Catalytic converter stolen; Progressive only endorse aftermarket converter, any issue?

[Cbty2050]

A shop that is so honest it is willing to commit fraud.

Exactly. Manufacturers have programs in place that will price match aftermarket body parts for insurance jobs.

 

[GKIII]

A shop that is so honest it is willing to commit fraud.

I know what you're saying, but lets not let insurance off the hook here. They will tell you till they are blue in the face something isn't covered until you take them to court, only to finally admit it is covered.

 

[msy288]

Jeez! I got a little bit improvement in the situation today:

Dealership side: the service manager admitted the previous 6.5 hours is a little bit over-estimated because of its "unique wiring damage issue", and they looked at it today again and think it is actually not as bad as what they thought previously. He agreed to lowered the hours, not sure how much they are going to give the number. They are going to start the re-evaluation and the repair tomorrow.

Progressive side: I talked to the manager of the claim adjustor who is on leave today. I called the claim adjustor 50 times in the morning and drove him crazy. He basically asked his supervisor to contact me to save him from flood of phone calls from myself. After 30 mins of negotiation, Progressive agree to add one hour, make it like 4 hours labor time.

So right now if the dealership comes back with something around 4 hours, then I will be fine with the one extra hours offered by Progressive (3+1). If dealership only reduce 1 hour, like still around 5 hours something, I am prepared to pay for one hour labor difference because I am really exhausted now. I will see what the number will be.

I wrote a strong email this morning to both parties. At the end of the email, I said as a loyal customer of both Progressive and Autonation Chrysler, what did I do to deserve this crap? I will wait for tomorrow when dealership gives me the second estimate.

 

[Kinalyx]

A shop that is so honest it is willing to commit fraud.

Actually, a shop that knows that insurance companies are blood sucking leaches that will screw over anyone anyway they can at any time. They first tried to tell my the hood would be "bent back into place" rather than being replaced, it was literally folded in half at the front 6" or so, across multiple body lines.

So yeah, I will continue using a shop that will do everything in their power to make sure my vehicle is repaired with the highest quality parts possible.

As for the guy saying there are programs out there to price match aftermarket parts, very rarely does this happen, they always have to go to them and tell them to up the amount to the cost of OEM, at retail.

The fact that any of you are worried about the insurance companies, a BILLION dollar industry, is freaking insane.

If you honestly would be completely fine with Chinese stamped metal parts with poor fitment, rather than demand a new OEM part, youve lost your mind.

 

[Bpebler]

I just wish I lived in a state that doesn’t require emissions & go catless on everything.

 

[Yankee Echo]

It's not yours, or your insurance company's, responsibility to replace the cats that were stolen when the truck was in possession of the body shop.

Disagree. Using your logic, if the truck had been stolen it would be the body shop's responsibility to replace the vehicle. Or if the cat had been stolen while the vehicle was parked at Wally World it would be their responsibility. That's just nonsense. How is the body shop (or Wally World) supposed to predict and to what lengths prevent someone from coming onto their property and committing a crime? This is the whole point of having insurance on a vehicle.

My closest experience like this was having a vehicle damaged while at the dealer for service. They insisted they would take care of the repair/repaint but I said H3LL NO. I knew they would try to do the repair as quickly and cheaply as possible. I turned in the claim to my insurance, got the vehicle repaired to my satisfaction, and even got the deductible refunded after the my insurance clawed money out of the dealer (and I assume their insurance). However, I only insure with companies that use OEM parts for repairs so I've never had an issue like the OP.

 

[jl13]

Disagree. Using your logic, if the truck had been stolen it would be the body shop's responsibility to replace the vehicle. Or if the cat had been stolen while the vehicle was parked at Wally World it would be their responsibility. That's just nonsense. How is the body shop (or Wally World) supposed to predict and to what lengths prevent someone from coming onto their property and committing a crime? This is the whole point of having insurance on a vehicle.

My closest experience like this was having a vehicle damaged while at the dealer for service. They insisted they would take care of the repair/repaint but I said H3LL NO. I knew they would try to do the repair as quickly and cheaply as possible. I turned in the claim to my insurance, got the vehicle repaired to my satisfaction, and even got the deductible refunded after the my insurance clawed money out of the dealer (and I assume their insurance). However, I only insure with companies that use OEM parts for repairs so I've never had an issue like the OP.

what is your current insurance company if you don't mind sharing

 

[Cbty2050]

As for the guy saying there are programs out there to price match aftermarket parts, very rarely does this happen, they always have to go to them and tell them to up the amount to the cost of OEM, at retail

You are so wrong my guy, it's done literally by a push of a button. I work in the dealer and have a good friend that owns a body shop. All of the dealers here do it and it's very simple.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Disagree. Using your logic, if the truck had been stolen it would be the body shop's responsibility to replace the vehicle. Or if the cat had been stolen while the vehicle was parked at Wally World it would be their responsibility. That's just nonsense. How is the body shop (or Wally World) supposed to predict and to what lengths prevent someone from coming onto their property and committing a crime? This is the whole point of having insurance on a vehicle.

The Walmart comparison is completely off target. When you go to Walmart and park in the parking lot, you are not handing the keys and responsibility for your truck over to Walmart. When you take it to the body shop, and they are contracted to repair the vehicles, it is in their custody. Any damage that occurs while in their possession, is their responsibility. That's what they have insurance policies for.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Actually, a shop that knows that insurance companies are blood sucking leaches that will screw over anyone anyway they can at any time. They first tried to tell my the hood would be "bent back into place" rather than being replaced, it was literally folded in half at the front 6" or so, across multiple body lines.

So yeah, I will continue using a shop that will do everything in their power to make sure my vehicle is repaired with the highest quality parts possible.

As for the guy saying there are programs out there to price match aftermarket parts, very rarely does this happen, they always have to go to them and tell them to up the amount to the cost of OEM, at retail.

The fact that any of you are worried about the insurance companies, a BILLION dollar industry, is freaking insane.

If you honestly would be completely fine with Chinese stamped metal parts with poor fitment, rather than demand a new OEM part, youve lost your mind.

We aren't worried about the insurance company itself, as they just pass the cost onto the policy holders. We are concerned about ourselves and other policy holders having rates increased due to this type of activity.

 

[bigdodge]

The Walmart comparison is completely off target. When you go to Walmart and park in the parking lot, you are not handing the keys and responsibility for your truck over to Walmart. When you take it to the body shop, and they are contracted to repair the vehicles, it is in their custody. Any damage that occurs while in their possession, is their responsibility. That's what they have insurance policies for.

you do give your keys to wally world they have service

 

[Kicker]

Disagree. Using your logic, if the truck had been stolen it would be the body shop's responsibility to replace the vehicle. Or if the cat had been stolen while the vehicle was parked at Wally World it would be their responsibility. That's just nonsense. How is the body shop (or Wally World) supposed to predict and to what lengths prevent someone from coming onto their property and committing a crime? This is the whole point of having insurance on a vehicle.

My closest experience like this was having a vehicle damaged while at the dealer for service. They insisted they would take care of the repair/repaint but I said H3LL NO. I knew they would try to do the repair as quickly and cheaply as possible. I turned in the claim to my insurance, got the vehicle repaired to my satisfaction, and even got the deductible refunded after the my insurance clawed money out of the dealer (and I assume their insurance). However, I only insure with companies that use OEM parts for repairs so I've never had an issue like the OP.

You just admitted that the dealer IS responsible.
They offered to repair the damage, you said no and went through your insurance, Your insurance then collected from them.
The dealer is responsible.
Logic and law.

 

[GKIII]

Jeez! I got a little bit improvement in the situation today:

Dealership side: the service manager admitted the previous 6.5 hours is a little bit over-estimated because of its "unique wiring damage issue", and they looked at it today again and think it is actually not as bad as what they thought previously. He agreed to lowered the hours, not sure how much they are going to give the number. They are going to start the re-evaluation and the repair tomorrow.

Progressive side: I talked to the manager of the claim adjustor who is on leave today. I called the claim adjustor 50 times in the morning and drove him crazy. He basically asked his supervisor to contact me to save him from flood of phone calls from myself. After 30 mins of negotiation, Progressive agree to add one hour, make it like 4 hours labor time.

So right now if the dealership comes back with something around 4 hours, then I will be fine with the one extra hours offered by Progressive (3+1). If dealership only reduce 1 hour, like still around 5 hours something, I am prepared to pay for one hour labor difference because I am really exhausted now. I will see what the number will be.

I wrote a strong email this morning to both parties. At the end of the email, I said as a loyal customer of both Progressive and Autonation Chrysler, what did I do to deserve this crap? I will wait for tomorrow when dealership gives me the second estimate.

Does progressive acknowledge there is wiring damage? IMO that should be a separate line item in the repair...

 

[HSKR R/T]

you do give your keys to wally world they have service

Except he didn't say when taking it in for service. At that point, while it's there for service, any damage incurred would be Walmarts responsibility. Until you take possession of the vehicle back.

 

[OldMarine]

wow...so much confusion out there. Retired adjuster here. Wrote claims for a major ins carrier on the East coast. I have never written an aftermarket Cat...that's just nonsense, but Progressive is known for that kind of crap. Very sneaky company. When they first entered Mass a few years ago, they were quoting 6 month policy pricing to people. 6 month policies are illegal in MASS, so people thought they were saving 50% by switching to Prog....the state AG ordered them to stop. They write used suspension parts, used cooling, just a crap company.

 

[ShenValley]

Thanks folks! I just talked to the adjuster that I cannot accept an aftermarket converter. he said he wants his supervisor to contact me. I also informed the Body shop that don't order the aftermarket converter. My standing will be that I CANNOT accept the repair if they are going to put aftermarket converter. I am glad to check with you guys first! Will update how it goes.

Progressive is so cheap. I have been so many years membership and emerald level and insured both my cars with high premium, and this time the claim on Progressive is even less than $1000 and they are doing this cheap thing! I am thinking to change insurance company after this incident.

Wife and I learned the hard way on this. We had Liberty Mutual for many years. Typical minor crashes with teens growing up and so on so premium increases were to be expected. But when we moved I went to a local insurance broker who checked their companies and we found a policy at a serious reduction with a very good company. 4 years later we made another switch and saved again. Bottom line. There is no loyalty in insurance companies when it comes to customers. You cannot try and switch constantly as I was told they flag this and wonder why but nothing wrong with comparing every few years.

 

[RamSteel]

Bummer I just had my converter engraved hopefully will detour theft.

The only thing that does is prevent potentially scrapping it. If you watch how fast they do this, it's not something that will likely be noticed at the time.

 

[RamSteel]

It varies by state but most dealerships, auto body repair shops, etc. will post notices are their responsibility (lack of) for damage, theft, etc. While they do carry insurance it's the most likely liability for injuries and not comprehensive for theft. 9 out of 10 times the shop is going to tell you to file with your insurance company. If you find one that will work with you and will cover the deductible or reduce repair, awesome, they are trying to do the right thing from a customer relation standpoint. You carry comprehensive coverage for this very reason. The insurance company will 100% go against the shop if they feel they were negligent. All the dealerships or shops I've gone to have locked up fenced-in areas for overnight storage and that's all they need to do.

 

[RamSteel]

https://msmownerassets.z13.web.core.windows.net/assets/publications/en-us/Ram/2019/1500_DT/9706.pdf

You'll note even FCA has the right to repair with new, used, exchanged, etc. parts. however, you should note that those catalytic converters are covered for 8 years/80,000 miles. Most aftermarket, best case, is covered for five years so essentially you're getting the same coverage. I can see why the insurance company is trying to go that route. What you need to look for, should you lose the OEM position, is to insist on CARB-compliant cats as you would not have to certify your vehicle in a lot of other states that test and inspect emissions. Texas is not one of them so not sure how far you're going to get but maybe you move a lot? I was in the military so I would have stood firm on this one.

Lastly, the new cat setup on your truck is about $1600 so I wonder what the aftermarket setup costs/their stated reimbursement? I see prices from $600 to $1000 for aftermarket replacements and surely the body shop can get a better price on OEM? I would be squeezing the aftermarket price point as much as possible and looking for the best price OEM if I needed to offset out of pocket.

Hope it all works out.

 

[beetlespin]

Holy $hit. It a freakin' catalytic converter not a body panel or something that would really make a difference.

I think there's bigger battles to fight.