was driving home today when suddenly an aluminum metal object fell from a truck. i wasnt able to elude it and hit my bumper. it made a damage to the intercooler , messed up the front grill, and broke the front license plate(thank goodness for that, or else my intercooler will have more damage).
i went to the dealership after that. got quoted for almost 1600 bucks for the repair and labor.called my insurance and they said that they will pay for 1100(i have 500 deductible) they said i could pay for it in advance and they will just reimburse me.
my plan is that since the IC aint damage - no leaks or holes accdg to the mechanic from the dealership, i'd rather go to a speed shop and spend 1100 worth of mods to my car. can i possibly do that? opinions, ideas are soooooo welcome.

 

you can choose any shop you want to do the repairs. and if you want aftermarket parts instead of oem ones, you can do that too.

the problem i ran into when i had my wreck was my dealership sent the car to THEIR repair shop and ordered oem parts WITHOUT EVER ASKING ME if that's what i wanted to do. by then it was too late and i had to have the work done there ('cus my insurance company said so, since that's where i got the quote). if i'd been able to take it to my place, they would've spent the money any way i chose.

anyway, it's all supposed to be up to you.

 

Take the check for $1100 and decide how you want to spend the money.

 

get a used Stock IC and spend the rest of the money on what you want, like a boost controller or fuel pump or tires.

 

x2

 

wont the insurance agency ask for a receipt?

 

nope. all they do is come out and look at the car, look at the shops estimate, and write a check. that's it. and any supplemental estimates (secondary one's that come after the car is taken apart and you find more broke crap) are done over the phone - the guy doesn't even come back out to check the car out. at least my insurance guy didn't.

 

Or... you could spend another 1k more to get the ARC intercooler!!! haha

 

Exactly. When I was rear-ended, the adjuster came out and looked at the car, wrote me a check and mailed it off the next day. I am getting a couple new parts out of the deal. Just tell them you want XYZ shop to work on it, have the adjuster come out, and then they'll cut you a check and you spend it on whatever.

If they give you a list of shops that are "pre-approved" find one that isn't. The pre-approved ones make it to where an adjuster won't come out, the shop will just bill the insurance company.... so you don't get a check.

 

thanks a lot guys.

 

that truck driver-company is responsible and you could have gotten the company to pay for it, all loads should be secure and anything that is dropped or even kicked up is their responsiblity and it sounds like you would have had an easy case! I would have gotten his license and truck number, company, time and place and called a cop for a report and then called the company manager. Just for info for next time!