the repairs.
I told her I need copies of all the documentation and records on this.
She kept telling me she’s not authorized to do that and will have to send me to my claim rep Chona Miller. Her position is total-loss department.
I finally got thru to her and she told me my car is only $900 away from total-loss but it was flagged for a total-loss. She said they use 75% rule to determine if the car is a total-loss.
I told her the car blue book is only 12-13 grand. She tells me they don’t use the ‘blue book’ way and they have a different system of valuing the car.
I asked her what the car’s value per State Farm is. She told me they value the car at $17,300.
I said why wasn’t it not totaled then?…because the damage is severe and there’s frame damage.
She basically stonewalled me at this point and said because it’s only $900 away from total-loss and went on to tell me it didn’t meet the total-loss per the car age and value. Said they’re taking 100% responsibility for this accident and handling this case, thus telling me good luck at this point.
State Farm closed the claim saying there’s nothing they can do about this now.
Esurance has keep their claim open because the problem with State Farm is not resolved.
To date I have not received any copies of documentation and explanation on how they came up with that value of $17,300.
I got a copy of the estimate papers and it shows that recycled and parts from a similar year model is used and new parts are subsuited with aftermarket parts and not all parts are new.
A week later I got a call from my bodyshop saying my car is fixed. It was in the shop for over a month, it needed over 100 manhours to fix it.
I asked them who authorized the repairs because I never gave the go-ahead and the car was supposed to be totaled. They looked at me like they’re in shock.
They told me the State Farm appraiser told them to go ahead and repair the car.
I found out State Farm sent the check directly to the bodyshop, very disappointed no one contacted me about this.
I had to return the rental car and pick up my car, it was close to closing time at the body shop and it was a Friday. The shop told me the car frame had to be pulled back to specs and the damage was so severe that the car that hit me probably did not use any braking.
On the drive home, I hear a whirring noise under the car. Sounds like a wheel bearing or the transfer case. When I go highway speeds, there’s bad vibration. The car never did this before the accident.
I noticed there’s areas of the car that was not repaired to the way it was before the accident, such as the trim on the top of the bumper has a slight curve to it and it wasn’t like that before the accident. Also the gap between the trunk lid and the bumper is bigger than before while the top part of the trunk lid is flush with the quarter panels. The replacement battery they used in the repair of the car is smaller than the OEM battery.
On the morning of January 22nd, I turned the windshield defroster on and made a right turn getting onto the parkway, I heard a cracking noise a few mins later. There’s a long crack on my windshield starting from the bottom of the driver’s side and runs all the way to the bottom of the passenger side up a slight curve. Upon examination of the windshield from the exterior, there’s no impact point or damage that could have caused it to crack.
At this point I’m thinking since the frame was pulled, it stressed out the windshield thus causing it to crack eventually.
I contacted Esurance about this and the claims rep told me they will contact the bodyshop and ask them if they feel the frame pulling has caused this to happen. I know the shop will try to play it down.
I filed a complaint with the Insurance department on this already.
I contacted my insurance (Esurance) and they’re trying to find out who dropped the ball at State Farm. But so far no luck because State Farm is not returning calls.
I told them (Esurance) they need to push harder and get State Farm to fix this because the car should’ve been totaled.
-Chris
2007 Montego Blue 328xi
Sedan | Poplar trim | Steptronic | Cold Package | Power front seats w/memory | Xenon Adaptive Headlights | PDC | PBX
Wow... that's why I hate dealing with insurance, you need to be very strict and direct with them. Can't let them take advantage of you being 'soft'.
As for the windshield cracking, how cold was it and how warm did you set it to defrost? That is probably why the windshield cracked, due to the sudden change of temperature...
It was about 9 degrees outside, the engine was still code but the climate control is set to 77 degrees interior temp and the defroster was set to on. Engine didnt even warm up to operating temp yet.
I've been in colder with this car and know it's been tested in colder temps by BMW but this I suspect was from the frame pulling stressing it out.
Wow, I can't believe they went ahead and began repairs without your authorization! When I got into my accident (my fault) I went back and forth with my insurance for a whole month fighting for a total ($19,700 repairs, $25,000 value). State farm is without a doubt in the wrong here, and Esurance should be on top of them. Can't believe you've been at it for 3 months! Something sounds fishy, state farm is a big company they should have taken care of this properly and fairly quickly.
tldr. can i get a cliffnotes
Update: State Farm called, said to bring the car to the shop and document all the damages and problems, meet with the appraiser there.
If it goes over $800 additional, it will automatically be totalled per NYS law and the Acutal Cash Value will be paid ($17k)
-Chris
2007 Montego Blue 328xi
Sedan | Poplar trim | Steptronic | Cold Package | Power front seats w/memory | Xenon Adaptive Headlights | PDC | PBX
Does State Farm own the body shop because it seems at least half of your thread deals with them?
As to no one picking up the phone at State Farm, is this at your local office, because I don't think that their national 800 number goes unanswered.
Not so much a signature as a cry for help.
Hold on, saw this in a cartoon once...think I can pull it off.
Total the POS, why the HELL are you holding onto it? Take a check and smash the car.
Tenured Automotive Service Professional - Avid BMW Enthusiast
Why are you doing all this if you have a lawyer?
State Farm is notoriously cheap, as is Allstate, your Esurance is a cut rate version of that.
At fault party is responsible to make you whole, period. If your lawyer doesn't get this perhaps you need another.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Slightly OT, but I don't get why people get so bent about a body shop repairing a car "without your authorization". If I'm a body shop and I don't have your authoriazation to accept money from your insurance company to fix your car, then don't bring me your car. I'm not running a storage facility & I'm not coming to you to authorize work that has already been authorized by the people actually paying the bill - which in this instance, is NOT the OP.
And 3 months to dig the tail lights out of the rear seat really isn't extraordinarily long. Even really well-run shops can take a month or more to fix a minor fender-bender.
and granted your car was not the only car the shop had. totally agree to this ^^^^^^^^^^
I worked at a bodyshop for 3 years. I will say some repairs take way longer than others and depending on how long it takes to gets parts depends on where your car gets put back in line at. SO you can't just fuss at the body shop cause they took 3 mths.
02 BMW 325
13 MB GLK350
94 GMC sonoma 4x4 - hpd30/8.8 - toy
15 MB GLA250 (wife's)
01 Pontiac WS6 - Garage Queen
12 RAM CC Hemi powered - new DD
GOIN BROKE BUT N STYLE
So by what you said, you're going to fix cars no matter who pays for it?
It's pretty clear there are laws and regulations prohibiting insurance companies from authorizing repairs to vehicle unless the owner authorizes it.
- - - Updated - - -
Update: I wasn't letting up, after persuading them relentlessly, filed an BBB report, filed an complaint report with NYS Department of Financial services (handles all insurance complaints in NYS), brought the car back to the shop and told them it has vibration problems, whining/whirring noise under the car.
Met with the adjuster, said will meet with the shop when the car is diagnosed for the vibration problems.
State Farm is denying to cover the windshield crack saying it's not related to the accident.
A week before I brought the car in, the engine started shaking and the more throttle I give, the more it shook. Then a short while later it became normal. It progressivly got worse over the week happening more often. It was setting off an SES code and I read it with a code scanner...Cyl 6 misfire detected
This and the vibration it has on the highway made it worse...I was worried it wasn't gonna make it.
So after bringing the car in....I had to get a rental on my own out of pocket because State Farm told me they won't cover the rental until they find the damages are related to the accident. If it was found to be related to the accident, they will reimburse me for the rental.
State Farm called and emailed me....
Well today (2/27/2014) the car was declared a total-loss.
Now State Farm is kissing my ass and being nice and all...not questioning or giving me a hard time, going by what I'm saying and getting this processed ASAP.
I went over the AutoSource valuation report that they prepared and there was a few options missing that the car has and wasn't counted for in the report. After they corrected it, they offered $19,000 settlement for the total-loss and will be overnighting the payment to me.
I had to go to the shop to pick up my personal stuff in the car, the plates, and bid farewell to it...the salavage company called the shop and told them they're picking up the car today, the shop refused to release the car to them unless I went thru the car before releasing it.
Had a chat with the shop manager afterwards, asked what they found wrong with it. The techs took it on the highway and said 'whoa something isn't right with this' and took it back to the shop, put it on the lift and took the plastic aerodynamics shield off under the car and found additional damage to the rear suspension and drivetrain. The estimated additional damage to fix all this problem came out to $3,000.
State Farm was called over to take a look at it, they couldn't deny the damage because it was directly related to the accident.
I had to return the rental, sent the bill to State Farm; and picked up another rental that's direct-billed to State Farm, it's only good for 5 days while I get a new car. The rental is a 2014 Mini Cooper Countryman with 200 miles on it...
Sounds like you came out ahead. Good thing you were persistent. Let this be a lesson for all; never trust an insurance co!
Or a body shop either, apparently.
What I got out of that was that the body shop didn't test drive the car after they repaired it, and they didn't do a very thorough job of diagnosing its problems to begin with.
If I were State Farm, I think I'd be going after the body shop for a refund.
Glad OP is getting a new car, though.
I think it was a combination of both. The bodyshop didn't take it to highway speeds...this is why I do a through test including high speed runs.
Techincally at this point, State Farm can't do anything about the bodyshop at this point because they have documenation saying the apparaiser told them to go ahead and repair the car and the appraiser signed the repair order paper. Bet the adjuster is getting his ass chewed out from the higher upper at this point.
I love how you are blaming someone else's insurance company for not repairing your car properly.
You should be blaming YOUR insurance company, Esurance, for being too lazy to take an active role in the repair of your car. When Esurance called you to make sure State Farm was doing all the work, that should have been a huge red flag.
I am glad it got worked out for you but maybe you should look fault yourself for buying the cheapest bottom-of-the-bucket insurance you can. You get what you pay for, right?
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