mustangspotential

Hey guys. Looking for some advice. I pretty angrily wasn't thinking and while parking slightly scraped up against a wall, messing up my front bumper and a little part of the right front fender as well. It doesn't bother me THAT much, considering my front bumper has scratches, chips and stress marks anyway. However, I don't know if I should make a claim or just buy a new bumper myself.

Here's the damage:



I made a 'tell only' claim with my insurance company, and they said they'd mark it as a non-at-fault claim and that my rates may go up after renewal but probably not and definitely not now. Not sure I trust that. If I decide to pursue the claim, I just call them for them to send an estimator, but I have a $500 deductible. So it basically defeats the purpose when I can buy a new front bumper cover for less than that probably, right?

DRAGUL

I would never tell my insurance company of any incident, unless I was going to make a claim. It will be cheaper in the long run if you pay for this yourself.

Nunja Business

Depends on the insurance company.
I did something similar, except it was more damage courtesy of a tree I forgot was in my yard.
I only have a $250 deductible so I went for it. $1200 job to fix RIGHT.
Then 2 moths later, I find out that they kicked me out of the preferred group and it will cost me about $50 more a month for my coverage. That's $600 a year extra, damn it!

Rocket Ray

I had slight damage to my bumper, not quite as bad as yours. I ended up buying a new take off of the same color for $250 from ebay. Swapped it out myself.

Matt's 95 Stang

This is a good way to go. It sucks that it happen but chit happens. Hell I did the same thing on my '95 and never got it fixed cause it would cost more than the car was worth. Look on ebay, craigs list, newtakeoff.com.

Good luck,
Matthew

SLVRSTNG06

No sense in making a claim, that bumper does not need replacement, just needs to be resprayed...

tbear853

And if you, mustangspotential .... really have some scrapes in other places, a refinish will fix them as well. Might also get the shop to fix a spot on a fender .... and blend.

At minimum, it'll be less noticeable if you yourself touch it up.

mustangspotential

Thanks for the advice guys. I did touch up the black spots you see (I have touch up paint from another chip I have on that front bumper). Now it's much better and unnoticeable until you're 5 feet or so away. I'd like to get it taken care of eventually but sick of putting money into this thing lol.

I wonder how much a respray would cost.

SLVRSTNG06

When I got my new front bumper put on I think my guy charged me around $300 for paint.. can't recall the exact amount

jRaskell

I have insurance for any really major accidents that may occur. I've only had two minor incidences that were paid for out of pocket, turned into a driveway that was lined with large rocks a little too sharply, and tore up the side ground effects on my Trans Am years ago. Took a few months, but found a color matched replacement piece at a salvage yard that just needed some touching up.

Second incident was my landlord had a bookcase he was moving fall against my car, which he also 'paid for' out of pocket instead of going through insurance.

In fact, I'll pay for almost any level of accident out of pocket if it doesn't have to be reported. If a police report is filed, doesn't make a whole lot of difference if you don't file a claim at that point, cause it'll be visible to the insurance company and your rates are going to take the hit anyways.