Last night a large tree branch fell smack on top of my Blaze Orange fit, which was parked at the time. There was no wind or rain at all - zero, nothing, nada. The car was completely engulfed by the leafy end of the branch, so much so that people driving past didn't at first realize there was a car under there. This occurred at my GFs apartment complex, and a call to the 24 hour number yielded the maintenance supervisor and a tree removal co. They were able to cut away the tree piece by piece until the car was free.

The damage is not as severe as you might expect:

• The glass all survived and appears to be free of cracks.
• The only dents (that I saw this morning in the light) are two small ones (1-2" in diameter) in the metal just above the left rear door.
• There are big scratches all over the car, although the hood was mostly spared. The roof has the brunt of the big scratches, but there are also big ones down the door panels, on the frame around the windshield, and on the rear spoiler. Some of the scratches are deep, some appear more superficial like they might be buffed out.

I called my insurance agent (Allstate) this morning and started the claim process. I (obviously) have comprehensive on the car, although the deductable is $500. They are sending out an adjuster, although maybe not until Monday. In the mean time, the agent on the phone said I could wash the car to remove the wood chips from the chain saw (which are everywhere).

Now for the questions:

1. Any idea what I can expect from the insurance co? Do they usually cover full repaints, or just touch up work. I think most scratches can be buffed out, but some will need paint.
2. Do you recommend a full repaint, or just touch up work? I've never had body work done on a car before - will a repaint be as durable as the factory paint?
3. If Allstate will cover a full repaint, will they allow Honda to do it, or will they make me take the Fit to Jimbo Bob's body and paint. Or maybe I don't want to go to Honda, and Jimbo Bob's is better. FYI, I'm in the Northern Virginia area, and the dealership I've been using is Hendrick Honda (sales dept is typical, but the service dept seems OK - they fixed my bumper before the paint started peeling, and replaced a rusty wiper arm without any problems).
4. What might a repaint cost. I'd want the factory orange metallic paint - nothing new or fancy or extra. Since I want the original color, do they still need to repaint everything (ie. engine compartment, door jams, etc) for the job to look right? The car is only 6 months old, so I doubt the color has faded much.
5. What things should I ask the paint shop for (e.g. number of coats, number of clear coats, other things I don't know about, etc).

Thanks for your help. I took pics last night and this morning, but they are on film which needs to be developed. I'm off to see what a commercial vacuum will do to get the chips out of the cracks.

 

my suggestion, call the dealership, teel them what happened, find out A- if they will do the repairs, if not who can do them to get your car to its original condition, B- find out the cost. your insurence company can not legally tell you where to go to have the repairs done, and they will pay everything (minus ur deductable) but i wonder, if you were parked at an apartment complex are they liable for your damages since they maintain the grounds? you should look into that, it will A- save you your deductable right away, and B- unfortuneatley after an incident like this your insurence will probably go up. but look into the apartments liability... was the limb cracking off and they did not do anything about it??????? I'm sorry to hear about your car, i can't imagin how much that must suck. also a word of advice when dealing with the insurence company, don't let them boss u around, its your car, you pay them to protect your car, you are entitled to get the work done where you want (even if it is the most expensive place in the country and the cheapest place is 2 min. down the road).


Hope this helps, and sorry again

 

My experience with dealership body shop work, particularly PAINT, has been extremely bad. An independent body shop with a good reputation would be my recommendation, and your insurance company cannot make you go anywhere you don't want to. Based upon your description, the body repairs will cause even more paint damage, and I think that a complete repaint will be required.

Allstate will almost certainly pursue the company who insures the apartment complex to try for a liability settlement. Whether or not the apartment's insurer pays, they will pay Allstate, which means that you are out the deductible. If the apartment insurance pays Allstate, that is their admission of liability. You can then file a small claims court action against the apartment management to get your deductible back.

The information that I just gave you was factual when I was an agent for Farmer's Insurance Co. decades ago, but it may not be so factual under today's insurance regulations.

 

They won't repaint your whole car. They will blend paint and you probably won't be able to tell but they will almost never repaint the whole car just to paint match. I wish they woulda repainted my whole car after my incident but they blended it so well you can hardly notice that it has an entirely new front end Don't worry ask around and see what a good body shop in your area is and they'll take care of you.

 

Thanks for the advice. I drove over to a nearby well regarded body shop yesterday and spoke with one of their guys. He said they would probably have to strip, prime, and repaint the entire roof panel. Most of the scratches on the sides are not deep and they can probably be buffed out.

He also pointed out scratches I hadn't noticed on the black plastic that surrounds the side windows, and said that those can't be repaired - the pieces have to be replaced.

I do have a question about paint brands (I know very little here). He said their shop uses PPG paint, and seemed very confident that they could match the orange and the metallic very well. Does anyone know what brand of paint Honda uses? Is PPG paint decent, or should I be looking for a shop that uses some specific brand (that you recommend)?

 

if it's a well reguarded shop i'm sure youll get good pain, just dont go to Maco lol you get a better job with spray paint lol!

 

Do you have any pictures? I think you and I just have bad luck with trees

 

was it a ficus?

 

No, not a ficus. That would be funny though. I'm told it was an ornamental pear, which are apparently notorious for just falling over randomly.

I saw the insurance agent this morning, and have a body shop appt set up for next week. The shop said it will take 5 days. They need to completely strip and repaint the roof (after pounding dents out), the pillars, the left fender, and the sport fin. They think the rest of the scrapes are buffable - hopefully so!


Here are some pictures. The car lights were not on - those are just bad reflections with the camera flash.

 

Uhh! That blows. It happened to happen to a Fit. Hope you get it fixed soon.

How many vehicles were involved?

 

I am sorry about your car. And here I am turning in my sleep thinking about the 3 small stone chips on my hood. Good luck with your repair and hopefully it will come out like a brand new vehicle.

 

ya man thats what i'm saying i lose sleep over a minor accident with my sister and some rock chips and here you are with this big mamjama of tree on top of your car. Hopefully everything works out ok for you.

 

Yup, looking at the photo, its a Bradford Pear. The trees are known to do this.

The Pros & Cons of Bradford Pears

Where my wife worked, they fell over all the time. Most growers that sell these trees know the fault well, surprised they planted them in a parking area.

Why did you go to your insurance, and not the insurace of the owner of the tree BTW? How did the LeSabre next to you fare?

 

dude that sux! if that happend to my car i'd throw a shit fit!!!!! i bitched out a lady the other day whose fat ass rubbed against my car!!!!! i cant stand a not perfect car!

 

The entire parking lot at this apartment complex is lined with these trees. There are 10-15 apartment buildings, and so a large amount of parking (and lots of trees).

I went with my insurance because it was much faster than trying to extract money directly from the complex. I am trying to get my deductable out of them - not sure if they will pay that. Regardless, I imagine that Allstate (my insurance) will be recouping their outlay from the complex's insurance.

The LeSabre fared better than the fit. It had a heavy branch laying directly on the windshield, but the tree removal guy was able to cut it away slowly to avoid dumping a lot of weight onto the glass. I didn't see the Buick in daylight, so I don't know how bad the scratches are.

 

damn man that sucks hope they fix it like new and thanks dude for posting that link. i have a bradford in my front yard over my house and driveway
i think i'll have that sucker cut down