Safelite screwed up....bad

So our insurance said since repairs were done, there isn't much they can do at this point.  We can take the car and have it looked over by a shop of our choice to verify the repairs were done properly which we will.  Apparently diminished value stuff is a whole different adjuster and department at state farm.  So I didn't make any progress with that.  So for now I'm taking the car to my garage and storing it there until I can setup up at least one, possibly a second shop to inspect and verify the nature of the repairs done.

In reply to camopaint0707 :

It will be very tough to get diminished value from your insurance company, that will need to come from Safelites insurance company.

Steve_Jones said:

In reply to camopaint0707 :

It will be very tough to get diminished value from your insurance company, that will need to come from Safelites insurance company.

That's if safelite went through insurance and didn't just pay direct for the repair.  

In reply to No Time :

You can file it with their insurance company, it's a claim by itself. Probably not worth the hassle as it's a % of repair cost, so might be $200 at most anyway.

Possible future options worth as much as I've been paid to provide them but:

Call your insurance and now claim that your car was damaged by safetlite and start this as a claim, those are still awful picture but doesn't look like the weld completely seels up the crack, can you tell if they took the dash out to seal it up from behind?

Take to Toyota have evaluate as a trade in offer, if it states a diminished value, sue safelite for it in small claims court?

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Makes sense, I wasn't think of the finished value as a new claim. 

johndej said:

Take to Toyota have evaluate as a trade in offer, if it states a diminished value, sue safelite for it in small claims court?

That's 100% a waste of time. No insurance company cares what a random Toyota dealer thinks. Diminished value will be a percent of the repair cost, nothing more. Its not a "real" damage as it only matters if and when you trade/sell the vehicle. If you sell it in 10 years with 300k miles, did you get less because of this issue? How much less? With a $1000 repair bill, you might get $500 and they're going to want a diminished value experts (yes they exist) report which usually is $400 or so. 
 

what happened sucks, but trying to get a big payout for DV or gas money will only drive you crazy. 

I think I misunderstood some of the earlier pictures. I thought the cut was through the top edge of the firewall into the interior cabin space.

Now it looks like a folded flange toward the engine bay. Is that right?

If so, then it probably wasn't necessary to pull the dash, and the repair probably wasn't structural.

I'd hate for you to spend a bunch of money, time and aggravation fighting a fight with lawyers that wasn't necessary or likely to lead to much satisfaction. 
 

Short summary... if it's a flange bent toward the engine bay, you aren't gonna get much satisfaction. Don't waste your time. Get it fixed and move on. If it's through the firewall, fight like hell. 

They did not pull the dash for that price. Dash R&I takes at least 6-8 hrs on modern cars. 

I'd rate that an 'okay' repair, but not necessarily pre-loss. Pre-loss condition means returning it to the same appearance as before this happened. If you can see panel bond or pieces of welding wire, that is a no.

Panel bond is amazing stuff, and can fix a lot of problems. But, it can also be a tech's "duct tape" solution.

There is probably no published procedure for a repair like that from Toyota. Cowl damage is pretty rare. At best, there is probably some generic guidelines based on the type of metal used there. A Toyota dealership will not have some magical knowledge. Maybe if they have their own body shop. Maybe if there is a local shop with a Toyota certification. 

Every area has that one shop that hates insurance companies. In this rare case, one of those militant shops may be your best bet because they spend (waste?) hours of their time researching repair processes to try to pinch out another dollar from the insurers. Some shops even offer post-repair assessments so they can get a "do-over" job and charge 2x what the original job cost. They love to go to court. They see themselves as saviours for the consumer. I personally can't stand them and think they cause more harm than good to the customer but for something like this they might be worth a consult. DO NOT, however, sign any repair order with them or leave your car on their premises. They WILL hold it hostage and charge daily storage, and won't care if it's you that gets stuck with the bill. 

Funny i hear everyone saying "take it to a Toyota body shop" and to me thats a terrible piece of advice.  Dealer body shops, at least in my experience, are trained in getting a turd polished up good enough to hit the lot or fixing a scratched bumper when Susie Q Homemaker smacks the side of the garage with her minivan.  They don't do serious body work.  

I made the mistake of taking my Land Cruiser to Toyota after an illegal immigrant with no paperwork (license, plates, insurance, etc) sideswiped me.  The repaint from the dealer was about the worst you can imagine.  Hard tape lines, overspray, dirt, taped over stickers vs replacing them, and they cracked a tail light taking it apart.  They had to redo it of course, but it was a fight.  Their body shop manager stated it was "as good as they ever do" and "it meets factory spec"  I asked him to show me a new vehicle with hard tape lines and masked off stickers and then he redid it.  But seriously berkeley Don Jacobs Toyota in Milwaukee, WI.  I did have a bit of fun though.  They gave me a rental while they were redoing my Land Cruiser, all on their dime.  I took their brand new Highlander on a 3000 mile road trip for work - orchestrated it on purpose with one of our sales managers to put 1700 lbs in the back of it and drive it all over the midwest.  They were a bit outraged but there was no mile restriction on the paperwork they gave me so berkeley em.  

Then my wifes Jeep Wrangler (3k mile Rubicon 4xe, a $75k vehicle) got rear ended.  Took it to the selling dealer's body shop.  They replaced the rear bumper cover, and the replacement had more scuffs and scratches than the one they took off.  Brand new part from Jeep, installed by Ray Charles himself.  Should have had him autograph it.  Took a huge runaround from the shop, went up there got my check back -fortunately not cashed - told the manager he can berkeley right off - and installed an OEM cover from Quaratech.  

So yeah in short - just because the body shop has "Toyota" or "Jeep" as part of the name, doesnt mean they are any better than the dust breathers at the corner chop shop.  Probably worse.  

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

There are bad players in every business sector, but I can't agree with your sweeping generalization about dealer body shops. 
 

I just finished a 3 month remodeling project of a Toyota body shop, and got to watch their shop work in detail the entire time. 30 bays plus 6 bays for paint. I was SUPER impressed with the quality of the work throughout.  There were a couple times I saw some things I didn't understand (like butt welding without backer) and when I asked, the correct Toyota repair procedures were explained to me in detail (That's in a crumple zone, and the recommended procedure is to NOT add backer reinforcement).

I saw nothing but excellent workmanship, even when the "right"way to do the job was much more difficult. They even stayed on top of fumes, etc generated by our construction activities to make sure we didn't cause fisheyes in their paint finishes. Every tech has solid training and knew his E36 M3. 
 

You'll never get service like that from an independent shop ( pretty sure your Land Cruiser would not have gotten repainted at an indy shop)

I finally had a chance to look at the pictures on my computer instead of a phone or tablet  and to take the time to really understand what I'm seeing.  Or, at least I think I understand.

It looks like they cut off the flange that extends into the cowl area the supports the bottom of the windshield and that the repair made was to bend it back into place and weld the seam.

If I'm understanding the situation correctly I'd have someone clean up the bottom of the weld enough to get some paint on there and then paint it to prevent corrosion. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it.  It's not going to be visible when the windshield is installed and the weld will be strong enough to support the bottom of the windshield as it should.

re: Toyota dealership shops (or dealer shops in general)

I have real knowledge on this because I worked for one. Twice. While it rates as probably the worst employment experience of my life, the quality (or lack of) has nothing to do with the fact it is a dealership shop. We had some top level techs, and also did the work for the local Mercedes and Volvo dealers who didn't have their own. We had all the latest and greatest equipment. When we had quality issues, it came down to two things:  one painter who didn't give a F, and the fact it was a volume shop. Get 'em in, get 'em out. THAT aspect is pretty true of most any dealership shop, which is why I generally don't recommend them. But some do hold themselves to a pretty high standard. It depends wholly on the ownership and management of the shop and entire facility. The local VW/Audi dealership shop was probably one of the best in my area until all the good guys retired. It's now just average. Our Toyota shop could do a perfect repair, or not, depending on who it was assigned to. And we did try to assign the more difficult jobs to the better techs. 

I always say that independent shops (not chains like Caliber) are the best because the owner's name is usually on the building and he doesn't have car sales and service to back him up.  Most are generally good and more conscientious...and others clearly are not.

There is no rigid rule you can make about body shops. Always do your research before picking one, even if it's recommended by your insurer.

In reply to SV reX :

I can't agree with your sweeping generalization of independent body shops...

In reply to Peabody :

That's fair.  I shouldn't have said it quite that way. 

SV reX said:

You'll never get service like that from an independent shop ( pretty sure your Land Cruiser would not have gotten repainted at an indy shop)

y tho.  

And more fun I forgot.  This was a Whole Thing(tm)  So I had a written estimate from Don Jacobs to replace the stickers, replace a piece of trim, and a few other odds n ends.  The guy who did the initial estimate did not add in an alignment check or to check the rear wheel for true-ness since the sideswipe did encompass the rear wheel but we got that added.  So when the vehicle came back to me with the original stickers masked and the trim not replaced, I asked them why they were billing insurance for parts and work that wasn't being performed, as it was on the RO and the bill but not performed.  

Since the obligation of insurance is to return the vehicle to "pre-collision condition", and taped off decals and hard edges are not "pre-collision condition" it was a pretty easy discussion with Progressive to get them to start swinging their stick.  

Happily I've found a good body shop, who sadly have worked on way too many of my cars.  They're about to do hail repair on my 200 series Land Cruiser.  While they have an insurance side, they also do bare metal restorations of old Porsches that are worth upwards of $30 million dollars.  So the paint work I get back on my pedestrian cars is really quite good.  lol....

In reply to docwyte :

30 million dollar Porsche? 

In reply to lnlogauge :

Cubic dollars are worth different from regular dollars 

Plan this week...have two different not safelite affiliated body shops look at the car.  Get their opinion on the repairs, if they were done correctly, etc.

camopaint0707 said:

Plan this week...have two different not safelite affiliated body shops look at the car.  Get their opinion on the repairs, if they were done correctly, etc.

That seems like a good plan

I think the question is has the structural integrity of the cars safety system been compromised by the repair. I know that in some cars that the windshield works with the airbag. This is a question for Toyota.  It is also a question for your insurance company.  I would also want to know from Toyota what the factory recommended repair is. If what was done is ok and insurance is ok with it and will insure the vehicle with the repair I would not worry about it.  Just get answers to those questions in wrighting. 
 

In reply to lnlogauge :

Yes.  3  liter RSR's, one of a kind 911 R (OG one, not recently released one), etc, etc.  At any given moment there'll be $100 million dollars of old Porsches there, from IROC cars to 2.7RS's to 4 cam speedsters, etc, etc

So update.  Both bodys shops came back over $5000 for repairs.  Both even said, heating the structural metal could have severe consequences.  Ie from welding it.  I told safelite this and they said that the shops were incorrect.  I then had my lawyer reach out to them while I was listening in which he point blank said, "if safelite refuses they we will file a lawsuit for negligence, fraud, and seek punitive damages as well.  Every safelite repair will be under question especially ones where you outsource body repairs.  Should your employees be deposed you'll be forced to hire lawyers for all of them, I'll file an injunction on all the repairs shops under your umbrella citing your negligent business practices and blatant disregard for customer safety.  It will costs safelite thousands of dollars and likely several peoples jobs.  Or you can use your insurance to cover these damages you willingly admitted your employees caused, cover the rental car, and we can move past this"

In reply to camopaint0707 :

Damn. I want your lawyer on my side!