My '93 Dodge Caravan got rear-ended about 2 weeks ago, and the other driver asked me to fax the estimate to her, implying she would pay. My bumper and tailgate were bashed in, but the car was basically still drivable.
The estimate was for about $2,000, but when I got around to contacting her, she thought that was too high and wanted me to take it to her mechanic. I just wanted my (only) car back, so I had already OK’ed the repair, but I wondered if this amount was out of line for the damage.
The body shop was planning on buying a used tailgate, bumper, and brackets, and spending about 12 hours for the actual body work. There was also painting and fixing the driver’s seat.
Does this sound reasonable? This is the NYC area, for what it’s worth.
I don’t have a lot of experience with accidents (thank goodness!), but the time I slid my car (a different one) into a guard rail and dislocated the left front wheel, it ran over $3,500, so $2,000 didn’t seem obviously out of line.
That amount is not out of line at all. Thinking the price too high is a pretty common malady with many people so her opinion is not a rare one.
It doesn’t take much damage at all to create 2k dollars worth of damage and there’s a lot more to body work than meets the eye. The lady who thinks this is too high is simply not knowledgeable about how much work is involved in something like this.
I wouldn’t have ordered the work done until I knew who was paying and how much they’d pay. If you have collision insurance, you probably should contact your insurance agent. Otherwise you may have to work with the person that hit you and her insurance company.
Insurance may cover a rental while your’s is in the shop.
Look up book value of your vehicle.
That is all she owes you. Unfortunately is likely around half the $2000 likely.
Yes I must agree,If I was on the hook for either 2000.00 in repairs or finding you a same condition replacement vehicle I would have taken the option of finding you a new vehicle. You went ahead and authorized the 2000.00, did you not realize this was more than the vehicle was worth? surely a phone call to the other party would not of delayed you in getting your car back.
Never let people say I’ll pay, just get an estimate. They always balk at what ever price it is and then try not to pay. Get a police report and file it with you insurance. Let them deal with it. The price was a good one!