car dealers/wholesales: need advice
 

A nice guy ran into my parked suburban this morning on the street. His insurance should take care of it. But, I was close to trading it in on a car for my wife.

Question: Should I get the truck repaired and then trade it in, or try to get a cash settlement out of the insurance co and trade it in banged up? I'm not looking to take advantage of the insurance co, but what is my best cource of action here?

As far as I can tell, the damage is limited to the bumper, fender, and related parts.

Thanks

you probably got couple thousand dollars worth of damage. as fore as your question about trading, our sales dept, trade fro damaged cars all the time, usually they bring it down to the bodyshop and get a idea of what its going to cost ( estimate ) they then go back to the customer with a figure example you usually will take a beating on the car or truck they really dont want it and usually wont fix it they will wholesale it, it been my experience have it fixed, then talk your trades or sell out right unfortuantly know is not a good used car market.
later

see my other post toyou under the fairings threads.

In my experience the dealership will try and steal it cause it's crashed. Get it fixed and you'll get a better trade value.

Twenty-five years new car dealership experience. Have seen and heard it all when it comes to trade ins.

If you have a good buddy in the car business, you can work with him and roll your trade into a newer vehicle without getting reamed. 97-99 Suburbans continue to sell well (or at least better than a lot of other stuff right now). Your bud will probably dock you $500 on the transfer just for having to mess with it, but that's not bad.

If you don't have a close friend to work through, then you have no alternative other than getting the truck PROPERLY repaired by a REPUTABLE body shop in your area (not a dealer body shop).

Trading in a wreck to a dealer you don't know is a good way to get reamed.

Regardless, clean up the truck and take pictures of the damage both hood closed and hood up. A car guy will easily spot the repair and you will be able to show him that it was not a "bad" wreck, only a 'bender. Every little bit helps.

The only true way to not come out on the short end when your car has been repaired is to keep it until it has 475,000 miles on it or until it has rusted into a pile of dust. Just a sad fact that a vehicle that has been repaired is never worth what it would be had it not been wrecked.

Selling to an individual is your only way to attempt to hide the repair. A good repair can be hard to spot for an average Joe and if you got it repaired by a good shop, there's no need to feel bad about it. If the buyer asks if it has been wrecked, though, you should tell him the whole story (if you don't you'll lose sleep over it - I would).

Get it fixed before you trade it. You will be better off believe me. A real car guy will pick up the damage, but won't care. Stuff gets fixed all the time, thats why they call them accidents. As long as it wasn't smashed all to hell nobody will care. Would you skip buying a truck because the fuel pump was replaced? Good luck to you. And someone said a dealer body shop is not reputable? Is a chop shop better? Either can be good or bad. Check your local references and go with your gut. Like anything else it comes down to the people involved, not the sign out front.

Here is my advice after 22 years in the car biz---Get it fixed and then trade it in.

By all means get a bunch of estimates and give him the three highest and then take it to one of the lower guys for the repair. Keep a couple of bucks in your pocket and then trade it in. If you trade it in damaged it will cost you more.

If you can try and sell it on your own via Autotrader etc. You will keep more money overall .

Good luck:cool:

Thanks for your advice. Sounds like agreement on getting it fixed.

One more vote for fixing first. Also try selling it yourself. It is so easy to spot paint work if you know what you're looking for. Let's face it, paint work is paint work. Human nature assumes the worst has happened.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mcollinstn
[B]

If you don't have a close friend to work through, then you have no alternative other than getting the truck PROPERLY repaired by a REPUTABLE body shop in your area (not a dealer body shop).

Sorry Mcollinstn i take offense to your comment, which suggests that you can not find a reputable bodyshop at a dealership. Having been in the collision business most of my adult life, there really isnt much difference between a reputable independant shop and and a reputable dealership shop, most all collision shops are dictated by the insurance companies on labor rates so the idea that dealers labor rate are higher is false. the important thing is that chart finds a collision shop that is reputable. wheather it be a independant or dealership. just my $ .02
later
Dave

Keep a picture. Get it fixed. Try selling it privately, you'll make out much better then trading it in. There are a lot of people looking for Suburbans. Replacing the bumper, grille, parking light and either fixing or replacing the fender is no problem. This is all minor damage. The problem lies in the paint work. The painter is going to have to paint the fender and blend into the hood and door. Even though you know that the fender was damaged, someone with a good eye will pick up the paintwork on the hood and door and may think there was more damage. Also, if you need to get more money out of the deal, consider "diminished value." This is the amount of money that will be lost due to the repairs. Your vehicle was worth $XXXX before the damage. Now it is worth less. How much did the value diminish? I don't care how good a body shop is, a professional will always spot paintwork. The insurance company will not want to pay for diminished value, but if you can prove it, they will pay. Let me know if you want to go forward with documenting diminshed value. There are companies out there that will write it up for a small fee. Oh yeah, don't forget to get yourself a rental car while your car is in being repaired. And if you want a Suburban or similar, don't let the insurance company bully you into a car. Tell them that it was a Suburban and you need something equal to it. This is my advice from 30 years in all phases of the car business, mostly wholesaling and rentals.

Good painters can make the repair disapear!!! NO ONE will ever see it. That is what makes a good painter good and a great painter worth everything to a body shop. I can let you look at my truck and I bet ya everything that I have that you will not be able to see the damage that it took in the accident, and yes I have a good eye for this stuff as my brother has been doing it for YEARS and has taught me lots to look for. :D:D

Jon

Give it to LATER I think he needs a few more puffs of paint fumes to really put him over the edge :D:D

dont for get about a rental while it is in the shop. Nice if the shop has rentals on site.

Audio.......

Don't take offense to this, but I can detect paintwork on just about anything. I deal in a lot of high end cars and it is imperative that I know if it has had paintwork. If it does, I pass. All of todays cars are painted at the factory by robots. Robots paint better then humans because they are computerized and the paint goes on the same thickness all over the car, except for the hood, roof and trunk where the paint is a little thicker. There is an expensive meter that I use to measure paint thickness. If a body man has repainted a car, it usually comes up thicker, because they can't duplicate the robotic painter, thus a higher reading on the meter. If the measurement comes up too low, then it was repainted and buffed down too far.
If you're wondering why I need a meter, it's because at the auction, sometimes I only have about 10 to 20 seconds to look at a car on the auction block. It's much quicker and more accurate putting the meter on the car then depending on my eye.

Audio, sometimes it's more than just seeing. There are so many different signs to look for. Overspray, wheel wells, undercarriage and the feel for inconsitincies.