So I am ready to go home from college and I get to my car. I was in a rush to get in so I didn't even notice til I see a note stuck under my windshield wiper.

I read it and it said, "Sorry, I scratched your car pulling out". I was ____ed when I saw what happend. Luckily he left his number.









So whats the first thing I should do, call up the dude who scratched it or call up my insurance company or...

Also for repairs, where's the best place to go? There are a few dents too and even some of the wheel well is dented in.

Also this is a FM, so is it possible to get it looking like new again with the paint and everything.

Damn!, its only been three months too.

 

Insurance company. Let them deal with it. They'll probably call the dude, then get his insurance info.

 

call ur insurance first.....
they usually tell you wut shops they deal with

 

At least the guy was was honest & left a note.... That doesn't seem to be the case most of the time.

 

Wait, i have something i want to say here. The first punk kid that you see suspiscous. KNOCK HIM THE F**K OUT!!!

And tha's what grinds my gears.

 

Actually, call the guy first and get his insurance info, then call HIS insurance company. Your insurance record ends up looking best if you never have to get your own insurance company involved in the first place.

--mark

 

At least he did leave a number, he wasnt a D,i,C,K.
Your insurance should take care of you and put you in the right place!!

No prob, its a new car, with Full Coverage, that car will be looking good as new, settle for nothing less.

 

Don't go through a preferred insurance shop.

Insurance companies put the jobs up for bid and the car goes to the cheapest bid to fix it, which means they'll end up cutting corners along the way and it won't come out perfect.

Just keep in mind that the insurance company is working for YOU, not the other way around. You have the right to bring it to whatever shop you want and have it repaired how you want.

If the panel is dented and not just scratched, you are entitled to having brand new OEM parts put on the car. If you don't specify this, the insurance company will write up the estimate to use plastic body filler to fill in the dents. This is a brand new car and should have brand new parts.

This is what you should do, step by step.

1. Contact the guy who hit you and tell him you want to go thru insurance, have HIM get a claim number and his insurance company will come out to inspect the car. If you get a claim from your insurance company, you will have to lay out the deductible (but you'll get it back).

2. Call your insurance company and tell them what happened, give them all the info.

3. Look for a really good repair shop. Don't go to a Toyota dealership unless you know for a fact they do the bodywork and paint in house. Most dealerships have a few shops they use in the area and bid out the jobs to them - so why even bother with a 3rd party.

4. If at all possible, do not bring the car to a drive-in inspection place to write up an estimate, it is best to leave the car at the body shop you chose and have them go there. Tell the body shop EXACTLY what you want. New OEM parts and paint blending (so the paint matches the rest of the car) NO BODY FILLER! When the claim adjusted goes to the shop, they will work out a price together and go over everything.

After everything is settled, the repairs will be made...do your self a favor and ask for the old panels - this way you know for a fact that they used new parts. Go over the car with a fine tooth comb and look at it in the sunlight to make sure the paint looks matched and all the body lines look even. If not, don't let the car leave the shop.

Take it from me, someone hit my door 3 days after I got my tC and left a 10"x10" dent in it, I got a brand new door and it looks great,

Then someone rear ended me and side swiped me and I'm waiting on this one...

Do it right the first time.

 

Well the insurance comapany told me to go some place to get an appraisal. So I should go here first and make sure they include the cost of new parts and everything?

Also, if they are giving me OEM parts then they would have to give me a whole new bumber, a new wheel well, and that driver side panel huh?

Damn, I almost feel bad for the guy who hit me too now? I called him up too and he didn't want to go through insurance but my father recommended that I did.

Ah well.

 

At least the guy was honest. I would say that you should call the guy first and see whats up, maybe he wants to fix this without getting the insurance companies involved.

 

Dude youre a lucky person!! When someone hit my car in a parking lot I didnt even get a little note. All I know is that I was drving away and hearing a scraping noise at the same time and I went out to look to see what it was, it was my fender pushed down into my wheel

 

Just take it to a really good shop and tell them you don't want any body filler on the car, if there's any dents that can't be popped out, yes, you're going to need a whole new piece of whatever it may be...

Think about it, you just spend, what, $19,000 after taxes on a brand new car? Why wouldn't you want it fixed the way it was originally?

This is why we have insurance, so that things like this will take care of themselves while incurring minimal monetary damage to your own bank account.

Let's put it this way:

For five years, he was a great driver and paid $2000 a year for car insurance...now he had an accident and your car will need $4000 to be fixed, the insurance company is still ahead by $6000...

To make a long story short, don't feel bad for him, you didn't ask for this....

 

Meh... I'd be ____ed.

But then again think about it, and realize it's 100 times better than other "pulling out" accidents. Then count yourself lucky the guy left his number, let alone a note.

 

dude the same thing happened to me about a month ago.....

some lady hit my car while parked and she left her info. I called her first and then got an estimate at my scion dealer... it was like $475... I told her the damage amount, fax'd the estimate to her insurance and they sent me a check about a week later. I then took my car to a paint shop and they fixed it for about $125 so I was able to pocket about $350.

unfortunately a week later some other a-hole hit me in the same spot didnt leave a message so I was out another $100 for repairs again.

 

OMG, touch up paint ain't going to help

 

this thread is so juicy, it should be a sticky: what to do when i get bumped. (jk)

but seriously, if 10 of us got bumped like that and were put in the same situation, we'd have 10 different starting actions, ranging from calling the kid, to calling insurance, to beating the crap out of anyone suspicious.

 

I sell auto/boat/home/bike insurance

Every insurance company will basically ask you to get an estimate for repairs before shelling out any money. Second, taking care of the situation privately will help the other person's driving record and insurance premiums. Third, taking care of it privately can also blow right back up in your face.

I've had a client who was going to take care of it privately and the kid & his parents ended up denying the accident ever happened. They got their car fixed then when the lady finally got her ins. company involved, there was absolutely zero proof of accident.

Fourthly (wtf?), UNINSURED/UNDERINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE. It protects you & your vehicle against accidents with uninsured motorists including hit and runs.

Fifthly (again?), if your state has minimum limits of liability, don't be afraid to use all of it. Remember, it's the other person's insurance company that is going to pay anyway. For example, CA's minimum limits are 15/30/5.

This means per accident, the most insurance will pay is $15,000 per person and $30,000 maximum for the entire accident for bodily injury. The $5000 is reserved for property damage. See how getting those minimum limits can possibly hurt you in the near future? If you hit a destroy a street light, you may owe the city as much as $1500....now what if you hit another car at the same time.....

Your wages can be garnished as ordered by a judge for years to come until you pay off the damage that you are/were liable for. Anyway the point is, if the person has a minimum limit, getting the cheapest quote to fix your car isn't necessarily going to help the other person out. Their insurance has to pay anyway....his/her insurance premium will be effected no matter what and the only time it may make a huge difference is if your claim is higher than the insured's maximum limit.

Lastly, why feel sorry for a dumbass who hits a parked car. They shouldn't be on the road anyway. (I live in CA...80% of the people here wouldn't be on the road if the driving test was anywhere near hard.)

If you can't afford insurance, you can't afford your car. Go back to whatever pos you were driving before and stick with your basic liability (also a not a good idea to stick with basic liability....get medium limits at least). If your record is terrible, great. You earned it yourself

 

just got home and skimmed through this topic... Just make sure the number he gave you is really his. I had a buddy given a fake number, that wasn't nice

 

Kinda awkward calling up Pizza Hut asking for their insurance info it's a long story

 

first you have check your policy for deductable amount, if it is 1000 it is not worth to go with insurance.
which mean fix will cost you $1100, you will paid the first 1000 than insurance company pay for the rest.

best is call the guy up, meet him at shop. give him quote, get the money. than fix it up without insurance.

this will have no recored of any claim at your account, so next car or new car add to it. they will not see any payout from you.
It is better to have no recored when shop for insurance.