New Car Nightmare

[Surgx5]

In July of 2021 I found myself in the market for a CPO F15 X5, 2018 x line 35i to be exact. [IMG][/IMG]. I found what I wanted in a mineral white gem with about 40k miles. This would be an upgrade from my 2016 X4 and 2014 X1. The X5 rode like a dream, new tires and all.

Three weeks after my purchase I was meeting a friend of mine for some afternoon golf. He almost got hit and we joked, "at least let me make my tee time." That joke was unfortunately speaking too soon. As I'm on the way home, there was an accident about a quarter mile ahead of me and I was behind a diesel hauling doubles. I gave him space as he would take longer to stop. The guy behind me didn't even seem to hit the brakes, and BANG!!!!! I'm rear ended and the nightmare began.

Rear ended by a 97 4Runner. I swerved to not be sandwiched between his car and a flatbed trailer. While I counted the blessings of being uninjured and lucid after that collision, my next thoughts were literally, I haven't even received my new registration tags yet, and I hadn't even made my first payment yet. Dude was nearly in tears. Me being pissed wouldn't have made anything any better so I chilled. He was deeply apologetic, understandably. Now the fun begins.

His insurance was of the cut rate variety. Mine seemingly much better, ended up able to cover more than his would….but of course it would. At least he had insurance. Three hours into the wait and my car is now on a flatbed. The nearest certified collision center is closed so it should've been delivered the next day. NOPE!!! these shady SOB's had it in their yard for a week, 7 days literally, and it only moved when I reached out to my insurance (lizard) with a stern email.

Want to know how good your insurance is or isn't? Put the cost in their lap because the other party is underinsured. When I sent the pic of the damage to his insurance company, the claims person said, "yeah that's going to be over $10k and that's the max for his policy. You better use your insurance." From the onset, I let both the shop and my insurance know that I only want OEM parts on my car as it wasn't a cheap car and still recently new enough. Might as well have got a big FU from the company I pay to insure our vehicles. Nowhere in the policy was there an option to select OE/OEM parts. Note to self, sometimes insurance companies with a lot of commercials aren't the best.

My initial estimate was $7k by my insurance company, but the shop said there was $31k worth of damage. Big difference, BIG difference. My IC came back with around $21k with a bunch of aftermarket parts. I wasn't having it. Told the shop I wasn't going to have the back of my car turn into a piñata if it got hit again for the sake of saving a few bucks.

The shop hooked me up, got price matches on OE parts. Things seem to be looking up, then boom. Main parts out of stock, and none available in Germany or South Carolina. Could be a couple weeks the shop said. Fortunately they gave me a parts list with numbers. I immediately Googled part numbers and made some calls. I managed to track down the last 4 parts needed from dealerships out of our area, Stockton, CA. Thanks to the warehouse in central Illinois, and a couple dealerships in SoCal The shop got what they needed.

My IC covered 30 days or $1500 for rentals and that went quick. Even with a discount I was at 30 days and $1499.50. Out of the pocket we go. Renting a new X3 for a couple months, then a 330i for another racked up a lot of rewards points but little additional benefit.

As I waited, calling the shop periodically, and even more frequently as the job nears the end, I'm still counting my blessings as it could've been much worse. The guys at the shop tell me about people who have had worse waits…..mine at nearly 5 months now and counting.

My next steps are getting mine back, getting reimbursement for rentals, etc, and changing insurance companies. My X5 is done but getting a final inspection from a BMW dealership so that's reassuring but none of this was a cake walk for someone with my low level of patience.

It will all be over soon enough.

[Tomcat_F15_STL]

No sense being coy about the insurance company who treated you badly... what company?

I am in Missouri. State Farm has been a positive experience for me over the past thirty years.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by Tomcat_F15_STL

No sense being coy about the insurance company who treated you badly... what company?

I am in Missouri. State Farm has been a positive experience for me over the past thirty years.

Geico.

[RED_Y_]

I am very surprised they did not total it with $31K in damages, even with $21K. Also from my personal experience this is not really about the insurance company, this is about particular shop and their experience working with the insurance appraiser. Someone backed up into wife's Mercedes few years ago and the shop my insurance company sent me to said it will cost around $600-700 with "OEM-grade parts" and Farmers sent me a check for $200 almost immediately ($500 deductible). Took the car to another body shop- they wrote a detailed quote with original parts for $2900 laughing the whole time about $700 repair estimate and worked with Farmers. Wasn't much effort from my side they got it all settled directly and I just paid deductible and picked up car in good as need condition. Keep in mind that we are in California and we are very well protected legally and insurance companies must guarantee proper repairs.Check this page here http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0250-ins...ment-parts.cfm
If you feel like Geico did not fix your car properly and or completely you might want to consult with a lawyer and look into your options, not just switch insurance companies.

[F15_SGM]

I got to hit the same way in my f15 recently. The same area is damaged with the same amount of severity. First I don't understand why they would put OE parts as when I got mine done there are no aftermarket parts for the rear end including bummer and tailgate. Only OEM is the only part available. Second I see no way that damaged being 31K. Not even 10K. Max parts will cost including exhaust $5600 and another 1400$ in labor. if you can post the estimate I would like to compare it with mine if possible. Either the shop is greedy or something. Remember you may be able to get diminished value since his policy is 10K since your insurance did the payment you can at least get DV from other insurance. Also, mine is a Msport so parts are a tiny bit more expensive. If it's because the frame was damaged in the process I would highly push for a total loss.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by RED_Y_

I am very surprised they did not total it with $31K in damages, even with $21K. Also from my personal experience this is not really about the insurance company, this is about particular shop and their experience working with the insurance appraiser. Someone backed up into wife's Mercedes few years ago and the shop my insurance company sent me to said it will cost around $600-700 with "OEM-grade parts" and Farmers sent me a check for $200 almost immediately ($500 deductible). Took the car to another body shop- they wrote a detailed quote with original parts for $2900 laughing the whole time about $700 repair estimate and worked with Farmers. Wasn't much effort from my side they got it all settled directly and I just paid deductible and picked up car in good as need condition. Keep in mind that we are in California and we are very well protected legally and insurance companies must guarantee proper repairs.Check this page here http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0250-ins...ment-parts.cfm
If you feel like Geico did not fix your car properly and or completely you might want to consult with a lawyer and look into your options, not just switch insurance companies.

Hit up the dept of insurance. They gave me some good guidance. As far as Geico is concerned, they've tried even down to the end. Had my fender trims replaced on the back and they tried to act up about that saying they could've reused the original ones. Other IC's I've talked to said they would've totaled it.

I didn't get physically injured so no lawyer will do anything for me. Also have to do a diminished value claim as well.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by osmansiddiqui95

I got to hit the same way in my f15 recently. The same area is damaged with the same amount of severity. First I don't understand why they would put OE parts as when I got mine done there are no aftermarket parts for the rear end including bummer and tailgate. Only OEM is the only part available. Second I see no way that damaged being 31K. Not even 10K. Max parts will cost including exhaust $5600 and another 1400$ in labor. if you can post the estimate I would like to compare it with mine if possible. Either the shop is greedy or something. Remember you may be able to get diminished value since his policy is 10K since your insurance did the payment you can at least get DV from other insurance. Also, mine is a Msport so parts are a tiny bit more expensive. If it's because the frame was damaged in the process I would highly push for a total loss.

I've got to figure out how to add more pics to show you why. Basically the trunk and undercarriage buckled big time. They had to do some extensive rebuilding. Replaced my battery and cables as well. They said Geicos total loss threshold was higher than that plus the increased value of used cars deemed mine fixable.

From the onset my opinion was that worst case scenario they fix my car, I just didn't expect it to take so long or jump through so many hoops to get the parts.

For those who don't know about the part procurement process, in a nutshell:

The certified shop buys from its sponsoring dealership. The dealership orders from their feeder BMW warehouse. I don't know how often they do the part searches I did nationwide but they probably should. If parts aren't available across the country or in Germany, you're out of luck. For aftermarket parts it's different though.

[The Libertine]

Originally Posted by Surgx5

Geico.

I’ve yet to hear a favorable review about Geico.

Very sorry to read about your accident, and hope you get the repair sorted soon and properly.

Good luck.

[Surgx5]

More pics

[Surgx5]

More pics

[Florida-X3]

I've had State Farm since I was 16 (now 63) for cars, boats, motorcycles, renters, jewelry, home owners, etc. They have always treated me right. When my son had an apartment fire while at collage, they took such good care of him (hotel, etc), his roommates with other companies, not so much. Yes, I may pay a bit more than the "budget" companies but I don't get the budget treatment.

[Surgx5]

More pics

[Tomcat_F15_STL]

Looks like they knew what they were doing!

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by Tomcat_F15_STL

Looks like they knew what they were doing!

Yeah it looks good. Can't wait to get it back. Hopefully early next week. Fingers crossed.

[The Libertine]

Originally Posted by Tomcat_F15_STL

Looks like they knew what they were doing!

Agree. A thorough repair may take a bit longer, but will be worth the wait.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by Florida-X5

I've had State Farm since I was 16 (now 63) for cars, boats, motorcycles, renters, jewelry, home owners, etc. They have always treated me right. When my son had an apartment fire while at collage, they took such good care of him (hotel, etc), his roommates with other companies, not so much. Yes, I may pay a bit more than the "budget" companies but I don't get the budget treatment.

Looking at AAA next for our cars. You get what you pay for.

[MH20jy]

Originally Posted by Surgx5

More pics

Looks like the truck has some body frame damage. I'm surprised with such a high repair estimate GEICO has not totaled it. I need to double think my insurance choice now.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by MH20jy

Looks like the truck has some body frame damage. I'm surprised with such a high repair estimate GEICO has not totaled it. I need to double think my insurance choice now.

For the additional cost of a cheap round of golf it's worth it to me to make the change. We have 2 BMW's and I'm not risking anything like I went through for my wife's car.

[P1]

I can only imagine your aggravation. Nice to see it's finally all coming to an end. Post number 9 looks like they took half your X5 apart.

Your post, and many others that have fared similarly, have made me hard-park our M2C for now. The wife takes the X5 for daily duties, but I mainly drive an older Chevy diesel. They can hit that one all they want to!

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by P1

I can only imagine your aggravation. Nice to see it's finally all coming to an end. Post number 9 looks like they took half your X5 apart.

Your post, and many others that have fared similarly, have made me hard-park our M2C for now. The wife takes the X5 for daily duties, but I mainly drive an older Chevy diesel. They can hit that one all they want to!

I'll tell you what lol, 5 payments made and no car in hand hurts by the day, especially because I've been wanting one for quite some time. I definitely choose my routes differently now.

[Vivek.]

Oh man that sounds like a nightmare. On the plus side, the repair looks good in pictures. I'd be wary of rattles from the trunk area since these F15's seem to get noisy back there even if they haven't been taken apart. Good bodyshops will be willing to track down any noises and fix them.

I recently got in an accident in my 535i...thankfully it will be totaled but insurance has yet to pay me after a month.

[Surgx5]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Oh man that sounds like a nightmare. On the plus side, the repair looks good in pictures. I'd be wary of rattles from the trunk area since these F15's seem to get noisy back there even if they haven't been taken apart. Good bodyshops will be willing to track down any noises and fix them.

I recently got in an accident in my 535i...thankfully it will be totaled but insurance has yet to pay me after a month.

Sorry to hear about your 535i. At least you know it's headed in that direction. I was in limbo for a few months and was renting cars hoping it would be faster. I'll definitely be keeping my ears and eyes open for noises and oddities.

I watched a YouTube video with an f15 like mine getting repaired. Very interesting.