Caliber Collision Center

Following a minor collision during which the tire of another car contacted my auto, I was referred by my insurance company, The Hartford, to Caliber Collision in Denton to effect repairs assessed by The Hartford's appraiser at $959.50. Booking an appointment through Caliber's thoroughly personable receptionist, I showed up on the scheduled date and was met by the owner, who introduced himself as Montey (sp?). Montey offered to take a look at my auto to help me resolve some lingering questions and, upon seeing it, volunteered that his crew might be able to buff out the damage at no cost. I of course took him up on this and, in just a few minutes, my car was returned to me looking substantially just as good as new! The man treated both me and my insurance company right and should I ever again have the misfortune to be involved in a collision, I will remember Caliber.

This experience was horrible! I was not injured in the wreck (kudos to Nissan for a well-built automobile!), but the body shop is disorganized and does not do good work. The original estimate called for six weeks of work to restore the car to like-new condition. I don't think anyone expects a vehicle to ever return to like-new condition after a major accident, but I do feel it the responsibility for an auto body shop to work for the customer, not the insurance company.
This car should never have been repaired! When a 2'x2' section of the frame (nowadays called a unibody because of its type of construction) is destroyed and must be removed, and a new piece welded in, the accident has exceeded the structural tolerance of all of the components of the car. My engineering expertise aside, the stigma that goes with a "framer" is so great that it instantly loses 40-50 percent of its value. There is good reason for this stigma - the car is no longer as safe as it once was.
The repairs ended up taking nine weeks, not six, and the repairs performed left a vehicle with a crooked back end (as is evidenced by body panels that do not line up, and severely impaired fuel economy). Additionally, Garrett is not a good communicator. When I dropped my car off he assured me that he would be in contact weekly via email and he would include pictures of my car through the various stages of repair. I received exactly three emails from him over the nine weeks, and all other communications were after I initiated them.
Two months after I received my car back I started a diminished value claim against the person who hit me. During this time their insurance company wanted to do an inspection of my vehicle to make sure the repairs were done properly. The agent that inspected my vehicle was less than pleased and ordered the car back into the shop. I was told at that time that it would take two or three days to complete the list the insurance agent had created. One week later, after multiple phone calls and visits to the shop, I again took possession of my car. To this day I can still look out my driver's side mirror and see the crooked back end and misaligned body panels - and I still don't have my pre-accident fuel economy restored.
The diminished value claim is still ongoing so I don't have a total accident cost yet, but so far we are up to ($8162 for repairs + $4000 for rental cars, etc. + at least $4757 diminished value) $16,919 ... which is a full $1000 over pre-accident fair market value for the car. If there are any insurance executives out there please explain where money was saved by fixing my car!