Minor Guardrail Swipe $4000 to Repair?

So to recap, your deductible is $1,000, your friend gave you $830, you have been paying for insurance to handle these and other situations, you are "out of town" for a couple of months.

The way I see it...all you have to pay is $170 to fix your car...and I would be willing to bet your carrier will credit up to $25 a day for up to 30 days towards a loaner. Do what you want.

 

$170 to fix it? I'd fix it then. Make your friend pony up the extra $170.00. Car is still worth $5k. With the new battery.


se

 

friendship is priceless. a trusted friend is hard to find.

 

^ Concur....

 

What a joke of a friend. Yes $4K for the damage is perfectly reasonable and expected. If you look at a car wrong, it will cost you $830. To repair all that damage on all those panels with door skins, and then painting, blending, and baking $4K is very reasonable.

If it were my 2005 (or 2006) I would 100% get it repaired. All those places that are open now will eventually rust. A cheap paint job screams cheap paint job in any type of sunlight.

Legally, your friend owes you a car in the way you lent it to him. If that's $4000, then that's $4000. If you accept his $830 settlement, then don't expect to get a dime from him later.

This is why you have insurance, and he has insurance. Since it was his fault, his insurance should cover it.

 

How much would a claim effect his insurance rates, and yours? Is he willing to accept a bump in his insurance?

If you can get the insurance company to pay you the $3000 cash after deductible towards the repair (but don't repair it at that rate), and since he is giving you $830, figure out how far you come out ahead with $3830 in cash, even if you do find a used fender and doors and bumper the same color and just swap parts (you can wait a few months for this).

If your annual rates goes up $25 and you walk away with $3000 from the insurance company, you will come out far ahead, even when you sell the vehicle down the road and get more cash back out of it. I would try to find a way to turn this into a win win.

 

I would think a less than perfect repair would be right around the $830 mark. There's no real indentation on it. Just mostly cosmetic damage that can be painted over and touched up.

Best to get a few quotes before going with the insurance.

 

You may be able to get the parts: right front fender, right front and rear doors, etc. at an auto salvage yard. It would be ideal if a Prius of the same color could be found. Refinishing, repairing, and painting are very time consuming. The quoted price of $4000 for the repair is not unreasonable because the entire side of the vehicle has been damaged. I doubt, however that the repair facility would use new OEM parts due to the vehicle's age. If I were your friend, I would make good and restore the vehicle to its original condition regardless of the cost.

 

Maybe my eyes are playing tricks? To me this looks like the sheet metal is peeled open:

 

well it would still be a less than perfect repair