Advice needed please.

The other morning I got hit on the passenger side of my truck. I have a few questions and I know this is the place for great advice and opinions.

Is it better for me to go with an auto body shop that my insurance company has on their list or do I go with one that I find on my own? I did find one of the shops on their list on Yelp with a 5-star rating with 20+ reviews.

I took some pictures so I could get some advice on what kind of work I should expect to get from a body shop, i.e. new doors, body filler -- which I really don't want -- etc.

Any and all advice/opinions are gratefully appreciated.

P.S. My wife and I are leaving in a few minutes to go to the range (she is getting her new guns today ). So I will not be able to reply right away but will do so when we return.

Thanks in advance



Here are some photos

 

I would go with whoever I feel will take good care of me and truck. Insist on new OEM parts and check their work when the job is done.

 

Usually insurance companies has a list of "approved providers" that they will recommend. That does not mean that you have to use them. Check with your insurance people, but they should tell you you don't have to go off their list. From the pics it looks like that is not going to be a repair job, it is going to be a replacement! The door is done!! Ask a lot of questions and make sure they use OEM parts. Keep in mind too that the other insurance company is paying for it as the other driver caused the collision. As such you should have zero deductible.

 

no way in hell would i let them use body filler! make sure you get them to quote replacing the rear bed side, pass. door, and front fender flare. when you bring you truck, tell them you want to see all the old parts to prove they did change them and not just blew smoke up your ass to make a buck.

 

Thanks for the comments on what I should do/expect in repairing my truck. I believe I am going to a body shop with a good reputation (thanks to yelp). I will be asking for OEM parts as well.

If anyone has anything else to add please do. I wont be going to the body shop till Monday afternoon.

Thanks

 

Carriage Collision in HB...That's where I would go! Gothard/Talbert are the cross streets. Don't fu@k around with this and buy some sliders afterwords...haha! Glad nobody was hurt...The Firing Line is just around the corner for shooting...win win for everyone!

 

Thanks but HB is a pretty far drive from NOHO. We have a Firing Line here in Burbank too. I've never been there though. We do most of our shooting at Oaktree gun range.

 

^If you're in NOHO. I highly recommend Rich & Famous in Van Nuys.

I've had my Tacoma repaired by them after an accident and they're amazing at what they do. I didn't take my truck to one of the recommended insurance auto body shops. I found Rich and Famous and took it to them. If insurance is going to pay for it. You might as well make sure its done right the first time. I've gone back over the years to have parts color matched as well. Love their service and knowledge as well. You can check my BUILD page and see all the color matched parts I have. They're all done by them and matches 110%. If it doesn't match, they'll redo it.

You can look them up on YELP as well.

Ask for SY or Albert there. Let them know you're a buddy of Ray (Red Tacoma) and they'll hook you up. I'll PM you as well. They've done work for my friends as well.

You can go to their shop and take a nice tour around as its worth it. They have a very expensive paint booth. They do work on Lambos, Bentleys, etc.etc. They do a lot of classics as well.


Good Luck! Just don't take it to a crap place. They'r eeverywhere! ​

 

Find out which shops your insurance company has on their preferred list and google their reviews, if they aren't good reviews then stay away. Also call your local Toyota dealer and see who they recommend, in the end choose a shop you feel comfortable with! Also, there will only be oem parts available for doors, they may look for used doors but aftermarket doors aren't available so you don't need to worry about that part!

 

Thanks Ray, This is what I was hoping for. Someone who had a good experience with a body shop in my area. It turns out that Rich and Famous was on my insurance company's preferred list, too. I'll be going there for sure. Thanks again for the recommendation.

Old No.7 - Thanks for the info about the doors.

 

No problem, word of mouth will go along way when it comes to this type of stuff!

 

I can't really tell the amount of damage on the inside of the door from the picture (and I'm not a body guy, so take what I say with a grain of salt), but there is a possibility that they will just re-skin the door. If done properly, I don't see an issue with that. Basically they'll take the outside sheet metal off, and re-weld a new piece. I have a family friend who works at a body shop, apparently it is fairly common, and as good as replacing if the rest of the door is easily repaired.

If you're concerned about filler, when you get the truck back, take a magnet and a thing cloth and slide them across the old area and the new area. If the magnet doesn't hold as well on the new area, then chances are there's bondo in there.

 

His insurance doesn't matter as it was not his fault. He CAN argue that they put on OEM parts and he has every right to do so. On the other hand, if it were his fault then we would be at the mercy of his insurance company.

 

They don't make aftermarket doors for his truck anyways, won't need to about that since oem is the only option! And it will need a door shell for sure, the inside of the door shell is crushed so a door skin isn't really an option here.

 

Take it to the Toyota Dealer; it's their Truck. Hey, maybe they'll talk you into a new Truck.

 

Thanks everyone again for the great advice!!! I went to Rich and Famous and they did a fantastic job. I paid extra for some PDR work behind the rear left wheel-well and for them to fix some scrapes and repaint my front bumper and left front fender($380). The color matching was excellent!!! They even did a little extra touch up work here and there, no charge. I am very happy with the work they did and would recommend this place to anyone who is looking in SFV.

Thank you you Ray for suggesting this place. I would have picked another shop and maybe the results wouldn't have been the same. Both Sy and Albert say hello.

Herb