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Someone hit my car and kept going, fender damage any ideas(Price, what route to take)
I live in NYC we have alternate side street cleaning here, forced to double park my car. After it ended i came outside to find my fender completely ruined. Had my GS for 8 years 2nd car i ever owned made it through my early 20s accident free and now this happens.
Sad part no one was outside to witness it, and i had my bedroom window open i didn't hear ****. What pisses me off is there was literally 2 1/2 car width to pass i went as close to car parked next to me as i could, how the hell did they manage to do that? My block isnt narrow. And no note, nothing. Just kept going. This is the 2nd car in my household to get hit and run in less than 3 weeks SAME EXACT area hit too but our other car was worse door was crumpled in. We had a Honda accord written off in late 90s on this block too.
Anyways enough ranting.
Headlights i dont care about it had some condensation i never felt like taking it out and resealing it to fix it. Id really like to fix the fender, and the side of the bumper looking respectable again, i cant drive a damaged car it feels sad. Any ideas how much i should be looking to spend to get it back to a respectable state. The door seems to be making noise when i open and close it also, im assuming its because the plastic piece below the fender is bent and may need to be replaced also.
I spoke to a friend he gave me an idea to check out some junk yards find a fender in decent condition and slap it on there. I opened up the hood the engine bay looks fine. Just appears to be the fender and bumper. Mirror was hit too and has some small spider cracks but im not worried about that either.
Main concern fender and bumper scrapes on the side.
Replacing the fender is a must, but you might be able to get away with the bumper. The scuffs look somewhat cosmetic and may be buffed out with a polish. Junkyard is a good place to start as your friend had mentioned.
My concern is further internal damage. If your door creaks, there may be more than what meets the eye. I suggest taking it to a body shop to get it examined and for them to see if there's anything other than the fender that needs work. Replacing the fender and color matching isn't a huge deal, but if there's structural damage you're in for a headache if you're doing it on your own. From the looks of it, the wheel suffered some damage as well which may have thrown off the alignment and possibly caused mechanical damage as well.
Replacing the fender is a must, but you might be able to get away with the bumper. The scuffs look somewhat cosmetic and may be buffed out with a polish. Junkyard is a good place to start as your friend had mentioned.
My concern is further internal damage. If your door creaks, there may be more than what meets the eye. I suggest taking it to a body shop to get it examined and for them to see if there's anything other than the fender that needs work. Replacing the fender and color matching isn't a huge deal, but if there's structural damage you're in for a headache if you're doing it on your own. From the looks of it, the wheel suffered some damage as well which may have thrown off the alignment and possibly caused mechanical damage as well.
Best of luck!
Thanks. Im taking it to my guy to check it out. Hes not a body man but maybe he can give me some insight on the damage.The door squeak isnt bad it sounds like the plastic part at the bottom of the fender is touching it. The sound is more like a small pop, i think its making contact. Maybe bent clips idk.
The event truely ruined my day. The worst feeling is driving around a damaged car, ive never had to do it but im about to go out and i can imagine feeling wont be good. It gives the perception you are a bad driver, or accident prone when you have a hit car. Im kind of self conscious about stuff like that.
I understand. Many of my clients are very much like you, but at the end of the day it's not your fault and you shouldn't feel guilty about that. I know it's not an ideal situation but I'm sure things will work themselves out sooner than later.
If you have insurance coverage, I suggest filing a claim. If there's anything I can do to help out with the process don't hesitate to email me: Michael@zeygerinsurance.com.
The door should be fine, the line between the fender looks straight enough, so the internal damage is most likely minor, if at all. I'd jut buy a fender, used headlight, and you're good to go. I've been hit in the same spot, on both sides, and while not to the same extent, I feel your pain.
Yea, I've seen much worse so don't seat it. I think that color is fairly common so grabbing one from a bone yard should be relatively easy to do.
Are there any junkyard databases online?
I really dont have a ton of money right now to fix it. Trying to come up with the cheapest fix.
Went to my mechanic shop, their body guy said he will throw another fender on there for 600 and paint it. Sounded extremely expensive to me.He was telling me he has to blend it with the door. I told him i didnt care about that just as long as it looks close, i just want the fender painted. Doors can remain untouched.
He said if i can bring a fender in he will throw it on there and charge me 100.00
What you guys think.
At this point im kinda lost at what to really do. Not even sure how to go about finding a junk yard and searching for the part. Checked ebay but no luck.
The event truely ruined my day. The worst feeling is driving around a damaged car, ive never had to do it but im about to go out and i can imagine feeling wont be good. It gives the perception you are a bad driver, or accident prone when you have a hit car. Im kind of self conscious about stuff like that.
I understand this feeling dearly.
Before my Lexus ES was hit in the parking lot, it was in mint condition, no scratches or accidents. I would often get complimented for how clean the car looked.
After the careless woman backed into me I felt so depressed and it still bothers me up to now.
I didn't want to deal with repainting an entire quarter panel and blending into the rear door - especially given shoddy workmanship of many shops, and opted to pop out the dent and touch it up for now.
Last month my brother put a deep scratch on the other side of my car with his bike.
That was when I gave up on it.
You can take care of your belongings and care for it and spend time and money on it. Then someone careless comes along and ruins it. We can't have nice things, and I'm surprised in NYC you've been able to keep your GS clean for the past 8 years.
Finding a silver fender has been rough, been calling mad places. Spoke to algia no luck. I might visit his shop later for an estimate.
Anyone know where i can look in the NYC area, been calling random junk yard parts stores i find on the web.
edit
called about 30-40 junk yards so far. No luck, most didnt have any.
Last dude i just spoke to i told him i was frustrated because its hard to find this part. He told me its going to be rough because the cars are so old, 1998 most junk yards probably just crush them instead of parting them out.
Not good. Might have to go with a new fender and paint it.
09-08-15, 11:45 AM
Someone hit my car and kept going, fender damage any ideas(Price, what route to take)
Had my GS for 8 years 2nd car i ever owned made it through my early 20s accident free and now this happens. 
