BMW repair costs - who do you trust - why so frustrating

ICCARAKID

MEMBER
2009 BMW X5
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
8,000 MILES

Hello,

My 09 BMW X5 3.0i has recently suffered the impact of a pothole.

BMW Shop originally quoted me $5000 to change the tire rod, steering rack and pinion, 16hrs of labor (@ $145/hr), wheel alignment and diagnostics.

My Geico adjuster today inspected the damage and quoted an estimated $830 which includes:
Replace 1 tire rod
Replace 1 Rim (with Reconditioned)
Wheel alignment
Diagnostics
and 3.2 hrs of labor (@ $44/hr).

the adjuster says there's no evidence that the rack is damaged, only one tire rod is slightly bent (enough I suppose) and that the BMW repair technician could not give him any evidence that the rack was damaged or needed to be replaced. He simply told the adjuster "we usually change the rack any time we change the tire rod"

Oh not to mention that the rack I was originally quoted was the wrong part ($3800) the right rack is $1800.

So, who do you trust?

The Geico adjuster, whose only purpose in life is to save Geico money and possibly get a cut of whatever he saves geico.

Or the BMW delear who apparently wants too much money for labor, and quotes me the wrong price for the wrong part - which i'm certain they would've corrected right. Right! - Somehow I have a hard time believing that.

the same BMW dealer repair shop told me a month ago that I needed to flush the tank because they found 12% ethanol in my fuel. They even showed me the Peach Snapple bottle in which they claimed my fuel was contained. They did have the BMW guidelines printed out though.

Any help is grately appreciated.

For what it's worth, i'm thinking about bringing the vehicle to a Geico express shop have them do the work - which the adjuster thinks can be done with $830 and is guaranteed for life as long as you own the vehicle. Which I don't plan on. Lease is up in June. And then it's BMW's problem.

2 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,716 POSTS

If they can't justify why all the parts need replaced, then I can understand why the adjuster is saying no. If I would recommend having the work done at Geico. If they guarantee their work for life and there is still a problem when they finish, it's their baby. You did what the insurance company did. They can deal with any problems or other repairs that need done. Give it to them with the understanding that they are responsible for any problems that are not repaired to your expectations.

Let me know what you find.

Joe
PS: My brother has a BMW. He is always spending more on simple repairs than I pay for my entire vehicles. For example, ball joints were 80 in parts and labor would have been around 100. He had his replaced and it was 1200.00. No thanks. It's a great car but I would never want the repair bills.