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The Pub For General Automotive Related Talk |
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#1 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 619
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The other night I was tired and was going head first into a gap between two cars (never do this - always reverse in!), and accidentally bumped into another car as I was doing so. The left rear side of my car hit the front bumper (right side) of theirs. I got out to have a look, and noticed not a huge amount of damage to my own car (almost all of it buffed out), but an unusually large amount of damage to the other car. The entire corner of the bumper looked like it had lots of existing damage from parking scrapes/scratches over the years. It was very hard to tell what was pre-existing damage and what was new. It was a fairly old car (20-year-old E46 BMW) and the other side of the bumper had no damage that I could see. Now I did the right thing and left a note on their window. They've since contacted me and are basically ignoring the fact that they very likely had existing damage on their bumper (I asked them this). I think they're just trying to get it fixed like new. Any advice on what to do here? Do I make them an offer of say, half of the quote they end up getting, or do I basically have to pay the full amount?
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#2 | ||
Angry Dub Driver
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Toowoomba
Posts: 545
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Did you take photos of both the damage to your vehicle and theirs?
If you are adamant that you could not have done all of the damage, these could be useful to your cause. Maybe contact a repairer and show them the photos to get an independent opinion? Cheers, Tony |
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#3 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 619
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Quote:
Didn't get any photos I'm afraid, although the other party has sent me a photo since. |
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#4 | ||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Checking out soft furnishings....
Posts: 8,677
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If it's just the bumper, $500 to respray, cut your losses and put it down to a life experience.
Next time get lots of photos when it happens. First thing I do when an incident happens, take a crap load of photos.
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Proud owner of the ugliest Ford ever made |
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#5 | ||
Thailand Specials
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Centrefold Lounge
Posts: 49,018
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Put it into reverse and drive away
![]() Jokes - just wear it I reckon, just a bumper |
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#6 | ||
praek tih kl jo kr
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Atwell W.A.
Posts: 1,649
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I ran into the back of a guys car a few years back, lucky I had my dash cam, so when inspected the footage I could clearly see I was not the first to hit it, so I just said its my fault, my excess is $250, you can have it or I will just pay the insurer, he just took the cash.
I think my excess was about $500 at the time, but he didn't know ![]() |
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#8 | ||
Budget Racer
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 2,420
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I clipped the bumper of a 20 year old Range Rover Disco with my trailer while pulling into a parking spot. The impact pulled the bumper forward. New mounts would have fixed the situation but I was prepared to spring for a replacement bumper from the wreckers being fitted.
I spent 10 minutes going into shops looking for the owner. Found him, swapped details and told him to get a quote and I will get it fixed ASAP. He had no insurance. Obviously my fault, like you MrZ I hit a parked car. Long story short; >he dropped a quote for $4700 in my letter box, I said no >his panel beater called me threatening legal action unless I supplied a claim number >he came to my house when I was not home and yelled aggressively at my wife, "I want my money" >I chose not to escalate the situation at my wife’s insistence and called the police >police suggested I let insurance handle it >I made a claim and let my insurance company know other driver was committing fraud. >insurance company gave up after about a year of his bickering and paid him out. I'm unsure what the moral to all this is but I'm still not over it and it was over ten years ago! Maybe Karma caught up with the other driver?
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12.1@112Mph 285rwkw on n2o Cleveland Power |
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#9 | ||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Heading thru Hell (Corner)
Posts: 8,177
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Surprised the most obvious question hasn't been asked: are you insured?
If so, what's your excess? If it's less than the expected repair bill, claim against insurance and let them sort it out. If not, ask yourself how much you're prepared to pay and how much pain and angst you want in dealing with this yourself. If the cost (total cost, not just $, but future impacts on your insurance rate after having made a claim, etc) of claiming it against your insurance is less than the cost to you to handle it yourself, then still claim it against your insurance and let them deal with it. If you're not insured, or you don't think it's worth the cost of claiming against your insurance, then you're pretty much left to negotiate this out with the other party or just pay up. At the end of the day, you need to pick whatever is going to be the best avenue for you to resolve it.
__________________
Labels are for jars, not for people. Life is a journey, not a destination. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daily: 2013 FGII EcoLPi in Winter White Play: 2015 FG X XR8 in Emperor Show' N Shine thread Gone, but not forgotten: 2015 SZII petrol Titanium Territory in Emperor |
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#10 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Hervey Bay
Posts: 5,208
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#11 | ||
Donating Member
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Posts: 5,652
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#12 | ||
DIY Tragic
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Sydney, more than not. I hate it.
Posts: 21,824
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Where’s the panel shop who will remove, repair a bumper, possibly replace brackets and reo, paint and blend then refit and adjust for $500?
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#13 | ||||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Heading thru Hell (Corner)
Posts: 8,177
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Quote:
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__________________
Labels are for jars, not for people. Life is a journey, not a destination. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daily: 2013 FGII EcoLPi in Winter White Play: 2015 FG X XR8 in Emperor Show' N Shine thread Gone, but not forgotten: 2015 SZII petrol Titanium Territory in Emperor |
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#14 | ||
praek tih kl jo kr
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Atwell W.A.
Posts: 1,649
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I can tell you Its $1000 to repair a scratch in a panel these days, you can work it out from that.
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#15 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Hervey Bay
Posts: 5,208
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Nor would I. But it seems to getting more and more commonplace these days. To the extent I think states need to legislate the requirement for basic property insurance on all road registered vehicles.
Quote:
But the OP should treat it how an insurance company would. They would never pay to repair pre-existing damage. So a small cash payout commensurate to what the actual damage would be is all that's required. A smash repairer should easily be able to differentiate between what was there and what was new. |
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#16 | |||
praek tih kl jo kr
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Atwell W.A.
Posts: 1,649
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Quote:
In this case they would just pay for the bumper repair in that spot and blend it into the rest of the bumper, what they will pay for is the R&R of the bumper and disassemble for repair, the repair of the damage and a spot up on the affected area. We see it every day and the customers always complain that the whole bumper was not repainted, then we have to explain that the rest of the bumper was not damaged in the incident therefore its not covered, most times when the quote is done this is explained and they are asked if they would like to pay the extra to do the whole bumper, most people decline as its usually another $500. |
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#17 | ||
Donating Member
![]() Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Checking out soft furnishings....
Posts: 8,677
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Deleted
__________________
Proud owner of the ugliest Ford ever made Last edited by fordomatic; 12-11-2023 at 05:19 PM. |
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#18 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 619
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I had my entire front bumper resprayed at a panel beater for $450 cash a few years back (around 2015-ish). I realise prices have gone up since then, though.
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#19 | ||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 619
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An update - I haven't heard anything from the other party since November 9th. I guess they aren't too concerned about getting their (existing) damage fixed. Do I just leave it?
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#20 | ||
DIY Tragic
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Sydney, more than not. I hate it.
Posts: 21,824
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Provided you’re not avoiding communication, yes, don’t initiate anything.
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#21 | |||
FF.Com.Au Hardcore
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Hervey Bay
Posts: 5,208
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Quote:
It could be they are finding it hard to find someone to quote. Wouldn't surprise me if no one wants the job as most places only have time or inclination for insurance jobs these days. Plus many will probably only see a potential hassle for a private third party cash job, so they avoid them. When some clown reversed into Dad last year it was nearly a month before we managed to get back to them with an easy cash resolution, which they ultimately refused. Morons. But that is another story. If you don't hear from them in a reasonable time frame, maybe 3 to 6 months, then just write it off as done and over. If they come back after that time just politely tell them they had an opportunity, but after all this time they can't have felt it a serious enough issue to get it dealt with ASAP and its unfair to be assessing damage so far down the track considering the possibility its gotten worse by outside forces. They can take you to small claims if they want at that stage. |
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