@duke848 I am seeing a common thread with Caliber in this regard. Keep in mind any idiot can log in and down vote your issue. Caliber probably has people doing this.
I am in a similar situation. My car was barely pushed over the total threshold by phantom damages and repairs as well by Caliber! The scam here is obvious. They pad the estimate claiming total safety etc, that they guarantee their repairs etc, so they can total perfectly functional vehicles. Then they get repaired for a fraction of the cost, and they are back on the streets in a couple weeks, sold at a profit. The total threshold is usually state mandated.
This is obviously fraud! In my case a 2014 Prius hit a road sign after crossing the median at a low speed, because I had a hypoglycemic seizure while driving. The sign snapped down and hit my windshield on the driver side, slightly denting the part left of the windshield which broke. At first I was mad at everyone, including my insurance (Toggle / Farmers), but my insurance said dispute the estimate with the shop line by line. He was right in that there is a total formula that is governed by the state, even though the two are obviously in cahoots. Everything the shop enters immediately shows up on the insurers screen, and the insurer tries to back up the shop on ridiculous repairs up until the point where it becomes a lawsuit.
In any case, all the damage was cosmetic except the tires and windshield. One tire and wheel need replacement, the other the tire just came out of the wheel. However, the vast majority of the estimate is replacing the structure of the car, which is untouched. In order to do that, they need to take apart a large portion of the front of the vehicle and inside of the vehicle. There is about 12 hours of unnecessary labor due to this, much of which is at 97 an hour, the rest 50 an hour.
There are also parts they want to order that don't need replacing because they received no kinetic energy. One of which is NOT listed on the parts estimates, and is priced double of what it actually costs when ordered from the manufacturer. They also hit me with the same "glass shards in the vents" BS.
All of these fictional repairs pushed the cost just over the 75% limit in my state.
Caliber was originally recognized and given awards in 2012 and has since had time to solidify their relationship with multiple major insurance companies. Obviously, the insurance companies give the awards (for helping them avoid paying significantly on claims). The scam is they claim need to fix tons of unnecessary stuff to pad estimates in certain situations to push past the total limit, which creates an opportunity for someone to profit on reselling the car they don't own. Insurance then gives you peanuts for a fully functional, well maintained car.
They also give lifetime guarantees on their repairs. This is meant to benefit the insurance companies (and the occasional wealthy person who pays out of pocket). It doesn't benefit the average user because they just total any vehicle needing repairs. This is a 2 party effort as the insurance has to actually mark it as totaled, but Caliber always plays ball.
Anyone who has been burnt by this, I suggest you Carfax the VIN to see if the vehicle is still in operation. In the old days they would do junkyard fusions or use other VIN numbers, I don't know if they do that still.
