Thread: got into a smal fender bender what to do?

Got into a fender bender this past weekend with the gtp. It wasn’t my fault fortunately. His insurance is willing to cover the damages. My question is, the car’s already much has its dents, scrapes, and chips everywhere else on the car. Is it worth having a body/paint shop fix the area that was hit/scraped?

a friend said to take the money and keep it and go to get my own place to get it repaired. is that possible or even an option? the insurance rep (state farm) didnt mention that when they called me or via the letter stating where to go to get the damages fixed that is connected with state farm.

Yes they will cut you a check.

Originally Posted by Ginseng

Yes they will cut you a check.

regardless if i go with one of their shops they are connected with?

Let a State Farm Direct Repair Program (DRP) shop estimate the damage amount. On a claim this size, an inspection by their adjuster may not be needed because the ins co trusts the estimator at those shops... because they belong to their program. Let them see a shop estimate and the damage. Then let SF decide if another adjuster needs to see it. Then later they call and say what the figure is that they come up with for your damage with all things considered. You agree, (its normally plenty if that part of your car was undamaged, and only a little disappointing if your car is already rough) but indicate you would like to shop for repairs or possibly make them yourself. Thats usually good enough for them and once you say OK, here comes the check. Claims this small can be just a nuisance so a great deal of effort is not put into chasing details so this all happens over a few days.

vid from the witness below. so i got the estimate which is a bit over $2k for repairs. kinda caught me off guard of how high it was. thought it was going to be under 1k. the car's worth (according to KBB as fair) $1600 at most. im speculating they may place the car as totaled (they'll call me tomorrow or next week for an answer). if so, i still want to keep the car and drive it since the trans is fairly new and the engine's still humming along. is it possible/an option that i still request a check for the repairs that i can tell them i'll take it to my own repair shop at a later date? need some advise and suggestions please
http://youtu.be/J9SNFbOwaUU
for some reason the sound's off in the vid as thats how the person who video-taped the accident uploaded it. its basically a $15 dash cam.

Another win for owning a dash cam lol


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Originally Posted by bonerjamz03

Is that Plymouth meeting mall in PA?

yesh
im over in lancaster. was going car shopping with the gf

Got a voice mail message from state farm. Looks like they claim the vehicle totaled/loss. So what now? I still want to keep it and drive it around. What would state farm do then if i go that route? I understand they would know and tell me but id like to know of the options and/or answers beforehand From this on here that had similar situations. Thanks in advance.

Bumpity

Originally Posted by fst

vid from the witness below. so i got the estimate which is a bit over $2k for repairs. kinda caught me off guard of how high it was. thought it was going to be under 1k. the car's worth (according to KBB as fair) $1600 at most. im speculating they may place the car as totaled (they'll call me tomorrow or next week for an answer). if so, i still want to keep the car and drive it since the trans is fairly new and the engine's still humming along. is it possible/an option that i still request a check for the repairs that i can tell them i'll take it to my own repair shop at a later date? need some advise and suggestions please
http://youtu.be/J9SNFbOwaUU
for some reason the sound's off in the vid as thats how the person who video-taped the accident uploaded it. its basically a $15 dash cam.

Lol did they just plain forget there was a stop sign there.

As far as I know you can still get money, even if the car is totaled. You just end up with a salvaged title. And iirc you can't have full coverage on the car, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

That little damage totaled the car?

As far as what you need to do to keep the car that is a state by state basis.

For instance, in PA you will find out how much you can buy it back for and they will take that amount out of the payout. Your car will have a salvage title and you have to go through and have the repairs done and fill out some paperwork to prove the car is safe to drive and send it off to get a R title back.

Best bet is to probably contact your local DMV.

ok i called back state farm and they gave me the info if i want to keep the car. the amount they would give me if i go with the salvage title is only ~$300 difference. my biggest concern is that i got to go to a certified PA enhanced inspection station. i know of a few ASE friends that helped me pass inspection each year for small stuff like exhaust leak on the catback (went through a few exhaust gaskets but never sealed it tight), dangling B1S1 O2 sensor (zipped tied against firewall) cause the bung hole on the rear PEM i have my wideband(no SES light though), and no evap canister etc. if i take it to one of the enhanced inspection station, if they'll fail it cause of the small leak, rusted side skirt, and the B1S1 O2 sensor?

edit-i live in lancaster and emissions is only OBD and gas cap, not visual or tail pipe test. :-(

the more i think about it the more it may be a PITA to get it road worthy and possibly failing the enhanced inspection (which costs $190 plus need to get it reinspected/emissions if/when it does pass the enhanced inspection). since its in lancaster, pa like mentioned, emissions is only visual but i have no EGR nor evap canister in the engine bay, well need 2 front tires since they're just at the 2nd/32nd. the tires im okay with as i can get used tires at junkyards or a local but these are the areas where i feel may be more troublesome to get fixed to get it road worthy:
EGR deleted
evap removed
B1S1 sensor (could just plug it back into the rear PEM and disconnect the wideband temporary)
rusted side skirts

The other option could be to buy it back, and strip all the good parts off it and either sell them or use them on another car.

Originally Posted by stealthee

The other option could be to buy it back, and strip all the good parts off it and either sell them or use them on another car.

that was an idea but the down side is having it parked and taking up space in the drive way only to wait on whether someone wants to buy something and then paying to haul the car to a scrap yard.

Parting a car is definitely a pain in the ass. I parted 7 cars over the years. I got rid of the last car over 2 years ago and I still have lots of smaller parts left, as well as some larger parts (bumper covers, etc)

At the end of the day the best decision is the one that makes the most sense long term.

yea, im leaning towards selling it to the insurance. be on the look out for aftermarket parts for sale then.

is there a way to remove the MPS hub w/o needing the pulley puller as well as a way to press-on the stock pulley?