Also found out (on my last home trip) that this Insurance company has her house insured for twice what it’s worth. When I questioned it, the “agent” said “it has to be that way by law”.
Now - I haven’t verified this statement, but I don’t believe it. If the house burned to the ground, or a gas explosion turned it to dust, you wouldn’t even build another house for that amount of money because the immediate area doesn’t support a house of that value!
But I’m sure she’s paying higher premiums for this overkill insurance coverage.
Well, I think it can depend on your claim history, too. That hail claim I submitted was the only one I filed in at least a 10-year period! And the funny thing was - I wasn’t gonna file it because I knew what would happen. But a new neighbor had just moved in a year before the storm came through, and he was a State Farm employee. While we were all out in front of our houses that night with flashlights assessing the damage, we started talking - and he convinced me it was “safe” to file an “Act of God” claim.
That has been the exact opposite than my experience with State Farm in Minnesota. No problem with deer, hail, raccoons, or windshields. Even zero deductible for acts of God. No questions asked. For home owners you may be thinking replacement cost where they cover the full cost of a replacement house minus the value of the land. I’ve never had any premium increases that were not general increases. Even had decreases depending on claims history in the state.
I would not pay $500 to have that repaired, I don’t see the value in it, the bumper cover could get scratched again next month.
I would place the bumper cover on a blanket and heat the inside of the bumper cover, wearing gloves push the dents out. The scratches can be touched-up or the bumper cover repainted later on.
He’s already decided from looking at the youtube that he’s going to pour hot water on it and massage the dent out from the outside. He’s not going to crawl under the car or take it off. You know what they used to say “there’s the right way, wrong way, and the Army way”.
Rebuild value is just the prevailing cost/sq.ft to build in your area TIMES square footage. It’ll be higher than assessed value. Where I am, you can build a new house for around $125/sq. ft., but up in MA, where my Mom is, it’s probably around $225/sq. ft, but that includes a basement, too.
But you don’t have to build the same sized house! If you’re an empty-nester with a 3000 sq. ft house - and it burns to the ground, you’re not building another 3000 sq ft house, in all likelihood. I’d rather pay the lower premiums along the way, insuring for the smaller replacement house, betting that - if the house is damaged, it still won’t be a total loss!
I’m not saying I won’t remove the cover. What I’m saying is I’m gonna try the easier approach first - because it’s an older, pedestrian vehicle, and that’s all it really deserves. I don’t see any downside to doing it this way. There are other scratches already on the bumper cover. And it’s not like I’m risking burning a hole through the cover, either.
After watching the guy with the Camaro simply pour the hot water on the bumper cover and push the dent out with his hands, I thought that was a better method than what Scotty Kilmer did: by only pulling one side of the cover off, he could’ve cracked the cover or broken some clips or brackets on the other end! I didn’t like the look of that at all!
So if I take my bumper cover off, the whole thing’s coming off. But I hope I don’t have to do that … because you know what’ll come next: something won’t go back quite right … or broken clips, brackets, or fasteners, etc. It’s always something!
Yup! Gonna try it first without removing the bumper cover.
One thing that just occurred to me, however, is there does appear to be a small crack or hole in the cover. It’s debatable whether pushing from the back vs. the front would keep that crack from growing any larger.
Do they sell products to fill in cracks in plastic? You wouldn’t use body putty or Bondo for a crack in plastic. Maybe just use EPOXY?
I wasn’t a State Farm customer when I got hit by the hail, but it was Progressive who quoted me for the new policy - then upped it after running my record and seeing the “claim” … which they probably could see was an Act Of God claim, but they pleaded ignorance and just used it as an excuse to raise the quote.
Typical Insurance Shenanigans.
You know … I’ve looked at it this way, too: I might’ve been paying too low of a premium (because I’d had no claims for years), and it was just time to raise my rates. I don’t know. All I know is I hate Insurance Companies.
That’s why I liked the idea of hot water. That crease is pretty
severe. If you can get the other dents to release pressure, it
might come back by itself. Yes, there are fillers, but I’d see how
it looks once it’s back in shape. I wouldn’t use epoxy just yet
(unless you mean on the back of the bumper).
You go down to the auto parts store and buy the kit “Fexible Bumper & Plastic Patch”. The one I have on the shelf is Mar-Hyde brand. I think I paid $20 for it. It is like Bondo except it sticks to the bumper and is flexible with and can be sanded smooth. For holes tears and gouges. Then if you insist on boiling water, do what the barbers do when getting a shave and use a towel on it to retain the hot water better, then a small sink plunger might be helpful or go to HF and get their glue on or suction puller kit. But what do I know?
I was just thinking of using some kind of filler to patch what looks like a crack in the plastic. I haven’t seen the bumper cover yet first hand. My son sent me that picture.
Maybe I’ll get there and declare it a total loss … who knows? LOL!
I don’t work. I’m retired. The closest I ever came to working in a parts store was taking inventory in the auto section of Kmart in college. I was thinking a little sink plunger.
Edit: Or the other thing is HF has those suction cups used to carry glass and mirrors. They hold really well. Might be a little big but some way you could grab on a pull on it. Not sure I’d trust HF stuff for carrying a heavy piece of glass but my drill bits are still holding up and they are cheap.
The damage will be much less noticeable once you get the dents
out. It will close up some even if broken thru. Sometimes it’s
just the surface layer that cracks.
It'll take maybe an hour and could save a few hundred bucks.
Worse comes to worse, it’ll give you time to find used in the same
color. Either way, you are a hero.
Haven’t even arrived yet to fix the bumper cover and now the next door neighbor has backed into (and/or sideswiped) the driver’s door, breaking the mirror completely off and denting the door really good!
So the person left a note, and now my Mom has contacted her Insurance. This doesn’t sound good…