plz help, crash estimate?

[kamkamdac]

I would appreciate some quick advice. crooked dealer or me just being paranoid?

got rear ended 2 weeks ago by a bmw, low speeds, more of a fender bender. took the bike apart to asses damage and only noticed a slightly bend tail light bracket and a small dent in my rear rim which took most of the force. checked the sub-frame with a level and from what i could tell all is good.

I had to take it to a repair shop and to get an official estimate of damages for the insurance company and heres what happened. there repair estimate was just under 7,000 dollars and was mostly comprised of over 10 new high priced parts that were clearly not damaged in the accident and had no sign of damage period. rear shock, new plastic (even though they didnt have a scratch on them), new rotor and caliper, and even a bran new frame was on the list even though they told me they couldn't tell if it was bent or not. but thats not all, they determined this with out removing a single piece from the bike. i had marked all the bolts on the bike and not one of them had been touched, they didn't even remove the plastics. on top of that they told me it would take 2 hours at 90per/hr and charged me 180 even though they finished the job in just under an hr.

I personally think they barely looked at the bike and then just started writing down random parts. they said i needed a new rear shock but you cant even see the thing without at least taking the plastics off, and im looking at it and theres not a mark on it.

so what do you guys thing. if they quoted 180 but finished in half the time do i still pay 180. is it common to replace undamaged parts after an accident just to be safe. im prepairing to have a rather unpleasant conversation with the shop when they open in a few hrs but if you guys think this is normal stop me now.

[zlatan]

that sounds like some shady bullshit to me. you should have a talk with them before they order any of the parts or start any of the work and make sure youre ok with it. as for the 2 hours, if thats what it says in the shop manual and thats what they quoted than thats what you have to pay if they want. just because their mechanic is quick due to experience or carelessness doesnt change the fact that they can charge the 2 hrs if they want.

[arsenic]

You don't pay for a damn thing. The driver at faults insurance does. That's why they do that. They estimate the damage high as hell. No one is going to argue. Then they do next to nothing to your bike and take the insurance pay out.

[zlatan]

yes that as well you were rear ended...you dont have to pay anything

[kamkamdac]

that sounds like some shady bullshit to me. you should have a talk with them before they order any of the parts or start any of the work and make sure youre ok with it. as for the 2 hours, if thats what it says in the shop manual and thats what they quoted than thats what you have to pay if they want. just because their mechanic is quick due to experience or carelessness doesnt change the fact that they can charge the 2 hrs if they want.

one thing i didnt mention, they were doing crash estimates on 2 bikes, mike and another person. they worked on the other bike for an 1hr and 15min then spend 45min on my bike, eyeballed it for a wile, didnt remove a thing, then quickly typed up what to me is a bunch off crap. its not that the mechanic finished early, i dont think he did anything in the first place.

and yes they insurance compaly is going to reemburse me, its just the principal of the matter.

[arsenic]

You are not paying for it. They can say anything they want needs to be replaced. You should see all the bikes I've seen that have been totaled out over nothing.

[maniac1886]

Sounds like another shady mechanic. I would suck it up and pay the man, keep the receipt for reimbursement and get a second opinion. That sounds like alot of damage for a low speed fender bender. I can tell you right now, if the damage is $7,000 worth of damage, you can kiss that bike goodbye because the insurance company is going to total it.

[rschlegel]

I don't think its right but the Katana gets totaled easily because of its low value. Since you can't hardly sell them for any $ take the payout but contest the valuation and try to get it bumped up. Then buy the bike back and salvage title it. Put some money into it and some in your pocket.

[ThAzKat]

Arsenic is correct, and on the flip side, if you were at fault the estimate wouldn't even cover what really is damaged.
I would take it to a few shops and have estimates done in this case.

[kamkamdac]

what bothering me is that this bike is in beautiful condition, only 15k miles, plastics dont have a scratch on them (though in the estimate they said i needed all brand new plastics) and I dont want this bike totaled, it has alot of sentamental value. besides, even though the insurance company put a value of 1500 dolars which is awsome, in my area you cant buy crap for that. the other day i was looking at bikes and a dealerhip was trying to sell me a 1995 cbr 600 with 54k miles that had been crashed so many times it was hard not to find a borken part on the bike, including broken and rewelded engines parts... they wanted 2 thousand for it.

im also woried about them totaling it for unjust resons and then me not being able to buy it back. ive heard stories about insurance companies auchioning it off t the hiest bidder instead of selling it back to the original owner.

[ThAzKat]

what bothering me is that this bike is in beautiful condition, only 15k miles, plastics dont have a scratch on them (though in the estimate they said i needed all brand new plastics) and I dont want this bike totaled, it has alot of sentamental value. besides, even though the insurance company put a value of 1500 dolars which is awsome, in my area you cant buy crap for that. the other day i was looking at bikes and a dealerhip was trying to sell me a 1995 cbr 600 with 54k miles that had been crashed so many times it was hard not to find a borken part on the bike, including broken and rewelded engines parts... they wanted 2 thousand for it.

im also woried about them totaling it for unjust resons and then me not being able to buy it back. ive heard stories about insurance companies auchioning it off t the hiest bidder instead of selling it back to the original owner.

Talk to the dealership and explain that. If they won't work with you, take the bike else where.
I took my bike to a dealership for a quote for a SUV backing into the front, pushed the bike back 2 feet but only damaged the fender. The dealer wrote it off as just a new fender.
I also worked for a dealership and wrote claims myself, a good dealership will work with you if you talk to them. If they don't, like I said, go else where.

[zlatan]

+1 EXACTLY what he said

[Kreylyn]

The simple answer here is... the insurance company CANT do anything you don't agree too.


If you tell them your not going to give up the bike, then they have no choice but to work around it. They are reimbursing YOU... this is not something your buying from them, or required to sell!


As for totaled aspect... replacement of just the parts you mentioned were damaged is probably going put the bike in the range of being totaled by the insurance company. Sorry.


Krey

[kamkamdac]

update, just for closure.

insurance company inspected the bike and knew the estimate was bogus. they approved a second estimate, damages came to around 1500. insurance company assigned a value of 2300 to my bike (I have no idea how) and decided to pay for repairs instead of totaling it. all in all thinks turned out ok.

thanks for listing to my venting and thanks for the feedback.

[maniac1886]

Another Kat lives!