OEM standards are sometimes overlooked when your vehicle has been in an accident. Steed’s Collision Center, an automotive body shop in Mississippi, contacted us for a customer that came in with some superficial scratches on the rear bumper and trunk of her car. Upon further inspection, it was noticed by the body shop that the car had prior damage and that the trunk was not closing very well. They reached out to the owner of the car and she said that yes the car was repaired due to an accident. She had been rear-ended a year ago and that the trunk since the accident, has always been difficult to close. As the body shop tried to realign the trunk they noticed that more was wrong than just an alignment of the truck.
OEM Standards Not Complied With
When we arrive we and the body shop (Steed’s) went through the rear of the vehicle and noticed that the vehicle was not put back to OEM standards. And due to the poor work in the non-realigning of the frame, the car was not safe to drive. OEM standards were not followed.
OEM Parts Defined
With this news, she was completely frustrated as she had to go back to the original body shop several times for obvious things that needed to be fixed correctly. Now with this news that the car was unsafe to drive she wasn’t sure what to do. We put together a full report of the damage. OEM standards were not complied with. We noted that the car was not fixed correctly from a body shop on a direct repair program that her insurance company recommended she bring the car to, we were able to get them to buy the car from her. They paid the full market value of the car plus tax and title.
Have Your Car Inspected
If you’ve been an accident and your automobile insurance company recommends a body shop from their preferred body shop list it would be in your best interest to have your car inspected to make sure proper repairs were done. Too many times corners are cut and vehicles aren’t repaired properly and that puts you and your loved ones at risk if you were to ever be involved in another accident.
The moral of the story is to call us. We can be your voice when you are not sure what to expect after an accident. Don’t settle for what your car insurance company offers you. Contact Us Today!