I would like to share some information with car owners with regards to the appraisals of vehicles that are either brought in due to an accident or mechanical repairs. I am referring to all automobile brands and not only to what we carry, Ford and Mazda. This is for the benefit of all customers. this info is applicable to all brands and all legitimate repair service shops.
1. Requesting for repair estimates
Before a vehicle can be accurately assessed for the damage it has sustained for example in a vehicular collision, shop workers need time, money and effort to be able to come up with a good estimate. When I say good estimate, I mean a list of the work to be done and items to be replaced, fixed or repaired, with the corresponding cost estimates. It’s called ESTIMATE because in many cases, after work has started, only then that the technicians or body and paint workers could discover that there are other items that would also need attention that were not included in the initial estimate.
2. Customers canvass around for lowest repair cost, of course, but when you go to a dealer asking them to give you an estimate, this is extra work for them. They need time to do this and they have to leave what they are doing to give your vehicle a good estimate. This is the reason why most dealers charge a minimal fee for estimates. Because if you only need an estimate for comparison, but will not give this particular dealer the job order, then they need to recover some labor cost charged to the work done and time spent estimating whatever repairs are needed on your vehicle.
In all fairness to the dealers, please be prepared to pay them their fees maybe one or two thousand depending on the respective dealers. Do not demand and expect that this would be FREE even if you personally know the dealer. Remember, this is cost to them. Also, some estimates cannot be done in a few minutes, not even in a day.
3. When an estimte is given to you, please do keep in mind the word ESTIMATES. like what I have mentioned before, there are jobs that cannot be seen and established until after work has already began on your vehicle.
4. When an estimate is beyond your imagination and expectation, do not curse the dealer and conclude right away that they are trying to dupe you. NO. The estimate given to you is based on all the things they think should be replaced, fixed, or repaired, based on the manual provided by the manufacturer, and based on the technician/service advisor/parts men’s guide and best judgement, In a few cases, especially for major damages, the cost of replacing the parts could be much more than the total selling price of a brand-new vehicle. Why give you an estimate higher than the selling price, ” eh di bibili na lang ako ng bago”. Of course, but that estimate is being given to you because you requested the dealer to provide you with an estimate. The dealer cannot say “Naku Sir, itapon mo na yan, kasi malaki ang gastos, bumili ka na lang ng bago”. Dealers cannot tell you that, you asked them to give you an estimate, if the estimate is 200,000 more than the brand new price, it doesn’t mean that they are asking you to spend that much money for the repair. They are just providing you with the estimate to restore your damaged vehicle so you would have a good idea that it doesn’t make sense anymore to repair it. Never conclude that the dealer thinks you are stupid and is trying to cheat you. Remember, you are dealing with technical people, the technicians, the service engineers, the parts officer, who all based the estimate on a simple cost computation. All repairs and parts needed = total estimate.
5. If your vehicle is insured, the estimates provided by the dealer are forwarded to your insurer. Their adjuster will have to personally inspect your vehicle if it warrants the repair suggested by the repair shop. Once the insurance company formally approves the estimate in writing, that’s the time that work could be done.
6. Many customers request that other body damages be included in the repair. Insurers inspect your vehicles. They can easily ascertain that the additional body repair requested by you is not part of the damage initially reported. You can still charge it to your insurance, but they will require you to pay a participation fee for every separate repair that are not related to each other. For example, you bumped your front hood against a tree. that’s one collision. Then you want to have the back door replaced kasi nabangga rin yun nung isang buwan. In this case, it would be obvious that the two accidents are unrelated, so you would be made to pay for two participation fees. Hindi rin ito pwedeng ilibre ng dealer. Do not feel entitled that because you are a valued client of the dealer, they will give this as free. Please keep in mind that the participation costs are requirements of your insurance company.
AN INFORMED CUSTOMER IS A GOOD CUSTOMER
by acty
