Miata Mailing List: December 1999, Message #44

sponsored by

Most insurance companies have a hard time telling you that you cannot go to
a dealer to get repair work done.

Mark &Buddy 91 White A
Still in LALA Land
----- Original Message -----
From: Charles T. Major <ctmajor@samford.edu>

> Greetings, Miataphiles!
>
> I've had Lucille ('96 Base, Montego Blue) for 6 weeks now,
> and I've been hit twice now.  Both times I saw it coming
> and laid on the horn to no avail. (The air horns are on the
> way!)
>
> The first time there was no real damage, aside from a
> slightly scratched rear bumper.  I was in stop & go
> traffic, and notice that the teenager in the car behind me
> was talking on a cell phone, tailgating, and not paying
> much attention.  I said to my wife, "That car's going to
> rear-end us."  Within a couple of blocks, traffic stopped,
> and I looked in the rear view mirror to see that the driver
> was looking down, so I started blowing my horn.  Bump!
>
> Last night, I was stopped at a stop sign, a car in front
> and a car behind me.  I see the taillights and then reverse
> lights come on on the car parked to the right of my
> passenger side front fender.  I can't move, the car in
> front of me won't move, and the parked car slowly creeps
> back toward my fender.  Again I lay on the horn, and again
> the car keeps coming, until I hear a crunch and the car
> stops.
>
> I've gotten two estimates this morning, one for $340, and
> one from the Roebuck Mazda body shop for $522.  The main
> difference between the two is that Roebuck's estimate
> includes blending the paint on the bumper, hood, and door.
> According to Roebuck, blending is necessary on any
> metallic paint to avoid an obvious difference in color
> between the repainted panel and the old paint.  It sounds
> reasonable to me, but I'm no expert in these things, and I
> fear that the insurance company might want to insist in the
> cheapest job.  Any comments from the collective.
>
> Regards,
> Tidmarsh
> Birmingham, Alabama
>
> PS-Thanks for letting me vent.
>
>