So you were in an accident? Collision, insurance, & repair advice.

I'd like to take the time to provide some information for you guys and gals and "pay-it-forward" for all of the advice and information that I have received.

Intro: This information is from my personal experience working in a body shop for the last 13 years in the state of Georgia. Different states operate in different ways with certain things that I will bring up, like diminished value and salvaged titles.

BAM there's an accident. Now what? : Call the police and get a police report. It is admirable that you don't want to call the police and have a report made to be nice, but not all other parties are nice. A police report is important because it is the unbiased middle man and proves what happened in a legally binding way to protect you. (This only works in At-Fault states) No-fault states (like Florida) make you use your own insurance for repairs. Also, police cannot write a police report on private property like store parking lots and such. THIS IS WHERE A DASH CAMERA WOULD COME IN HANDY wink wink...... If you have to file through your own insurance company then they will go through their own subrogation process and sue the other insurance. If they are successful then you will get your deductible refunded and any rental costs returned to you.

No fault states: Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Utah.

* If the other party lies to their insurance after the fact, there is nothing you can do other than file your own insurance. It becomes a "he said / she said" situation.

*If the other party wants to pay out of pocket they still can, but the report helps you in case this person becomes flakey and disappears on the bill as you still have their insurance information to fall back on.

Ok a report has been filed, what's next: Great! This is the time to decide if you want to go through insurance, have the person pay for the damages out of pocket, or just not do anything at all. Here are the choices below....

1) Insurance: Call their insurance provider and file a claim using their policy number on the report. The insurance company will not accept liability until they get your recorded statement, their insureds recorded statement and the police report (if you took my advice and got one....). After liability has been accepted they will then give you some options.

* Take photos and send to them to create a preliminary estimate
* Go to a body shop to get a preliminary estimate
* Go to one of their approved body shops to get a preliminary estimate.

Either one of the options are fine because the preliminary estimates DO NOT MATTER. They will never be accurate, they will never be close to the total repair cost and they just do not matter to you or the actual body shop that will repair your vehicle. No one can accurately itemize the damages to your vehicle without fully disassembling the damaged area because X-Ray vision has not been invented yet. Once you have the approved estimate you can then take that estimate to any body shop of your choice to have them repair it. They will disassemble the damaged area and add all of the items that were missed or not seen and submit this to the insurance company as a "supplement". Repairs can have 1 - 9 different supplements depending on how hard the insurance company is to work with and how thorough the shop is during their "blueprinting" phase.

You will more than likely receive the first check for their approved estimate and then they will pay the body shop for the additional supplemental costs. THIS IS NOT YOUR MONEY, SO DON'T SPEND IT YOU GOOBER. It happens more than you think.

* The insurance company of the at fault party is required to pay for a rental vehicle for the duration of the repairs. Some will pay up front and others will require you to pay for the rental and be reimbursed afterwards (Stupid Allstate). If you don't have rental coverage on your own policy then add it to it. It's very cheap and you get 30 days of rental coverage. I'm an advocate of full coverage insurance even on our old vehicles. Ask me why if you're interested in my perspective.

2) Out of pocket repairs: The person may want to pay for the damages out of pocket and you may want to let them. That's great, as long as they know that any estimate you provide them is only a preliminary until it's been disassembled. People greatly underestimate the costs that it takes to repair vehicles due to area of effect when painting and doing it the RIGHT way.

3) Do nothing: Great. Ignore everything and move on.


I want all OEM TOYOTA parts!: Everyone does, but this is not how insurance companies operate regardless if it's your policy or not. The general rule is that if your vehicle is the same year as the current year (2026 Tundra in 2026) then you will get OEM parts, but its not always the case. ANYTHING over a year old is approved by insurance companies to use aftermarket or used parts. There are no laws against this and the only way to ensure that you get OEM TOYOTA parts is to either convince them to approve OEM parts (good luck) or pay the difference. Body shops have no control in this and do ask for OEM parts on their paperwork. The insurance company sources the alternative parts as they are the ones paying for the repairs. Sometimes dealership collision repair facilities have the ability to "match" part prices to provide OEM parts instead, but non-dealership shops do not have this perk mostly.

Diminished Value: This is not applicable in all states, but the ones that do it's a benefit for you! Insurance companies have to pay you the value lost in your vehicle due to the accident, regardless of fault. This is something that is factored only by the insurance companies using whatever formula they have. Body shops are unable to know what this amount is. It is best to ask for this at the end of repairs as it will be based on the total cost of the repairs.

How long does it take to repair?: This question is a wide range of answers and there is no "one size fits all" answer. Timeframe of repairs heavily depends on how good/responsive the insurance company is, how much damage there is, the availability of parts and the quality of any aftermarket or used parts, the kind of paint that has to be mixed and applied like 2 stage / 3 stage / 4 stage, and so on. a TYPICAL repair is about 3-4 weeks. Bumper jobs can take 2 weeks with insurance involved because after the supplement has been submitted it still takes the insurance company, on average, 3-5 business day to send an appraiser out for the approvals. The shop is on hold until the supplement has been approved in full. I've seen repairs take 3 days to 3 months depending on all of the above.


Total loss / Salvaged titles: This is also state specific, so look up in your own area. Insurance companies are the only ones that deem a vehicle a total loss as they are the one paying for the repairs an they only want to do what's best for them.

*But its drivable, its not a total loss!: None of this really matters. What make a vehicle a total loss is ONLY the cost of the damages VS the value of your vehicle. Insurance companies typically use a 75% threshold when it comes to totaling out a vehicle. If you go through insurance and they total it, there really is no going back. For our older vehicles it's usually best to avoid insurance. Check my comment here for help

*My airbag deployed / my frames bent is it a total loss?: Not necessarily. There is nothing on a vehicle that can be damaged that would automatically deem a vehicle a total loss. Remember, it all has to do with cost. When airbags deploy you have to replace the steering wheel, headliner for side curtain, seats for seat bags, dash for dash deployment and so on. Frames can be repaired slightly WITHOUT heat (cold straightening only). But frames can also be replaced. The more the vehicle is worth, the more repairs it can take before it totals out. We have replaced may frames and airbags on vehicles worth a lot. (no manufacturer allows the use of used airbags FYI).

*Can I buy it back and fix it myself?: Of course you can. But, in most states, it is now no longer road worthy and you will be unable to drive it as it is now uninsurable. You will need to have it repaired and inspected by your state before they will allow it to be a "salvaged title" vehicle. This can take some time as you have to tow it to their inspection sites on your own dime at least twice during the repairs. Once it's a salvaged title it may be hard to have it insured again for cheap as insurance companies do not like to insure these vehicles. Again, this is all state specific so check with your local DMV for more information in your area.

Animal/deer hits: When you file a claim through your insurance for these types of claims just make sure that you say "The deer hit me" and not "I hit the deer". What you say can influence the claim status. No one goes out of their way to hit a deer unless you're a madman.

Calibrations on ADAS systems: I went into great detail here and I don't want to type it all up again. Here you go.

Why is it so expensive, it's just a small dent?!: The dent may be small, but the area of repairs can be much larger due to the filler, primer and paint required. Lets say that the dent is on the middle of your passenger rear door and you have a normal two stage paint (Base coat and clear coat on top). The dent is about 2" in diameter with paint missing. To repair this dent you have to detrim the door inside and out for the repairs and paint. Some parts are one-time-use and have to be replaced (belt moldings). Some parts become brittle with age a break upon removal (Body side moldings, flares). Now, you are not able to just repaint this door alone otherwise there will be color match issues between the adjacent panels, so you blend the adjacent panels for color match. Do to this, we have to detrim the passenger front door and then the passenger quarter panel for paint. To paint the quarter panel, the rear bumper is removed, the tail lamp assembly is removed, the rocker molding is removed, the drip molding is removed (as you have to also blend the roof rail/sail rail since it is one piece with the quarter panel), the windshield is masked off for overspray.

* Can you repaint the door without blending the panels? Sure, but there will be a color match difference (significance depends on paint type and age) and most shops won't do this because the poor matching is poor advertisement for their shop.

* What about PDR (Paintless Dent Repair)? PDR is a great way to cut costs, but there are limitations depending on the skills of the technician and other factors. If the dent is on a bodyline then it typically is unable to be removed 100%. You can get close, but it's not a guarantee. You can not PDR something that has paint missing otherwise more paint will be removed during the process. PDR is best for small dents around a quarter or smaller. Some techs can do magic on larger dents but again, it depends on the techs skill level and experience.

When to blend panels:




Paint types and stages: The higher the stage, the more expensive the paint.

*Single stage - This is where the color(base coat) and clear coat are mixed together and sprayed as one layer. It is mostly outdated now and no newer vehicles use this anymore. Most shops can't or wont spray one stage. (MAACO still will. You get what you pay for). The paint dulls overtime but it can be brought back to life with a good polish job.

* Two stage - The most common stage paint used on most vehicles. This is were the color(base coat) is applied and then the clear coat is sprayed on top of it. Metallic paint is generally included in this category as well. Aluminum or mica flakes are added to the paint to give that sparkle and sometimes gives the colors a "flop" (221 Galactic Aqua Mica for example).

* Three Stage(Pearl) - This is becoming more common and is seen primarily in white colors, but a lot of other colors are also pearl now. This is where the color(base coat) is applied, then the translucent pearl/metallic layer is added, and finally the clear coat is laid on top. (Wind chill pearl 089, Blizzard Pearl 070 for examples)

* Four stage(quad stage) - This is not as popular with Toyota but they do have a 4 stage red (Supersonic Red 3U5). This is a color(base coat), mid-coat or pearl, tinted clear, then a final clear coat.


Can you just buff it?

I get this question a lot here, so I will just clarify a few things on what buffing actually is.

*What is buffing?: So buffing, or polishing, is the process of removing scratches or imperfections in the clear coat layer that do not penetrate into the color layer. Body shops polish the panels after the paint phase as there is typically always trash in the clear, paint runs, or other imperfections from the booth that need to be cleaned up.

If you have transfer marks, light scratches, or any other light items then you can have it buffed back to new. If the scratch is too deep then your only option is using touch up paint or repainting the panel. You can't buff something back that isn't there anymore.

*Color makes the difference: Different colors add different difficulty levels when buffing panels, and different layers of care required. Colors like black, red, blue are all harder to buff because they show scuffs and scratches a lot more easily. They take a considerable amount longer to polish. Swirl marks show up much easier when polishing. Also, if you use a microfiber towel that has any light debris when wiping the wax afterwards will scratch the clear again and be visible. Going through automatic car washes will also destroy a fresh polish job on these colors.

Lighter colors are much easier to polish like white, silver, gray, tan because the color hides a lot of the smaller imperfections.

You have to be careful when buffing as you can easily burn the paint with the heat. Vehicle body lines cause extra friction which makes the pad hotter.

*What tools are used?: Most shops will use a full size, multi-speed Orbital polisher with different foam pads for the compound, polish, second polish and then wax by hand. Shops also use a smaller DA polisher for wet sanding down trash or runs easier, but a lot of techs will use just some sandpaper in their hands for isolated areas. For waxing, I prefer the Meguiar's Gold Class paste wax.

*Polishing headlights: Yeah it's great and will clean it up nice for a month or a few months depending on your areas UV strength and if you store it in a garage or just out in the open. Headlights start getting yellow and hazy once the natural UV protective coating has worn off. Because it has worn off it will happen again over time. Polishing them removes any remaining UV coating. Keeping them waxed regularly after polishing will prolong the clearness, but it will only come back over time. The only sure way to correct this completely is sand them down and apply a clear coat layer on top. I have had this done to a few of my cars already.

There are a lot of "hacks" online to clean them. Toothpaste, degreaser and whatever you want. Does it clean it? Yeah. The yellowing is just dirt and grime build up, so scrubbing it will remove it, but it won't remove the haze, wet sanding does. Toothpaste is pretty much just a shittier compound, so you might as well just use compound.


Insurance companies: Each insurance company handles repair processes differently from the others. Some insurance companies send out field appraisers, some send out third party field appraisers, some are fully virtual and do not send out appraisers and instead use a program called "Virtual Assist" which is a video chat with the insurance appraiser.

**Insurance companies cannot tell you where you can repair your vehicle. This is called "Insurance Steering" and it is illegal in all US states. More information regarding this here.**

*Initial estimates: I covered this earlier in this post. It doesn't matter what they quote or how much the estimate is. Just get one approved and then you can get started with repairs.

*DRP/Contracted shops: Insurance companies like to partner with shops as it means that they have lower contracted labor rates, set misc operation charges and so on. The shops on a contract with an insurance company are required to follow the policies set by the insurance provider like sourcing aftermarket parts and all that jazz. Shops generally get on contracts with insurance companies because it's a guaranteed pipeline of work as the insurance company can suggest these shops to you. They will set you up with an initial estimate inspection at these shops in the hopes that you will just drop off with them to save them some money.

**This is where there is a gray area to insurance companies skating around the whole illegal "insurance steering" thing due to how they phrase things to customers who are unaware of the process. They will provide a list of "insurance approved" shops to the customer and let the customer choose at their own will. They don't tell them that they can't choose other shops, but they don't tell them they can either.

*Going to a DRP/Contracted shop isn't a bad thing overall as there are some PROS to it. Generally the insurance company will give you an additional warranty on top of the shops warranty that covers nationwide. If you move to another state and find an issue with repairs then the insurance company will get you with another contracted shop in your area to have it corrected. Going to one of these shops also mean faster repair timeframes as shops do not have to wait for an appraiser to inspect a supplement. The reason is that a shop will be linked to the insurance provider through the estimating software (CCC one) under an assignment. Anything locked and uploaded in the assignment is sent directly to the insurance company. They handle any change requests through the assignment digitally and things move along quickly.

* The cons to this are that the shop has to write per their policy guidelines like I explained earlier. They have to write for the most cost effective parts like aftermarket and LKQ(Used). Sometimes, depending on your insurance policy, they cant write to replace any aftermarket cosmetic parts or dealer installed accessories as insurance companies have limits to this.

*Betterment/appearance allowance: These are items that insurance companies like to charge or credit depending on the part and situation.

*Betterment: A betterment is a charge that the insurance company puts on the customer due to the replacement of a wear and tear item. The most common item to have a betterment applied is tires, but I have seen it be charged on struts before. An example of this is that the insurance company has to replace a tire on your vehicle for the repairs and they don't feel like they owe for a brand new tire since your tire is no longer brand new. So, they will only cover 80% of the cost and the customer has to pay the remaining 20%. These percentages are fluid though and I've even seen them charge 50%.

*Appearance allowance: This is were the insurance company (mostly under you own policy) will offer you a credit to not have a repair completed on a certain part, like $200 off of your deductible or something similar. Example: So let's say you have been impacted on the left side of your rear bumper, left quarter panel and left rear door. The damage to your bumper is minor, like a scratch that needs to be repaired and painted. The right side of your bumper has a puncture hole and needs to be replaced so the shop is unable to complete only a repair and repaint of the bumper cover. The insurance company is only responsible for covering the small scratch. One option that you have is to accept an appearance allowance (credit) and not have the repairs completed to the bumper cover. The other option is to have the shop replace the bumper cover and the shop will deduct what the insurance company is paying so all you have to do is pay the difference.

I will continue to edit and add more as the day permits me as I am at work now.

 

This post is under constant construction as I add more and edit things.....check in periodically.

 

Police in a lot of municipalities will not come to "minor" accidents unless there is bodily injury or a vehicle is disabled and impeding traffic. You're then left with the F*@KING insurance companies to decide who is at fault. I even have video and it's not good enough for these money grubbing scumbags.

 

if you’re unsure as to how your state treats any of the issues discussed in this post, you can paste the text of it into an AI tool of your choice and ask it to provide details under your state’s particular law.

 

Updated more information today. Still updating when I have time.

 

Some At-Fault states have contributory negligence provisions. Might also hear it called comparative liability. This allows insurance to determine who contributed how much to the cause of the accident. So the insurance company gets to decide who they think is at fault, regardless of police report. It’s a huge conflict of interest.

The main lesson here is regarding statements made to insurance companies. If the police report had determined the other driver is at fault, say nothing to insurance. They are only looking to find something to hold against you. Refer them to the police report for an accounting of the incident. If you do need to speak with them, treat it as the interrogation it is. Their objective is to try and minimize what they are required to pay you.

Relevant example, I had a vehicle totaled when another driver hit me. The police report cited the other driver at fault. Their insurance wants a statement from me, during which they ask if I had my hazard lights on. In my attempt to answer honestly, I said something to this effect. “As a matter of habit, I use my hazard lights in that situation. I do not remember with certainty due to the chaos of the collision if they were on.”

Insurance takes that statement and determines I am 10% liable under contributory negligence laws, and reduces my total loss payout by 10%. It’s a total racket and conflict of interest. Shocking from the scum sucking liars in the insurance industry.

My point? Keep in mind what I suggested above regarding how to approach making a statement to insurance companies.

PS - Shout out to USAA for being distinguished members of the scum sucking bottom dwelling lying pieces of filth in the insurance industry. They were horrible in my situation. Many more despicable nuggets to that story. If anyone cares, ask me. I’m trying to stay on point here.

 

@DBombs Great addition. It is very important to be careful with what you say to the insurance companies. You absolutely CAN give too much information or talk yourself into a hole.

 

Hey all, and thanks to OP.. I dig the help you throw out there. I'm also in the industry. Was a technician my whole life and 3 years ago I started my own body shop/collision center business. I'm happy to help anyone with questions regarding steps of the claim process, questions on reading an estimate, quality or repairs etc. Never hesitate please. Not being a technician anymore i find myself wanting to do more.. now drive safe out there