Wednesday, July 7, 1999

Tacoma

Stroud’s Auto Rebuild and WreckCheck® helped a Federal Way man receive a brand new car from his insurance after potential fraud and poor quality repairs were done at the insurance company’s program body shop.

William Gibson brought his car to Stroud’s for a WreckCheck post-repair inspection after his 1998 Acura was repaired by a local dealership body shop. Allstate had paid the other shop, which is one of Allstate’s approved direct repair shops, over $9,900 to repair the car after an October 1998 accident. After taking the car back to that shop with problems and noises and not having them fixed, he took the car to Stroud’s. Using the WreckCheck system, Stroud’s identified $1,120 in potential fraud and a diminished value of $4,956. Diminished value is the loss in market value a car may suffer just for being involved in a serious accident.

Gibson submitted this information to Allstate. They arranged to reinspect the Acura at Stroud’s and have them prepare an estimate to re-repair the Acura to pre-accident condition, the way it should have been repaired. That estimate exceeded $13,300.

Rather than pay again to have the Acura repaired, Allstate chose to purchase Mr. Gibson a 1999 Acura and gave him an additional $1,000 "for his trouble and inconvenience."

"I don’t know what I would have done, if I hadn’t found out about Stroud’s and Wreckcheck," said Gibson. "I bought the car to keep my family safe, and the repairs I received at Allstate’s shop were way less than adequate. Stroud’s helped me get a brand new car, for which I am really grateful."

"We see cars like this daily," said Mike Harber, president of Stroud’s Auto Rebuild. "This Acura was an example of the poor quality repairs and safety-related problems we see coming from many of the insurance companies’ direct repair program shops. When we asked Allstate why they allow their shops to produce this kind of result, they didn’t have an answer."

"Insurance companies resist paying shops enough to fix the cars properly, so some shops resort to fraud or short-cuts to make a profit. When that happens, customers get ripped-off and insurance companies get the savings of a lower-priced repair. The car could have been fixed right the first time, and Allstate would have saved a lot of money in the long run."

"It concerns us that many people don’t know what to do about their cars when the repairs aren’t done right," continued Harber. "This time Allstate stepped up and did the right thing, but most other car owners will end up unsatisfied, they will trade their car in, and then some unsuspecting purchaser will be driving an unsafe car that shouldn’t be on the road."

Mr. Gibson appears to be an exception.

More information about Stroud’s Auto Rebuild and its services is available on their web site at www.stroudsautorebuild.com or by calling (253) 474-0709.

Copyright ©1999 Stroud’s Auto Rebuild, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Some material Copyright ©1999 Wreck Checks, Inc. Used By Permission. All Rights Reserved.
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