[Kiske]

First off Chuckles, ouch, fortunately she stopped so that is a good sign. Secondly, if not already done police report if not just to document everything. Cross your T's and dot your I's. It's amazing how some people can be so polite in person after an accident only to become a huge pain in the ass once reality sinks in later on. More so when they don't have to see you face-to-face.

So in the majority of these cases, you would report this to your OWN insurance company, supplying them with the police report, dash cam and the woman's contact, and insurance information. Your insurance company will be fighting on your behalf. Always go through them. Many people will try to deal outside of insurance and usually it just results in arguments and you getting screwed.

Yes, reporting aftermarket parts is something that you already should have been doing but, that doesn't mean her insurance company isn't liable to replacing them. Most companies have a built in policy including wheels and tires, with some anything up to a certain dollar amount is included. You will have to check your policy or speak with your agent for details.

With that out of the way, YOUR insurance company will be handling the repairs and whom you will be working with. After that bit they will then go after her insurance company for the costs and argue it out.



So like any other accident do some leg work and get a few repair quotes from independent shops and a few of their recommendations. When you do so you may want to take any receipts for parts along with you as you will need the bodyshop's estimator to include these in your estimate. Many will understand as they are car people too.

Your insurance company will likely send out their own adjuster to look at and underwrite the repair cost. Do the same thing with the adjuster, provide receipts and even walk him through the car and the Ts' special edition features.

In the end you will have an army of quotes that you may then use to make sure the estimator isn't low-balling you or the shop that will be doing the work.

Check over the estimates. If shop A, B and C all say it will take 1.5 labor do do something and the adjuster has 0.2 labor. Talk with them, find out why. Try to be respectful and kind and you can usually get them working more in your favor. The end goal is to get the repair done correctly the first time and to standard of how the car was before (or better.) Don't try to bullshit them into free-upgardes as they will pull time from elsewhere in the estimate, effecting the shop doing the work. Happy shop, happy insurance, happy client.

Pull your parts and screen shot any receipts of website selling the part. That way you don't have to try to find something on the spot. Some adjusters will just have you email everything to them. The only part they might try to weasel on is the STi axelback due to how much of a bitch it will be to find one. Talk with them and they may even be willing to let you order the parts with reimbursement. Most insurance companies and repair shops don't like to deal with places like japanparts.com simply because it's a bit more of a hassle to them and outside of their usual operating procedure. Also make sure to pre-quote things like freight/shipping. The more through you can be the better, just try not to step on any toes.