Advice sought -- neighbor backed into my front fender.

[Blinkling]

Hi crew. I'm hoping to take advantage of your expertise. My coupe has been parked parallel in front of my house off and on while I've been working on my other car in the garage and someone staying at the AirBNB across the street backed into it. Here's the outcome. (NOTE: It's the obvious dent, but not the grey primer spots. Those are where I'm trying to control the layer of filler primer from the paint job in the 80s as it chips off. Different issue.)

-The other party is insured with Progressive. I assume I'll call my insurer and they'll call theirs and that's how this will begin;
-It looks so far like the hood nor the inner fender nor the suspension are any worse off, visually of course. Lucked out if that's the case;
-Haven't driven it any farther than into the garage. Hopefully the wheel is ok;
-I see fenders are no longer available. Am I likely to be the one sourcing a fender vs. a having a collision shop try?;
-Could a talented dent specialist get any traction on this? As I said, paint work is in this car's future no matter what;
-Is there anything I need to remember when getting the damage assessed? Should I have collector specialist look at it?;
-Have I forgotten anything important?

Thanks! And sorry for adding to the dread on the forum this week! We'll all get a handle on our coupe issues, I'm certain.

 

[boonies]

Your approach of going through your insurance company is best. They will have your best interest in mind and can subrogate against the other carrie.

probably best to look for a classic car body shop rather than a collision shop.

 

[Arde]

I am sorry you were hit. The only other consideration is to be ready to resist the insurer's reaction of declaring the car total loss and cutting you a small check. They probably have no clue about E9 valuations and will see a 70s car with a bad paint job. Get hard data to fight that.

 

[Markos]

I am sorry you were hit. The only other consideration is to be ready to resist the insurer's reaction of declaring the car total loss and cutting you a small check. They probably have no clue about E9 valuations and will see a 70s car with a bad paint job. Get hard data to fight that.

The non-running beat up rusty coupe that just sold for $30K is a good benchmark.

@Blinkling, I do believe that a good dent repair guy could fix it. Especially since the backside is mostly accessible.

 

[Blinkling]

Thanks fellas. I'll start reading up on how claims are settled. New for me. And I'll start making a list of body restoration shops in the county here.

Woooowwww that's impressive metal work!! Ok, well I feel better maybe having several options.

 

[Arde]

If you are willing to bring it to Northern California, I trust UACC blindly and they have plenty of E9 experience including rust repairs...The owner, Gabriel Arias, is a great guy. I am in awe at their color matching skills. I am painting some rooms in my house and realize what a difficult task color matching is...imagine for a car.

Home - Auto Body Shop in Burlingame | United Auto Collision Center

We offer clean modern facilities with the latest collision repair equipment, long- term qualified employees, and comfortable customer area.

www.unitedautocollision.com

 

[Blinkling]

Thanks Arde. I can’t even imagine paint matching if metallics or a non-standard sheen are in play. I’m thankful I don’t care about the paint in this instance but if anything major got twisted I will be pleased to have this recommendation.

 

[CSteve]

Be prepared to play Hard Ball with the insurance companies. Don't endorse or accept any payments until you know the full extent of the damage. And have an open-ended estimate. Their adjuster will know squat. The shop should get into the job before they can give you a full estimate. At least that's the way it should work in an ideal world.

 

[teahead]

With that rust, get a new fender if possible and have shop remove it.

Pay extra for rust repair

 

[Stan]

did you check Wolloth und Nesh?

Catalog picture 41/08 - BMW 2,5 CS - 3,0 CSL (E9) - Body work | Wallothesch

www.wallothnesch.com

I see front fenders there.

 

[autokunst]

I don't think fenders are "readily available". The WN site shows them but they have a "0" price meaning they are not available. Any NOS or used that are have been sitting on a shelf for a very long time and typically have some shelf scars. That dent looks absolutely correctable by a competent metal guy/gal in my opinion. The fact that there is some rust at the seams is not an outcome of this fender bender, but can be addressed at the same time if you are ready to take that step. As others have noted, I think the challenge will be making sure the insurance companies understand what they are paying out. Thinking good thoughts. Best of luck!!!

 

[bavbob]

You have been lucky if you have never had to deal with something like this before. Do you have standard insurance from a company that thinks the car is worth 4 bucks or do you have Hagerty or equivalent that you set a value on? If you don't, something to consider moving forward.

I just let the insurance companies go at it and stay away. You tell your company what happened and sit tight. Their company will annoy you and ask for data, but it is the same data you gave your company and you are paying for them to handle this amongst themselves. Your job is to advocate for your car to your company and let them fight with the other company to get you what you want. Whatever you do, do not let them total the car such that even if you add to what they will give you, the Title will change to salvage or equivalent in Ca. In Ma for some strange reason, any car over ten years old, even if totaled, if you buy it back/fix it, the title does not change!

 

[m_thompson]

My CS got tapped in the back by a distracted driver. My insurance company suggested that I sue the other driver's insurance company directly. If I did that, I would have paid the legal costs and the decision might have taken a long time to settle. I told my insurance company that it is their responsibility to make me whole. I looked up all of the required parts and prices. The amount of labor was minimal, and there was no paint or body damage. The contract insurance adjuster knew nothing about classic cars, and just guessed about the cost of a bumper cover for something modern. The contract insurance adjuster passed me a check for the amount they had calculated. I tore up the check, gave it back to the contract insurance adjuster, gave him the sources and prices of the parts, and told him to let me know when they had a new check ready. The second time the check was reasonable, and I did the repairs myself. If you are not going to do the repairs yourself, I don't think you need to accept the check at all. I believe that the body shop will do the negotiating with your insurance company on your behalf. If the body shop finds more damage after they start work they can file a supplemental claim with your insurance company.

Just remember that your insurance company's goal is to get the car repaired for the lowest possible cost. As others mentioned, your car is worth a lot as parts, and the lowest possible cost might be to total the car and sell the remaining parts.

 

[dang]

If it were me..... Knowing that insurance companies HATE dealing with classics like ours they're usually willing to be a little more open to alternatives. The problem is the rust and bad paint not the damage. I think you'll have a hard time finding a shop willing to deal with an insurance company in the middle of repairs like that. I'd push back hard on the value and the cost of repairs and then have them write you a check. If you drive the car you could have a body guy pound out the fender and get it looking pretty good, there's lots of metal to work with, and put some of the money toward fixing the rest of the car/paint. This would give you time to source a good fender if you want to since you'll need to do paint in the future anyway.

The only way I see this working out is getting as much money as possible out of it and moving on with your own plan.

 

[teahead]

none available

 

[Blinkling]

I'm really torn -- both fenders should come off for a proper repair. The universe is telling me "now is the time" and the available space in my garage is saying "don't even think about it." And I think I'm too paranoid to let someone else do it.

Yeah, I saw that $0 price on the W&N site too. Just as well -- supposing I replaced the fender and made this impetus to learn how to do leading on body panels, wouldn't I need to take the dashboard, etc. out of the car before I put that much heat into the sheetmetal? It's very encouraging to think it can be straightened while still attached to the car.

My insurance is AAA. They've seemed ok so far, for whatever that's worth. I'm pleased that they told me to leave the negotiating to them! I agree I should have done some shopping for collector's insurance.... We'll see if I get away with it this time!

The other company is Progressive and they sent me some text messages demanding a phone call but that was easy to ignore.

The idea of letting them total it gives me the cold shivers. I would just fix it myself before I even contemplated that. Sounds like they understand I need fender work as a result of this and that's all.

The local body shop seems ok; He'll be my first estimate and the shop which deals with the adjuster. He was aggressive at first about using this as an opportunity to paint the whole car ("are you actually a fan of this color?") and also about keeping the reimbursement between AAA and himself. Great expertise and technique would be required for the blending work. My enthusiasm evaporated pretty quickly at the thought of putting even more paint on those areas that still have the 1980s filler underneath (like the hood). I finally asked, "look, I know this whole car needs paint attention -- can I accept the payout from insurance personally and hire you just for the metal repair work?" I don't think that was what he was hoping to hear after describing how heroically he would be representing us against the insurance company but he did say yes. Here's what I like about him: he is currently finishing a 55 Thunderbird and an 80s Mercedes SL and they look really nice. He also personally knows the AAA adjuster who deals with classic cases. So my plan would be to have him take the new creases out, patch the rust holes myself from the outside (on both fenders), and then decide which of us will prime and paint it. I still have some of the matching green left over from the hurried job I did in time for my wedding. If this buys me several years prior to major work I'll be ok with that.

Developing...

Thanks, fellas, with your hard-earned experience in this field....

 

[dang]

Your damage is definitely worse than mine was, but the metal is thick and I was surprised how well it came out, even with me doing it myself in my garage. Get as much money as you can and you'll figure out the rest...

 

[rsporsche]

Dan, that e3 came out looking quite good from where it started.

@Blinkling - i know i speak for everyone hoping that this works out for you. remember, just because the insurance companies think their offer is reasonable ... it doesn't mean that it is. you can push back and not accept it, especially if they mention the word TOTAL. gather a set of comparables to establish value - @Markos reference is a good place to start. I think coupes that had some rust and have been reborn into wonderful coupes - @m5bb's coupe for example - put on a rotisserie, rebuilt and repainted - then rebuilt mechanically by Gary.

 

[Candia4441]

The non-running beat up rusty coupe that just sold for $30K is a good benchmark.

@Blinkling, I do believe that a good dent repair guy could fix it. Especially since the backside is mostly accessible.

this was very interesting, this guy is very talented, where is this guy located, we need a person like him to work on E9

 

[Arde]

Good plan!

I admit I woke up in a litigious mood today, so how about you make a claim against Airbnb? Perhaps against the Airbnb property owner for not screening tenants? How about suing the person that hit you.

Anyway, my wife hit the fender of the VW Golf against a column a few days ago. Columns tend to win. I told her this is a great chance to fix a few other little details that needed attention, so I am dropping the car with UACC at dawn. Make it more valuable than before, repeat after me: Kintsugi.

Else I do know a mantra in Sanskrit, HBChris doubts it, and it is specially useful to remain calm when a wife hits a column, or when I am about to file my 2022 taxes. Perhaps I will post an audio.