On June 12 my 2001 Honda Prelude suffered hail damage. The dents are small and shallow…no paint damage. They aren’t noticeable unless the sun hits the car just right. There are approximately 30 dents. Hail got the hood, trunk and roof and there are a few dents on the sides of the car. The spoiler has no damage nor do the windows or sun roof. Insurance estimate is $3125 and the body shop says it will more likely be $3700. The car has 68,000 miles and, according to the insurance adjuster, worth about $6900. I plan to drive the car another 3 or 4 years. It is basically a winter car driven from October to May. The Prelude is still pretty nice. There is a dime size area of surface rust by the wheel well I discovered while waxing it over the weekend. Mechanically sound. The insurance company suggested I take a check due to the age of the car. He doesn’t feel I will gain much by having it fixed. That being said, I know it is his job to save the company money. Question: Should I have it fixed or take a check and continue to drive it as is? I am not a “take the money and run” gal rather I want to do the most sensible thing. Thanks all.
Take the money and drive the car until the wheels fall off. That’s the sensible thing.
Drive on. in 3-4 years expect value to be about 50% of the $6900. So its worth $3500 without dents running however running maybe $1500-$2000.
From your description, I think I could live with the damage. Take the money and put it toward future maintenance and repair.
$3000 or whatever you get from the insurance company will be a nice down payment on a new car 5-6 years down the road as long as you’re not trying to win any beauty contests with the Prelude. Might push you toward dropping collision insurance and just going with liability to save a few hundred more a year for a replacement.
Before you take the money, make sure you know whether your insurer will raise your rates, and by how much. It might turn out they’ll get all they pay you and then some.
Take the money but get a new estimate in a different town if you have to. I had hail damage on mine a few years ago and the paintless dent folks took care of it for about $1100 and 21 plus dents. Did a great job in a day. I had no deductible so never saw the bill but the body shop said that was the charge. This was in Minnesota so I’d just try somewhere else. Myself, I’d have to get it fixed.
My vote would be to take the money and drive it as is unless you can find a paintless dent repair shop to do that job for far less than the quote you got…
You might consider spending some of that money on a timing belt job if that has never been done or the car might not live another 3 or 4 years.