Angered and embarrassed

[luvdzny]

I guess I am a bit surprised that you are mad at the boy. Your son damaged his car, you offered to pay, he is asking you to pay and now you are mad. If you did not want to pay you should not have offered. You do have a right to see the estimates, but I know that in Wisconsin the car owner does not have to get the car fixed, they can spend the money any way they want. As far as what he was doing in the car with his girlfriend, I do not see how this has anything to do with the original problem.

 

[marlasmom]

you might want to be careful about filing an inurance claim. here, at least, it could result in drastically higher rates and/or cancellation.

 

[sue1013]

I must be missing something here. Your son damaged the boys car, you saw it happen, are not disputing that so you know you as his parent are responsible for damages. Because he didn't do things according to your timetable doesn't change the fact your son did the damage. What are you teaching your son? Its ok to damage someones property then try to get out of it. Not a good lesson.

 

[Lorix2]

Woah! Everybody please back up!

No - I do not dispute the damage or the responsibility. The damage is so slight, you can barely notice it - I can tell you right now it is definitely not worth the money he's quoting me. My neighbor does body work and told me it's minor. We're going to deal with that.

As far as what I teach my children, it IS honesty, loyalty and responsibility. No where in my post did I say I wasn't responsible for what my son did.

What angers me is the time frame it took for him to get back to me assuming after that time(2 mos) he had probably decided it wasn't worth the hassle, as it is a much older car. My fault for assuming. Most people decide those things pretty much right away.

The fact I "caught them" in car means nothing. It mean't it already added to a stressful situation - PERIOD. I was embarrassed.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Originally posted by Lorix2
No - I do not dispute the damage or the responsibility. The damage is so slight, you can barely notice it - I can tell you right now it is definitely not worth the money he's quoting me. My neighbor does body work and told me it's minor. We're going to deal with that.

I will go back to this part too. I had damage to my bumper and the body shop wanted over $600 to repair it. It is way more expensive than you would think.

 

[Disney Doll]

The id is 17 years old. I wouldn't deal with him at all...I'd deal with his parents.

Call his oarents and say, very nicely "Johnny just called and told me the estimate for the damages on his car is $580, from one estimate. My insurance company is requesting 3 estimates, before determining payment. Could you see to it that Johnny gets 2 more estimates and then we'll take care of it?"

Maybe his parents don't even know about the incident.

 

[FOJMO]

Our DD17 just had a "fender bender" and the damage to her car is $900 and damage to the other car is $530! The other car owner agreed not to involve the insurance companies (his car is a 2003 Mercedes -- our DD doesn't do things "half way" LOL).

He furnished us with the estimate and we got a Bank Check (Teller/Cashier's) made out directly to the auto body place and furnished a statement to the guy and asked him to sign and date it saying he received compensation for repairs from us and that we were not liable for anything further. I realize that's not really a legally-binding piece of paper, but it's better than nothing.

We have asked our DD to reimburse us for the cost to repair the other person's car. She will make payments to us till it is paid. She doesn't work enough hours to be able to pay for her car also -- we'll have to eat that.

Car repairs are ALWAYS more expensive than you would think by looking at the damage.

 

[Michelemouse]

Originally posted by Breezy_Carol
I will go back to this part too. I had damage to my bumper and the body shop wanted over $600 to repair it. It is way more expensive than you would think.

I will second this. We were tapped from behind in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The travelling speed was less than 10mph. Our bumper had a small ding in it from the other driver's front license plate...very minor. The cost for repairing the damage was more than $500.00. Most bumpers on today's cars cannot be fixed. They must be replaced as they are made out of plastic/rubber. That is the reason the cost is so high.

 

[PamOKW]

I recently got an estimate about fixing a scratch on the bumper of my Honda. The cost was over $300. If there was damage to the actual metal of the car as well, it could run higher. I'd send him to somewhere you trust and get an estimate from them as well if you are doubtful of the estimate. I recently got two estimates on repairs from an auto accident and they were almost exactly the same. Two months is not that long a time when you procrastinate -- as most teenagers do.

 

[caitycaity]

bumper damage can be quite expensive even if it is only minor damage. we were recently involved in an accident and the cost to fix a small dent in the bumper was $800!

also, i would NOT involve you insurance if you can pay it out of pocket. like someone else mentioned, that can result in you being dropped from your policy or much higher premiums.

we are facing possibly being dropped or higher premiums from our insurance company after our accident which was determined no fault. we have no prior tickets or accidents or insurance claims. i wouldn't have even involved the insurance in our accident b/c of this but the other driver did. seriously, i would not involve insurance unless you have to. they are not always "on your side."

 

[my3kids]

Someone bumped our older car and the damage certainly looked minimal also. We got the estimates and it was in the $500+ range also. We gave them to the other person's insurance and they paid it to us. Car repairs, even on an older car, can be expensive. I would have my homeowner's agent talk to the registered owner of the car. Your homeowner's, not your auto insurance, should cover damage caused by a child.

If you go at it alone, don't deal with a teenager, deal with the owner of the car. If you pay the kid, then the parents, if they are the owners, could demand money. It is up to the owner to decide if they want it fixed. They can take the money and go Christmas shopping. It is their choice. If the parent's have not called you yet, they likely never noticed or didn't care.

 

[Rajah]

I've got news for you. $500-$600 in damages *IS* minor when it comes to car repair. It's pretty much impossible to get out of a repair shop (when they're doing even the most minor of body work) for less than that nowadays.

Ask to get your own mechanic to estimate the cost of repairs. Then bite the bullet and pay up. Just because it took him 2 months to request the cost doesn't mean that you're no longer responsible. And if you can't afford that amount right now, let him know you'll pay in installments or something instead, but it is up to you to pay for it.