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Get it out of there.

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I'd love to at this point. But how? I'm prety sure the insuance company won't go for that and neither will the shop. somebody's gonna want more money! What a PITA.
Thanks tho

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Talk to your insurance agent and tell them that you decided to go to another shop and that you want the check made out to you, so you can make a decision on who to take it to.

I've never had them make it out to a shop.

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Absolutely not. They have your car as collateral for the repair. There is no valid reason for them to require payment in advance.

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Shifty got it right. Yoink that vehicle.

Find someone else to do the work.

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Yep. pretty much just considering pulling the vehicle at this point. I'll talk to the adjuster regarding that.

Unfortunaltey I picked this shop based on a buddys recomendation. Talked to the guy on the phone and now I regret that.

The shop owner is pretty P.O.'d since I brought the adjuster into it. But if he's a legit guy, you would think he would get WHY I don't want to hand over my collateral. I give him the check, he has my car, and payment. I'm not trying to be the world's worst customer, but I gotta look out for my best interest.

Everybody I talked to, agents, other shops, friends in the auto business, friends in general said it's a bad idea to give him anything. 99% said to yank the car.

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The whole idea behind both you and the body shop being on the check is to pay for the cost of repair. Endorsing the check over before the work is done should come with instructions on how to wave bye-bye.

Confirm with the shop that your signature will go on the check at the time the repairs are complete and to your satisfaction. The body shop had a mechanic's lien on the car the second the first bolt was loosened. If the shop doesn't have the money to buy the parts, they may not have the money to pay the help, either. Worst case scenario is the shop permanently closes its doors with your car inside.

My suggestion is to get the car to a shop you trust; contact the insurance carrier; and get the check reissued to you and the new shop. The new shop will payoff the current shop's time and add it to your bill.

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I had that situation with the Hartford Insurance company. But over the phone they told me if I took the car to one of their reccomened repair shops, that they would deal directly with the body shop and diburse monies as needed for repair to the shop. I did take to one of their shops, and as it turned out the original estamate was for $2,800 during the course of tering down the front end other areas needed replacement that could not be seen at the time because visabilty is minamal just looking before repairs are done. The damage turned out to $3,590. I never saw a check and all was handled by the Hartfort and the body shop. Call your insurance company and see if they have a prefered list of shops. If so you get the job done right, and no aggrevation on your part.

Source: 1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5

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