Scratches repair - how long should it take (insurance pays)?

[Bob12345]

We bring our car to the garage twice a year to get it checked out and that normally takes only half a day.

Now over the past couple of years some small scratches accumulated (you find your car back at the parking spot with a scratch on the bumper) and we decided to get our 1st class insurance guy to come over and they agreed to pay for all repairs.

 

All good we thought, and they gave us a list with garages (non-dealer) where we could get it fixed.

We picked a garage, brought the car over, and it took a whopping 4 weeks to get the scratches fixed.

 

Now I am wondering if this is normal in Thailand.

We already came by the garage one time to let them see the scratches so they could order a spare bumper if needed, so I really don't understand why it has to take several weeks to get some scratches fixed.

 

If you ever had scratches fixed (paid for by insurance), how long till you got your car back?

[transam]

Did you ask how long they wanted the car..?

[stevenl]

I check wit5h the repairshop how long it will take and when they have time. Take it in on day 1 morning, they do some work, and including drying etc. should take maximum 4 days. Nothing to do with insurance payment, just a matter of planni8ng with the repairshop.

[cheeryble]

Small work one to four days

[Bob12345]

The problem is that the insurance company only approves a couple of repair shops, and none of them can do same day fixing.

Thought it was due to a lack of approved repair companies on Phuket plus the flash floodings putting more cars in line for repairs, but about 4 weeks is absurd.

 

For next time we will shop around more and just ask them when they have time to do it in a couple of days. It sucks to miss the car for a month (even though we just bought a second car so we didnt really need this one).

 

Thanks guys, you confirmed my hunch about normal fixing times.

[catman20]

On 10/2/2017 at 8:59 AM, Bob12345 said:

We bring our car to the garage twice a year to get it checked out and that normally takes only half a day.

Now over the past couple of years some small scratches accumulated (you find your car back at the parking spot with a scratch on the bumper) and we decided to get our 1st class insurance guy to come over and they agreed to pay for all repairs.

 

All good we thought, and they gave us a list with garages (non-dealer) where we could get it fixed.

We picked a garage, brought the car over, and it took a whopping 4 weeks to get the scratches fixed.

 

Now I am wondering if this is normal in Thailand.

We already came by the garage one time to let them see the scratches so they could order a spare bumper if needed, so I really don't understand why it has to take several weeks to get some scratches fixed.

 

If you ever had scratches fixed (paid for by insurance), how long till you got your car back?

a week at the most

[hkt83100]

For a reasonable amount of money (about 1200 Baht per year) more then standard premium I have a clause, that I can take my car to the dealer to be fixed up instead of one of these "approved" Somchais. I lets me sleep better at night, for the price of one drink per month.

[TPUBON]

On 10/2/2017 at 8:59 AM, Bob12345 said:

We bring our car to the garage twice a year to get it checked out and that normally takes only half a day.

Now over the past couple of years some small scratches accumulated (you find your car back at the parking spot with a scratch on the bumper) and we decided to get our 1st class insurance guy to come over and they agreed to pay for all repairs.

 

All good we thought, and they gave us a list with garages (non-dealer) where we could get it fixed.

We picked a garage, brought the car over, and it took a whopping 4 weeks to get the scratches fixed.

 

Now I am wondering if this is normal in Thailand.

We already came by the garage one time to let them see the scratches so they could order a spare bumper if needed, so I really don't understand why it has to take several weeks to get some scratches fixed.

 

If you ever had scratches fixed (paid for by insurance), how long till you got your car back?

Just had that type of work plus a new rear bumper done on my truck. Took about 4 days. Insurance paid the 15,000 baht bill. Just so happened our insurance renewal was due a week later. The insurance called and said we needed to add 2,000 baht the payment. 

[Bob12345]

1 hour ago, hkt83100 said:

For a reasonable amount of money (about 1200 Baht per year) more then standard premium I have a clause, that I can take my car to the dealer to be fixed up instead of one of these "approved" Somchais. I lets me sleep better at night, for the price of one drink per month.

Interesting, will look into this if they offer that here also.

[Morch]

We had a minor accident (motorcycle crashed the side of our car) a few months ago. At first, the garage people said about 3-4 weeks, which sounded ridiculous. After some talk, it was made clear that this wasn't net work time, but allowed for generous time margins (ordering a part, having the car at hand), rather than relying on owners bringing it at exact date. Once they were assured we'll show up, the time frame shortened considerably (a few days).

[Common sense]

I bought a new Ford Explorer in BKK 1 year ago, Reversed in to a wall damaging the tail gate within a few months.

Waited until it needed the first service with main dealer to get both jobs done at the same time.

The dealer told me 5 weeks for new tailgate and Paint at the Ford paint shop, but 4 weeks maybe less at their recommended  day to day painter, ( Name of Golf)

Car came back after 4 1/2 weeks, wrong shade of paint.

Main Dealer told me not our problem you selected our recommended 3rd party ( Golf)

Golf offered to re-paint. I refused.

After several E-mails to Ford in the USA and Thailand i was offered a paint job. time frame 4 weeks.

I visited the Main Paint shop in BKK, where the tail gate was painted correct shade..... 2 weeks work.

Just after I refused to allow Golf to Re-paint i contacted the insurance to explain we had quality problems, to find out Golf was making a request to claim for the shoddy work, so i was lucky the insurance company did not make any payment to him.

Ford in the end paid for all the paint work, but explained i should be careful in future.

This all happened in BKK, but i now live in Rayong where the Ford Dealer has been outstanding during normal servicing.

If I had visited the workshop of the 3rd party and checked, or the Main Ford Paint shop at the start.

This would not have happened as the Main Ford Paint shop was 1st class with well trained Staff

 

 

 

 

[peterb17]

The reason it takes so long is because it’s an insurance claim- the repair shop I use would do those within a day or so- because I can never be bothered to claim and always pay cash- it would cost very little to sort out some scratches.

 

 

[TKDfella]

I don't usually have a problem. An insurance rep takes photos of what is to be done; I go to the garage and they tell me when to deposit the car with them which is sometime a week after enquire. Usually takes 4 days. The delay of depositing the car is due to them obtaining the correct materials from the dealer.

[dotpoom]

I'm just surprised that the insurance agreed to pay the cost of having "anonymous" scratches removed ...including a new bumper. Scratches that just appeared over time. Amazing to me.

[Bob12345]

I'm just surprised that the insurance agreed to pay the cost of having "anonymous" scratches removed ...including a new bumper. Scratches that just appeared over time. Amazing to me.

Thats how 1st class insurance works.

It surprises me also when compared to the west (premiums and what they cover).

[cheeryble]

7 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I'm just surprised that the insurance agreed to pay the cost of having "anonymous" scratches removed ...including a new bumper. Scratches that just appeared over time. Amazing to me.

Don't forget youre paying for others to have this sort of stuff done.

[Robert24]

I do this every year too before I extend the 1st class insurance. It usually takes Toyota about 5-7 days to get it done.

[MINIMIGLIA]

the way to reduce the time is to book it in when they have a slot to do it straight away, to just leave it with them will add to the time as they are already doing booked in cars and you will be at the back of the queue, your car will sitting for 2/3 weeks before they start working on it.

[sandyf]

Its nothing to do with the amount of work. Here in Thailand there is huge amount of minor body damage to be dealt with and the better the bodyshop the more they are backed up.

We were 5 months to get some bumper damage done under insurance at the bodyshop near us.

[Robert24]

If your shop has a long queue and you don't want to wait, you can always go to another shop/dealer. My experience with Toyota dealers was that you don't have yo queue for sime minor painting work. Took them never longer than 1 week. And they tell you before how long it takes and usually they call you earlier because they finish early. This my experience with Toyota dealers.

[cheeryble]

On October 6, 2017 at 7:13 AM, Robert24 said:

I do this every year too before I extend the 1st class insurance. It usually takes Toyota about 5-7 days to get it done.

The sort of reason I never buy health insurance or more than the minimum car insurance.........because I'll be paying for others to take all the long list of hospital price meds they mostly don't need or the priciest hospital, and be paying for people to get scratches taken out of their car each year at a dealer or "approved" shop instead of the excellent very cheap small man i know.

 

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, Robert24 said:

If your shop has a long queue and you don't want to wait, you can always go to another shop/dealer. My experience with Toyota dealers was that you don't have yo queue for sime minor painting work. Took them never longer than 1 week. And they tell you before how long it takes and usually they call you earlier because they finish early. This my experience with Toyota dealers.

It wasn't my vehicle so I am not party to the details of the insurance. I asked my wife why it was going to take long and she said only a few bodyshops specified by the insurance company and they were going to wait for the best, Nissan certainly wasn't an option.

I suspect that many insurance companies keep their fees down by steering clear of dealers. It is not surprising that dealers have a quicker turnround as most Thais would go elsewhere.

My wife used to work for a European company and was responsible for the company fleet, repair bills were always a bone of contention.

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, cheeryble said:

The sort of reason I never buy health insurance or more than the minimum car insurance.........because I'll be paying for others to take all the long list of hospital price meds they mostly don't need or the priciest hospital, and be paying for people to get scratches taken out of their car each year at a dealer or "approved" shop instead of the excellent very cheap small man i know.

 

Quite.

The man who stood in as my father when I got married has had 1964 Ford Cortina since new. A couple of years ago when he was coming to my father in law's remembrance he had an accident. We are out in he sticks, it was early morning and very dark, he hit a waste disposal vehicle that was stationary without any lights, council admitted responsibility. Impact was around the offside headlight and the bonnet,wing and door were all badly buckled. I thought it was a write off but it was taken in for repair. Took a few months and the photos were taken just after it came back. I was amazed, not like they can go down the local scrapyard for replacement parts, it was all done by hand, and certainly not by the Ford dealer.

 

[Robert24]

56 minutes ago, sandyf said:

It wasn't my vehicle so I am not party to the details of the insurance. I asked my wife why it was going to take long and she said only a few bodyshops specified by the insurance company and they were going to wait for the best, Nissan certainly wasn't an option.

I suspect that many insurance companies keep their fees down by steering clear of dealers. It is not surprising that dealers have a quicker turnround as most Thais would go elsewhere.

My wife used to work for a European company and was responsible for the company fleet, repair bills were always a bone of contention.

To be fair, in the last 4 years I had each year a different insurance company, just because they had special deals. But each time I choose one I can fix my car at Toyota. Plenty of options from insurance companies. But what's the point if you have 1st class insurance and you cannot go repair it with a dealer from your brand? I wouldn't try savw money on this.

[Robert24]

3 hours ago, cheeryble said:

The sort of reason I never buy health insurance or more than the minimum car insurance.........because I'll be paying for others to take all the long list of hospital price meds they mostly don't need or the priciest hospital, and be paying for people to get scratches taken out of their car each year at a dealer or "approved" shop instead of the excellent very cheap small man i know.

 

Fair point. I can see that argument that depending on circumstances it might be cheaper to not buy any insurance and just put some money on the side for fixing a car/settling a dispute after an accident. Or in a health insurance case for the hospital treatment. Personally I prefer to have the peace of mind that in case of an accident, you just call the insurance company to deal with the counterparty/police and your repairs are fully covered. Or in case of a health issue, I am fully covered if I need to go to any hospital. But then again it might be more costly for me to proceed on that way.

[cheeryble]

1 hour ago, Robert24 said:

Fair point. I can see that argument that depending on circumstances it might be cheaper to not buy any insurance and just put some money on the side for fixing a car/settling a dispute after an accident. Or in a health insurance case for the hospital treatment. Personally I prefer to have the peace of mind that in case of an accident, you just call the insurance company to deal with the counterparty/police and your repairs are fully covered. Or in case of a health issue, I am fully covered if I need to go to any hospital. But then again it might be more costly for me to proceed on that way.

I do think this very strongly about insurance and wonder why such an unnecessary layer as insurance comes between patient and healthcare in the US.

In this case I think my point is that insurance isn't really designed for renovation, but for repair.

Some might say getting normal wear and tear fixed from the insurance pool isn't quite kosher.

[EcigAmateur]

Even if insurance pays, add some cash and you will receive a better treatment...

 

 

[Techno Viking]

On 10/5/2017 at 12:59 PM, Common sense said:

I bought a new Ford Explorer in BKK 1 year ago, Reversed in to a wall damaging the tail gate within a few months.

Waited until it needed the first service with main dealer to get both jobs done at the same time.

The dealer told me 5 weeks for new tailgate and Paint at the Ford paint shop, but 4 weeks maybe less at their recommended  day to day painter, ( Name of Golf)

Car came back after 4 1/2 weeks, wrong shade of paint.

Main Dealer told me not our problem you selected our recommended 3rd party ( Golf)

Golf offered to re-paint. I refused.

After several E-mails to Ford in the USA and Thailand i was offered a paint job. time frame 4 weeks.

I visited the Main Paint shop in BKK, where the tail gate was painted correct shade..... 2 weeks work.

Just after I refused to allow Golf to Re-paint i contacted the insurance to explain we had quality problems, to find out Golf was making a request to claim for the shoddy work, so i was lucky the insurance company did not make any payment to him.

Ford in the end paid for all the paint work, but explained i should be careful in future.

This all happened in BKK, but i now live in Rayong where the Ford Dealer has been outstanding during normal servicing.

If I had visited the workshop of the 3rd party and checked, or the Main Ford Paint shop at the start.

This would not have happened as the Main Ford Paint shop was 1st class with well trained Staff

 

 

 

 

Given the Explorer would be an import thats a pretty timely repair consider a tailgate would not be available locally, sucks about the paint though but good to hear it was finally sorted.