Our daughters’ car was hit in the left rear quarter panel, and the person ran. The ins co determined she was not at fault (duh!). They have seemed quite nice except they did not fix the gas gauge. They now have her going to the dealer to determine if it was broken before the accident - sounds like hog wash to me. Is it possible to determine that or are they trying to scam a nice young lady and trying to get out of paying an additional $600 that their recommended repair shop missed?
It is quite possible that any electronic component would be damaged by the shock of a collision, especially if it is at the rear of the car. Demand that it gets fixed now at their expense. Are you dealing with your insurer or directly with the other guy’s insurer? If it is the latter, call your insurer for advise. Maybe they will call the other insurer fir a frank discussion if the issues.
Thank you. We are only dealing with our ins co, since it was a hit and run. So I have been gathering info to back us up - we deal with the site manager on Monday! Thanks again!
Had a similar problem long ago. My insurance company said I should just send a letter to their insurance company (preferably by an attorney on my behalf). The case was settled before I did that, but the advice is still good. You may have to pay $50-100 to an attorney, but it may be worth it in the long run.
Thanks for the good advice! And less than the repair!
What am I missing? The OP said it was a hit and run collision, there IS no other insurance company to send a letter to.
I would go through the drill. I assume the insurance company will be billed for the inspection, since they are the ones demanding it. I think a clear statement, “the gas gauge worked properly the last time I filled up before the accident” would be advisable to the service writer or mechanic. I am not sure how the dealer can verify if the item was/was not working properly, particularly if he has never seen the car before.
I’d look for another insurance company. My insurer wouldn’t nickel and dime me like this.
Thank you to all - I fired the dealer based on their comment “we normally try to err on the side of the customer but when dealing with ins co if we told them it was due to an accident every time we would loose their business”, then they admitted they could not say one way or the other. I “did the drill” and found a friend of a friend who is an excellent mechanic, he looked underneath the car and commented WOW she really got whalloped. He could see scratches where the gas tank had scrapped underneath the car, due to the accident impact - “there is no other way it would have moved THAT much”. He reccommended a licensed, certified, etc. repair shop that was able to inform the ins co that it was definitely due to the accident. They are paying for the repair, the eval from the dealer, and the rental car! Also they had asked for an online survey eval on “how are we doing” (I blasted them) and I have been contacted by their office and we are also hammering out the left rear speaker not working - it worked before the body work was done, but does not work now… keep your fingers crossed!