Sob Story - 21' JLUD Rubicon

[Newbalewb]

If you can’t get it totaled I suggest order a new one from Gupton and get it 5-7% below invoice and get it delivered around the same time yours gets finished from the body shop. When yours gets fixed, get a diminished value check for it, should be couple grand and sell it. The way used market is right now and considering you got it 8% below invoice, you’d probably break even or better.

Typically you can’t get diminished value from your own insurance company.

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[AcesandEights]

If you can’t get it totaled I suggest order a new one from Gupton and get it 5-7% below invoice and get it delivered around the same time yours gets finished from the body shop. When yours gets fixed, get a diminished value check for it, should be couple grand and sell it. The way used market is right now and considering you got it 8% below invoice, you’d probably break even or better.

Often, diminished value is not allowed through a first-party carrier.

 

[Vinman]

Fuck the collision shop, start calling the insurance company every day and complain. When they complain that you are calling way too often, start calling twice a day, then 3 times a day and jeep escalating the calls until something is done

 

[needajeep]

Fuck the collision shop, start calling the insurance company every day and complain. When they complain that you are calling way too often, start calling twice a day, then 3 times a day and jeep escalating the calls until something is done

Love it! I've already started.

 

[JEEP4U]

See it as an opportunity to upgrade.........

Jeep JL Coil Overs | Jeep Wrangler Lift Kit | JL EXS Suspension System | GenRight Off Road

 

[BackToWrangler]

Hi all,

Warning - this is partly a cathartic exercise and partly looking for feedback and venting. Feel free to bash me or support me as you see fit. So let's begin. I've been in a Jeep Wrangler-related nightmare for the past 5 months. I joined the JL Forum over a year ago to do my research and subsequently agonized over the trim and color for months (2021' Rubicon JLU Diesel in granite crystal metallic). Even leasing another car thinking I wasn't ready for a Jeep yet only to hate the car and dump it at a huge loss to order my Jeep. Thanks to you guys and this forum I got a great deal from Gupton Motors in TN (Dan Gupton is a prince). To say the least, I was thrilled. I received my Jeep on Friday, June 11th put 100 miles on it only to get into what I thought was a minor accident on June 14th, and haven't seen it for one second since.

The initial superficial inspection showed the Jeep would need a new steel bumper, frame ends, and they would repair and repaint the slightly out of shape right fender, hood, and 'anything else they find'. I'll spare you the excruciating details on how many times the collision shop promised the car would be ready in 3 weeks, then 3.5 more weeks, then 4 more weeks, etc. For some reason that I'll never understand (please fill me in if you know why) the collision shop has taken the Jeep apart in multiple small stages vs. doing a deep dive upfront to discover all needed repairs. The bottom line is after 3 months of BS'ing me that they've ordered all parts (which were of course all back-ordered due to COVID) they've decided that I needed a new frame because despite their best efforts over 3 months they could not fully straighten it. Why order and wait for back-ordered and very expensive "frame ends" if you couldn't straighten the frame, to begin with? Lastly, after ordering a brand new OEM frame and waiting 6+ weeks to receive it, they've now informed me that they've found two new parts that need replacing that are back-ordered (battery tray and motor mount - they should've discovered this during their initial teardown). So I'll be lucky to see the jeep again by January (7 months w/o my Jeep). Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this story and the bullets below. Thanks if you've read this far.

Random Thoughts:

• I know this is first-world problems and I should be grateful I can afford a Wrangler and weather something like this (still very angry).
• I feel like this is no longer my Jeep and do not want it back under any circumstances (it's been rotting in a parking lot for months and will have a frame swap after 120 miles on the OD).
• Any thoughts on the diminished value after this accident? I'm seriously considering selling it immediately if the insurance company won't total it. Aside from telling me how stupid that would be feel free to let me what you think. I got it for 8% below the invoice so I'm hoping that will mitigate some of the potential loss, but I haven't looked into it yet.
• Any thoughts on if I have any legal recourse with my insurance company (I have a lawyer looking into it - not holding my breath)? They won't total the Jeep because it's still too valuable vs the amount of damage.
• Any realistic suggestions on what to do? And I won't take a shockingly expensive Wrangler and turn it into a built-up rock crawler. It was supposed to be a daily for at least 1-2 years.

Sorry to hear about your Jeep.

I just updated my own story here:
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/got-rearended.82063/post-1721201

For me a diminished value claim was a no-go. But my situation wasn't as bad...but aggravating and infuriating all the same. You should check out your options.

If you pursue a diminished value claim, check out https://diminishedvalueexpert.com/.
These are the people I would have used. In fact they bent over backwards to put me in touch with a lawyer in my area BEFORE they charged me for an appraisal report to make sure I had a good chance of collecting money. The lawyer said they wouldn't take my case because there wasn't enough money to recoup, and Petty Details (the web site I gave you) said without a good lawyer to back me up in NY, it probably wasn't worth pursuing a DV claim. So at least it cost me nothing to decide what I wanted to do. They are a husband/wife team, he has tons of experience around diminished value claims in many different states and is often used as an expert witness in DV court cases. Great people!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[BackToWrangler]

I went with their "top" repair shop that the insurance company recommended. They gave me the choice of theirs or mine, but I'm happy to say this was my first accident so I don't have a collision shop. I thought going with theirs would help me avoid issues. Think again.

I thought the same...admittedly it was not a bad outcome for me...but still...if there is a next time I will pick a highly rated collision shop that is *NOT* in the insurance company's network.

 

[needajeep]

Sorry to hear about your Jeep.

I just updated my own story here:
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/got-rearended.82063/post-1721201

For me a diminished value claim was a no-go. But my situation wasn't as bad...but aggravating and infuriating all the same. You should check out your options.

If you pursue a diminished value claim, check out https://diminishedvalueexpert.com/.
These are the people I would have used. In fact they bent over backwards to put me in touch with a lawyer in my area BEFORE they charged me for an appraisal report to make sure I had a good chance of collecting money. The lawyer said they wouldn't take my case because there wasn't enough money to recoup, and Petty Details (the web site I gave you) said without a good lawyer to back me up in NY, it probably wasn't worth pursuing a DV claim. So at least it cost me nothing to decide what I wanted to do. They are a husband/wife team, he has tons of experience around diminished value claims in many different states and is often used as an expert witness in DV court cases. Great people!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Thanks so much for the info. Very helpful. I think the bottom line with me is how long it's been and wondering if they keep missing things what are they going to miss and never find? I feel like I'll be driving around in a death trap. I mean a worse deathtrap than Wranglers already are. I do have to say that I'm very disappointed with the build quality of a $68K vehicle. I'm not that in love to overlook this. I'm definitely going to dive into the website you shared. Thanks again.

 

[BackToWrangler]

Thanks so much for the info. Very helpful. I think the bottom line with me is how long it's been and wondering if they keep missing things what are they going to miss and never find? I feel like I'll be driving around in a death trap. I mean a worse deathtrap than Wranglers already are. I do have to say that I'm very disappointed with the build quality of a $68K vehicle. I'm not that in love to overlook this. I'm definitely going to dive into the website you shared. Thanks again.

I understand your concerns. If you are not confident in the shop doing the work properly, then I can understand not feeling safe in the vehicle. As for build quality, I think there are 2 different issues. One is the actual build quality...and we see lots of posts about this...people having all kinds of problem with things not working...and then other people having no problems. The other is the issue of what gets bent or twisted in an accident. That I don't see as a build quality issue...given the requirements for crash safety these days, parts have to be designed to crumple and twist and absorb the energy of a crash and protect the occupants as much as possible. Great for protection...but if your vehicle suffers damage...even kind of minor...it ends up looking like a pretzel.

 

[GearWhore]

Sorry you've had this repair drag on this long already. My diesel oil leak was 2+ months on a new Jeep and that was tough. As some others have said, if you can't get to a replacement/buyout solution with your insurer, sell or trade it as soon as you can.

Had the sunroof explode in our 2018 Grand while my wife was driving in December 2019. Took it to insurance-recommended repair shop (Cascade Collision). It was never the same. Shop had to drop and remove the headliner. Manager says they were supposed to remove the windshield to do so but didn't want to chance cracking it (which they later did), so instead they removed the cargo area side panels. The plastic panels never aligned properly again and the sunroof never stopped rattling. Overall that Jeep was in the body shop for more than 2 months while they waited on parts and kept trying to find the rattles. When it was finally complete, the shop left the Jeep parked on the side of the highway in front of their shop, unlocked, overnight.

That Jeep never felt right after that, some minor rattles never went away, I was still finding glass in nooks when cleaning it myself, and the cargo side panels and gaskets never aligned properly. We sold it a couple months after repairs were completed. All just for a sunroof. I still have a hard time trusting any large sunroof now.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Insurance recommended or “pro” shops work closely with insurance companies to keep costs down.

I had a brand new Pontiac Grand Prix in 1990. It should have been totaled. Allstate said it was borderline, but opted to repair it as it was so new. I expressed concern and they said their “pro” shop would do the work and Allstate would guarantee the work for “life”.

Well, they couldn’t get it done before I deployed to Desert Storm. My wife at that time, didn’t have any car sense (actually no sense) and accepted a poorly repaired POS. When I got back 6 months later, it looked like an auction car bought from a second chance used car lot. Paint runs, brokem plastic trim inside that was patched/fixed rather than replaced, etc. lifetime warranty? All wanted to do was get rid of it, which I did.

Bottom line, find your own repair shop based on reputaion and quality of work. Hint, they don’t advertise because they have more than enough work.

 

[BuyHold]

These shortages are not just because of COVID, although COVID is likely the biggest contributor.

The entire world woke up to the realization that China cannot be trusted to be the sole supplier of everything we consume. So we are in the process of moving our supplies lines out of China, which is a long, complicated and painful process.

BTW, many years ago The Economist estimated that China was "subsidizing" the standard of living in the rest of the world. Their low-cost manufacturing meant that we could buy more of their cheap stuff, which in turn helped keep inflation in check. But COVID, the invasion of Hong Kong, growing signs of aggression towards Taiwan, etc., all put an end to the party.

As we move our supply lines out of China into higher-cost places, we lose that "subsidy" and prices are going to have to adjust. This is a big part of the inflation we are now seeing.

Hopefully it will be short-lived. Fingers crossed!

Well put.

COVID sucked/sucks but there is perhaps a silver lining. Like the figurative addict who only realizes his life has to change after hitting rock bottom lest he lose it all, Covid opened many American's eyes to our addiction to ridiculous reliance on Chinese supply chain. Many people have seen this for a long time but obviously not enough to change our collective way.

Obviously/unfortunatley there will be some costs as we transition and I agree, let's hope it is short lived.

 

[AcesandEights]

Insurance recommended or “pro” shops work closely with insurance companies to keep costs down.
...

Yes, the point of insurance is to mitigate costs, which in turn keep rates lower. Those lower costs are your (and my) costs. Shops work closely to keep profits high, insurance companies work to keep those costs and cost changes less impactful to the customer.

 

[Dfideth]

The insurance company let me decide to either use their place or use my own. Having not ever been in an accident over 30 years of driving I don't know of any collision repair shops. So I went with their recommendation thinking that this would ensure there would be no friction between the two. So far it looks like they're in lock step, but clearly, they're doing everything they can to limit the damage totals.

30 years without an accident, you must not have a wife and kids that drive. My repair shop is on retainer.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Yes, the point of insurance is to mitigate costs, which in turn keep rates lower. Those lower costs are your (and my) costs. Shops work closely to keep profits high, insurance companies work to keep those costs and cost changes less impactful to the customer.

I understand that, but isn't it less expensive in the long run to have a repair done correctly rather than spending time trying to make broken, inexpensive parts reusable? And if the guy applying the paint is getting paid, shouldn't he be competent? Having to fix things by redoing them, or order a new part to replace a badly repaired one costs more money in the long run.

However, my guess is that many just accept substandard work because they don't know any better. A coworker had her Tacoma repaired a couple of months ago. Not one single panel lines up correctly. The gap on one side of the hood is twice as wide as the other. The door on the driver side is so close to the fender I can't believe they don't rub. And all it takes is a few extra minutes, or a different part to solve all of that.

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