6 days with my beautiful F15

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by osmansiddiqui95

Yes, that is the standard delay tactic these insurance use. What you want to do is call the Geico 1-800 number and ask for that adjuster's supervisor's contact details such as phone and email. Once you contact their supervisor the claim will speed up. Also, recommend emailing both the adjuster and supervisor. The supervisor will either handle the claim themselves or have another adjuster get the claim moving quickly. Once they approve liability have them get you into a rental and let them know you need at minimum the $40 or $50 per day rate approved as that is the best vehicle rate enterprise has with insurance companies. You should be able to get into a BMW 5 series from enterprise at that rate. They usually try their best at giving you a $35 economy car rate but don't let them do that.

Thanks for the advice. So far I've contacted my own insurance to have them put pressure on Geico to get started on the process. Spent nearly an hour on the phone going over all the details of the 4-car pileup this guy caused.

I'll call Geico's main line and get Christine's (my adjuster at Geico) supervisor's contact info and try that angle as well. I'll ask for both email addresses since I only have a phone number for Christine which is useless when she doesn't answer the phone nor return my voicemails. She did however have the audacity to send me a letter that basically says this accident is what they consider to be minor (based on what, exactly? not specified) and that I could not possibly have injuries. I'm confident that a quick letter from my doctors would clear that right up.

I've been advised by my lawyer friend that they are obligated to give me an equivalent car so I'm holding out on that from Geico (my own insurance offered a rental but I only pay for $30/day coverage). For now I've still been driving the X5 or my e30 but I'm leaving for San Diego this evening and I'll have no need for a car for the next week.

[M4rohit]

Each state has different laws for diminished value. My wife had her X3 rear ended after a month of ownership and it had just 1k miles (brand new). The insurance adjuster will not even discuss diminished value until the car is fully repaired and the accident appears on a CarFax report. So keep that in mind, it is in addition to fully restoring your car with repairs and then some monetary compensation for loss in resale value. Immediately after the accident, I researched online for used cars (same model and year) and printed valuations of cars with and without accidents. That difference in listing price was what I was able to recover from the insurance as diminished value. Otherwise they would have applied a simple formula for current mileage and level of damage on CarFax (minor, moderate, major) and were lowballing me. Since you just bought your car, you already know how much it is worth before the accident. Just make sure to find another car online with similar level of damage and miles in CarFax as your loss value. I would recommend doing it soon because as time passes it will be less comparable to the day of the accident.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by M4rohit

Each state has different laws for diminished value. My wife had her X3 rear ended after a month of ownership and it had just 1k miles (brand new). The insurance adjuster will not even discuss diminished value until the car is fully repaired and the accident appears on a CarFax report. So keep that in mind, it is in addition to fully restoring your car with repairs and then some monetary compensation for loss in resale value. Immediately after the accident, I researched online for used cars (same model and year) and printed valuations of cars with and without accidents. That difference in listing price was what I was able to recover from the insurance as diminished value. Otherwise they would have applied a simple formula for current mileage and level of damage on CarFax (minor, moderate, major) and were lowballing me. Since you just bought your car, you already know how much it is worth before the accident. Just make sure to find another car online with similar level of damage and miles in CarFax as your loss value. I would recommend doing it soon because as time passes it will be less comparable to the day of the accident.

Thanks so much! I'm going to use every angle so I'll keep searching for some similar cars that have accidents reported.

Update:
Geico has accepted 100% liability so that is good at least. The information she has from her insured/police report matches my description of the accident so I'm glad that's not a battle I'll have to fight.

So far Geico has claimed that they're only required to set me up with a mid-size car, which isn't true, but I'm still searching for the CA statute that proves my case. Til then I'm driving a rental mustang and may even book a track day since my e92 has been down for a while waiting on parts and it's my usual track car. If I wanted to drive a Mustang I'd have bought one but I'm open to making the best of the situation.

They've claimed to have assigned an adjuster for the damage but I haven't heard anything from him so far. They were supposed to send my bodyshop an assignment for the inspection yesterday, so far that has not happened.

Concussion will probably take 3 months to fully resolve and I've told the injury adjuster I don't plan on discussing any settlement numbers until my doctors indicate I've reached maximum medical improvement. Back pain is getting better. Pain in my ass from insurance is at the same level as always

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

0 progress. Their adjuster was supposed to call me by Friday. Left her a VM yesterday (her VM recording promises a call back the same business day) and if I don't hear back today I'm filing it with my own insurance to have them put pressure on Geico to start moving forward.

I have the body shop selected, but they can't move forward until Geico gives a prelim estimate on the repair.

You have to be proactive with Geico. They tried that mess with me. After a few shitty emails to both them and the towing company they suddenly had the time to get it to the shop.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Thanks so much! I'm going to use every angle so I'll keep searching for some similar cars that have accidents reported.

Update:
Geico has accepted 100% liability so that is good at least. The information she has from her insured/police report matches my description of the accident so I'm glad that's not a battle I'll have to fight.

So far Geico has claimed that they're only required to set me up with a mid-size car, which isn't true, but I'm still searching for the CA statute that proves my case. Til then I'm driving a rental mustang and may even book a track day since my e92 has been down for a while waiting on parts and it's my usual track car. If I wanted to drive a Mustang I'd have bought one but I'm open to making the best of the situation.

They've claimed to have assigned an adjuster for the damage but I haven't heard anything from him so far. They were supposed to send my bodyshop an assignment for the inspection yesterday, so far that has not happened.

Concussion will probably take 3 months to fully resolve and I've told the injury adjuster I don't plan on discussing any settlement numbers until my doctors indicate I've reached maximum medical improvement. Back pain is getting better. Pain in my ass from insurance is at the same level as always

Geico has a contract with enterprise. I had an x3 for 2 months for $43 a day. Then I had a 3 series for another month and change for about $110 a day. I didn't want to drive anything else and wasn't doing a Malibu for $100 a day either. It's actually cheaper to extend once you've rented as well. 👍🏾

[Vivek.]

Geico wants to put an aftermarket tailgate (lower part) on it. They claim it's been independently verified and that it's legal for them to do so. Should I be concerned? My initial gut feeling is no--because I will look over it with a fine tooth comb and if it is not 100% perfect I can point that out the the shop who is very discerning and would side with me if there are any issues (they have in the past).

Other than that, nothing concerning in what they plan to do to fix it. The adjuster admitted that the looseness in my front seat backs didn't seem normal, but doesn't want to authorize replacement before additional inspection.

He also said that they will not cover the rental for the 30 days between the car being painted and when I can reinstall a clear bra. I told him that I'm not okay with that since I'm not willing to drive my car with no clear bra and uncured paint which would more or less guarantee rock chips.
Apparently a lot of customers have fought this thru escalations and lost--not sure if he said that to discourage me or if it will in reality be much more of a pain in the ass than driving one of my other cars for a month while the X5 cures.

[FCX5]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Geico wants to put an aftermarket tailgate (lower part) on it. They claim it's been independently verified and that it's legal for them to do so. Should I be concerned? My initial gut feeling is no--because I will look over it with a fine tooth comb and if it is not 100% perfect I can point that out the the shop who is very discerning and would side with me if there are any issues (they have in the past).

Other than that, nothing concerning in what they plan to do to fix it. The adjuster admitted that the looseness in my front seat backs didn't seem normal, but doesn't want to authorize replacement before additional inspection.

He also said that they will not cover the rental for the 30 days between the car being painted and when I can reinstall a clear bra. I told him that I'm not okay with that since I'm not willing to drive my car with no clear bra and uncured paint which would more or less guarantee rock chips.
Apparently a lot of customers have fought this thru escalations and lost--not sure if he said that to discourage me or if it will in reality be much more of a pain in the ass than driving one of my other cars for a month while the X5 cures.

If I were you, for that part I would not be overly concerned if you're working with a trusted shop.

[parthpatel1]

Sorry to hear. I am hoping that you get your x5 back in even better shape than you brought her home in. She is a beauty!

[F15_SGM]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Geico wants to put an aftermarket tailgate (lower part) on it. They claim it's been independently verified and that it's legal for them to do so. Should I be concerned? My initial gut feeling is no--because I will look over it with a fine tooth comb and if it is not 100% perfect I can point that out the the shop who is very discerning and would side with me if there are any issues (they have in the past).

Other than that, nothing concerning in what they plan to do to fix it. The adjuster admitted that the looseness in my front seat backs didn't seem normal, but doesn't want to authorize replacement before additional inspection.

He also said that they will not cover the rental for the 30 days between the car being painted and when I can reinstall a clear bra. I told him that I'm not okay with that since I'm not willing to drive my car with no clear bra and uncured paint which would more or less guarantee rock chips.
Apparently a lot of customers have fought this thru escalations and lost--not sure if he said that to discourage me or if it will in reality be much more of a pain in the ass than driving one of my other cars for a month while the X5 cures.

They need to pay for an OEM tailgate. Your vehicle had an original OEM panel immediately prior to the loss. Since this is not your insurance policy but the at fault parties, you can demand them to replace it with a new OEM part. If they don't, I would personally pay out of pocket for the difference, then fight them later to reimburse. I would not want trash aftermarket parts on my vehicle. Fit and finish will be trash. If you were repairing a Toyota, it's fine, but this is a BMW. Also, if the clear bra was damaged in the accident, they need to provide a rental to replace that as well. Tell them you will not accept your vehicle back until it is fully restored/repaired to its immediate pre-loss condition. You will need to start getting strict with this insurance company, they are not a friend at all. they are playing cheap tactics. While making it seem they are taking care of you. They are just deceptive people. The rental vehicle is legally not required by law to give by the at-fault insurance company, but it is an internal insurance company rule/policy to give one during repairs in an attempt to mitigate paying for loss of use, but you need to tell them you will hit them for (loss of use) instead of rental if you are not provided one since the loss of use is claimable legally by law. Let's just say $600 a day loss of use will get them scared. Also, tell them to stop telling you what is legal and not legal they are not an attorney. Replacing a panel with non-oem would not be considered returning your vehicle to its immediate pre-loss condition thus, it is not legal and requires OEM to return it to pre-loss condition. The only time this statement would be false is if this was your own insurance policy.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Geico wants to put an aftermarket tailgate (lower part) on it. They claim it's been independently verified and that it's legal for them to do so. Should I be concerned? My initial gut feeling is no--because I will look over it with a fine tooth comb and if it is not 100% perfect I can point that out the the shop who is very discerning and would side with me if there are any issues (they have in the past).

Other than that, nothing concerning in what they plan to do to fix it. The adjuster admitted that the looseness in my front seat backs didn't seem normal, but doesn't want to authorize replacement before additional inspection.

He also said that they will not cover the rental for the 30 days between the car being painted and when I can reinstall a clear bra. I told him that I'm not okay with that since I'm not willing to drive my car with no clear bra and uncured paint which would more or less guarantee rock chips.
Apparently a lot of customers have fought this thru escalations and lost--not sure if he said that to discourage me or if it will in reality be much more of a pain in the ass than driving one of my other cars for a month while the X5 cures.

See if your selected shop can get a price match on an OEM one. Geico tried that with mine and with as many aftermarket parts as they could list it ended up being a little over $7k to fix, then in the end with price matching for all OEM parts and labor out the door was $31k. Geico shouldn't even cover BMW's if they don't want to pay the price for repairs. What's worse is the fact that you can't designate OEM replacement parts like you can with AAA and others. If the seats were damaged then they need to add that to the claim.

As far as the rentals go, my policy had a $1500 cap so after that it was all out of pocket though the other party's insurance reimbursed me for that.

Sorry to hear you're getting the same treatment I got.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by osmansiddiqui95

They need to pay for an OEM tailgate. Your vehicle had an original OEM panel immediately prior to the loss. Since this is not your insurance policy but the at fault parties, you can demand them to replace it with a new OEM part. If they don't, I would personally pay out of pocket for the difference, then fight them later to reimburse. I would not want trash aftermarket parts on my vehicle. Fit and finish will be trash. If you were repairing a Toyota, it's fine, but this is a BMW. Also, if the clear bra was damaged in the accident, they need to provide a rental to replace that as well. Tell them you will not accept your vehicle back until it is fully restored/repaired to its immediate pre-loss condition. You will need to start getting strict with this insurance company, they are not a friend at all. they are playing cheap tactics. While making it seem they are taking care of you. They are just deceptive people. The rental vehicle is legally not required by law to give by the at-fault insurance company, but it is an internal insurance company rule/policy to give one during repairs in an attempt to mitigate paying for loss of use, but you need to tell them you will hit them for (loss of use) instead of rental if you are not provided one since the loss of use is claimable legally by law. Let's just say $600 a day loss of use will get them scared. Also, tell them to stop telling you what is legal and not legal they are not an attorney. Replacing a panel with non-oem would not be considered returning your vehicle to its immediate pre-loss condition thus, it is not legal and requires OEM to return it to pre-loss condition. The only time this statement would be false is if this was your own insurance policy.
Attachment 2936560

You are a hero thank you for this information! So far Geico has not been enough of a pain to work with that I've needed to threaten an attorney or reference any statutes but I will certainly do so if necessary.


Update time! Haven't checked in in a while but things are generally going well. First off, we're both healing up quite well.

Car is doing much better, I drove it recently and in the 5 min I drove, all of the concerning noises are completely gone. Very impressed in that regard. Front bumper is gorgeous, paint match as good as factory.

There was a little confusion about whether or not the tailgate that was ordered was in fact OE reconditioned or aftermarket. The bodyshop manager thought his parts department had ordered OE reconditioned but I looked at it, and it's aftermarket. Additionally, the reconditioned rear bumper was badly repaired (not by the shop the car's at). Geico has approved a brand new genuine BMW tailgate and rear bumper. I told them from the start that they can fix it right or they can fix it twice. Guess they'd rather waste my time and their money. The shop is also blending the paint into the upper liftgate, along with installing a brand new genuine BMW roundel and de-badging the X5 badge. Lastly, Geico had elected to touch up a tiny spot on the fender flare that was pushed into the rear door causing a small dimple and paint chip (pictured). I told the manager that I didn't love this route and he's going to take it off, repair it properly, and paint the whole piece.

In regards to the continued rental/loss of use--Front bumper was painted on 8/30 so it seems that I may be able to roll up most of the 30-day curing time into the time that they're spending redoing the entire rear end. Once it's done at the bodyshop, it'll go to my mechanic to verify the damaged motor mounts and front seats. My feeling is that the X5 is gonna be in shops the whole time the paint is curing.

Pic of the poorly fitting aftermarket tailgate:

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Geico wants to put an aftermarket tailgate (lower part) on it. They claim it's been independently verified and that it's legal for them to do so. Should I be concerned? My initial gut feeling is no--because I will look over it with a fine tooth comb and if it is not 100% perfect I can point that out the the shop who is very discerning and would side with me if there are any issues (they have in the past).

Strong foreshadowing right here

Last I saw the car they were test fitting a brand new OEM unpainted lower tailgate.

[FCX5]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Strong foreshadowing right here

Last I saw the car they were test fitting a brand new OEM unpainted lower tailgate.

In general from the photos looks like the body shop is doing a great job! Interestingly for me, Geico had always been great to work with. Always had OEM parts installed.

[tlow98]

Bummer but I. Happy to see it getting sorted. Also, good on you for removing that awful M badge.

[Vivek.]

I just realized today that I REALLY should have had the shop paint the bumper reflectors while they were at this

New OEM bumper and tailgate are on in addition to the properly repaired fender flare. Looks damn gorgeous overall. Minor fitment issue on the bumper (see corners of tailgate) that I had the shop photograph and send to the manager to see what they can do. Upper liftgate was also repainted (paint match is damn near perfect) to blend with the lower. Brand new OEM roundel.

Some weird paint issue by the tail light, took me a coupe days to notice (GF actually pointed it out, I wouldn't have seen it without crouching). It almost looks like it's missing some paint but the surface is smooth so it must be under the clear. It looks like bare metal, but I wouldn't think they stripped the whole liftgate down to bare metal before painting it...I may point it out but I'm not sure what could realistically be done and if repainting the whole liftgate is even worth it for such a minor mark.