To the Editor:
As we’ve all come to expect and enjoy, Larry Cohen has written another wonderfully sarcastic column; this time, about the secret deals between car insurance companies and the handful of auto body shops they prefer for repairing your car.
As Cohen put it, there really is a “big hug” between the car insurance companies and the hand-picked preferred repairers. What consumers don’t know about those secret deals, however, is that the insurance companies typically put huge pressure on these preferred body shops to reduce costs — and increase insurance company profits. That often results in installation of aftermarket or used parts, parts that may void your new car warrantee.
While I don’t believe, as Cohen teases, that insurance company preferred shops “often attach new equipment with used chewing gum,” we have indeed documented countless instances of these shops doing significantly substandard repairs. We’ve seen cardboard stuffed in places were there should be metal, for example. We’ve seen parts glued on rather than bolted properly. We’ve seen a wide range of dangerous safety hazards after unsuspecting consumers drive off from the smiling insurance company representative.
If you needed heart surgery, would you allow your insurance company to select the least expensive surgeon for the job or would you want the best surgeon possible? Same thing with the car repairs. The insurance companies want the cheapest job possible so they can increase their own profits. Members of the Auto Body Association of Connecticut, however, want to do the best job possible so our customers will be repeat customers, so they will be satisfied and safe in the event of a future accident.
Consumers should remember: don’t let your car insurance company try to bamboozle you. It’s your car. It’s your choice where to have it repaired. Unlike safety issues resulting from poor car repairs, selecting Larry Cohen for your board of directors probably won’t threaten the lives of the family — I hope.
Bill Denya Denya’s Auto Body, Meriden Auto Body Association of Connecticut
