What is peoples’ experience with panel repairs recently?
Our car was rear ended in October and the earliest date we could book in the repairs was late March 2024.
I never had to deal with panel beating industry before, but it sounds like a very very long wait.
Check with another repair place. There's thousands of them.
It may be something to do with parts rather than busy slots? Standard vehicle or something that needs special order?
I was told the delay is because of not enough workers in the industry / too many cars to repair. The parts are not the reason (for now at least).
as someone who has their toes in this industry, i would believe that. old article from last year but still relevant: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-01/skills-shortages-auto…
And with Christmas coming up many panel shops are closed for 2 to 4 weeks.
At this time of year they are trying to clear out all the jobs by Dec 21.
Rear end jobs can be complicated and take time to fix.
May need a special machine which is booked out till March.
As Hybroid said - Check with other repairers.
Anyway this should be an insurance job.
So make sure you check with insurers recommended repairers
Could it be an MG or Haval? Heard they have pretty long wait times for parts.
HavaLong wait?
Might Get around to it?
If you are not at fault then the insurance company should give you a comparable car till your own car is fixed. Call them and check.
Not if it remains drivable and meets roadworthy requirements.
Doesn’t feel drivable. Don’t want to risk it.
If not at fault/covered by your comprehensive insurance, inform the insurance company that you'll need a hire car. In many cases this alone can write off a car based on value and they'll just pay you out.
I've been waiting 6 weeks just to have an assessment, and that was the first available. No idea on the wait time for the actual repairs, but would assume it's going to be longer!
Is the vehicle roadworthy? Ie just cosmetic damage?
Yep, roadworthy, comestic only. Front left bar, passenger door and wheel arch. Just like your experience below.
Does seem odd. Was looking at the Australia Post comprehensive insurance and getting a replacement car was an optional extra, and only for 14 days. You just meant to go without a car until March?
As someone who went without one for basically nine months as it was written off, yes.
So on top of comprehensive insurance payments and tucking away the excess fee, you also need to have potentially a year or more car rental cost? Or have enough money to buy a temporary car until yours is fixed? Kind of a raw deal, especially if the crash wasn't your fault in the first place.
Yes.
If it wasn't your fault, you claim hire car costs from the other party.
@brendanm: Assuming they even have insurance to cover that cost.
Driving and insurance seems like a real minefield. Owning a car is a real PITA.
@AustriaBargain: Not a problem if you have comprehensive, they will cover it and send the bill to the at fault party. Driving and insurance is easy. Buy a car, buy insurance for it, drive it with no worries.
Kind of a raw deal,
Youre assuming the insurance company gives a shit about you more than profit.. ..
Op says car is roadworthy. They seem
To do a bit of a triage with crash damage and may get a non drivable car done more quickly.
recently(1 month ago) help my mum with a little accident. Called RACV dropped off car next day and was repaired in 3 days (new front bumper).
I waited 5 months at the start of this year for repairs. Car remained driveable and roadworthy.
Mid last year, i had to wait 3 weeks… nearly killed me :'( No rental either as i made mistake of saying I had my own spare car
Maybe your insurance picked the cheapest repairer whom also happens to be the busiest
Is the vehicle roadworthy? I had quite a long wait to schedule repairs for a front bumper under insurance, few months. BUT, the vehicle was 100% roadworthy, just scratched paintwork and a bit misaligned.
If it’s not roadworthy (broken taillight or bumper hanging off) you need to jump up and down and get demand a hire car or something. Maybe try another repairer.
Good point, it is still roadworthy despite the fact that the hatch door is stuck closed.
If the hatch is stuck shut that is a good reason to ask for them to speed up the process. It’s more than cosmetic. At the very least the repairer may be able to make the hatch openable before the full repair.
Late last year my neighbour waited about 4 months to get her Nissan X-Trail fixed. Don't know what insurer. The insurer picked the repairer. Her car was driveable, but not technically roadworthy, and they lent her an identical car for the duration, so she didn't care how long it took.
Suncorp have been able to get us booked for assessment and start repairs within a matter of days in Brisbane
I waited five months for repairs to begin on my Kia. They had to order parts from overseas.
My insurance company provided a comparable replacement car.
Im still waiting on front bumper bar for the car from accident 20th May. Luckily car is drivable. Holden VF SS
Earlier this year, we had a run in with a wombat that wrecked the front of our Subaru. About 2 weeks to get the car assessed, repaired and back to us.
Depends on the insurance company, The coverage options e.g. Hire car, Choice of Repairer etc. on your insurance.
My neighbor has Youi Insurance for HONDA Civic with No Hire car and No Choice of Repairer option.
Neighbor was at fault. So it took the Insurance company 1 week to assess the case and provide an answer.
As Choice of Repairer was not included, Repairs to be done through the Youi network and that's the kicker, The next appointment is after 6 weeks as the repairer is booked for the next few weeks. Got the appointment after a 6 weeks. The repair time quoted was 3 weeks. Delay of 2 weeks as the part they sourced was faulty and they had to resource the part again. The paint work was patchy, so the repairer promised to fix it at a later stage as their painter has resigned and they are looking for a new painter.
Total Downtime = 12 weeks or 3 months. The repairer said labor shortage + too many cars to repair + sourcing of spares are the reasons for delay.
If Choice of Repairer and Hire car options was chosen, then the repair work would have been carried out by the authorized dealer e.g. HONDA and the car would repaired in 1 week.
Total Downtime = 2 weeks.
So if Choice of Repairer was chosen then the whole process would have been finished in 2 weeks.
May be if Hire car option was chosen the Insurance company would have expedited the process as they need to provide a hire car. Mind you the Hire car is not an unlimited day option it covers 7 or 14 days.
Kinda BS when market conditions change making repairs take much much longer than they used to (typically) and the end users just have to cop it sweet. I suppose this is now a premium option you need to look for with "unlimited" hire car.
A friend just had a minor accident on Monday assessed the following day Tuesday booked in for repairs the week before Christmas the insurer is Racv and its a Racv authorised repairer. Though being regional Victoria may be the difference.
There is a backlog of decisions on OzBargain cases causing delays.