The bumper gods have spoken!

Had a '06 Highlander with 13K worth of damage done to the front end; PD and insurance both notified. After repairs were completed a check of CARFAX showed no accident/damage reported. CARFAX can be hit or miss!

 

I'm ready to do the same but haven't found any side view photos or real world experience with these. Care to share some photos and your personal experience with the bumper? Not much options out there to replace the full bumper.

 

Sorry for the delay as its been a few days, not on here much. She's got a bit of an overbite look from the side and not a problem for me, but I'll send you a pic later today. I think the bumper is great for my needs as I didn't need a winch.

 

Doesn't surprise me about the insurance quotes. I did the same when my Land Rover LR3 was rear ended and shoved into a guardrail. I had a ARB front bumper with some minor rust (original owner had stripped and color match powder coated the bumper). They sent me to caliber, they low balled me bad. I took it to a Land Rover authorized body shop and They came back with $2k higher estimate. Caliber who was in their insurance's pocket depreciated by ARB bumper considerably due to rust. Like 90% depreciation. I argued back that the cost would be WAY higher without my ARB. We haggled for a bit and agreed to just under the estimate from my body shop pick. DO NOT SETTLE for less than what you think is fair. It took me about a month but I got what I wanted. I then bought front and rear bumpers from tactical rover and had them metalized (http://www.zincnation.com/) then when I received them they had them powder coated. They still look as nice as when I bought them. I highly recommend this process if you have the means. In the end I paid a extra $1k for both bumpers.

 

i would suggest taking a taking a deep breath and relax. this is relatively minor damage. believe it or not, most home and auto insurance companies are fair and follow the policy. they are stewards of the premiums they collect from all of us and like you and me, they don't want to pay more for something than is necessary.

the difference in cost estimates could be valid and explained. it is possible the 'affiliated' shops estimated what was visible, with the right to go back to the insurance company for a supplement if additional damage is found and/or additional labor is incurred. this is common.

the higher of the estimates could be because they included contingencies. this too is common.

i would treat it as an interview and choose the shop that has the best reputation and left the best impression on me. it wouldn't matter to me if it they were 'affiliated' with the insurance company or not.