[PrestigeNightLife]

I recently ran over a racoon (I posted a thread and can't find it) which messed up my front bumper. I took my car in on Monday to get check by the Geico adjuster. The place is called, Geico express. It's supposed to be a body shop for most of the dealers around. THe bodyshop it's called Ferman.

Should I have trusted where GEICO insurance sent me to get my car fixed or should I have gone to my dealer (REEVES BMW of Tampa) to get them to fix it and take it where they take their cars?

The reason I'm asking is because all my car needs is the bumper and now GEICO or Ferman body shop is taking longer than expected because they need to wait for the "PARTS." I'm concern that they will put some after market stuff, but I hear that 07 models don't have after markets part made. I also hope that the bumper will come pre-painted, and not painted at the bodyshop.

anyone had this experience before? hope not too many...

[achien]

Sorry man, intentional or not, that's your punishment for running down the racoon...

[HyperM3]

Did you ask to see that she was recently checked by doctors and screened for any STD's?




Oh crap, only posted regarding your title. In reference to your actual question, just call the body shop up and ask what parts they are waiting for. Easy as that.

[PrestigeNightLife]

actually the racoon just ran accross the street at last minute...nothing I could have done to avoid it...had i avoid hidding it, i would have had to swirve to the side and then get hit by the car in my blindspot...so as far as that, I made the right choice....

[Gort]

You can depend on the bumper cover needing to be painted by the body shop.

[Revlis]

Sounds like everything is on the up and up. Did you ask for OEM parts?

I remember Ferman, and Co, and they were pretty legit. I'd say no worries, but given the quality of service so often encountered in Florida it might be wise to do some checking around and asking of questions.

[roadkillrob]

Not sure about your insurance company, but many of them will guarantee the work if you go to one of their preferred shops, so you have some recourse if the job is not up to your standards, bumper will absolutely need to be painted, they don't come painted and they have to use OEM BMW parts if the car is less than 2 years old.

[PrestigeNightLife]

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

Not sure about your insurance company, but many of them will guarantee the work if you go to one of their preferred shops, so you have some recourse if the job is not up to your standards, bumper will absolutely need to be painted, they don't come painted and they have to use OEM BMW parts if the car is less than 2 years old.

Ok this makes me feel a lil better. I have Geico, and yes they did tell me the work is guarantee for as long as I own the car. If they are using original BMW parts than that's a big relief. My main concern was with the paint...e.g. is it going to look the same? would the dealer notice is not the original bumper once the lease is up? etc....

If everything is original and the paint is the same, then I'm assuming the dealer will not have any issues with it....

[Gort]

Originally Posted by PrestigeNightLife

Ok this makes me feel a lil better. I have Geico, and yes they did tell me the work is guarantee for as long as I own the car. If they are using original BMW parts than that's a big relief. My main concern was with the paint...e.g. is it going to look the same? would the dealer notice is not the original bumper once the lease is up? etc....

If everything is original and the paint is the same, then I'm assuming the dealer will not have any issues with it....

They'll probably never notice and there's not much they could do even if they did, since it used an OEM part.

[jcarlucci1]

Ferman is a bmw dealership, Im sure you'll be fine..I just had a dent in my rear bumper fixed at a body shop in tampa..came out perfect, cant tell any damage was ever done.

[photoz]

repaints will always have some variation, no match is perfect.

[PK8]

Originally Posted by PrestigeNightLife

actually the racoon just ran accross the street at last minute...nothing I could have done to avoid it...had i avoid hidding it, i would have had to swirve to the side and then get hit by the car in my blindspot...so as far as that, I made the right choice....

You’re right about that. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but I had a friend in high school that encountered the same situation. He swerved to avoid the animal, lost control of the car and rolled it. His girlfriend was ejected and killed. Running them over and fixing the front of our car is obviously the way to go.