Estimating
Why estimates come back
A supplement is not a failure. A supplement for something that was visible in the first photograph is. The difference is what got captured on the first pass.
The honest supplements
Hidden damage found at teardown. A rad support that was bent behind an intact bumper cover, a rail that moved, a bracket nobody could see. Those are what the supplement process exists for, and no photograph and no software will ever remove them.
The avoidable ones
A part number that was right for the model and wrong for the trim. A blend that was never written. Clips and one-time fasteners left off. A calibration that the ADAS on that car requires after a windshield or a bumper comes off. Every one of those was knowable before the car was touched.
- Trim-specific part numbers, decoded from the VIN rather than the badge
- Blend into the adjacent panel, written at the time rather than argued later
- One-time fasteners, clips and seals as their own lines
- ADAS calibration where the repair requires it
Write the line you expect to lose
An estimate that omits a defensible line to look reasonable has given the line away for nothing. Write it, price it, and let it be negotiated. The lines that get removed in review were never going to be paid; the lines that were never written cannot be.
Photograph before you touch anything
Once the bumper is off, the condition it arrived in is a memory. The photographs from the first shoot stay attached to the estimate for exactly this reason, and six weeks later during a supplement argument they are the only thing in the file that nobody can dispute.
Before you ask
Does a longer estimate get approved less often?
A longer estimate gets read more carefully. Lines that are specific, sourced and priced survive that reading. Lines that are round numbers with vague descriptions are what draw the pen.
Should the first estimate include hidden damage allowances?
Not as invented lines. Note where hidden damage is likely, and price it when it is found. An allowance for damage nobody has seen is the fastest way to lose credibility on the lines that are real.
Run it on damage you have already written
Accounts are created by hand, usually within a business day. Bring your own photographs and a repair order you have already closed, so you can see how close it lands before you decide. No card, no trial timer.