I took off work early today and called or visited four body shops. Two of them told me outright that they do not work on cars that old. One of them would work on it, but was not optimistic that they could find parts for that old of a truck. Their estimate was $ 2800 assuming they could find the parts outside of a junkyard. The final body shop also was pessimistic about finding the parts, but their appraiser went back to check the computer. In three minutes she came back grinning from ear to ear and said that Mazda must have sold about a million of those trucks, since they are still making the parts for them. She found all the necessary parts in a warehouse in Western Washington. Their estimate was $ 2600.
In talking with my neighbor across the street, his son owns the other car that was hit, a 1987 Honda Accord. He also had problems finding shops that would work on a car that old, but eventually got three estimates, from $ 1500 to 1800.
I am going to drop off a copy of the estimate for my neighbor and suggest that they call the insurance company, since they are already up to over $ 4000 for the damage to the two cars, not to mention their son's car. In the alternative, if they want to give me a certified check for $ 2600 payable to the body shop, I would accept that.
