Lawyers Guns & $ needed 4 Mexican Van Crash

mnpaul · Jun 16, 2018

I'll start with my needs with story following for anyone who wants to read it.

1) I need my Ford Transit van with major front end damage towed 8 miles from Mexicali MX to Calexico CA
That means crossing the border from MX to CA

2) I will probably need an interpreter to help communicate with auto shop van is being towed from and possibly with the tow driver.

3} A bi-lingual lawyer located in either Mexicali or Calexico area maybe even Yuma or San Diego

4} A reliable auto collision repair facility in Mexicali or California for an honest damage assessment. The MX insurance company offer is to give me $7000. I bought this van new less than a year ago and it only has 15,000 miles on it.

Once across the border I do have the option of a AAA tow up to 100 miles plus Ford roadside assistance to a Ford Dealer. This could get me to a Yuma or San Diego auto shop for the estimate.

5) Someone who lives in this area I could talk with to help me find these resources.

THANKS!

Paul
p.s. Lawyers Guns and Money is a Warron Zevon song:

mnpaul · Jun 16, 2018

crash picture

Patrick46 · Jun 16, 2018

Oh my Heavens!!!

That's Aweful!!!!

Glad you're still alive and kicking!

Sure wish you well in getting this cluster sorted out!

KathyC · Jun 16, 2018

I wish you the best and hope you were not injured. While I don't have specific referrals (sorry) I did want to ask why your US insurance carrier is not helping you? Even if your coverage is invalid in Mexico (likely/some carriers cover you if you are near the border), they should at least provide referrals and assistance. Best of luck to you.

MrNoodly · Sep 4, 2021

mnpaul said:
...for an honest damage assessment...

Man, that looks totaled to me.

But if it can be repaired, it would probably cost far less to get it done in Mexicali, even at "gringo rates." Mexican mechanics and auto body guys are great because it's a country with far greater need to repair stuff rather than throw it away. Besides, most of the mechanics and auto body men in Southern California and Arizona are of Mexican descent. My experience has been they're far more honest and less greedy than their pale counterparts. That's especially true in the smaller towns where the customer base is too small to be exploiting anyone. The locals stop using the bad and crooked mechanics, driving them out of business, leaving only the good ones.

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]There are probably very competent people in Calexico and El Centro. Avoid anywhere west of the mountains. The prices will be outrageous. My experiences in Yuma haven't been that great. The customer base is large enough that bad mechanics can survive, and their overhead (both commercial and personal) is higher. An example: One Yuma shop quoted me $1,700.00 to replace a part — with a 400% markup on the part. Another wanted to charge me $85.00 just to look at my van. The problem wasn't critical, so I waited until I was in Ajo AZ where Ernie (Ernesto) the mechanic said to order the part myself from RockAuto and he'd do the job for $75.00. And then he gave me a beer when he was done.[/font]