2015 MX-5 was rear-ended today. Is it now a "forever car"?

13 years of driving, first accident claim. Was rear-ended as I slowed for a yield to a highway on-ramp. Damage "looks" minimal, no airbags deployed, and it and didn't drive too badly on the way back home (a few miles). The bumper is askew, so I assume that there's some under body stuff and suspension stuff bent out of shape. Between its now storied history and exposure to road salt, it's not going to be a mint.

I'm a noob at this, so what should I look at when finding a repair shop? Should I trust the insurance company's shop recommendation(s), or do it on my own? Does the insurance company deal with the repair bills, or do I need to be the intermediary? What else am I missing?

As someone who has worked at a collision repair shop, I would suggest researching collision repair shops, insurance companies have a tendency of use be the lowest bidder which sometimes can also mean lousy work.

You may also have to pay a deductible. I had to when my wife got into an accident several years ago.

Noooooooooooooo.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Mitchell wrote: This is why we can't have nice things.

I had a pick up truck ride over the nose of my pristine 10AE. I got it fixed, I still drive it and it looks just great.

Don't drive your nice things where they can be damaged. But stuff happens. Check the arms supporting the final drive, it's common for a rear ender to snap the right side off-by design.

Contact the "hitters" insurance company first.

Then get an estimate from a reliable shop.

Continue on from there.

Hmm. Already filed a claim with my insurance w/ other company's details.

Mitchell wrote: Hmm. Already filed a claim with my insurance w/ other company's details.

What do you mean? You have two choices. File the claim with your own carrier, or file with the other persons' carrier. If you file with your carrier, they'll pay, less your deductible, then they'll go after the other carrier to get all the money back, including your deductible. If you file with the other carrier, you're doing it yourself. It's really not hard, but my point is that your carrier won't do it for you (well...they may make a courtesy call to help set it up, but they won't handle the claim with them for you). There's no "wrong" way to do it, your choice.

Either way, yes, you're involved in the claim. There are so many variables, I couldn't explain all the possibilities...it all depends on the shop you chose and how the carrier handles it.

As for what shop. It's your car, you're 100% free to chose the shop of your choice. Don't be afraid of an insurance company recommended shop. A lot of people are, and that's a shame. The shops are all independent, the insurance company doesn't own them. Almost every shop is a part of an insurance companys' network...most shops are part of several. They don't compromise on quality, at least not on the request of the insurance company. In fact, you may get better results. If you chose a shop of your own and you're not happy with the results, you're on your own. If you chose a network shop and aren't happy with the results, you've got a big insurance company to help you out. It's a symbiotic relationship between the shop and insurance company.

Without seeing the car, hard to say what's damaged. But I doubt the suspension is. They aren't damaged in rear end accidents. I'd be more concerned with rear body panel, quarter panels, floor pan.

Klayfish,

Thank you for the help; again, I'm a total noob here. I initially filed the claim through my insurance company, and switched it to the other driver's insurance instead. I'm not opposed to using a shop recommended by the insurance company, as long as feedback of the shop is more or less positive.

My wife got rear ended in her Miata over the summer. Had it fixed at a friends shop, looks perfect. I also asked for diminished value, since the car had a clean car fax and was low mileage. The guy who hit me's insurance company tried to fight it, but we eventually got an additional $250. They also paid for a week of rental car use while the car was in the shop.

I've gotten tons of great advice here recently. Klayfish is the go-to guy here as far as I can tell.

He won't steer you wrong.

When the FRS was hit, I called my insurance company as we were doing the info exchange on the side of the road.

They walked me through the whole thing, gave me a few shops to call or use my own, told me where and when to pick up the rental.

Klayfish wrote: As for what shop. It's your car, you're 100% free to chose the shop of your choice. Don't be afraid of an insurance company recommended shop. A lot of people are, and that's a shame. The shops are all independent, the insurance company doesn't own them. Almost every shop is a part of an insurance companys' network...most shops are part of several. They don't compromise on quality, at least not on the request of the insurance company. In fact, you may get better results. If you chose a shop of your own and you're not happy with the results, you're on your own. If you chose a network shop and aren't happy with the results, you've got a big insurance company to help you out. It's a symbiotic relationship between the shop and insurance company.

I can agree with this.

From my previous comment, I guess my view is a little tainted because I worked a collision repair shop that the owner played the underbid game just to get the work and then cut corners and cheaped out on everything to actually make a profit. I saw some scary things leave that shop. One of the insurance companies liked to use him because the fact that he always underbid everyone.

I have heard quite a few horror stories about collision repair shops recommended by the insurance companies, but I can't forget that they all aren't bad.

Used and aftermarket parts are fair game at most insurance company related shops. Read the fine print on the work order.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:

Klayfish wrote: As for what shop. It's your car, you're 100% free to chose the shop of your choice. Don't be afraid of an insurance company recommended shop. A lot of people are, and that's a shame. The shops are all independent, the insurance company doesn't own them. Almost every shop is a part of an insurance companys' network...most shops are part of several. They don't compromise on quality, at least not on the request of the insurance company. In fact, you may get better results. If you chose a shop of your own and you're not happy with the results, you're on your own. If you chose a network shop and aren't happy with the results, you've got a big insurance company to help you out. It's a symbiotic relationship between the shop and insurance company.

I can agree with this. From my previous comment, I guess my view is a little tainted because I worked a collision repair shop that the owner played the underbid game just to get the work and then cut corners and cheaped out on everything to actually make a profit. I saw some scary things leave that shop. One of the insurance companies liked to use him because the fact that he always underbid everyone. I have heard quite a few horror stories about collision repair shops recommended by the insurance companies, but I can't forget that they all aren't bad.

Yep, that can unquestionably be a challenge, especially for the insurance company. For the most part, the insurance company doesn't do "reinspections" of completed repairs at a network shop. Shops sometimes get tempted to cut corners and do the repair for less than the agreed estimate, so they can pocket a little extra. When that happens at a network shop and it's caught, it's a disaster. The insurance company has to pay to fix the mess, and I can promise you that shop is instantly thrown off the network...and in rare cases I've referred them to the local AGs office.

NOHOME,
Aftermarket or used parts are fair game at any shop, network or not. And there's nothing wrong with either of them, especially used.

When my 1990 Miata was hit 2 years ago, I had 2 choices: find my own shop and fight the insurance company who wanted to total the car, or go to their shop, and magically the total went away. I went with their shop. It would have been nice if they plugged in the new turn signals, and used all of the bolts on the front fender, but I got to keep my car with nothing out of pocket. And the body shop had the good grace to say "Oops" and fix the issues promptly.

Your insurance is back up if you have a problem with the hitters company paying.

Generally, I have found the bigger more established shops are best.