So, my friend and I were going to see a band play in LA. When we were leaving a gas station, he slammed the passenger door into a column that was next to my car, making a 2 inch scratch/dent and the door handle is damaged too. The car is basically brand new and doesn't have any other damages and has less than 5,000 miles, it had like 3,XXX when the accident occurred. Would you ask your friend to pay/get insurance to pay for these damages? I went to a body shop my dealership rec. and they estimated that the damage is around $800, all other shops I asked said around the same.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4436/img0125zf6.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6729/img0129nf5.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/461/img0130jw4.jpg

 

Even though it was an accident, if your friend is true friend he should at least pay for half.

 

wow i have the same dent on my door ... i'm actua;;y going to get it fixed thhis week coming up. I got quoted about $550 .

 

i agree with hyghgynx. he won't learn his lesson unless he pays up. then he'll realize to be more careful. yeah he's your friend. it's hard to ask your friend to pay up, but it will bit u in the **** in the long run if you let him slide like that. trust me, from my own experience...get the money!

 

If he's your friend, he has to play atleast half, end of story. I would however, try to get a better estimate for the damages.

 

wow. somehow my car had it on my car. i dont know where it came from.. but it was the first day so the dealership covered it. if anything and he's really your friend... he would pay for it.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Does anyone know any good auto shops in the Orange County area? I went to the autoshop that the Elmore dealership rec.

 

I agree... he's the one who did it so I'd say make him pay at least half... hell you drove him there and he pays you back by smashing your door?

 

Its a brand new car.... have him pay for his mistake.

 

my friend backed into my drivers door with his hitch....totally screwed my door...he paid all in full... cause he realized his mistake...he had a 2003 Ram...now he has a 2002 chevy impala(sp?) lol and i still do all his stereo work

 

dude..id make him pay for the whole entire thing...

Kishan P.

 

Dude, you guys are too nice. Make him pay for the whole thing. He damaged it right? So why should you empty out your pockets for something you didnt even do. I know you guys are friends, so your friend should be responsible for all the damage.

 

From the pictures, I can barely see the scratch, especially on your FM tC. I'd let it go if he's my best friend. But then again, that's just me

 

i'd make him pay the deductable on your insurance. other than that i wouldn't do anything else.

 

That sucks. What's worse is that you have to think about whether or not to hit your friend up for the money. A real friend would have been concerned and immediately offered to pay for the damage.

 

X2

 

What's the best way to go about this? Should he call his insurance and tell them what happened or? I want to keep the amt of $ paid/rate change to a minimum w/o affecting my insurance rate.

 

x3. And make him pay for all of it, not half.

 

Can you get a pic of the damage? From your original post, I don't think there's enough damage to make it worth getting insurance involved. If its under $500, deal with it yourself, imo.

 

double post