I got hit at the mall parking lot . My driver side tail light and bumper got damaged pretty bad. Does anyone know how much it usually cost to get all of that fixed and does anyone in the Chicago land area know of any good auto body repair shops? One of my friends offered to fix everything for me as long as I was able to get all of the parts but I can't find any online. I have a 2011 Super White Scion tC. Please help, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated it!

 

wow that sucks....

i'm sure one of the dealership guys can look up prices on those parts...but off the top of my head from other researching for various reasons...i remember coming across the pricing on a single side skirt was >$200. i'd assume the bumper is the same price

then u have to calculate getting it painted...

hopefully the damage is just replace the rear bumper and replace the taillight...

if there is more repairs, such as repairing (not replacing) the hatch or any parts of the chassis under the bumper....it can get expensive. maybe about $600-700+parts depending on the damage

but...how about insurance? did u get the guy that hit u? i'm sure they should have their insurance cover it and all u would have to pay is ur deductible

 

No, I didn't get the guy that hit me. From what I see can see the damage doesn't seem that bad. I think that the tail light and bumper just need to be replaced. It doesn't seem to go any deeper than that. I will post pictures of it tomorrow. This is my first car that I'm paying everything for and having it damaged isn't sitting well with me. I do have insurance with my parents, we're covered by Statefarm. We have the following:
A. Bodily Injury/Property Damage Liability
B. Medical Payments
C. 500 Deduct Comprehensive
G. 500 Deduct Collision
H. Emergency Road Service
U. Uninsured Motor Vehicle
W. Underinsured Motor Vehicle

Does anyone else know about Statefarm and their coverages?

 

Just go through your insurance. 500 deductible is a bit high, but then again at least you know that's the MOST you'll have to pay.

The parts you need may cost less than 500, but getting them painted as Justin said is what is going to make that cost jump. Insurance is probably your best bet.

 

If I go through my insurance I know that they'll come to look at my car and then give me an estimate. Then they'll tell me where to go to get my car fixed but do I have to worry about getting the parts or does the shop do all of that for me? Sorry for all the questions that I should probably already know but this is my first car and the first time I've had any damage to it.

 

Don't worry Karma sucks and that person will get it 100 fold

 

Once you contact your insurance, they'll tell walk you through what you need to do. Basically, they'll give you a list of places that will fix your car. You pick which one you want, take your car there and pay the deductible to the shop when your car is repaired. Insurance/shop will figure out the rest.

 

Yup just pay your $500 deductible and they take care of the rest.

 

Another dumb question... I wanna call my agent first thing tomorrow because I know that his office is closed on the weekends but should I postpone it until I have the $500 on me? Which isn't for another week when I get my paycheck. It's just that I used my last paycheck to pay all of my bills. I just don't wanna dig myself into a bigger hole if I don't have the $500 for the deductible.

 

You can alert your insurance agent about the claim you need to file, but if you schedule service for some day after you get paid, you can get service. It's not like they'll take $500 from you the day you call them.

In the future, especially if you're on someone's insurance, you will want to consider lowering both of your deductibles to 250 if you can comfortably afford to.

Once you buy your own insurance, it's important to shop around for the best deal and have a very affordable deductible.

 

Based on my experience with my insurance, you pay the deductible to the shop on the day that you pick up your car. Also, if you decide on doing repairs through your insurance, if they declare that the damage was due to an "accident" your premium will go up. If they don't declare the damage being caused due to an accident, your premium will stay the same. I'd say this is the only "iffy" part about getting it fixed through your insurance. If they're stingy, they'll just call it an accident and get more money from you through your premium.

 

I took another look at my car while I was on break and I just noticed that the paint chipped by the area that got damaged, would that problem be fixed too?

 

or you could have the insurance assess the damage and cut you a check for the estimate-deductible. than find parts on here or though a junkyard and have your friend fix it!

 

Here are the pictures of the damage to the car...

 

My car(tc2) was a victim of a drunk driver while being parked in a valet(ironically), but luckily the person that hit me told me and gave me their insurance info which made it really easy for me. I had my driver's side fender and front bumper dented and scratched along with my headlight being scuffed up too. I got it repaired at an official Toyota auto shop and each part costed around 200-300(if i remember correctly, i actually have a paper that showed the cost of each labor and parts but don't know where it is) each but the paint job was the most because they had to match+blend the paint and everything. I'm not sure if that's required on all types of paint. The total cost for the fender, front bumper, headlight, paint match+blending, and labor was around $2,000-$2,500. I don't know much on how insurance works because the insurance of the driver took care of me, so I hope my info helps you out. Maybe I'll look for the papers tomorrow and post it here to show you.

 

That's not too bad. Do what the other guys told you. Contact your insurance. You are not at fault, so this will not affect your insurance rate. You can talk to the body shops the insurance gives you. First and foremost, research online their customer ratings. Take a look at anything they have in the shop being fixed. Crappy work is easy to spot, even by the untrained eye. 2nd, some body shops can help you with the deductable by inflating the repair labor costs and or use salvage parts to repair. Don't worry, a good body shop will paint that entire fender all the way to the door jam. Also insist on them removing as many things as possible for paint to avoid overspray and nasty tape lines/seems. I feel for ya', I have always went out of my way to park as far away from the crowded sections of parking lots to avoid what happened to you.
After the car is repaired, take it out into the sunlight and check for color matching, and paint imperfections. Check the gaps between the bumper, fender and hatch to make sure they are all lined up correctly.
If you point out these few things I mentioned, they will know they can't do a half **** job and get awy with it. Don't accept the car unless you are 100% happy with the repairs. They have to do the job right.

 

^ I agree. I wasn't aware of all those when I got my car back. The repair took about 2-3 weeks because they were lagging it and I had to drive around a rental vw beetle -___-. When they brought it up to me they had it waxed and in the shade when they showed me so everything looked flawless and gleaming. I was very impatient and just wanted my car back because I was tired of driving around a beetle and barely inspected the work there. In a week my eyes started catching little things. The fender was not sitting flush with my front bumper because they didn't heat it together well. The paint was obviously not matching on my passenger side fender because they didn't blend it there. And the hood has different sized gaps on parallel sides of the fender. It used to bother me a whole lot when I inspected my car in close details, but as time went by I got over it...

 

Will this still be considered my fault even if I have no info on the person, let alone even know who the person that hit me was? I have Allstate.

 

No, I promise it is not your fault. You were not even in the car, so how could it be? Allstate will take care of you. You just have the deductable to worry about. Flirt with the body shop guys to get help with the deductable.