modru2004

long story short, front right of car hit a pole at very low speeds. like a couple miles an hour. of course during this time i discovered that our plastic bumper is worthless and serves no purpose other than for looks. it basically cracked, headlight cracked, front right metal panel, the solid piece thats above the tire and runs all the way to the door had its front right edge bent out.

hood is perfect no damage. hit on the extreme right.

my question on this is concerning my insurance and deductible. i have no idea if its even worth putting in a claim on, because the damage may not be more than the 1k collision deductible i have. and i don't want to put in a claim, not get anything for it, and let them have an excuse to jack my rates.

would yall recommend taking it to an auto repair shop first and getting an estimate?

any idea how much that would cost to repair?

on the upside, depending on how this works out, it could be a good time for some appearance mods. if thats an upside, i really didn't want to spend any money....http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/1...1003210700.jpg

http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/7...1003210714.jpg

howarmat

should be under $1000 if you do some research, maybe get a take off bumper cheap. but yeah get some quotes first and maybe see what they are

douglasland

I would suspect you are north of 1K in work due to the location. Specifically make sure the shop you take it to blends the paint across the panels to make sure it looks correct. I just went through a major accident with only 2k miles on the car. I know it sucks but it can be made right.

Nuke

+1 on an estimate. You can take it to a shop recommended by your insurer but that doesn't mean you have to submit a claim.

alkemist

I would get some quotes. Might be worth just fixing out of pocket. Having insurance getting jacked is not worth it if it's under the deductible. Even if it's over a little, may still not be worth it. Plus insurance might have on your record being in an accident and it carries over every where you go for at 5 years. Also might go on the record of the car i.e. carfax.

pascal

Sounds like a $2000 damage to me...I mean by the book.
So it's your call if you want to claim it or not, depending on your driving record.

You could get the parts used or on E-bay first, then shop for a good body shop and tell them you already have the parts.

Good luck.

modru2004

two pictures of the damage linked in my first post now.


this sucks so bad...... my driving records good. never had a ticket, and my only accident was in 2003 when a girl rear ended my old 88 f150 that was stopped at the time and she was going 35 mph. totaled her car, pickup needed a new bumper. she drove up under it pretty much. as you could have guessed, not at fault.

they don't make cars/trucks like that anymore

alkemist

It sucks.. but it's a way to start modding your car

douglasland

Yes this Is easily worth filing a claim

kenthicken

Fortunately, it looks like you missed the hood. So, you're really looking at a passenger's side fender, headlight housing, and a bumper skin. Check one of the "new takeoff" companies, and see if you can at least get the bumper skin for cheap. The headlight housing is easy (eBay), and the fender should not be a big problem. Just get the fender painted and see where you wind up...if the paint does not blend into the hood, door, bumper, etc., at that point you could consider the proper repaint. But, who knows, you may get lucky.