well, it was gonna happen sooner or later. i was parallel parked in front of surin thailand in virginia highlands on sunday night for dinner with friends. when we were done, we came out, drove home, and parked my car for the night in my driveway. the next morning, i noticed this little beauty on the car. http://www.wrxatlanta.com/forums/album.php?u=817 called my insurance company and we're claiming it as a hit-and-run. anyway, i'm looking for the community's opinion. i can either: 1) take the easy route and go through allstate's system where i drop off my car at their approved body shop (which is Sterling Autobody Center at 2818 E Ponce de Leon Ave in Decatur) and they'll just take care of everything with the equivalent parts. OR 2) i can take my car to an allstate estimator. they'll give me the estimated value of the repairs. i take my car to anyone i want, where i'll ask them to possibly get a different front bumper body kit for my 04 wrx wagon. and then submit it for payment with my insurance. granted, i'm not sure if i can actually do this option, but i'll call allstate and check. in any case, #2 is contingent on good recommendation on who can do the work and the cost of the body kit. it would be nice to get one for the black wagon. you guys/gals got any recommendations on who can do the work and/or what cool kits for wagons that are out there. i'd still like to be able to use my fog lights. looking for folks that are bonded and insured to do this kinda work. thanks! alex
as suspected, i just checked with my insurance agent, and he said he's pretty sure that an aftermarket part would not be accepted given the liability/responsibility allstate would take for approving payment for that kind of installation. so back to option one.
i would really recommend autoglo for your repairs, they did mine and it looks great. They're also who SoG uses for their body work. I had a card, but I think I've already tossed it. They're located in Tucker, though.
as usual I would love to gut someone for that. Option 2 would be my choice. You typically get a check and can do what you want with it.
Option 2 shouldn't be out of the question. You should be able to pick the shop you want to do the work and get insurance to pay the price for new oem parts and the labor, and tell the shop to get such and such parts. Might have to pay extra out of pocket though if they cost more than oem.
thanks for the sympathy. while i'm at it... this weekend, i noticed that my wife's 06 legacy wagon seemed to have a slow leak on her front tire. took it in for a probable $20 tire repair... where i got the "the nail is in the sidewall" conclusion. doh. there's more to that story, but to make it quick... i'm out another $300 for a pair of 17 inch tires. what every happened to designing cars that looked good with 14 and 15 inch rims? my dad's old datsun 240z looked great with them.