The Wreck. SchoolCar on Wednesday evening

[L.O. Guvna]

Stewards,

I regret to inform but I ran a red light, and tagged a VW Passat. No injuries, and we are already working on getting the school car back together and pointed straight.

cheers
#guvnal

[Charlie(74)]

Bummer! Glad all ok, though…she’ll be right soon!

[L.O. Guvna]

right on. thanks Charlie

[ed_h]

Man, I hate to see that word in a thread title here!

Glad you're OK, Guv.

How'd the Passat do?

Ed

[L.O. Guvna]

good morning - Ed - you get in those situations, and you forget to take pics. If you saw his car in a parking lot, you would see the side of the car, keep walking, then turn and ask, was there a wrinkle near the right rear wheel? Yeah, very little damage to him. And I didnt hit him that hard. I was already in braking, and probably going less than 5mph when I hit him, he hit me. He was moving fast, and I think that is what did all the damage - his moving machinery with pieces to grab, tear and pull. Im missing my right side overrider. He was able to drive away, I had to have a tow.

[Tri 250]

I could think of better ways to keep our parts suppliers in business, Guv! Glad you and the car are okay and thanks for saving ‘er

[L.O. Guvna]

i thought Tri was Todd - jumped the gun. Thanks GB - Once you get over the shock, you start looking at it as, ok - so, lets get all the junk off, and start over. I'm already talking to TRF and Moss, and scheduling parts for the reassemble. still waiting on Hagerty's adjuster to come out.

More to come.

[TR6_Jim]

Gov,

I'm a day drive away...an hour west of Tuscaloosa. I'm so buried under a pile of early/late parts.

If you want a right side fender from a later car, it is sitting here with your name on it. It does have a bit of a wrinkle, and I don't like the previous headlight area repair. Yours gratis for the asking!

PM contact info if you like.

[Tri 250]

I’ve heard nothing but good things about Hagerty. I’ve got them myself. Let us know how that goes.

GB

[L.O. Guvna]

The contracted adjuster comes out today around 1pm. I'll report back on the claim.

[L.O. Guvna]

Quick visit from the Hagerty claims adjuster. This service is often outsourced these days - i know this because good friend Bill does this for several companies. It was a quick visit. The hood won't open - he assessed, asked if I had sourced parts - I said yes, and still looking for a few bits. I know enough under that hood to know what else I need besides those inner and outer corners, valence, grille, and bumper. Car will need a full respray, so thats good, but I may be pushing my stated value. I think I can stay under it with all the stuff discussed, including the frame work.

More to come - so far, so good.

[L.O. Guvna]

A quick update on the progress. Or lack of it.

Like mechanics, we are running out of experts to serve us in collision repair. You think you could take a frame/tub car anywhere. I have a shop that I want to use, but in talking to Rick after this estimate, Rick didn't realize he was going to have to paint the whole car. So, I went shopping others, and even one of the top shops is on a 2 month back log for work like this. This is fine for me, as its winter, and I can wait a few months. But I don't want to finish this project in the middle of summer.

the estimate is off on some of the parts - some are right, but the front valance is estimated at 150 dollars, and I know that is 1K in new replacement. I think I can find almost all the parts new between TRF and Moss.

More to come.

[lfmTR4]

Hi Chris, glad you’re ok.

Following the saga. With the lack of qualified shops I wonder if Hagerty will give you the labor money for the body work, buy the parts and pay for a paint job?

i have Hagerty too and have wondered that given that I live in the sticks and it would be almost impossible to find a shop that could actually do the panel work. There are some that could prep and paint tho.

[L.O. Guvna]

Thanks for the note Lou - hope you and the family are well.

Great question the shop rate, and I'm wiling to share all the bits on this impact. I want everyone to have a clear understanding of the process. To your question, The shop rates vary on this estimate. from 65 to 85. I am guessing the rates at these shops are north of 100. The estimate has the valance at 150. its a grand at moss, and TRF is on back order. What I think is the silver lining here is what Hagerty has said all along. There will be an estimate, currently at 11K. My declared value is 25K, and I should have gone higher, so everyone take note of that. The shop, whatever I pick, and I can choose anyone, will tell Hagerty, no, the labor rates are wrong, and you missed 35 parts. and it needs a frame alignment. So, my guess is, this will go to 20K, possibly pushing 25K. I want to change color, so thats in the mix as well.

Oddly, I think the less urban you are, the better your chances with an old school shop. I am going to reach out to Britt in Bama - Keith just painted his car, and had found a great old school shop to do it.

More to come - let me know what else I can share to help

#guvnal

[lfmTR4]

Yeah, I don’t have any work that needs to be done except maybe painting the project but I haven’t even started it yet. Keith lives a good hour, hour and half from me. I do know he found a shop that painted his but it seems to have been there for a while.

i was just asking if Hagerty would let you do whatever work you could do and reimburse your hours at a shop rate. More curious than anything else.