Toyota: ACCIDENT: 2004 Corolla body repair advice appreciated.

I assume you have insurance. I would start off at a Toyota body shop.
They will use Toyota parts and be most expensive. Then your insurance
company will send you some where and the first thing I would do is
show them the Toyota estimate. It is like negotiating starting at
MSRP instead of invoice price. They will have to defend their lower
estimate. In my experience they won't bother. Even if it is someone
elses's fault you need to inform your insurance company of the
accident.



"Captain Croaker" <com> wrote in message
news:google.com... 
rather 
parts 
(not 
will 

croakur wrote:
 

Our local Toyota bodyshop is excellent. I only wish I'd never had an accident
so that I wouldn't have to know that.

beeswing

"Art Begun" <com> wrote in message news:<s4x5b.27981$news.atl.earthlink.net>... 

Yes I do have insurance and they have been informed. I haven't been
able to identify a local Toyota body shop per se, but I have one that
the local dealership recommended. They do use genuine Toyota parts
(I think purchased from the dealership, which may be why they
recommended them in the first place). Coupled with the fact that they
are on my insurance's approved list and I've had some local
recommendations, I'll probably go with them.

Just wanted to know if I should look out for any gotchas. Thanks for
the reply.

Car accidents suck, it's a big hassle and no one profits (except the
shops, I guess).

Cheers,
Rob

If that doesn't work I would ask the dealer to make a deal with the
wreck and the insurance reimbursement and mileage allotment and if the
hit isn't too bad, take it.



"Wolfgang" <net> wrote in message
news:6zQ5b.35063$.. 

Captain Croaker wrote:
 


The car was protected at the factory by being painted before any
mechanical parts were added, plus they either dipped the body or used
electrostatic paint application to ensure even the spot weld points were
protected. No body shop can duplicate a this type of factory paint job.
The "gotcha" is the rust will start from the inside at welds and work
their out. You will probably see the rust through the paint in 8 to 10
years. This may be a moot point unless you intend on keeping the car
that long.