Main IndexAuto Repair Home Search Posts SEARCH
POSTS
Who's Online WHO'S
ONLINE
Log in LOG
IN









Search Auto Parts

Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?


  Email This Post



kalmah0804
Novice

Mar 14, 2016, 2:22 PM

Post #1 of 11 (1777 views)
  post locked   Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

I'm new, so I'm sorry if I'm breaking any rules.

I'm a relatively new driver. Normally I'm really careful and really good--I was lost late at night in a pitch black area driving with a frend, he told me last minute to take a right turn from the middle lane, I was stupid, slowed down, tried to change lanes, there was a guy driving over the speed limit in my blind spot, and I hit him. We both stopped and hit each other at about 5-10 MPH, but there's a bit of damage done to both cars.

Because I'm living in California, I'm a young male in my 20s, and I'm a new driver, I'm trying to avoid taking this to insurance claims. I don't know if anyone will be able to help me out here at all, but I figured it's worth a shot. There are some light scratches on his car, the bumper is hanging off on mine (but I'm not worried about that). His car, according to his registration, is SALVAGED, if that lowers repair costs at all (don't really know anything about this kind of stuff, pretty new driver).

I went to a mechanic shop and he told me it would cost anywhere from $900-1500 USD. That seems ridiculous. I thought it would be no more than $200 or $300. It seems to me most of it will come out with some simple buffing, and if he wanted to paint it he could just repaint the door. The place I went to is universally highly reviewed by every website I can find--Yelp, Google, everything else, so if this place is trying to rip me off, then I really don't know where else to go for an estimate, so I thought I'd try the internet.

Can anyone help me out who knows what they're talking about and try and give me a rough ballpark of what this repair might actually cost, so I can try and find a good place in my area to try and get this guy's scratches taken care of? Thank you so much!




kev2
Veteran
kev2 profile image

Mar 14, 2016, 3:04 PM

Post #2 of 11 (1771 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

new driver has a oops moment... don't fret Sh!t happens.
the picture does not look to bad so-
try this - get yourself some rubbing compound, and use it on the area removing those white scratches will diminish the damage appearance. Then revaluate the need to repair it.... or at least time to save $$$ AND GET SEVERAL ESTIMATES.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 14, 2016, 3:08 PM

Post #3 of 11 (1768 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

Also. please reduce the size of your pictures. They make the thread impossible to read.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



kalmah0804
Novice

Mar 14, 2016, 3:57 PM

Post #4 of 11 (1760 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

Sorry about that. Don't know how to resize the photo.

This isn't my car--my car is a hell of a lot worse than his car, those are photos of HIS car. I got a quote for his car for $700. My friend is a mechanic and he said that to do this job "properly" it would normally cost around $1000-1500, so a $700 job is a nice find.

Does anyone know if it's illegal to refuse to give out insurance ID information in the united states after a minor auto accident in which no one was injured? I'd prefer to not go through my auto insurance because of rates, but he speaks very little English, and it's very difficult to persuade him or talk him out of anything because of that. I've offered to pay him $700 cash or to give him the name, address and phone number of the place I found, but he only wants to go through auto insurance.

Is it illegal if I tell him I won't be giving him my ID number?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 14, 2016, 4:01 PM

Post #5 of 11 (1756 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

Just tell him you don't have insurance. He'll take the cash. All he can demand is his car repaired. he can't dictate whose money is used.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



kalmah0804
Novice

Mar 14, 2016, 4:05 PM

Post #6 of 11 (1753 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  


In Reply To
Just tell him you don't have insurance. He'll take the cash. All he can demand is his car repaired. he can't dictate whose money is used.


He knows I have insurance because he took a photo of my insurance ID card at the scene of the accident, but I guess the photo came out poorly because he keeps on asking me for my ID number. I don't want to give it to him but also don't want to get my license revoked.

It's also illegal in my state to drive a car without insurance.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 14, 2016, 4:09 PM

Post #7 of 11 (1748 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

I can't tell you what the laws are in California but I can't see paying cash being a problem unless he is disputing the amount.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



kalmah0804
Novice

Mar 14, 2016, 4:19 PM

Post #8 of 11 (1745 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

Yeah, okay, cool, thanks. I think he is just trying to intimidate me/scam me.

He was driving with an expired insurance card at the scene of the accident. He asked me for my insurance ID number again. I told him I would give him my insurance ID number if he could provide a photo of an updated copy of his non-expired insurance, he told me he refused to give me any of his information and that he would have to take it to court. I told him that there were two police officers who saw us and took care of us who asked him what the damages were to his car, he pointed to his doors and I took photos of the damages under their direction, and that he can't prove any more damages other than that. I said if he was willing to give me his insurance I'd give mine, or he can take my original offer of $500, otherwise good luck trying to prove in court that I somehow hit both the rear of his car and the side at 5 MPH and did $2700 worth of damage to him, when he confirmed to two police officers at the scene of the accident that the photos I took were the extent of the damages.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 14, 2016, 4:24 PM

Post #9 of 11 (1741 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

If this is going to court it would probably be smarter to let the insurance company do the fighting. That court battle could end up costing you a lot more. If you weren't given a citation at the accident, I don't know what you are worried about. That's what you pay for insurance for.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Mar 14, 2016, 4:25 PM)


kalmah0804
Novice

Mar 14, 2016, 5:33 PM

Post #10 of 11 (1736 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

Thanks. I've worked something out for now. Can I have this thread deleted, please?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Mar 14, 2016, 5:35 PM

Post #11 of 11 (1732 views)
  post locked   Re: Trying to avoid insurance claim, how much would this repair cost?  

No, this is an open forum. We don't delete threads.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.







  Email This Post
 
 


Feed Button




Search for (options) Privacy Sitemap