sprcarrera

I was driving my wife's sc430 and somebody merged into me on the freeway. The guy that hit me kept going while I pulled over so I didn't get any info on him. Basically the left front fender needs to be replaced. I'm thinking I could put a used one on there and have it painted for not too much money. I'm wondering if I should even tell the insurance company about it. I think if I do, I still have to pay a deductible and they'll still raise our rates. What do you guys think?

windex

iTrader: (1)

I would take it to a body shop to get the car checked out it may only look like a fender but it could also be a lot more. If it were to be just the fender itself I absolutely wouldn't tell the insurance company.

sprcarrera

Here's the carnage. My wife's pretty pissed at me.

IStoSC

Jeez that guy was such
an *******! Get the cost of repair and if way over deductible get insurance involved.

JerryB

Hi spr,

I'm going to take a WAG: $2500 +

Let us know what the body shop says.

Jerry Baumchen

sprcarrera

I located a used fender about 100 miles away for less than $200. My wife's brother is a body shop guy so we're going to let him look at it tonight and see what he says. I'm hoping I can just throw that used fender on there and have it painted for not too much money. The deductible's $1k and now's not a good time to have to pay that.

playa3uhh

Judging by the resources ($200 fender and a brother-in-law body shop guy) I think you're set. Painting and installation shouldn't be much considering your brother-in-law wouldn't charge you much. I would suspect that even if it's a little over $1000, in the long run it will be worth the savings. Looks like the bumper will have to be realigned again and touched up though. GL with the car (and the wife!) haha

azkaty

As an adjuster.. I would tell you, if you can repair it without going thru insurance, I would do that. Obvious to point.. it will show up on your history, which is not good if you want to sell.

Also, your will now have this accident on your record, and even if its not your fault, and the company pays out, they take that into account .

If its more than $3000, then consider it, but I would not go thru insurance if you do not have to.

Who is your company? I can tell you all about " accident forgiveness"..it's NOT true. They also look at how much premium, and years with the company.

Katy

Emackny

iTrader: (6)

..........

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Insurance will cut you a check for a new fender and paint for the fender, bumper, and hood. This is the only way to get a proper match on a silver car. So $2500-$3000 is about right. Minus the $1000 deductible you will realize the money to pay for the repairs though your insurance bill might take a bump depending on who you have.
Take it to a real shop and get a solid quote. Two is better. This way you will know which direction you should take your insurance company. You can always start a claim and then cancel the claim later if you are not satisfied with the direction things are going.

And also, how come you did not chase that %^*I$# down?

Have had this done twice to me, chased and caught both.

Yes

your rates should not go up if it's not your fault. i was sideswiped in a hit and run. it did about the same amount of damage as yours. it was about $2,700 with a $500 deductible. my insurance never went up. i also claimed a broken windshield. my rate never went up for that. i'm with state farm. they seem pretty fair.

masagsxr

Whoa.... and the guy kept driving? damn.... U could claim it with your insurance and will probably cost you your deductable which is usually $500. It might raise your premium tho. It will usually be cheap if you pay right out of your pocket. If you claim it from insurance, the body shop guys will probably charge a little more.

CAMAracer

iTrader: (1)

Hey, what part of CA are you in? I actually have a spare driver side fender in the Egyptian Sand color or whatever color that is.

sprcarrera

Hey CAMA I'm in San Jose. If you're nearby I might want to use that.

I think I'm set with this. I showed my brother in law the car and he confirmed I just need a new fender. He offered to do the labor on the painting and fix up the bumper. I'll probably help him.

I didn't realize until tonight that he works at a high end body shop in Palo Alto that handles mostly Mercedes and other high end luxury cars. He showed me a picture of a Maclaren he worked on and an Audi R8 that he put a sick widebody kit on. So I'm confident this will look good again without too much cost.

Oh, for some reason, It didn't cross my mind to chase the guy down. He was going extremely fast anyway. I thought the damage to my car was pretty extensive so my instinct was just to pull over so I could assess it before driving too much further.

CAMAracer

iTrader: (1)

I'm in South San Francisco. Let me know when you want to pick this thing up. I'm heading down to LA this week...so let me know what you schedule is like. I might be able to drop it off when I head down. Or you can wait until I come back to get it.