Honestly, I’ve had the same battle with both Geico and Progressive.
—that’s spot on. I had a claim with Progressive last winter, and they tried to swap my bumper for some off-brand junk. Took three calls and a lot of attitude before they caved and paid for OEM. It’s ridiculous how much you have to fight for what you’re already paying for. It’s not even about the age of the car for them, just saving a buck wherever possible.unless you push hard or have something in writing, they’ll always go with aftermarket parts
Been there, done that—still got the paperwork headache to prove it. Here’s how it went for me:
- Got rear-ended, Geico says they’ll “take care of everything.”
- Shop calls: “We’ve got your aftermarket taillight in.”
- Me: “You mean the one that looks like it belongs on a kid’s toy?”
- Three phone calls, a manager, and a dramatic reading of my policy later… OEM part finally approved.
It’s wild how much you have to babysit the process. Feels like they’re hoping you’ll just give up and settle for whatever. Honestly, I’m half convinced if I didn’t have kids’ car seats in the back, they’d probably try to swap those out for knockoffs too.
Has anyone actually had a claim go smoothly with either company? Or is this just the price of doing business in NY these days?
Feels like they’re hoping you’ll just give up and settle for whatever.
That’s exactly how it felt when I had to deal with Progressive after a fender bender last year. I swear, every time I called, I got a different answer about what was covered. At one point, they tried to tell me my “high mileage” meant I should expect used parts. Like, what? Is that even a thing? Makes me wonder if anyone’s actually gotten OEM parts without a fight, or if it’s just standard practice to push the cheap stuff first. Has anyone ever had them actually follow through on “taking care of everything” without all the back-and-forth?
Yeah, I’ve run into the same thing with Progressive—feels like they’re always trying to cut corners. That “high mileage = used parts” line is wild, but I’ve heard it before. With my ‘97 Mustang, I had to push hard for OEM parts and even then, it was a hassle. In my experience, unless you’re really persistent (and have documentation), they’ll default to aftermarket or salvage stuff. Honestly, I haven’t met anyone who got OEM without at least a few arguments. Geico wasn’t much better for me, but at least their reps seemed more consistent with answers.
Not sure if my experience is just an outlier, but I actually had a pretty different run with Progressive last year when my wife’s Camry got sideswiped in Brooklyn. The car had over 120k on it, so I was bracing myself for the “used parts” argument you mentioned. But the adjuster surprised me—he actually offered OEM glass for the window and new trim pieces, no pushback. Maybe it depends on the rep or the shop you use? I went through one of their “preferred” body shops, which I was skeptical about at first, but it ended up being less of a headache than I expected.
With Geico, though, I’ve had the opposite problem—super consistent, yeah, but almost to a fault. Like, they were polite, but every answer felt like it came straight out of a script. When my old Altima got rear-ended, they insisted on aftermarket everything, even after I showed them receipts and maintenance records. I tried escalating, but it was like talking to a wall. Maybe it’s just luck of the draw, but I’d rather deal with a little unpredictability if it means there’s a chance of getting better parts.
I do wonder if location plays into it. NYC shops seem to have their own way of doing things, and sometimes the insurance companies just go along with whatever the shop recommends. Could be different upstate or in Jersey.
Anyway, not saying Progressive is perfect—far from it. But I wouldn’t write them off completely. Sometimes you get a decent adjuster who’s willing to work with you, especially if you’ve got your paperwork lined up. Just my two cents from the trenches.
