how to deal with car repair after accident

I was rear ended at a stoplight today. Other driver's insurance (same company as mine) will pay for my repairs.

I have it setup to drop the car off tomorrow at the insurance's 'auto service center'. My brother is advising against this. He says that I'll be better off taking the car to the dealership for the repairs. He thinks the insurance company will do everything to make the repairs as cheap for them as possible. I see his point. It's just that taking it to the insurance sponsored shop seems like a much more seamless process.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

Going through that right now with my daughter's FJ. Taking it to the insurance recommended place is fine, just tell them that you want OEM parts used. Before they make any repairs, you need to approve what's going to be done. They should provide you with a complete estimate before commencing work. If you see non-OEM parts on that list, point it out and tell them it's not acceptable.

Has the truck ever been in an accident before? If not, then you can make a claim for diminished value; basically it's the value lost in the vehicle since the Carfax on it will show it's been in an accident. This is a good thing to bring up when they begin to argue with you about not using OEM parts.

 

Three or four years back while off-roading along a Utah forest road I drove through a ditch. As I exited the ditch the right rear wheel sunk deep down into the muck and I broke the trim that goes over the right rear wheel well, and also bent the rear quarter-panel a bit. I obtained several estimates and they varied from $300 to $1,600.



I notified my insurance company and I was told to take it to their authorized repair shop. Turned out I already had, and that was the $1,600 estimate. The shop fixed the damage and gave me an itemized list of the parts, labor, and paint. I was 100% satisfied with the repairs and the insurance company paid for it. Now there is no sign of the damage. It was a lot of money but the repair is flawless!

I guess it all depends upon the insurance company that one has.