It figures that this would happen right when I finally pay off the Accord...

[Dreamacre]

So sorry to see this. Did you get checked out by a Dr.?

Hope you feel better.

[ElectricFuzz]

What's the story behind the accident? Were you at a dead stop in bumper to bumper traffic?

[ikethegreat]

I felt okay after the accident but went to the ER the next morning when I woke up and could hardly move my neck and had a stiff back. The x-rays came back negative (thank God) and I've been doing physical therapy which is helping a lot.

I was in the middle lane of a three lane highway. Traffic was heavy and I was at a complete stop. The truck driver behind me wasn't paying attention and rammed into me, pushing me into the car in front of me.

[G Stone]

Originally Posted by ikethegreat

I felt okay after the accident but went to the ER the next morning when I woke up and could hardly move my neck and had a stiff back. The x-rays came back negative (thank God) and I've been doing physical therapy which is helping a lot.

Sounds almost exactly how I felt after my accident. You don't really feel it the first day but after that it get's worse. I wouldn't be surprised if it got worse after a week, mine did. Glad you got a lawyer; very smart decision.

The insurance co. may throw a low-ball settlement number at your lawyers soon so watch for that. They want you to sign off on everything for a small piece of change. Don't do it until you see how your injuries progress. Best of luck Joe Flacco, I mean, Ike The Great.

[cdfive.]

Damn, glad you were able to walk away from that other than having a stiff neck/back.

[nochamars]

Originally Posted by ikethegreat

Thanks guys.

Ideally I would like to trade it in once I get it back but after just purchasing a new house I can't afford another car payment. I'll just have to do my best to make sure the repairs are done correctly and live with it.

Please don't finance another car and make payments...i made the biggest mistake doing it....got screwed over pretty bad. Trying to pay of my 09 accord and still have 16,000 to pay it off ....ughhh....i should have just bought a used accord...never am i making the mistake of financing a car again. Got screwed really bad. Just drive the car you have once it is fixed....

[reframmellator]

Originally Posted by nochamars

Please don't finance another car and make payments...i made the biggest mistake doing it....got screwed over pretty bad. Trying to pay of my 09 accord and still have 16,000 to pay it off ....ughhh....i should have just bought a used accord...never am i making the mistake of financing a car again. Got screwed really bad. Just drive the car you have once it is fixed....

The poster has a point. If you can put some money back each month, in 6-12 months you can probably sell the one you have and get into something else without payments. Keep putting money away, repeat, and you can move up the food chain pretty quickly, especially since Hondas don't depreciate as fast as other makes.

[MM49]

Sad but true that's repairable but I'm surprised insurance company didn't call it "total" since cost is too much I would've seriously tried getting the cash from them. Anyway the good thing is I don't see anything that was damaged that has to do with how the car drives

[CKNSLS]

As someone else mentioned, they have come a long way in repairing unibody cars. A good body shop can put this thing back together so well, even the owner wouldn't know it was in an accident.

I mean, they use lasers to line things back up. It's not like "back in the day" when a car repaired could be seen not tracking correctly and looked like it was going down the road sideways. We all probably have seen this, but these days it just means a rush and cheap job by someone who doesn't have insurance.

The biggest problem the OP is gonna have, is either when he sells it to a dealer or a private party. The dealer's used car guy WILL KNOW it's been in an accident (most are that good) but the private party will not know. So-does he disclose to a private party the accident? that's the thing here.

[ikethegreat]

Update:

The body shop called me today and asked if I received the check from the insurance company yet. I told them yes and they asked me to drop it off.... uhhhh what? I told them I wasn't going to pay until the work was finished and done to my satisfaction. Well the owner of the shop was not happy about that and told me he I should trust him and that he would have never accepted the job if he had known I wasn't going to pay first. Seriously?! Who pays for car repairs BEFORE the work is done? He called me back a few minutes later and told me he decided not to do the work if I wasn't planning to pay first. Needless to say I'm taking it elsewhere. Sigh...

[Dreamacre]

Originally Posted by ikethegreat

Update:

The body shop called me today and asked if I received the check from the insurance company yet. I told them yes and they asked me to drop it off.... uhhhh what? I told them I wasn't going to pay until the work was finished and done to my satisfaction. Well the owner of the shop was not happy about that and told me he I should trust him and that he would have never accepted the job if he had known I wasn't going to pay first. Seriously?! Who pays for car repairs BEFORE the work is done? He called me back a few minutes later and told me he decided not to do the work if I wasn't planning to pay first. Needless to say I'm taking it elsewhere. Sigh...

Stick to your guns.

He would have gotten the check then figured out what corners he could cut to increase his profit. if this was a body shop that your insurance company pointed you to, make sure you let the insurance company know what happened.

[G Stone]

Originally Posted by ikethegreat

Update:

The body shop called me today and asked if I received the check from the insurance company yet. I told them yes and they asked me to drop it off.... uhhhh what? I told them I wasn't going to pay until the work was finished and done to my satisfaction. Well the owner of the shop was not happy about that and told me he I should trust him and that he would have never accepted the job if he had known I wasn't going to pay first. Seriously?! Who pays for car repairs BEFORE the work is done? He called me back a few minutes later and told me he decided not to do the work if I wasn't planning to pay first. Needless to say I'm taking it elsewhere. Sigh...

What a crock!!! The guy is scum-bag and should be put out of business. Dreamacre stated it right, the guy was going to pocket all he could while still fixing the car. Is this the body shop your local Honda dealer recommends?

[ElectricFuzz]

Originally Posted by ikethegreat

Update:

The body shop called me today and asked if I received the check from the insurance company yet. I told them yes and they asked me to drop it off.... uhhhh what? I told them I wasn't going to pay until the work was finished and done to my satisfaction. Well the owner of the shop was not happy about that and told me he I should trust him and that he would have never accepted the job if he had known I wasn't going to pay first. Seriously?! Who pays for car repairs BEFORE the work is done? He called me back a few minutes later and told me he decided not to do the work if I wasn't planning to pay first. Needless to say I'm taking it elsewhere. Sigh...

I definitely wouldn't trust the quality of work from a shop with an owner with that kind of an attitude.

But there are instances where a shop starts work after they receive payment. This is usually only when the insurance company (and not you) deals with the shop. The shop gives a quote to the insurance company, the insurance company pays (or declines), and the shop begins work.

[cdseven95]

I own a shop.. No way I would take that car in without any form of payment. I wouldn't make you pay it all up front but I am not going to put 12k of work into a car worth around that and getting stuck with it.. Its normal protocol.. Small jobs (sub 1k) are different. Or say the car was worth 25k and had 10k in damage... I would do all the work upfront no problem... But not 12k worth of work on a car worth about that.

The other way to do it, is the insurance company can cancel the check they sent you and you can authorized them to pay the shop directly..



Withholding payment will not work either way.. Say we had a disagreement on the work performed and you refused to pay... I would just keep the car under "mechanics lien" and charge you per day storage. Say you called the police, they couldn't take the car back for you.... At that point it is a civil matter... You would need to take it to court.. Big amounts like this are above the maximum for small claims, so its kind of a big deal/ pain to do this... You could wait months without a car, stacking up $40 a day storage fees. If you lost you would be out storage fees, court cost, lawyer fees, etc...


PS BTW I have never had anyone withhold payment because of work quality... But I have been stuck with some cars when they spent the insurance money on something else.





CLIFFS
Withholding payment doesn't work in this case
Have the insurance company pay direct
The insurance company has more power than you

[CKNSLS]

When I have taken my car in for body work (more than once) the check isn't cut to the body shop until I sign off on it. Don't know how it works elsewhere, but it so happens one the the best body shops around that I use is authorized by my particular insurance company.

The minimum I would pay in advance is HALF-then half again after I sign off.

The process is way too complicated to pay it up front.

I am currently having a paving stone patio and aluminum patio cover installed at my home. I paid 30% up front (to get on the schedule) and the rest upon completion.

Where is your leverage if you pay up front?