Ok, well long story short, I tapped a lady’s bumper and she got 2 scratches (somewhat deep not really, more like the paint chipped off) on her Nissan Sentra (probably 5yrs old or around there). It was my fault because I was at a red light and she was infront of me turning right. I assumed she went while looking at the on-coming traffic and let the brakes off.
She calls me a few days later after the accident and says her mechanic is going to charge $700-800. She gives me the option of going through insurance or not. She does not want anyone else to touch her car but her mechanic.
You might just have to bite the bullet on this one. Her mechanic probably told her what to do in this case. She probably won’t even fix those scratches. Those should cost $150 - $200 MAX.
And since you’re in the wrong, I’m not too sure what else you can do.
Getting a copy of the work order is a good start. However, that doesn’t help if this lady and particular mechanic have colluded on the price because they have realized they have your nuts in a bind. Describe the work to be done to other body shops and get a quote for similar work. If you wanted to be really tricky, call this ladies mechanic and ask him how much to fix a similar problem on a newer vehicle with the same paint. If it’s just the paint… it shouldn’t be more then a couple bills. The mechanic she’s using probably isn’t even set up to paint. Does she already have your insurance info?? I believe accidents have to be reported within a certain amount of hours/days of incident…of course, I would never suggest anything dishonest;)
Honestly dude, you should pay the 800 and lesson learned. It sucks but this is the way this whole industry works. Ifs its not the insurance scamming you its the owner. If you go to her asking to see the work order then she might feel threatened and say forget it insurance only and in the long run it will cost you alot more than 800.
With the insurance company it doesnt matter if its 800 or 8000 worth of damage you will still be hit with an at fault accident on your record and that sticks around for 7 years.
Ultimately, you are at her mercy since you hit her. She is giving you a break already not going through insurance so I would be very cautious about question the repair bill.
well if she makes an insurance claim doesn’t her insurance get affected to?
even if she is at fault or not?
or tell her you have no problem going to her mechanic but u want a price estimate by others or ur mechanic cause u don’t want her ripping u off cause your not an idiot and that price is completely retarded. Tell her exactly that cause she is probably playing u for a fool. I’m sure if there is some way u catch her pocketing the money u can really f’up her day. I think that would be extortion?
I have no clue but i would definetly be pissed to pay that price. And i think u could be scrud either way…may be best to pay her and then ask her after she got the work done for a recipt or something.
Lot’s of Body Shops will charge 6-700 to fix a rear bumper with that damage. Chances are some clips are broken. Then you need to fill the holes and reshoot the bumper. Tack on some re-re labour and you could easily be at 700.
Ok so say if I pay the asking price and then she screws me over another way by reporting it to insurance after?
Or what if I agree to pay and later on she decides to up the price or something like that? Should I bind her to a verbal contract that it will only cost $700-800 and no more?
What can I do to protect myself if she tries to pull some shady stuff after I pay?
Hey samosn, I wouldn’t suggest to challenge her on the price. She might just say fuck it and just go deal with the insurance. And no to whoever said her insurance will go up too. Anyways just make sure when you pay her to have her sign something that says everything has been settle.
She’s got the upper hand on you, she probably talked to someone and the dick probably said get the whole bumper replaced. She won’t let anyone else but “her mechanic” touch her car, thats kind of stupid considering how minor the damage is, seems fishy if you ask me.I don’t think you have much choice in this situation, unless your willing to face…INSURANCE. Best thing to do is as everyone else has said, get a copy of the receipt and pay the damages. Good luck.
EDIT:Also, as far as my knowledge goes, damages under $1000 dollars can be settled between drivers. As Mike said, get everything agreed upon written down.
I’d look into this. You can use it as leverage against her to get her to provide a more honest quote. I had my door and rear quarter pulled, bondo’d, and entire side of the car painted for less than that. She IS scamming you, there is no doubt in my mind. I can understand someone wanting to take their car to a trusted mechanic to get work done, but not if they drive a fucking heap. A 7-800 repair bill on a car that is worth maybe 4 grand is ridiculous.
If you decide to settle outside of insurance, make sure you have her sign an agreement. This is to prevent her from going to the insurance behind your back and screwing you over through insurance.
By the time the body shop buys the bumper from Nissan, adds their markup, pays somebody to remove the old one, paint the new one then install the new one, I’m not surprised it comes out to that much. Any of us would simply just leave the scratch or paint the old bumper. However, since the person who got hit probably knows nothing and cares even less about cars, she will do whatever the mechanical tells her. In this case, get a new one. Plus she doesn’t have to pay for it.
You are better off paying it and not going through insurance since you will get raped for having an at fault accident.
firstly how much is a few days later has it been reported to police. if it hasnt and its been more than 48 hours later she cant do shit now u dont have to fix her car, but if you want to tell her the price you get and if she doesnt want to let you get it fixed or is planning on making money off of you you could just say later to late over 48 hours now you cant do shit.
I wouldn’t go as far as to not pay, since it was your fault, but something along the lines of “If you don’t come back with a more realistic estimate, you can pay the 7-800 yourself.”