What near $5,000 of damage looks like

I doubt insurance companies overpay for any auto body repair. I had a fender repaired five years ago. The other person's insurance didn't want to pay to prep the adjoining door for blending the paint. The shop told me that's common, and so "some shops" would therefore not bother to prep the door, but he said he'd do so anyway.

 

Lol never said it was good advice, just what I'd do.

That said I would definitely get it evaluated before deciding not to fix it for the exact reason of more damage than meets the eye. If there was more determined, of course it should be fixed if any of it is a safety concern. Guess I should have clarified that I meant no extra damage anywhere else, not just on the bumper.

 

I suggest dry ice and a toilet plunger.


No but seriously speaking here.. $5000 is a SERIOUS price gouge on behalf of the shop! They must think that people go to the bathroom and just piss out money. For that price you could get a whole new steel off-road or hybrid style bumper, get a winch, and still have some money left over for suspension mods.

OP... Time for an upgrade not a samegrade.

 

We may need Ugo to straighten this out

 

You lost me on this one my man.

 

If you take the cash, be prepared for a supplemental estimate once they take it apart. It could be over $4700

 

Damn, sorry to see OP

 

Guess he only pops up on my YouTube feed

 

i agree

 

I wouldn't do that, you may end up in a dispute that does not get resolved in your favor. What I have done was to have my insurance company pay it and recover the funds from the other driver's carrier through subrogation. It allows me to have control of the repair authorization and quality, and to make sure I have an appropriate rental car. I had to pay the deductible (250.00), and once the repair was complete, my insurance recovered the money they spent and my deductible. It was very easy. There really is no downside for you.
When the other guy is going to cash it out, you are losing some control, and if he decides to tell you F-off at the time of payment, you will be liable for the cost and have to recover that through a court process. the whole thing could end up taking longer and costing you. Your neighbor may be a good guy, but things can change when money is involved. Even going through the other guy's insurance puts you at a disadvantage as their interest is in controlling their cost.

 

I'd look into doing a 2G front end swap.

 

Wait until they start saying you have concealed damage. My truck was a little worse than yours and was quoted $4800. When the tear down began it went up to $7200. Everything is plastic and everything cracked. Your neighbor hopefully has good insurance or deep pockets.

 

This was about $3,000 in damage. I did the repairs myself since all of the damaged parts were bolt on (no body damage). I bought a new bumper skin (about $200) but was able to reuse my old one by heating it with a heat gun to take the kinks out. There is a tiny mark on the bumper above the license plate but otherwise it looks like new. The new skins are unpainted black plastic so that's why I reused the old one.

 

yep exactly

 

Agreed; there's a reason it is usually referred to as an estimate, that is their number based on what they can see. I can't imagine your neighbor wants to pay $5k out of pocket, he must be flush with cash, or has high risk drivers on his plan already,,,, none of which are your biz, other than something seems off.

 

Not surprised, parts have tripled in price over the past few years. OP make sure they use oem parts your baby looks new.