body work, spot fix or take off the whole bumper?

[platinumike]

On friday, an older black guy bumped into my car, leaving a big dent. We had the police come, do a police report, he decided to pay, instead of go through insurance. He drove a cadillac escalade. Im young and have no idea or have seen no examples of body work. Anyways, I was able to pop the dent out earlier today, and now theres just some paint missing because of the dent. We took it down to a place of his prefference to get an estimate, it was either $175 to do the one spot or $300 to do the whole bumper. I wasnt sure what to do, and I feel like I was convinced to go with the spot repair, I dunno how it will turn out, we did get an invoice, but nothing has been paid for yet. What do you think I should do, call him back and say I've changed my mind and want the whole bumper repainted(he appears to rich) and in which case I will need a car to drive to work and school, so he'll also pay for a rental? or should I just stick with the spot repair which only takes a day to complete.

 

[Heisenberg]

What year of car, and are you planning on keeping it very long? Repainting the whole bumper is definitely the proper way to fix it, but if you don't care or aren't planning on keeping the car then the spot repair would make do.

 

[virtuamike]

If it's an older car, do the whole bumper. The older the paint is, the harder it is to spot match.

 

[platinumike]

well, I have no plans to sell the car anytime soon. But my car is kinda scarcthed up in other places, the other side of the bumper, also has a big white streak from where my grandma backed into me. That why it was kind of hard to ask for a whole bumper fix, when part of the bumper is already damaged.

 

[platinumike]

its a 96 grandam. Odd green color as well.

 

[zixxer]

just get it spot fixed.


If it were a car you valued a whole lot, or in otherwise mint shape, then I'd say the whole bumper.

 

[Heisenberg]

Yeah, on that old a car with other damage already, I'm not sure it's worth it to paint the whole bumper unless you just really want it done.

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: armatron
just get it spot fixed.


If it were a car you valued a whole lot, or in otherwise mint shape, then I'd say the whole bumper.

i agree.

 

[platinumike]

ya, the car is quite shabby on the outside. Im really bad at theese type issues, because I dont want him lowballing me. I dunno if the place is even good or not, it appears they are. He's not short on money, I'll tell you that. His wife followed him there and she drives a bmw 745i

 

[MercenaryForHire]

In before "What does race have to do with it" bandwagon

- M4H

 

[zixxer]

Originally posted by: platinumike
ya, the car is quite shabby on the outside. Im really bad at theese type issues, because I dont want him lowballing me. I dunno if the place is even good or not, it appears they are. He's not short on money, I'll tell you that. His wife followed him there and she drives a bmw 745i

look, it doesn't matter how much money he has. I'd say the same thing if some homeless person or something did it.

Just because he has money doesn't give you the right to demand he pay more to fix it.

 

[jemcam]

All he owes you is to indemnify you for your damages, the same as an insurance company. How much money you think he has doesn't have anything to do with it. If the bodyshop can repair the bumper to your satisfaction, it doesn't matter how much it costs in the eyes of the court.

OTOH, good luck in getting this guy to pay. These types of circumstances rarely work out as easily as they should. I'd be willing to bet that you'll end up going through your insurance company and having to make a collision claim if you really want the damage fixed. When he sees the estimate, he'll tell you to fvck off and you'll be left with no choice of going through your insurance.

 

[Colt45]

whole bumper is the way to do it.

But since it is a '96 Grand Am, just rivet some sheetmetal to it and drive it. it looks like ass anyways.