Minor accident

crusader

Had a minor accident the other day, and I was wondering if someone could clear up some questions for me. Friday night I was backing out of a friend's driveway when I hit her car (A white Ford Thunderbird). Shit. So after she finished screaming ?Look out for my car? into my ear, I pulled forward and got out to look at the damage. My car (I swear the Volvo is a tank) was fine, not a scratch. Her car on the other hand had a dent, maybe 6-8 inches across and a few centimeters deep. I immediately offered to give her my insurance card, license number, whatever, however she declined and said that it would be fine.



I went home later that evening and told dad about it, he said something to the effect of ?Oh, ok...?. So I go about my week normally until yesterday when I get a ?heads-up? call from a friend of the girl who?s car I hit. Apparently her dad is pissed about me hitting the car and is going to give my dad a call after he gets an estimate for the repair of the dent. Now I?m not aware of the shop that her dad is using, but three of the body shops around here gave me quotes ranging from $400-$800 when dealing with a small dent left in my car when I slipped on some ice and my elbow went into my door. This was a dent I fixed in 10 minutes with a $20 ?Ding-King.? I?m broke right now so, my questions to you are:



(Best guess) Will the shop charge out the wazzoo for a dent repair?



Can insurance help me out at all?



Am I simply up s&^% creek without a paddle?

eugene

You'll be paying premiums up the wazoo for a few years if you have an accident on the record. If it's just a very large dent, I'm almost sure the cost of repair will be less than the extra you'd be paying for car insurance. Wait for the estimate and see...

splinemodel

Don't report it to your insurance. Bad idea.



It should cost about 500 to fix. A dumb, SUV driving woman put a similar dent in my RX-7 two summers ago. I freaked, and insisted that it go to the best body place I knew. In the end, they all cost about the same, as the bulk of the cost involves mixing paints. Whether the dent is small or huge isn't that important as long as it's smooth. They still have to remove the same panel regardless of dent size, and hammering it back out takes about 10 secs.



Next time, watch your ass. Lazy drivers like you are liable to put dents in my car, and I don't like that at all

rageous

go shoot the back window of it out. then they'll send it in to get fixed, report that damage to their insurance company, and probably just get the dent fixed then too.



win-win

rogue master

Pay her, but do not get the police or insurance involved. If you do, your rates will go up, especially if you are male, under 25, and not married. The only condition you get insurance involved is if she goes to a personal injury lawyer in an attempt to extort money from you.