Been down this insurance road before. I can advise two things. #1. Have (and insist) the Ford dealer repair your car. You will be getting Ford parts, and it willmost likely be done as close as correct as possible. #2. Unless you have Geico Ins. Co., Get a lawyer that deals with insurance claims. It will more than pay for itself in the long run, plus you may actually come out ahead in the end or at worst break even. Paying $700-$1100 for a lawyer will avoid lots of problems, plus he knows the laws better than you do. I especially advise a lawyer if medical payments are involved since medical payments can wind up being worse than the actual damage of the car. Your wife MUST claim "NO FAULT", otherwise you will get hosed/screwed. Do yourself a big favor, shop around for a good accident lawyer, That is my best advice aside from asctually having the FORD dealer fix the car and do the bodywork. The FORD dealers in my town all do their own bodywork. +1
Glad that I could offer my two cents... Most insurance companies are crooks until they get pressured, Then they "miraculously" see things your way. That is my experience. A small story, In 2004, (I live in Florida), I lost parts of my roof in a hurricane, and the entire roof needed to be replaced... The new roof cost $12000, (I went with the best, HOME DEPOT, I didn't want a fly by night operation that would possbly desert the job in the middle as what happened to many others) As I said, The new roof cost $12,000, but the insurance company would only pay half ($6,000), To make a long story short, after six months of no action and fighting them to pay the 2nd half (the other $6,000), I threatened to sue them and had my lawyer draft up a "threat letter", Within 3 days, They called my house and said "The 2nd half of the check is on the way." , Then after they paid, I immediately dropped them and went with someone else. The moral of the story is, In this day and age where just about everything is cutthroat, You have to always fight for what you want, which is unfortunate....Sometimes things go smooth to your advantage, but more than most times they do not. You always have to be on the defense. My 2 cents, and my experience.
Hope you take my advice, and I hope that it all works out for you.
Tony K.