07 Saturn Sky

El Toro

Member
Just had a customer walk in with an estimate written by a small independent appraisal firm on a 2007 Saturn Sky. Basically R door replacement and refinish. 3,0 hrs labor and 3.8 paint labor less o/l deduct so 3.4 paint labor? What overlap? No blend time ( black ) .
This just seams a little low I don't have an estimating system or books on this car. No returned call from co. What would you guys do? Thank you
 
Insurance Co.'s have stopped allowing blends with black I see it everyday and they also have stopped blends for bumpers unless you jump threw some hoops. It is a real fight anymore with those "effen" bean counters.
 
If you don't have a proper estimating system, it will be hard to get proper compensation from the insurance company. You have to educate your customer about the necessity for proper pay for proper work. Recruit him to complain to the insurance company once a reasonable figure for the supplemental work is reached. I might be able to help you, though it's crunch time for me this week and time is limited. PM me the VIN and the extra work required and I'll try to look into it for you.

BTW, insurance companies don't "allow" us to do our jobs. In any court of law, the technicians at the shop doing the work are the experts, not some schmuck from an insurance company. The shop is legally liable when repairs aren't done right, so it's important NOT to follow the advice of non-experts. You're not going to them with your hat in hand, you are going to them with a fair and reasonable bill, and if they don't pay it, your customer must. But that's called a short pay, and it's illegal for an insurer to do that.
 
It sounds about right on the paint time as for the body labor is it a new door or LKQ? Sounds a little low, I'll check on CCC Comp-Est tomorrow and post what I find here. BTW I found that those Independent Appraisal Companies are the worst. They consistently write lower estimates than the regular Insurance adjusters I deal with. Like Crash said if you want to PM me the VIN and total of what's required I'll work it up for you tomorrow.

Oh and make sure you know your areas prevailing labor rate so that you can check and see that they are not shorting you on body paint and paint materials.
 
Checked today and if you are replacing the outer panel labor is 5.9 hrs in CCC. If you are replacing the entire door assembly it was 5.0 (I think didn't write it down). Definitely more than 3 hours. Paint labor was about right. Let me know if you want a complete estimate. You can PM me the VIN and detailed description of the repair area labor rates etc, and I'll work up something for you and email you it tomorrow.. That might help you know where you stand on taking in this repair.
 
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