Body Repair Prices

[jragosta]

My 04 ES330 was just rear-ended by some teenager. She's got insurance so it's not going to be a problem for me (other than the hassle factor), but I'm amazed by the repair prices.

Her car hit the rear end of mine and damaged the underbody slightly, as well as destroying my bumper cover and slightly mis-aligning the fenders. The exhaust was also damaged.

Body shop #1. Did a quick onceover and came up with 4 days and $1700. This is sort of the run of the mill shop who does a lot of work for local people. I've used them before and was satisfied with the work, but that was on my wife's 8 year old Ford Aspire. I'm not sure I'd want them working on my Lexus, but thought I'd used them for another quote (thinking that the prices would be similar).

Body shop #2. Well respected shop in town. I know the owners (my daughter goes to school with their son). 8 days and $2700. They caught some things that the first shop didn't catch - and also had more time allocated for the things that shop 1 did catch.

Body shop #3. Recommended by the Lexus dealer. Caught some things that even shop 2 missed (such as the middle pipe of the exhaust system). Also allocated even more time for alignment and specified straightening of parts that look fine to me (like the roof rail). 14 days and $3700.

I'm not going to give estimate #1 to the insurance company since they left too many things out - I'll look for another comparable one if they want 3. I'm thinking that I'll go back to shop #2 and tell them that shop #3 found some things that they missed and ask them for a rebid based on the same items so we can get an apples to apples comparison.

Interestingly, I would expect that the final repair prices wouldn't be that different among the 3 shops. Even if I gave it to the low end shop, when they found the other stuff, they could go back to the insurance company for more money.

Just reporting on my amazement that the estimates varied by a factor of 2 in money and a factor of 3 in time.

[LexKid630]

I had body work done on my old es300 and my sons Ls430. Both of them i had fixed at a body shop reccomended by my lexus dealer. This shop had worked on over 100's of lexus's, this to me meant that they knew them inside out. The reason the one recomended by your dealer found more things is probably because they know lexus's way better, and know things that will break easier in crashes, (more experience = more knowledge). And since it's not your money (well most of it) i would go with the one reccomended by the dealer who knows more about them. They will fix everything and make sure it's perfect as can be.

Also, if you choose the one reccomended by the dealer, if anything breaks in the near future, you can bother the dealer and argue with them about how you choose them b/c of you, and now it's broken, what are you gonna do about it ! And smart dealer will have some simpathy and get it fixed correctly. Thisd is just from my opinion.

Also with some repairs like paint etc, go with a brand name paint shop for the best job. Make sure you tell them to prime and add clear coat (some shops will skimp to save a buck, and the paint will peal earlier). The more you ask the better your resuts will be.

And remember, after the bvody work is done, you will still know the difference. so don't be a perfectionist. ;)

Good luck with your decision...

[ford212.809]

My 04 ES330 was just rear-ended by some teenager. She's got insurance so it's not going to be a problem for me (other than the hassle factor), but I'm amazed by the repair prices.

Her car hit the rear end of mine and damaged the underbody slightly, as well as destroying my bumper cover and slightly mis-aligning the fenders. The exhaust was also damaged.

Body shop #1. Did a quick onceover and came up with 4 days and $1700. This is sort of the run of the mill shop who does a lot of work for local people. I've used them before and was satisfied with the work, but that was on my wife's 8 year old Ford Aspire. I'm not sure I'd want them working on my Lexus, but thought I'd used them for another quote (thinking that the prices would be similar).

Body shop #2. Well respected shop in town. I know the owners (my daughter goes to school with their son). 8 days and $2700. They caught some things that the first shop didn't catch - and also had more time allocated for the things that shop 1 did catch.

When it comes to body repair, The first thing to do is talk to family, friends - get feedback from them as to who they have used in the past.

Next, whoever you choose, check the Better Business Bureau - You will find alot of info. there.

My choice, in your case, would be shop #2.  Word of mouth is the best advertisement.

Hope this helps - Good Luck!!

Body shop #3. Recommended by the Lexus dealer. Caught some things that even shop 2 missed (such as the middle pipe of the exhaust system). Also allocated even more time for alignment and specified straightening of parts that look fine to me (like the roof rail). 14 days and $3700.

I'm not going to give estimate #1 to the insurance company since they left too many things out - I'll look for another comparable one if they want 3. I'm thinking that I'll go back to shop #2 and tell them that shop #3 found some things that they missed and ask them for a rebid based on the same items so we can get an apples to apples comparison.

Interestingly, I would expect that the final repair prices wouldn't be that different among the 3 shops. Even if I gave it to the low end shop, when they found the other stuff, they could go back to the insurance company for more money.

Just reporting on my amazement that the estimates varied by a factor of 2 in money and a factor of 3 in time.

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[LexKid630]

And if a lot of friends have had good experiences (over a long time since repairs) with a shop go with them..but remember weather and time can change a lot! The first day after the repair it could look like gold, but after time, paint and puddy will chip etc. and it won't look as good anymore. Long time lasting is important!

[jragosta]

And if a lot of friends have had good experiences (over a long time since repairs) with a shop go with them..but remember weather and time can change a lot! The first day after the repair it could look like gold, but after time, paint and puddy will chip etc. and it won't look as good anymore. Long time lasting is important!

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True.

However, one thing is that my company replaces cars every 5 years and I'm over 1.5 already. So, I need 3.5 years out of the car rather than the 5-10 years you'd normally want.

[SW03ES]

jrag- So sorry to hear that happened, glad you're not hurt. Rear engings like that can be nasty business.

Basically the way those estimates are working is that each successive shop is using a different method for estimating, some shops will grab you for the low estimate and then find things once they tear the car down and charge you more while some companies will try and make the estimate as thorough as possible to avoid problems with the insurance company when it comes time to pay. The equipment that they have makes a difference too.

Don't ALWAYS assume that the shop reccomended by your lexus dealer is going to give you the best work, a lot of times they will (My body shop does work for a Lexus dealer but thats not how I found them) but sometimes that arrangement is just a financial one and the dealer has selected a shop that will pay them the highest referral fee.

I say tour the shop, get a good feel for it. Is it clean? Do they let you enter the service area? What kind of cars do they do? Are these independent contacts or do they contract with dealerships to get them (a shop that does lots of BMWs from word of mouth is better than one that does lots of BMWs through referrals from a dealer) inspect some of the cars they've just completed, ask them to point out where the work was done, is it smooth and unnoticable? Do they have sophisticated paint matching systems or do they blend paint to match?

When you find the right shop you'll know. Be sure to tell them that you don't have a body shop and if they do good work they'll earn your future business and your referrals to your colleagues. Tell them you are extremely picky (even if you aren't) and wont accept anything but perfection. If its a good shop they should be happy to meet the challenge.

One big thing nowadays is the paint matching. MOST shops blend paint across adjacent panels to give the appearance of paint that matches. The truth is paint won't match, even on a brand new car. Think about painting your house, you can't just go buy another can of the same color and paint a portion of a wall, it won't match. Some shops are using expensive paint matching machines that analyze the paint on your car from many angles and lighting conditions and computer tint the new paint so it matches perfectly. This is the way to go but it can increase the cost of painting 2-300% because the machines are very expensive to purchase.

Since you're going through insurance take your time and get plenty of estimates. A good shop will also work with you on getting the insurance to cover it.

The one main thing is it won't be right the first time, it never is. Let them know that upfront if you have issues you want them to take the car back and fix them before you take delivery.

This is a huge PITA I know...

Can you post some pictures?