[G35revup]

Well, some asshole with a moving truck left that gate down in the back and ran into the side of my car. It looks like someone keyed it with a crow bar... I had to wake up to this. Damage extends from the rear quarter panel to about 2ft into the passenger side door. Fortunately it did not come near that crease on the side of the body and will not be hard to fix.

Would taking it to the BMW dealership be the best bet? I know a local body shop here in Tampa, Fl. (Gene Perez) does a lot of BMW's and has a great reputation, but they do not like working with my insurance company. I am thinking the BMW dealership would use a competent bodyshop. I want it to be perfect just like any other BMW owner/enthusiast.

Has anyone here used BMW for work before? If I leave it up to my insurance company they will come pick it up and send the car to the cheapest body shop in town.

Thanks for the input.

[!Xoible]

ur G35?

[Year's_End]

His profile says he drives a space grey 335i. Anyways, sorry to hear about this. How deep is the damage? What's the severity?

[G35revup]

Yeah. I dont think I would be taking a G35 to the BMW dealership. It looks like a giant key mark and is dented in from the pressure caused by the truck. It wasnt like some guy was in reverse at 10mph if thats what you are asking. The guy was carefully backing up into a parking spot and had some other guy watching, who was unfortunately incompetent. I have been careful as hell about where I park and everything too. Nothing I can do about it though , shit happens.

[aequitas330]

The guy didn't even stop or leave a note? What a douche..

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Loyalist

His profile says he drives a space grey 335i. Anyways, sorry to hear about this. How deep is the damage? What's the severity?

his avi has a G, and his name is G35revup... anyway... it sucks either way.

[Year's_End]

Did you arrive after this happened? I also notice that you live in Tampa. Whatever you do, don't go to Bert Smith BMW (not that you would...it's probably not that close to you). Those guys took forever to repair my dad's 6. If the independent repair shop has a good rep I'd do my best to try to get them to work on it instead.

[vAnt826]

Pics

[G35revup]

The guy that did it knocked on my door and told me. I have all his info and everything.

[aequitas330]

Originally Posted by G35revup

The guy that did it knocked on my door and told me. I have all his info and everything.

Oh ok, at first it seemed like a hit and run. At least he had the decency to let you know. Still sucks though... Good luck..

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by aequitas330

Oh ok, at first it seemed like a hit and run. At least he had the decency to let you know. Still sucks though... Good luck..

Yup, Britney Spears will just run off!
hehehe...can't help!

[Neema]

Originally Posted by G35revup

The guy that did it knocked on my door and told me. I have all his info and everything.

thats better though

[radiofrequency]

Sorry to hear about your car. I have used Superior in St. Pete for PDR and custom work on my Porsche. They are very good. I would recommend them to anyone, and by the way, I drive over there from Tampa as I could not find anyone worthwhile in the local area.

http://www.superiorautobodyshop.com/

[BK]

Sorry to hear it.

I have to admit, when I saw the thread title, I thought, "Of course the truck was moving! It would be very difficult to be hit by a parked truck!"

[Bimmerista]

Oh goody, I haven't used this emoticon in a long time.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity.

Oh, yeah, this really sucks but at least the perp 'fessed and you're not stuck with the repair bill (or insurance hassle).

[Carlito12]

my car was hit by another car going about 10 mph...

scratches and few dents... (see pics)

took it to a reputable body shop (marcos in San Gabriel)...

the estimate came out to be $4200...

good luck.

[aequitas330]

Originally Posted by BK

Sorry to hear it.

I have to admit, when I saw the thread title, I thought, "Of course the truck was moving! It would be very difficult to be hit by a parked truck!"

[Sedan_Clan]

I would just ask the dealer which shop they use for repairs. When my E46 ///M3 needed repair, I took it to the body shop that my dealer used. That shop specialized in BMW and Infinity repair work, and 80% of their business came from BMW dealers/BMW owners. They definitely knew their stuff!

[G35revup]

Well, I took the car to Gene Perez today who has a reputation here in Tampa for doing foreign cars. It can be fixed two different ways.

1.) Knock the dmg out and bondo it
2.) Replace the rear quarter, which seems to be a large piece and a big job.

They said option #2 would be the right way to fix it. It will take about 3-4 weeks and is a big job. $3000 is what the quote was. I took some pictures with my cell phone but I am having trouble uploading them atm.

[G35revup]

Here is a picture of the damage. I went with the $3k option of replacing the entire rear quarter, they say it will be about 3 weeks. It sucks because two weeks prior to this incident I had installed the procede. My fun has been suspended.... On a positive note I will be looking at some wheels and tires for when it comes out of the shop.

The last 3 cars I have had including this one have been hit by some incompetent person. It seems like all of my efforts spended parking away from other cars or in special places to avoid being dinged or ran into are a big waste of time, lol. It is just a matter of time before they get me.

This body shop is the best in town, they have been doing bmw's and other foreign cars since 1969 and have an impeccable reputation. I get to drive around an 08' Altima 2.5 rental while im waiting lol, talk about slow.

[John 070]

This happened to a friend, he said a Chinese restaurant supply truck smashed his car and kept going. My friend does tend to exaggerate, so who knows if he may have embellished the story, but he said he was getting a haircut and shave at a barber shop. When he saw his car get hit and the truck drive away, he ran out of the shop with the nylon thing draped around him and shaving cream on his face, and screamed to no avail. He caught the guys at a stop light and cursed them out in Spanish. The odd thing is he said they claimed they didn't know they hit his car and gave him all the insurance info which was legit. To this day he doesn't know if it were hit and run or not, he said the driver and passenger were so poker-faced that if they committed a crime, they were pretty cool and not afraid of getting caught, as they were.

My concern would be OEM crash parts. I think the dealereship would be the best bet? Although knock on wood I have never gotten bodywork done. I can't stand that when the sun shines on a clear car, the repair is obvious. Again, I don't know if that's cheap bodywork as opposed to a dealership. But many newer cars have that look in the summer when people keep things clean.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by G35revup

1.) Knock the dmg out and bondo it

No way, not on a new car! The other party must pay for an OEM replacement. Ask him about OEM. I think there is paperwork to prove that a crash part is OEM, so ask the repair shop.