157dB

And here are the specs you are looking for.
http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=497&viewfile=Underbody Misalignment Check.pdf

07 Stang

I'm glad you guys are giving some useful advice. Some info that I will keep in mind when we get my daughter's car back. She was in an accident last month. Her car hit the side of a truck and then she jumped a wide ditch. She is lucky because she came with in two inches on the drivers side from hitting a telephone pole! Damages totaled (so far) $6999.00. We should be getting it back very soon.

pascal

Good post.

This is the main problem I encounter with collision work.
The customer always feel that the shop is entitled to help them with their deductible

'mkay... "Like I'm supposed to carry your deductible, at MY labor expense, because you have no driving skills?!?!"
F*** you! You already are a moron for being in this situation in the first place! That's what I feel like saying, lol.

I have a Lexus in the shop right now with a $1000 deductible and sure enough, I'm supposed to work the numbers to the advantage of the loser owner.
I told him to get a Civic and with the money saved, get a $250 deductible only.
He says to me: "Don't tell me what car to buy!" and I said: "Don't tell me how to run my business, this ain't the Salvation Army!"

He wanted to take his disassembled car back (f#ckinging douche) until his Dad stepped in and things are cool now. The dad's an OK dude...

While there are a lot of dishonest/unskilled shops out there, the pressure remains the same with the good ones.
Ins, companies sure ain't losing out though...

essexdan

LOL. Thank god I'm working in a shop in Cincinnati where this pretty much doesn't happen. It was common when I was an appraiser in CT. It was more or less implied. I feel bad for people who run shops in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Philly, (or FL) where you must have to do this all the time.

BTW kids unless you really know what you're doing this is a BAD idea. An unscrupulous shop can "help you out" to the tune of several times your deductible and you'd never know the difference. Then when something goes wrong later you get the "whaddya want from me?, you told me to cut corners" bit.

Just suck it up and pay the deductible. Shops doing you favors generally don't feel as much responsibility for doing good repairs as those getting paid full price the way the other customers are paying.

Setup a bank account and start stashing a little cash in it every payday as a "deductible fund". Keep raising your collision deductible to match the account balance until you have $1000 in it. Then stop and let it accrue interest. Just don't spend it. This will save you a small fortune in premiums. Keep the comprehensive deductible low @ $50 or $100 since those claims (fire, theft, vandalism, deer hits, hail) are usually the sorts of things that aren't your fault and are more irritating to have to come up with money for.