Help with insurance options with Body Shop
 

So a couple weeks back i got rear ended. The body work of my car came out great but my main concern is the body shop arguing that my exhaust was not impacted during the accident. Clearly my exhaust had been pushed in and it now rubbing against the rear bumper and also the left side is pushed inwards and positioned left firmly touching the bumper. Body shop says they don't specialize in aftermarket exhaust and can't repair it. Accident was not my fault and I'm not sure of my options now. I have a SRT Headback exhaust and it's obvious they are no longer around. Is there anyway I can argue to purchase a newer exhaust and have it installed?

Tell your insurance company the exhaust is damaged, have exhaust shop confirm it's damaged, show insurance original invoice for said aftermarket exhaust, and then get reimbursed by at fault parties insurance????

My problem is that i bought the exhaust second hand from a forum member about 5 years ago.

Shouldn't matter. Insurance should replace said exhaust with OEM or another of equivalent value. I would cut out the middle man and call your insurance company and let them know that the exhaust is damaged and the body shop is refusing to replace it.

Another issue is, since they can't find an exact price for an SRT exhaust since they aren't around anymore, the exhaust was MSRP at around 1k. I don't think they would even cover that much right? Or even what I personally bought the exhaust for

If the mods weren't reported/known to your insurer, they probably won't replace them for what you paid. If you got a good agent you could maybe get the MSRP. But without some kind of paper trail it's going to be tough.

Other than that, they'll should give you whatever the value is of a new exhaust from Subaru, and you'll have to cough up anything other that if you wanted to go aftermarket for the system.

The exhaust is damaged and needs to be replaced. It doesn't matter who made it, no car should leave a body shop incomplete. Sure, they might not be an exhaust shop. But they should know how to R&R an exhaust.

If they are giving you that much trouble, maybe file a complaint with your insurance company that the body shop did not fix the car 100%, and see if you can go to another shop to have that corrected.

It's at the point of it being too late to find a new shop mainly because the only ting stopping them from releasing the vehicle is my complaint about the exhaust. So it's sort of a messy situation at this point. Been going back and fourth with the claims adjuster and he's going back and fourth with his supervisor. Option he's given me was to reorder a SRT exhaust but I told him they were no longer in business so he's trying to find another to resolve this now.

I recently had this happen here in California, so not sure if CT is different. They other person's insurance had to return my car to the prior condition meaning my aftermarket parts were replaced with the same item so I got new Tom's tail lights and a new rear Cusco tow hook. I could get my exhaust used cheap so I asked to be cashed out for the price of the OEM unit and just took the money to buy another one.

Considering they don't make it anymore and you don't have anything showing what you paid that is one of your few options left. Does the body shop not subcontract exhaust work then? It should be common enough that they can have a different shop take a look since they don't do that kind of work.

Your insurance company was cool with the aftermarket stuff? Which company is it if you don't mind me asking :happyanim:

It wasn't my company, it was the girl that hit me. They admitted fault right away so I just processed it through them instead of my own (I did let my company know what happened just in case though). According to the adjuster I spoke with because it was her fault they had to replace it to the condition it was in before the accident, meaning aftermarket parts too as long as they weren't illegal (like smoked headlights or something). If it's an at fault accident I don't believe that to be the case unless its declared to insurance as you stated earlier, or you have a nice adjuster.

She had AAA iirc.

Find a comparable brand of replacement exhaust and try to get your adjuster to add it to the total, plus the cost of installation. They're usually only required to pay for the vehicle to be brought back to the condition it was in before the accident, so they may only be willing to meet you part way and pay a reduced percentage for the used value of your old exhaust.

Also, don't settle until the exhaust is actually installed, and make sure the insurance company pays for that and sees it through until it's on the car. They may try to just give you a check to order it and take care of installation on your own. You don't want to get under there (or have a shop get under there) and discover that it won't fit because there's other damage under the car that your current body shop is trying to avoid having to fix.

Kinda sounds like your body shop got cut a check for a job and now doesn't wanna order you a new exhaust...

Insurance is a funny thing. Keep driving their rental until your vehicle is properly fixed.

Geico lol