Budget buster- car repair - advice?

[nycdisneygal]

Ok Please be kind. We moved last year to the suburbs - leased a car since we had just bought a house and wasnt sure what we would really like. Love my car now (outback - 6 cylinder which they dont make anymore!). Anyways, I only learned to drive last year (you can guess why by my username!). Anyways few weeks ago on way to work I rammed side into pole at the gas station ( would never had happened if I had just stayed overnight at hotel near work since I was working 2 days in a row at a place far from home so was a bit tired and stressed). So my fault obviously. 2 doors need to be replaced. Took it to place where husband of someone at work is a mechanic. Quote is over 7K. In your experience is it better to pay OOP or try to go through insurance and run the risk of increased premiums , losing insurance etc.
I will likely be buying the car at the end of lease and then passing on to my now 14 yr old when she drives (and buying myself something new then!)
I have the money to pay if that is the better option...
We have Travelers insurance (bundled with our house insurance and we also insure our apartment with them)
Anyways we dont have much experience with this and many of my friends dont drive either!

 

[RogueX]

My husband said that generally you have to report something like that right away to insurance to go with the insurance scenario. He mentioned that you should look into a second opinion for repairs and/or see if the doors can be found at a junk yard. That can save you some money.

He handles our car repairs and does most of them himself, so sourcing parts when available at a junk yard has saved us money.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I would file the claim. Your insurance premiums may increase some, but in my experience, not that much.

 

[barkley]

some insurance companies have accident forgiveness for the first claim you submit-so no increase in premiums. i would imagine that since it's leased it may be a part of the contract that you have to go through some sort of pre-approval from leasing company on how repairs are handled.

 

[Eastern]

If it was 2k or less I would say pay out of pocket but for that cost I would file a claim.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Definitely call your insurance company. Tell them you hit a pole at a gas station. You don’t need to say when. There would be no police report in that case anyway. Let them arrange an appraisal. Go from there. No way the increase in premiums would warrant paying 7k. FYI I think the 7k quote was attempting to take advantage of you.

 

[Eastern]

Well, they are going to ask when it happened. And I wouldn't lie about it. You are supposed to report claims within 24 hours but I have reported later and it was fine.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Report to insurance, as others said your premiums may increase but likely not $7k worth of increases even long term. I'd call your agent and be honest with him and say why you didn't report right away because you were thinking you'd just fix on your own. Good luck!

 

[tvguy]

First, check your lease. You may have agreed in the lease only to use a specific body shop for collision dmage. I know several folkswho leased cars and went elsewhere for body reparis, only at the end of the lease, have to pay to have the repairs redone by the shop specifice in the lease.

Second. Check your insurance, you may be canceled for not reporting the accident, even if you don't file a claim

Third IMHO, insurance is only for catastrophic losses, and $7,000 to me is a catastrophic loss, so I would file a claim

 

[WorldOfPooh]

$7000? I would just buy a new car for that. Or a used one from Hertz/rental car, etc.

 

[Marionnette]

My husband said that generally you have to report something like that right away to insurance to go with the insurance scenario. He mentioned that you should look into a second opinion for repairs and/or see if the doors can be found at a junk yard. That can save you some money.

He handles our car repairs and does most of them himself, so sourcing parts when available at a junk yard has saved us money.

Can you use after-market parts to repair a leased vehicle?

 

[RogueX]

Can you use after-market parts to repair a leased vehicle?

Good question and one we've never run into since we don't lease. It didn't pop into my mind when I responded.

 

[tvguy]

Can you use after-market parts to repair a leased vehicle?

Depends on how the lease is written. A co-worker ran into a requirement to use OEM parts only with her BMW lease. At the end of her lease BMW wanted her to redo a fender repair done with after market parts, and remove an after market replacement piece of glass and replace it with BMW parts. Fortunately for her, her father is a lawyer and did a little research and pointed out that the body shop that did the repair is the body shop that the BMW dealer uses to sublet their more difficult repairs, and the body shop said the after market parts were better quality than BMW. And the piece of glass, it was back ordered from BMW and BMW was using the same after market glass on new cars with broken windows.

 

[LovesTimone]

While I am not a mechanic... 7,000 dollars sound like quite a bit... I would shop around for sure...

As well call you insurance right away and report it... With our policy we can choose whatever shop we want or the shop the insurance suggest which then the work is guarantee, which is a benefit, so if something isn't right you and they give you the run around, you call your insurance and complain, and they will make sure it is fixed properly so a benefit for sure ... you pay for the insurance so use it...

My daughter was on our insurance and she was in a accident, Thank God she was okay, she was wearing her seatbelt and the air bag deployed properly... both saved her life...and they totaled her car, air bags deployed= totaling the car... I thought well our insurance is really going to go up, it only went up around 10.00 a month... so 120.00 for the year... which we did not feel was that great an amount...

 

[EACarlson]

Definitely call your insurance company. Tell them you hit a pole at a gas station. You don’t need to say when. There would be no police report in that case anyway. Let them arrange an appraisal. Go from there. No way the increase in premiums would warrant paying 7k. FYI I think the 7k quote was attempting to take advantage of you.

Make sure you check your local laws. In MN you would be required to fill out an accident report in this case. I believe the requirement kicks in at $1,000 in damage.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Definitely go through insurance. I had a fender bender last winter and hit a parked car at the grocery store. It was over $2000 worth of damage to his car, so I filed with insurance and then sat around and stressed out just waiting for my premiums to go up and it went up just a few dollars a month.

 

[amcnj]

There sometimes can also be other things that need to be fixed/replaced which are not discovered till the repair is underway.

 

[tvguy]

While I am not a mechanic... 7,000 dollars sound like quite a bit... I would shop around for sure...

$7,000 is nothing these days. My wife literally put a scratch in our Flex, and it was $1,500. The two other estimates I got were both $2,000. 1 door and the rear quarter panel had to be painted.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

$7,000 is nothing these days. My wife literally put a scratch in our Flex, and it was $1,500. The two other estimates I got were both $2,000. 1 door and the rear quarter panel had to be painted.

It's a complete racket. Especially those bumpers made of styrofoam that crumple on impact compared to the old ones that were made of metal.

 

[tvguy]

It's a complete racket. Especially those bumpers made of styrofoam that crumple on impact compared to the old ones that were made of metal.

Well, that is all do to Federal Regulations for safety. Cars are supposed to be "softer" to absorb impact, so that the impact isn't transferred to the people in the car. So parts are designed now to crumple on impact, not be rigid.
And environmental regulations on automotive paints have driven the price through the roof. The cost of just the paint......for my 1965 Mustang... was $2,500 for the entire car. Not the painting, JUST THE PAINT