Repair estimate for paint damage on 1982 300CDT

1. Look up you state's law(s) on auto insurance claims so you'll know YOUR rights.
2. Don't let Allstate "total" your car sight unseen just because it's 25 years old. If they try, ask for their appraisals of similar cars - chances are that an "independent" appraiser will come up with some "comparable cars" that were sold within the last six months - condition unknown and now long gone so condition will remain unknown. I made my own survey of similar cars currently on the market year, model, mileage, condition and phone # and gave that to the adjuster.
3. As I recall, the Calif. law is: repair or provide an equal or better replacement vehicle within 90 days.

Insurance co. fixed my old car, no salvage title, and local shop did a good job!

Thanks, T.G. Allstate didn't even try to total my car - the damage wasn't that significant. They gave me an estimate of $775 for 12 hours of paint work and replacement of the rub strip on my bumper. It's not a large amount of damage, necessarily, but the paint is gone above the rear left wheel all the way down to the metal underneath in about a 24 inch swathe, plus some other smearing from the car that hit me.

To make my question more specific, how do I know what a reasonable estimate would be to return the car to it's "original" condition (i.e. have the paint work done to a reasonable standard considering the quality of the original paint job and the almost new condition it was in before the accident). I don't want to take a mink coat and patch it with dog fur, if you know what I mean.

Anyone know of a shop that will do high-quality work of this type around the Los Angeles, CA or Austin, TX area? I want to make sure I get an estimate from a shop that I trust before taking any money from Allstate.

On Apr 6, 6:08 pm, "-->> T.G. Lambach

Insurance cos have "preferred (to them) shops" that don't need further approval to start work. Get three estimates and ask your questions THEN, look at the shop, the cars being repaired etc. Ask about the shop's warranty on its work ask how far their repaint will extend and if a clear coat will be put on etc. Look at their cars in final stages of repair. You'll know which shop to choose for it will stand out from the others.

Unless someone makes a specific recommendation, you may want to select a shop from this site

. By doing this, at leastyou'll be at a shop interested in continuing education... which oughtto be a good indication of "something". Otherwise, you're making things excessively difficult. Select a shop, give them the Allstate estimate, and ask whether it is sufficient to return the car to preaccident condition. If yes, no problem. If no, take the car for repair and get a rental. Then, with the car at the shop, have the shop call for a reinspection.

What you will have created by doing this is a situation where the shop wants you to be satisfied by the repair, needs paid for operations x y z to accomplish that, and will try to get paid for those operations. If the insurer is unreasonable, then they are faced with what is known in the industry as a hostage situation: the shop has the car, and you're in a rental being paid for by the insurer.

12 hours paint time sounds excessive for the job you have described. Are you sure some of this isn't "metal" time, that is panel repair and removal of attached parts for painting? Depending on where the damage is on the affected panel, blending of adjacent panels may be necessary. Generally, based on what you've described, 12 hours total sounds sufficient.

You sound like a reasonable person, not an excessive one, but be careful in how you describe to the shop what you want. Statements like "I don't want anyone to be able to tell the car has ever been damaged" are going to make a shop hesitant about doing the work, because if someone is given information "this car has been damaged in this location, can you tell?" the answer will usually be "yes". A reasonable standard is whether a person of consumer skill level who doesn't know the car has been damaged can tell.

Not saying you are thinking this way, but just bringing it up as a reminder of what I believe is reasonable.

From the sound of the insurance estimate, I think they are right on the money. Important thing to do is have a good relationship with the body shop... ask their opinion on what they think of the estimate. Every bodyshop will come up with similar figure so don't worry about that.

If the body shop finds that they need more money, they will get it from insurance company as supplement. They won't have problem getting extra money to fix it right.

Just look at their finish works they done... They don't have problem showing off their work if they are proud of it... if you like it, then then that is it.

The original paint will either be Glasurit or Henrys (it'll say on the data plate). This stuff is harder to work with than the cheaper stuff.

Some shops mark the chromp, some remove it. You don't want it masked.

If you can find a shop that uses the original paint and removes the trim then they'll almost certainly get the rest right.

Don't listen to them if they say masking and cheaper paint is just as good. It's not and youwant it the way it was when it left the factory. Be firm but polite. And persevere.

It sounds like based on the description of damage and the hours allowed, that trim removal and some blend has been allowed. I'm curious about your recommendation to find a shop using original paint brands. I can't imagine any modern shop being set up to spray single stage paint. 82s weren't clear coat were they? (I don't have a reference available, but assume based on age they weren't.)

In any case, I think a modern mix to match paint system with electronic color match would be acceptable and perhaps superior.

This is all great stuff. Repaint is something I've never dealt with on any car, let alone a 25 year-old Mercedes, so the insight into what to look for is fantastic.

Any> >

I got one of my doors ('87 w124) repainted when a rust spot appeared in the middle. This is a light (willow) green metallic paint that's supposed to be hard to match. The result was excellent, I can't tell the difference. Cost me close to 400 EUR.

OTOH I *can* tell the difference between my '87 willow green w124 and my GF's '88 willow green w201. The color is just slightly different, even if the paint code is the same.

It seems that a good professional paint mixer would be a better bet than a can of original MB paint.

Ximinez

The body shops now has color matching equipment... the paint supplier will mix the exact same color as your car. Before, this is difficult to do.

Dunno but 83 sure was.

Typical procedure was for manufacturers to phase in clear coat by having some colors be clear and some not. If the subject car isn't white, the owner can determine whether its clear coat by sanding it. If the car isn't white and the sanding residue is, the car is clear coat.

The early clear coats nearly all went chalky. It shouldn't be too hard to tell :-)

Get out the sand paper, as suggested earlier, and find out.