&*#$(&(@!!! Bump Bump!

[4Runner1371]

Ok...so my baby just got it's first damage from some idiot who can't drive around small alley. Scraped the hell outta corner of my front driver side bumper. How much am I looking at? Should I get done at Toyota Body shop or some local body shop. Do this count as an accident on carfax, etc..?

 

[SCRunner]

it'll probably be less than your insurance deductible, and as long as you don't report your vin to your insurance, they won't report it to carfax. at least that is what I've been told.

 

[Uneek]

Sorry to hear about your 4R's encounter.

I think Carfax only pulls from DMV records. I had an accident on my other car and claimed it through my insurance. When my friend had unlimited Carfax reporting, I asked him to pull my VIN, it came back clean.

If it's just scraped and the bumper isn't dented, see if it can be buffed or polished out, unless it's down to the plastic. If it is dented, you could "pop" it out, but there would be some creasing. Replacement bumper will be over $1000 with painting. It would be cheaper to have the bumper repainted, but they might have to repaint the whole thing. Shops quoted $575-650 to have it done on my Camry.

 

[toto]

Carfax uses government records from those states that can provide them electronically at a reasonable cost. They don't get data from insurance companies or even local police reports. If your state has a state-level database for accidents that's electronic, then Carfax might get data from there.

In Illinois, the Secretary of State handles drivers licenses, plates, and titles, but the Ill. Dept. of Transportation (IDOT) tracks accidents because they're the ones who use that data for improved road engineering. I know the Sec. of State data gets to Carfax, but IDOT loves their paper, and therefore I don't believe Carfax gets accident records from IDOT. If the car is damaged bad enough to get a dirty title, then Carfax would get that info from the Sec. of State.