Best place to get a replacement hardtop?

[Gvsukids]

Aren’t they supposed to pay someone to do this legwork?

They might not have the same urgency as the OP.

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[Dilly’S Willy]

Call your local Jeep dealers, talk to the service manager. Tell them briefly what happened and that you need a quote for a new paint matched hard top and installation. They might tell you they don't do in-house work like that but that's okay since it's actually pretty common. If you have the dealer do it/send it to their business partner, you should get a factory warranty on it. And when you have them do it, ensure they give you a loaner if it's your only vehicle.

Insurance wants you to tell them the final cost, they generally won't care if you have the dealer do it and it costs a bit more than Joe Shmoe's body shop for less as they know you'll be covered more so by a factory job.

I'm having the dealer warranty their warranty work from the previous owner regarding the paint job their business partner did, as well as blatantly not replacing the factory bedliner, and an electrical issue with the driver door harness/connector.

 

[Hootbro]

If insurance is covering, why are you looking/asking? Aren’t they supposed to pay someone to do this legwork?

One can just take the insurance check and go shopping for repair on their own to save and pocket any difference outright or the whole check and not get nothing done.

Insurance companies do this all the time, especially for minor repairs as it absolves them of any future responsibility of the claim.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Learned some things:

A used top of the wrong color and a new primered top cost the same amount.
A body shop paint job will not be as good as a factory paint shop paint job. The factory paint shops use super high tech techniques and bake the paint on too. (I knew that since the company I work for builds factory paint shops, but I did not put it together until someone else pointed this out).
The black textured tops are pretty common on the used market (I guess no one wants them), but they are not practical to paint over. There are some black white and grey painted tops but snazzberry appears to be impossible to find. Several places that i talked to said they have never seen one. I did however encounter a few other people who are looking for a Snazzberry Hardtop.

The Mopar hard tops do not come with everything you need. There are some oddball lose pieces that you have to order separately.

Body shops are not really interested in this job. Several turned it down. Some said it was too much of a hassle to get the top, one said that I would not be happy with the paint results.

A factory paint job isn't any better than a paint job from a reputable body shop. It's arguably worse. It's not high tech to make it better, it's high tech to do it faster with less humans, and it's only baked to make it dry faster.

Heck, that's why we upgraded the paint booths where I work. It wasn't to make the paint job better, it was to raise the heat we could provide and lower drying times. Other things we did - ventilation, tool, and material improvements did help the quality - but that's nothing out of reach of any normal collision shop.

Check LKQ Online for hard tops. You might find one from a wrecked Jeep.

I find it wild that a local body shop would say you wouldn't be happy with a paint job on a hard top assuming they were starting with the correct one to paint (not a 'bedline black' model). We had our wrecked Passat fixed by a mom and pop body shop a couple years ago and it came out looking outstanding. They definitely just don't want the work (which I would believe - lots of places just want insurance work).

 

[NC_Overland]

I’d just get a textured black to tone down that snazberry some.

 

[Volt0]

One can just take the insurance check and go shopping for repair on their own to save and pocket any difference outright or the whole check and not get nothing done.

Insurance companies do this all the time, especially for minor repairs as it absolves them of any future responsibility of the claim.

I always thought they keep back about 15% along with their excuse of the day, in effect leaving the insurer underpaid. Of all of the interactions with an “adjuster” that I’ve been part of, only 1 turned out to match fair market value, and that was after getting someone fired and then escalating to their manager and treating that manager respectfully.

I mean heck, I thought it was SOP in California for folks to go through an attorney for getting settlements to be fairly addressed for car crash repairs.

they are not in the business of paying out extras.

so, assuming your own time isn’t free, I would love to have someone explain to me how this is actually going to work out for the benefit of the insurer.

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