Urgent Care Needed For the Matrix

So, last night I was heading to my friends' house to watch their 5 month old son. It was dark and had been raining off and on all day, and of course it was also during the rush hour traffic time. While on one of the busiest streets in Salem, traffic was backed up from a stoplight. Naturally, I stopped in an attempt to obey all traffic laws. As traffic was just barely starting to move again, the car behind me slammed into the back of our one and only car. On top of all the hazardous driving conditions stated above, the other driver was talking on her cell phone and did not even bother to stop when she got out of the car. Fortunately, I was not hurt at all, just our poor car that we worked so hard to pay off in three years. Fortunately, the other party had insurance to cover the damages and there has not been any disputes regarding liability...there was a witness who stopped, so I wasn't too worried about that one.

Today, I have spent all day dealing with insurance and auto body repair companies. I was two steps ahead of the insurance company the whole time. The shop that they sent me to for an estimate quoted $2,100. Knowing what I know about body work, I was suspicious of this quote. They were saying that the side panel didn't need to be replaced, which I thought anybody just looking at it would disagree (see photos below). They also wanted to schedule me for the repair immediately. I only slighly politely told them that this was not a claim on my insurance and that I was going to look into my options since I could legally take it wherever I wanted to have the work done.

I chose to take it somewhere else. They actually checked underneath the car to make sure that it was safe for me to be driving and that there wasn't any further damage beyond what was visible. They also told me that the panel did indeed need to be replaced and gave me a quote of $3,300. The insurance company of course told me that they would have to review that quote since I obviously did not want to take it to their preferred shop.

So, I went to get a third opinion from a shop that our neighbor recommended. They agreed with the second quote, and I found out that they are an approved shop with the insurance company. Of course, I wasn't given that shop as an option because the insurance company probably knew that the other would give the lowest quote and cut corners. I love dealing with issues like this...please note sarcasm.