Advice for a 19 year old in a fender bender

[hanjohnbono]

Hello fellow T4R members, Im looking for advice about a fender bender I got into today. I saw a cyclist on the road, and my front was sticking too far out, so I backed up quickly, and when I let off the brake I rear ended a new Honda Pilot. I exchanged info with the lady, and she was fairly kind, and understood that I am a student, and she said she would prefer not to go through our insurance so my rates do not go up. Tomorrow I am going to go to some autobody shops, and see if I can get some quotes based off the pictures. She went to the Honda Dealer, and they requested $947, about 200$ in paint supplies, and 11 hours of labor. She is fine with me getting local shop quotes, but I am worried she will want to go through the dealer as her car is 6 months old. Here is the damage, some of my friends said they cannot see the damage which goes to show ya how little the damage is. What I am worried about is that the other shop quotes might be just as high, and at the moment paying that much for a small scratch repair is a bit out of my reach, I just want to know for future reference whether I should just swallow it and pay the full price or let the insurance company know about it and deal with it? Thanks for reading

 

[mholme]

Fortunately/unfortunately, this is what insurance is for. Depending on your policy, your rates may not go up for a small incident. Unless you have the means to pay out of pocket for at fault damage, I would just defer to your insurance company. It has too much potential to get ugly quickly while you shop around for a better repair estimate for an incident that you caused.

Also, your picture aren’t working. Without seeing them, what can appear to be minor damage on the surface can also reveal deeper damage once a body shop takes on the repairs.

 

[jimmynotjim]

First off, thank you for being courteous to the cyclist. I know it sucks, but it's better to scratch another car than to put a cyclist in danger.

What's your deductible? Are you on your parents insurance? The increase in your/their rate from the claim might be more than the difference between the deductible and what the shop charges. If that's the case you're better off eating it once than paying it for years until it rolls of your history. Good luck.

 

[hanjohnbono]

First off, thank you for being courteous to the cyclist. I know it sucks, but it's better to scratch another car than to put a cyclist in danger.

What's your deductible? Are you on your parents insurance? The increase in your/their rate from the claim might be more than the difference between the deductible and what the shop charges. If that's the case you're better off eating it once than paying it for years until it rolls of your history. Good luck.

I'm on my parent's insurance, and I would have to ask my Dad what the deductible is, I would assume it is fairly high as we have our insurance company covering our cars, house, and his business. Im also thinking that it's just worth it to pay the money upfront, and not worry about it later.

 

[hanjohnbono]

Fortunately/unfortunately, this is what insurance is for. Depending on your policy, your rates may not go up for a small incident. Unless you have the means to pay out of pocket for at fault damage, I would just defer to your insurance company. It has too much potential to get ugly quickly while you shop around for a better repair estimate for an incident that you caused.

Also, your picture aren’t working. Without seeing them, what can appear to be minor damage on the surface can also reveal deeper damage once a body shop takes on the repairs.

I've updated the pictures, and I after class tomorrow, I'm going to try and get some estimates, she responded saying that is fine, and she seems to not be in a hurry to get it fixed as the damage is fairly minor. Hopefully a local shop can repair the cost at a significantly cheaper cost. How small this scratch is, I would hope it would cost less than $500, but my understanding of cars is mostly mechanical, not cosmetic such as paint.

 

[hanjohnbono]

I also forgot the mention, the bumper is fairly dirty, the actual damage is on the left side, and the zoomed up photo is all the damage to the bumper. The rest that looks like scratches is actually dirt and bugs.

 

[jimmynotjim]

Unfortunately you can't just blend the paint, have to go from seam to seam. That said, I had far worse damage from a basketball hoop falling on my Crosstrek when it was brand new and it was only around $500. I went through Geico because I wasn't at fault (act of God) so I knew the rates wouldn't go up either way. Because it was the same as my deductible it didn't end up mattering anyway, but the shop they were connected to did a great job. Might be worth calling your insurer after you've shipped around just to see who they typically use.

 

[hanjohnbono]

Unfortunately you can't just blend the paint, have to go from seam to seam. That said, I had far worse damage from a basketball hoop falling on my Crosstrek when it was brand new and it was only around $500. I went through Geico because I wasn't at fault (act of God) so I knew the rates wouldn't go up either way. Because it was the same as my deductible it didn't end up mattering anyway, but the shop they were connected to did a great job. Might be worth calling your insurer after you've shipped around just to see who they typically use.

Also I dont know if this matters, but it was on private property. I'll call my insurance and see what will happen and/or if they will cover it.

 

[mholme]

I'm on my parent's insurance, and I would have to ask my Dad what the deductible is, I would assume it is fairly high as we have our insurance company covering our cars, house, and his business. Im also thinking that it's just worth it to pay the money upfront, and not worry about it later.

Insurance rates generally go down with “bundled” insurance, but if this ultimately the policy holder’s decision which route to take. Have you told your parents about this??

If you agree to take on the payout outside of insurance, you’re on the hook for ANYTHING outside of the original estimate, to satisfy her repairs. Again, could get ugly, even with minor damage.

 

[Hepar]

Most likely your insurance will cover it. The question is, would it be worth it? If your rates won't increase, then sure. But if they do, then I would avoid going through insurance if possible. The standard deductible for most is around $500. So, if your damage is $1,000 you are only getting $500 from your insurance company. Depending on how much they hike your rates, you could be paying much more than that in the long run.

If you're short on money, approach your parents and talk about it. Maybe they can front the money and you can pay them off. Be it in labor or whatever.

When I was 16, my parent were super generous by paying my insurance. The caveat was that if I were to do anything to raise the rates, that I would have to pay the difference. It wasn't long before that happened, but it was a good life lesson and I quickly realized how my driving actions had consequences.

 

[Hokie-Pokie VT]

Bono,

So I used to work in a body shop as an estimator, in a Honda Dealership ( I can tell from your Pics that the damaged vehicle is a Honda CR-V) and here is my advice.

That initial estimate is just of the superficial damage to the bumper. The way that cars are constructed these days, the bumpers, grilles, and other bits that you can't see are all made of plastic and break at the slightest tap. I would say that 8 times out of 10 there is hidden/additional damage that will increase your bill. All of the additional stuff adds up and your bill will be a good bit more than $900.

If you go through your insurance, your premiums will go up (obviously), but it's your choice if you want to pay a large sum now or have your premiums go up on a monthly basis. Generally, it is cheaper to just pay the lump sum now.

Basically just be prepared to pay more than $900 if you don't use your insurance.

 

[00Sebby]

Depending on your insurance it may just be best to turn it in. Last fall, my 16yr-old's GTI ended up in the back of this Corvette. Fortunately, he was not playing with his phone but had looked down to adjust the A/C at the same time she decided to stop and turn left. He wasn't cited for anything. There was damage to car and medical and lawyers and stuff. But our policy has accident forgiveness and our rates remained the same. I told him that was his lesson and not to make a habit of hitting other people's cars.

Edit: I mean the 'Vette was already messed up with that Ole Miss crap on the back.

 

[Breadman03]

I've updated the pictures, and I after class tomorrow, I'm going to try and get some estimates, she responded saying that is fine, and she seems to not be in a hurry to get it fixed as the damage is fairly minor. Hopefully a local shop can repair the cost at a significantly cheaper cost. How small this scratch is, I would hope it would cost less than $500, but my understanding of cars is mostly mechanical, not cosmetic such as paint.

As stated already, most deductibles are about $500. I would probably pay out of pocket for the fix to avoid potential premium increases if I could. If you can't afford it, then that's what insurance is for. Depending on your relationship with your parents, you might ask First National Bank of Dad about a low interest loan for a short period of time.

 

[T4R2014]

Advice: accidents mean lost money, and it's big money when you're a poor ass kid. Take it as a lesson. Be more careful in the future when backing up like that.

 

[MissouriBreaks]

Your first mistake is asking us what you should do without consulting with your parents. You stated that you are on your parents policy, so the first thing you should have done is contacted them.

Asking us is pointless, as your parents should be deciding how to proceed as it is their insurance coverage.

 

[hanjohnbono]

Your first mistake is asking us what you should do without consulting with your parents. You stated that you are on your parents policy, so the first thing you should have done is contacted them.

Asking us is pointless, as your parents should be deciding how to proceed as it is their insurance coverage.

I immediately called him after the accident, and I've already talked to them. He didn't know what the deductible was exactly, and he told me that I should get some quotes from autoshops and talk to our agent if I want to go through our insurance. Not really pointless asking on a forum, it's my first accident, and I wanted to hear different recommendations, and I am glad I did as the first few people have given good insight into what I should do.

 

[hanjohnbono]

Well I've gotten an update. Turns out my parents never had me actively insured on their policy, and they didn't tell me that my 4runner was listed as a vehicle in storage in their policy, so technically for the past 6 thousand miles I've driven the car, I have been driving a stored car, which is pretty fantastic. For those of you wondering how the hell this could have happened, my parents claimed that this is a mistake as they meant to list their other toyota as a stored vehicle, and somehow had my listed mine as storage. So since I wasn't actively insured, I am assuming our insurance company isn't gunna care that is was a mistake since it's been about 4 months since they made this change. So Im going to have to pay out of pocket, which oh well, could have been a much worse accident and learned the same way that I wasn't technically uninsured.

 

[Hepar]

could have been a much worse accident and learned the same way that I wasn't technically uninsured.

Exactly. Could have been a far worse result had it been a worse accident with injuries.

 

[00Sebby]

Well I've gotten an update. Turns out my parents never had me actively insured on their policy, and they didn't tell me that my 4runner was listed as a vehicle in storage in their policy, so technically for the past 6 thousand miles I've driven the car, I have been driving a stored car, which is pretty fantastic.

Wow! You got lucky. In my son's situation with the GTI, I only had liability coverage on it until he started driving regularly. I called up our insurance and put full coverage on it a few months prior. But I found out when the accident happened that my insurance wasn't changed as requested. So I ended up putting his car back together with my purchased parts and my labor. Given your insurance situation, you would've been in a mess had you done what he did with the minor injuries and such.

 

[ASUMTNEER]

Wow! You got lucky. In my son's situation with the GTI, I only had liability coverage on it until he started driving regularly. I called up our insurance and put full coverage on it a few months prior. But I found out when the accident happened that my insurance wasn't changed as requested. So I ended up putting his car back together with my purchased parts and my labor. Given your insurance situation, you would've been in a mess had you done what he did with the minor injuries and such.

That sucks. I always email my change requests so that I have it in writing.