TeamSorad

iTrader: (2)

Anyone ever hear of this? I have geico and claimed some pretty bad rock chip damage on my 04 CTS V. they repainted the front clip, replaced my windshield (pissed non gm) replaced the lower turn/fogs with gm, and the top grill. But won't replace my headlights and he said he is looking at the bottom grill. (which they said my grills are aftermarket)

So I have been fighting with geico for a couple of weeks now because they are only replacing some parts on my front end. They are trying to say that my car is 10yrs old and has 115 so the parts they are replacing are already damaged so they are doing me a favor and not charging me insurance betterment. So basically they are replacing my used parts (ie painted, grill, lights) that have "normal damage" with new parts. If that makes sense, They said they will not replace the headlights even though they have been buffed and there is still rock damage to them. I would have to buy one and they would buy the other, even though I have already paid my 500 ded.

I am confused why I am paying full coverage to not have damage replaced on my vehicle? Maybe I am not understanding and being unreasonable? This makes me kinda concerned that if I get in a real accident they will try to pull the same thing. Of course my car has normal wear but the damage I am claiming is not normal

Bacon

What were you driving behind that caused such bad rock chip damage and why didnt you pull off to the side of the road to get away from it?

If youre speaking of normal rock chip damage on the front of your car from 10yrs of driving, im surprised the insurance company would give you a nickle. Thats just normal wear and tear.

DACTARI

iTrader: (1)

Damn dude, why so harsh? Sometimes you can't avoid it.

OP, they are essentially saying that your car is old and that if they replace the parts that will result in you having a car that is more valuable than it was before the rock chip damage. This is a standard thing in insurance. This is also why people tend to switch to liability only insurance as their cars get older.

I tend to stay away from making claims unless absolutely neccessary because making a claim almost always results in your rates being reset higher.

TeamSorad

iTrader: (2)

It was from the gravel trucks in seattle during the winter. The damage I am talking about isn't normal wear and tear, it was bad enough to put 2 cracks in my windshield and have some pretty big paint chips in the front in. Also damage my driving lights.

ITSAV

iTrader: (1)

i'd fight it, if they want to go around and find you a used headlight that has no damage than fine they can do that.......but if they can't find one, than they need to replace it. They are supposed to put your car back in at least the same condition it was in, if they cant do that, than they have to do better, not worse. Just to be an ***, I'd also point out the car isn't 10 years old, its only 9, and still push for it to be fixed.....

Just to give you an idea I have an 05 cts-v that got remote started into a corner of a building and a 10 ft sheet of glass, the glass collapsed on top of the car, they had to repair/repaint my hood, I upgraded to ec at that time, and they ended up having to repaint my front fenders replace bumper, and repaint the entire roof, and both front doors, due to the chips......I also pointed out chips on my headlight from the glass hitting it, and they replaced that with a brand new headlight, tried to get them to replace the other headlight, but couldn't find any chips.....

...keep in mind these were glass chips probably a lot smaller than your rock chips, and it was still replaced

Good luck

kl2onik

iTrader: (3)

I'd have them cut a check and do it myself. I have done that many times. If you are going to hack up your rates at least win money in the process to break even on better. A bumper/fog/all grill/windshield replacement is quoted im sure over 3 gs. I could buy all that crap for probably around a g if you look around and another 300 to paint. You just got yourself 2gs) Then take your beat parts resell them and make another 500 back)

TeamSorad

iTrader: (2)

I took "advantage" of their express deal where I just drop my car off and they handle everything. Worst mistake ever. Obviously I understand that my car has normal driving chips but what they are saying by "betterment" for example my bumper has normal wear and bad chip damage so they did me a favor for not charging me for that. Ie 200 for bumper paint I pay 50 to their 150 cause my car is in a "better" state because it is new now. Same for the headlights, I would have to pay 50% at over 1k each. He replaced my grill as favor without "betterment" same as the other parts but won't replace my head lights

piening2150

iTrader: (1)

That's a bunch of crap. I rear ended my wife's van not long ago (don't ask). My front end had tons of "normal" rock chips from the previous owner. Every single part on my car that was damaged in the accident was replaced with brand new OEM parts. However, they would have only paid for used/refurbished parts had they been able to find them. I still ended up with significant out of pocket cost though since I didn't want one new/one old headlight or old chipped up hood/fenders to go with my shiny new bumper and grille

NyteSnyper

Being a body shop manager I can tell you from experience that you may not get very far in this situation. You may look into your state laws to see if betterment is even legal, but I know here in TX, it is - but I rarely see it. The only time I ever see any company put a betterment on something would be a 5yr old battery or worn out tires for general examples.

I can tell you that around here, the Geico people claim that they are a "low cost insurance provider" and therefore their customers can expect a "low cost" payout for their repairs. I don't necessarily agree with this, but most people don't put the effort or time into doing legal battle with a company as large as they are. More power to ya for putting up the good fight - but it sounds like unless you're ready to go to war and spend alot of time/money fighting them - that you may get the short end of the stick on this one.

TeamSorad

iTrader: (2)

I talked to the body shop manager this afternoon after talking to the geico guy about my car. He said they will not replace the headlights and ended up not replacing the lower grill which doesn't make sense to me since it was in worse shape. The shop manager said he could see rock damage to the lower grill and rebuffing the headlights didn't take out the bad rock damages

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

In all reality, you are lucky they are doing anything. It is a **** situation, but it is the way it is when dealing with insurance. They are a business, and like every other business, they are watching their bottom line.

My thoughts on why you are having issues...you have no proof that the damage is not normal wear damage on a 100k+ mile 9 year old car. You can say that the damage was cause recently by gravel trucks, but unless you have proof of that, than your insurance provider wins. They can always say that if it was gravel truck, why did you not stop the truck and get their information for causing the damage. And therefore, they can say it appears that it is normal wear for a car of it age and miles. The other problem you may run into, is that if you keep pushing to have things fixed, they insurance my just total out the car.

TeamSorad

iTrader: (2)

I seriously doubt I have to prove anything, we are not in court and even then there is good faith that I am telling the truth. As I stated earlier there is clearly differences in the "normal" rock chips and the other rock damage that I am claiming. Maybe I am just wrong but I don't get how if I am paying full coverage insurance how my car can not be fixed, esp with the information I have posted. How do you repair some rock damage but not the other? ie replaced my upper grill and I'm suppose to be happy because it "looks good" doesn't matter if the bottom one still has damage.

We are not talking about a geo metro here, this is my well maintained CTS V. I'm not rich, I have my 01 Civic that I commute in with liability that I am also paying for.

Zlow28

iTrader: (11)

How about post some pics. Damage can be pretty irrelative in some cases.