Unfortunately, we had an accident that involved our new G sedan (3.5 months old). There is considerable damage in the front and the air bags were deployed. Fortunately, there were no critical injuries.
I wanted to ask the forum what the best procedure is to follow?
Currently the car has been towed to a local body shop. I am calling my insurance today.
The body shop told me today that the car is definitely not totaled. However the costs would be around 12-16k.
In MA the law is that if cost of repair is over 75% of value, then it is considered totaled.
-Should I get it repaired at the local body shop - or body shop specified by the insurance company
- Local dealer has a collission center also.
- What happens to the warranty if it is repaired, is it still valid?
- other options etc. to deal with this most effectively.

Any help/input/comments/thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
Phishman

 

Ouch... glad you're safe tho man.

in terms of the body shop, if he's going to do a quote make sure it's a final quote because a lot of times body shops try to add more to the list cause of "unforseen complications." the beauty of the insurance recommended guys is the insurance company gets to pay whatever their appraisers say. the down side is that the insurance company doesn't always do the best job. You can check the yelp and see what other people have been saying about the body shop. the work is only as good as the people behind it.

what does the damage entail?

I think the warranty only covers the original equipment. the replacement items have their own warranty. so the repairs won't affect your overall warranty, just the parts that are being repaired.

yeah that sucks... the damage doesn't activate gap coverage nor is it considered a total loss... I hope the damage isn't huge cause man brand new car.... sadness....

 

glad you are okay... honestly, a lot of things will be out of warranty now... i.e... window motors don't work.... it won't be covered in case someone does not install it properly.

Things happen but you're safe

 

Sounds like a bad accident. Glad you were driving a G and all the safety systems functioned properly. Sometimes people forget the pain and suffering they've avoided because the car gave it up and protected them. To answer your questions:
-You should get estimates from both a body shop of your choice and ones that are insurance approved. Make sure they are using genuine Nissan parts to make the repair.
-Dealers have body shops, but rarely--IMHO--have they provided any advantages in cost or time of repair.
-Your bumper-to-bumper warranty remains in effect.
-Not many other options to discuss; unless your shunt damaged the engine or bent the firewall on the FM chassis its unlikely to result in a total.

One last thing to keep in mind--the paint repair on the body sections affected by the crash will not have the scratch shield paint on them any longer.

 

One thing to keep in mind when looking for a body shop, is to make sure they can repair the self-healing clear coat that the G37 has. I would also check with your dealership to see if they can refer you to a Infiniti certified body shop.

 

sorry I take it back. it's not going to be the same as the self healing but I guess it's designed to be flexible.

there's an ITB for paint combinations to get the "self healing" aspect restored.

 

Appreciate all the responses and the support guys!
Thanks!

 

Make sure whoever you go with uses original parts. If you go outside of an Infiniti dealer, look for Penske repair centers...my brother has used them before and had very good success. Also, call a local Ferrari dealer and ask where they send their cars...those are also good places to check out!

 

What about appraising/estimating the damages. Is it a good idea to have a private appraiser estimate it before/after the insurance guys estimate the damage?

 

The appraisal is not a final number. If more damage is discovered as they are fixing it, the insurance company should cover it as well. They will just want to approve it before it is fixed. Hopefully you will have a good adjuster and he will work well with whatever shop you take it too. The big thing will be whether the adjusters numbers for each item are in line with the shop you choose. If not you may have to fight to justify the higher amounts or cover the difference yourself.

 

Does anyone know of a good repair shop in the Boston area?.....The infiniti dealership has a body shop (actually they have a bunch of dealerships and they have a body shop along with their Nissan dealership)....I also think they are on the referral list of my insurance provider.
I think that's the best bet at this moment.....

 

That might be a really good choice. You should be able to go to the same place for any problems, original equipment warranty or new.

 

hey man VERY sorry to see this happen to you but most important thing is that you're ok.

same thing happened to me in 2005...i got my brand new g35 coupe and 7 weeks later i got t-boned and airbags deployed. damage was around 16k but i kept taking it back for stuff until it reached 22k. your car will not be close to getting totaled unfortunately.

DO NOT go to infiniti's body shop, especially if its with nissan. thats the first place i went to and ended up taking it back 2 more times for things they damaged that wasnt even part of the accident. after fighting with the insurance company i finally got them to let me go to another shop. it was a mess, but after 8 months i finally got my car back. but then 2 years later i discovered they never changed my subframe and was planning to reopen the case cuz even they screwed me over. body shops are dirty, be VERY careful.

as for warranty the body shop should have a lifetime guarantee on their work and your factory warranty shouldnt be affected.

good luck with everything! feel free to pm me with any questions/advice