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Christine2
LIF Adult
Member since 2/09 1217 total posts
Name:
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Car accident question
Please do not quote:
I was in a teeny, tiny fender bender the other day. Only very minor damage to the bumper cover (plastic piece below my bumper). So minor that I considered fixing it without going through insurance. My body shop guy is local, so I showed him the damage and he quoted me ~$1200!! So, needless to say, I filed a third party claim.
Fast forward a few days, and auto body guy says the adjuster should "absolutely" see damage with him present. So I drop car off. I just got a voicemail from adjuster saying nearly $4000 in damage was approved!!
WTF?!? How does damage (minor bump at ~5-10mph) get so extreme? DH thinks auto body guy did some extra damage on his own. Bumper, bumper cover, parking sensor, new paint is all scheduled to be done.
Is this possible? I usually trust this guy, but I don't know what to think.
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Posted 11/8/18 8:01 PM  |
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LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
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Car accident question
Paint is expensive though I don't really see why you would need paint if it was just the bumper cover. Is the sensor in the bumper cover?
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| Posted 11/8/18 8:31 PM |
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MommaG
Yay Spring!
Member since 5/05 5133 total posts
Name:
Gloria
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Car accident question
Sometimes there can be damage you can't see behind the bumper cover. Your bumper has material in it to absorb the impact and if that is damaged you may not see it. The bumper cover is actually the plastic piece that encases your structural bumper (the one that provides support in a crash). There are a lot of little pieces behind the cover that may have been damaged. The bumper cover needs to be painted if it is repaired or replaced. It is possible but you would need someone to look over the actual estimate to see if it is accurate. Also, the cover may have been removed from your car so the estimator could see the damage behind it that you couldn't see. So, short answer - it is possible.
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| Posted 11/8/18 8:40 PM |
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mommy2be716
LIF Adult
Member since 1/16 2921 total posts
Name:
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Car accident question
there is a place that i know of that got in alot of trouble for damaging cars to get more money. would be interested to know what place it is because it's still around, but the original owner is in jail lol
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| Posted 11/8/18 9:00 PM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Car accident question
Or the adjuster is in cahoots with the body shop and overestimates the damage and they split the difference
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| Posted 11/8/18 9:44 PM |
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Christine2
LIF Adult
Member since 2/09 1217 total posts
Name:
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Re: Car accident question
Other car sustained no visible damage except for license place, which had a screw popping through (screw is what put a dimple in the PLASTIC bumper cover). I saw no damage nor scratch on the bumper itself. They are replacing a parking sensor (not sure what that is), but if it has to do with the back-up camera, it was working absolutely fine. Car was completely driveable. Adjustor is paying for a NEW bumper? Whole thing is so, so off to me. I'm not going to do anything, and I know little to nothing about cars, but not sure I will ever go back to this auto body shop.
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| Posted 11/8/18 10:22 PM |
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jamnmore
LIF Adult
Member since 6/16 989 total posts
Name:
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Car accident question
My DH backed into someone's car at work. It was a dimple. But the guy was a jerk and demanded it be fixed. It was $7000 to repair. We got numerous quotes. The entire side of the car needed to be replaced and repainted because of the way the car was made. My husbands car had absolutely no damage to it. It's just the way that cars are built these days.
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| Posted 11/9/18 9:15 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Car accident question
Also, we had a minor accident and the total damage was $6k.
The bumper alone cost $1k because it has sonar in it- it beeps when you are parking if you get too close to something.
Plus it was a luxury truck so parts are insane.
It's super expensive to fix cars today....
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| Posted 11/9/18 9:29 AM |
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jlm2008
LIF Adult
Member since 1/10 5092 total posts
Name:
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Car accident question
I had a minor accident last year when someone rear ended my brand new car. Could hardly see any damage, looked really fine to me, but inside the trunk cavity there was a lot of damage which my car guy showed me. Over $7k. Cars today are super expensive to repair, since they are basically made out of plastic and they have to replace whole bumpers,e tc...instead of repairing like way back in the day.
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| Posted 11/9/18 9:37 AM |
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jlm2008
LIF Adult
Member since 1/10 5092 total posts
Name:
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by jamnmore
My DH backed into someone's car at work. It was a dimple. But the guy was a jerk and demanded it be fixed. It was $7000 to repair. We got numerous quotes. The entire side of the car needed to be replaced and repainted because of the way the car was made. My husbands car had absolutely no damage to it. It's just the way that cars are built these days.
Why was the guy a jerk? Your DH backed into him and damaged his property and he shouldn't pay for it 
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| Posted 11/9/18 9:38 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Car accident question
Yeah if someone put so much as a scuff mark on my brand new car I would expect for them to pay to have it fixed.
I'm insane about my car lately.
And it's a lease so even a "dimple" would need to be fixed before the lease is returned and I sure as shit wouldn't be paying for it out of my own pocket if someone backed into me....
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| Posted 11/9/18 9:50 AM |
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w8andsee
LIF Adult
Member since 10/09 1193 total posts
Name:
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by NervousNell
Or the adjuster is in cahoots with the body shop and overestimates the damage and they split the difference
This happened to me when I was young and didn't know any better.
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| Posted 11/9/18 9:53 AM |
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SecretlyTTC14
LIF Adult
Member since 12/13 1770 total posts
Name:
B
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by w8andsee
Posted by NervousNell
Or the adjuster is in cahoots with the body shop and overestimates the damage and they split the difference
This happened to me when I was young and didn't know any better.
It could be this. I briefly dated someone that worked at a body shop when I was younger. It's more common than you'd think.
Cars nowadays are also super expensive to fix. So you never know which it actually is.
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| Posted 11/9/18 10:13 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by SecretlyTTC14
Posted by w8andsee
Posted by NervousNell
Or the adjuster is in cahoots with the body shop and overestimates the damage and they split the difference
This happened to me when I was young and didn't know any better.
It could be this. I briefly dated someone that worked at a body shop when I was younger. It's more common than you'd think.
Cars nowadays are also super expensive to fix. So you never know which it actually is.
So the reason I even thought about this is that when DH had his accident he had a body shop he wanted to use. He called them up and they said- oh have the adjuster meet you here at the shop- don't have them come to your house. In case I need to take off the bumper to show them underneath etc- it would be better if you were here at the shop
Now when I had an accident a few years earlier, we had the adjuster come to our house.
So we found it odd, but whatever.
He goes there with his truck, the adjuster shows up, and the body shop owner and the adjuster look at DH and tell him- oh you can go wait inside. Like they clearly didn't want him listening.
So that led him to believe they were making some kind of deal and didn't want him hearing their conversation.
Either way it didn't matter to us- we got the truck fixed, the insurance paid what the adjuster estimated, whatever... but there is definitely shadiness that goes on between them I think.
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| Posted 11/9/18 10:46 AM |
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jamnmore
LIF Adult
Member since 6/16 989 total posts
Name:
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Re: Car accident question
Because they worked together. The guy consistently was parking in an illegal space and was consistently told not to. Over and over again for months, by my husband, his boss. Guy kept parking in the same illegal spot. And eventually the car was hit. He made it more difficult for everyone using the parking lot. And then rather than trying to work it out amongst ourselves, he immediately called 911 to file a police report and called his insurance company before the police were even there to take a report. And it was literally a dimple. The damage was the size of a quarter.
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| Posted 11/12/18 8:29 AM |
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jamnmore
LIF Adult
Member since 6/16 989 total posts
Name:
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by NervousNell
Yeah if someone put so much as a scuff mark on my brand new car I would expect for them to pay to have it fixed.
I'm insane about my car lately.
And it's a lease so even a "dimple" would need to be fixed before the lease is returned and I sure as shit wouldn't be paying for it out of my own pocket if someone backed into me....
The dimple was the size of a quarter. That would not have been charged on a lease. But the car was not on a lease and was at least 5 years old. Guy was also illegally parked and had been warned not to park there for months for this exact reason. If the guy had listened, the damage would have never happened.
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| Posted 11/12/18 8:31 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by jamnmore
Posted by NervousNell
Yeah if someone put so much as a scuff mark on my brand new car I would expect for them to pay to have it fixed.
I'm insane about my car lately.
And it's a lease so even a "dimple" would need to be fixed before the lease is returned and I sure as shit wouldn't be paying for it out of my own pocket if someone backed into me....
The dimple was the size of a quarter. That would not have been charged on a lease. But the car was not on a lease and was at least 5 years old. Guy was also illegally parked and had been warned not to park there for months for this exact reason. If the guy had listened, the damage would have never happened.
I get it. If he was illegally parked and warned about it, then yeah, he's an ass.
I just mean in general. Even if my car wasn't a lease, I don't want a mark on it if I can help it.
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| Posted 11/12/18 8:50 AM |
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LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
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Car accident question
I guess my question, since I don’t know much about cars, is why have they become so expensive to fix? You hear people complain that they’re made from cheap materials and “they don’t make em like they used to.” So if they’re of poorer quality, shouldn’t they be cheaper to fix? Why the markup?
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| Posted 11/12/18 8:55 AM |
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jamnmore
LIF Adult
Member since 6/16 989 total posts
Name:
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by NervousNell
Posted by jamnmore
Posted by NervousNell
Yeah if someone put so much as a scuff mark on my brand new car I would expect for them to pay to have it fixed.
I'm insane about my car lately.
And it's a lease so even a "dimple" would need to be fixed before the lease is returned and I sure as shit wouldn't be paying for it out of my own pocket if someone backed into me....
The dimple was the size of a quarter. That would not have been charged on a lease. But the car was not on a lease and was at least 5 years old. Guy was also illegally parked and had been warned not to park there for months for this exact reason. If the guy had listened, the damage would have never happened.
I get it. If he was illegally parked and warned about it, then yeah, he's an ass.
I just mean in general. Even if my car wasn't a lease, I don't want a mark on it if I can help it.
I get that. But that was not this situation. He made our lives hell. All because he did not listen. DH was his boss. Before this even happened the guy did not speak to DH because he did not like him. And when this happened, he held it over DH's head. I never said we would not fix the car. It was the way he went about it. He wanted it done within 24 hours and the world just does not work that way. And for the fact that he was parked illegally and warned numerous times but continued to do it. Like I said, he was on the phone with his insurance company before the police even arrived to take a report.
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| Posted 11/12/18 9:08 AM |
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jamnmore
LIF Adult
Member since 6/16 989 total posts
Name:
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by LuckyStar
I guess my question, since I don’t know much about cars, is why have they become so expensive to fix? You hear people complain that they’re made from cheap materials and “they don’t make em like they used to.” So if they’re of poorer quality, shouldn’t they be cheaper to fix? Why the markup?
It's because now cars are designed to absorb the impact of a collision. Really they are not meant to be repaired. But not every collision totals a car. So it is more a matter of insurance has not caught up with the way cars are built now. They still want to repair cars when cars are not built to be repaired.
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| Posted 11/12/18 9:10 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by LuckyStar
I guess my question, since I don’t know much about cars, is why have they become so expensive to fix? You hear people complain that they’re made from cheap materials and “they don’t make em like they used to.” So if they’re of poorer quality, shouldn’t they be cheaper to fix? Why the markup?
Also, they have more technology in them now- bumpers have sonar to help you park, there are back up cameras, even tire stems now have tire pressure sensors in them. Lots of expensive technology. So if you get a minor front end collison and need a new bumper that bumper has cameras, sonar etc in it. DH's front grill was $1k due to this
Message edited 11/12/2018 9:21:06 AM.
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| Posted 11/12/18 9:16 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: Car accident question
Posted by jamnmore
Posted by NervousNell
Posted by jamnmore
Posted by NervousNell
Yeah if someone put so much as a scuff mark on my brand new car I would expect for them to pay to have it fixed.
I'm insane about my car lately.
And it's a lease so even a "dimple" would need to be fixed before the lease is returned and I sure as shit wouldn't be paying for it out of my own pocket if someone backed into me....
The dimple was the size of a quarter. That would not have been charged on a lease. But the car was not on a lease and was at least 5 years old. Guy was also illegally parked and had been warned not to park there for months for this exact reason. If the guy had listened, the damage would have never happened.
I get it. If he was illegally parked and warned about it, then yeah, he's an ass.
I just mean in general. Even if my car wasn't a lease, I don't want a mark on it if I can help it.
I get that. But that was not this situation. He made our lives hell. All because he did not listen. DH was his boss. Before this even happened the guy did not speak to DH because he did not like him. And when this happened, he held it over DH's head. I never said we would not fix the car. It was the way he went about it. He wanted it done within 24 hours and the world just does not work that way. And for the fact that he was parked illegally and warned numerous times but continued to do it. Like I said, he was on the phone with his insurance company before the police even arrived to take a report.
Sounds like he was just being a d-bag
Message edited 11/12/2018 9:19:38 AM.
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| Posted 11/12/18 9:19 AM |
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