Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with repair and accident

Crashed my car, should I fix or just get a new one?

xtine — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:11:01 -0800

I've been on a cross country road trip for over 35 days, originally departing from Los Angeles. While driving back home, I got caught in a rain/thunderstorm in Louisiana and rear-ended the car in front of me. I only have liability insurance, so the other party is taken care of but I have to take care of my own busted car. I'm wondering if it's worth getting it fixed up or just getting a new car once I get back home. My car is a Honda Accord 2004 with about 103,000 miles, which I have impeccably maintained and has been super reliable ever since I got it new in 2003. When I was in New York I even got the serpentine belt, oil, and transmission fluid changed. In the crash, the hood was bent, radiator damaged, and the left light broke off entirely.

Fortunately I was able to find a shop in Baton Rouge that was able to patch up the hood and replace the transmission and fan to drivable condition, but was not able to get the left headlight replaced. The AC is busted, the seat belt doesn't retract (but I can safely wear it), and the airbag light is on (it never went off though). All this cost $1400. I can safely and easily drive it back home this weekend (my dad flew in to help me out and is driving back with me).

To properly get everything fixed at a body shop in Los Angeles may easily cost many thousands of dollars. At this point I'm wondering if I should rather just sell the car for a few thousand dollars and get another car. I know Hondas are reliable cars but I'm not sure how the car will fare after this crash. I'd rather avoid a potential money pit of repairs as an aftermath and I'd rather just cut my losses and get something new, unless AskMe can help me out with advice otherwise!

What's the fair way to deal with a friend accidentally damaging my laptop?

losvedir — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:32:00 -0800

Ethics filter: Friend spilled a drink causing $750 damage to my laptop. Fair to request $750 from him? Can I apply that money to a new computer rather than just repairing this one? On Saturday at a small party at my apartment a friend accidentally spilled a drink on my Macbook Air. He dried it off quickly but I guess some seeped into the keys because one of the ports on the side stopped working, and now it restarts randomly.

I took it to the Apple store where they opened it and examined it. They said the liquid damage was "pervasive" and would cost $755 to repair. I called around town to third party repair shops today and they didn't have any lower prices.

Is it fair to ask for $800 ($755 + tax) from him? It was just an unfortunate accident.

Now that price is almost 2/3 of a new Macbook Air which I'd like. Could I just get the new one and ask for $800 towards it? What happens to the broken one?

I left my job in April to join a start-up, so I have a small but comfortable amount of savings, but no income. He just graduated so he has no savings (and maybe some student loans?) but a comfortable income.

What's fair here? I kind of want the new laptop since it fits my needs better going forward (it's smaller; I'll be traveling more), but it feels a bit like I'm taking advantage of the situation vs. just asking for him to repair my current laptop.

Car accident. If the repair costs more does your insurance go up more?

doomtop — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:27:35 -0800

Car accident. If the repair costs more does your insurance go up more? Got in an accident. My collision insurance has a $1K deductible. I understand this to mean that I pay $1K of the repairs and anything beyond that is covered by the insurance company, Geico in this case.

I would think this means that I should have them fix as much as possible, whatever the cost, because I will be paying $1K whether the repair costs $5K or $10K.

But, does it work like the more it costs to repair the more my insurance premium will go up? If that's the case, it might make more sense to get it repaired as cheaply as possible and maybe not repair things that are only cosmetic or things like that.

Never been in an accident before, so not sure what to expect. Any thoughts are appreciated.

car insurance. how does it work?

genmonster — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:24:38 -0800

How and where do I get my car repaired? (or, please explain to me how car insurance works) So. I got in a fender-bender, called insurance, all above board and no funny stuff. I just got the estimate for repairs (provided by an outside agency) which is $1300! So now what do I do? I really want a high quality repair as I plan to have this car forever. What are the advantages to going to the dealer as opposed to Joe's Body Shop et cetera? Is the insurance estimate usually generous enough to cover repairs at a pricey place? If not the dealer, where should I go? (this is in central MA)

Help me decide how to handle this accident ... Please!

damiano99 — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:36:44 -0800

Car Accident Filter: I was rear-ended this week and while I know you are not my insurance agent, doctor or my lawyer, I would greatly appreciated help on what to do next. (More inside) This past Tuesday my 5 year old daughter and I were re-ended on our way to her school. The woman who hit us slid on ice and smacked us from behind doing between 20-25mpg while we were at a standstill at the intersection waiting for the light.

Luckily, her car (Civic) must have dipped it's nose when she braked and she slid partially underneath my CRV's bumper and it appears my hitch took the brunt of the damage because her hood and front end were pushed back while our CRV had bumper and rear-door damage but nothing else exceptionally obvious. It does appear the hitch is sitting a slightly off angle now, though and I'm concerned about the transmission and brakes as I had my brakes full on and was in gear when she hit as she managed to push us several feet forward. .

My daughter checked out fine at her peds. My doctor said I had a bruised kidney (apparently from the bucket seat edge) and would be sore but the upper thoracic xray didn't reveal anything obvious. He said give it a week or two as sometimes torque effects take time.

I've never been in an accident like this and am not sure what to look out for in our car, my body or the manner in which the woman's insurance deals with us. Can anyone provide information or suggestions to help? Direct experience or anecdotal is welcome.

I'm skittish about the repairs because our 2 yr-old CRV was totally cherry in every way. I maintained it quite carefully both mechanically and cosmetically as it was our family's first new car in quite a while. I'd really like it to be back to spec when I get it back. What I do I say to the body shop and what do I look out for?

What do I need to ask my doctor to look for? I feel generally ok (aside from extreme tenderness in my back) with the exception of light headedness from time to time. My Dr. seemed to think it was because I also had a nasty cold.

My wife wants me to get an attorney but my inexperienced opinion is that if the insurance co does what they are supposed to, shouldn't everything turn out ok?

Help!

They said they'd "take care of me"... what does that mean?

Vorteks — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:43:35 -0800

Someone hit my car and left a note, I have their insurance info and have started a claim with their insurance company. What can I expect? (Michigan, USA) Earlier this week my car was hit while parked on the street. When I returned to my car I found a sizable dent and paint damage. The person who hit me left a note with a cell phone number. I first called my insurance company, who told me to get the other driver's insurance company and then make a claim with them. I called the other driver, and asked for their policy number. I then called their insurance company and made a report. Their insurance company (Progressive) said they will "get me taken care of" after they verify some things with the other driver. Since I've never been through this process before (I've been hit before, but this is the first time anyone's ever left a note!), I want to know just exactly what I can expect. Specifically:

How long will it take the insurance company to process the claim?
Will they send someone to inspect the damage?
Will I be able to take my car anywhere I want for repairs, or does the insurance company get to pick where they send me?
What compensation am I legally entitled to? Repair costs only? Do I get a rental car?
Are there any "gotchas" in the process that I should be aware of?

This is in Michigan, USA. I promise not to treat answers as legal advice. Thanks Mefites!

Minor accident, am I being an ass.

evilelf — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:20:20 -0800

SUV backed over my tiny Miata, what should I do? Well, instead of trading in my clunker Jeep in for a minivan this summer, I decided to buy a 17 y/o Miata to help survive my horrible commute (at least on the nice days). The Miata is in great shape (low miles) for it's (17y/o) age. Unfortunately, last night a huge (Acadia) SUV backed over it while parked on the street (I was not in it). The owner of the other car was nice and coo-operative (I'm pretty sure I have all the info I need from them) and the damage looked minimal. Thing is while it looks like it may 'buff out' (the damage is only to the nose piece which is body colored plastic), I really do not have the time/inclination to fix it myself. I am going to get professional estimates in the morning. However, I feel a bit of an ass going after the person who backed over it for a professional repair (the car is 17 years old after all). If it were my Jeep I would have said just let it go, but this car was pretty much mint.
The person who hit me claimed they had not had an accident in 40 years (though I drought they were much older than 40), but my car had not had one in 17!
Opinions?

Get coffee out of a Macbook keyboard?

Orb2069 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:56:20 -0800

Just spilled coffee into a 13" macbook. Remediation tips? Splenda and cream, no sugar. Any ideas on stuff that can be done to mitigate the damage while it's still wet?

I crashed my car... and may have to move before I can fix it.

Jeanne — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:59:35 -0800

I rear-ended somebody with my car. Twist: I'm moving in a week... background inside. I have two cars: Van ('99 Dodge Caravan) and Sedan ('99 Mazda Protege). I replaced Van with Sedan when it got stolen, only to have it found again. I've been trying to get it together to sell Van ever since.

So, yesterday I rear-ended another car. The damage on their car amounts to a nickel-sized scratch; Sedan's front bumper came off and the hood is bent. It's still driveable. I'm planning to take it in to a repair place on Friday.

On Jan. 3rd, I'm flying to New York, and starting a new job there on the 7th (I live in Raleigh, NC now). I was planning on keeping Sedan until I found a place in NY, because I might end up getting an apartment somewhere that isn't close to public transportation. So here are my problems:

(1) How do I sell Van, given that I still need to drive it for another week?
(2) Should I keep Sedan at all, even for just the next month, or should I just get rid of it so I can cancel my insurance, considering that my insurance is going to go up?
(3) Should I just sell Sedan as-is? I can't imagine that would be a good idea, but
(4) How long might it take to get the damage repaired?

Any additional advice would be really welcome, I've never been in an accident before and I don't at all know how to deal with this.

Am I getting ripped off paying for a car dent repair?

BeaverTerror — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:06:17 -0800

How much do a body shops typically charge for repairng small dents on cars? I rear ended a car while cycling today, chipped the corner of one of my front teeth, and made a small dent in the back of the guy's trunk. It's about 1/8 inch deep and 3/4 inch long.

We exchange information, and he calls me a couple of hours later with a quote from his mechanic. $350.

Is that reasonable, or am I getting ripped off?