So, I was in my first fender bender

It wasn't my fault though! I Got rear ended at a crosswalk. Anyway, I need some help...

I obviously want to try to avoid going through insurance, regardless of who's fault it was. The lady's husband looked at it and said to go through insurance, because it will cost roughly $3000 (Canadian). I don't know about that!? I know the bumper will have to be replaced. The rebar behind the bumper is cracked. Does anyone know approximately how much this will cost to fix? Can I pick one up at the junk yard? Thanx in advance...

~Curtis

 

not sure but from what ive heard rearends are costly.

 

it's not your fault claim it and get it fixed by a body shop

 

Y do you have insurance if you aint gonna use it (besides it being illegal not to have it)? If it is not your fault then the other person's insurance should cover it (unless canada works differently). If you are not at fault, then your insurance shouldn't go up.

 

Theoretically yes, it shouldn't affect my insurance. I've heard otherwise though, that is why I am hesitant. Aside from that, I have some other stuff I want to do to the car that maybe I can sneak in if I get cash

 

I don't think the guy's gonna give you so much cash that you'd have leftover money.... considering he wanted to go through the insurance. I would just file the insurance claim because it wasnt your fault. If you settle it privately, they might try to pull something tricky.

 

Some guy totaled my other max (ran a red light on me) and my insurance did not go up and im only 17. So i highly doubt yours will....

 

Well the lady said if it were around $2000, we can work something out. If it costs under $1000, then I can pay for most of the paint job I wanted to do anyway. I guess if it is over $2000, I'll go through insurance.

On a side note, I noticed that my trunk has a little play now. It's hard to explain, but when I push down on it, it goes down, and then comes back up a couple millimetres. I'm not sure if that happened before, and I just didn't notice. Does anyone elses trunk do this naturally?

 

Thanx man...hey, are you ok?????

 

None of my max's has those problems, probably wreck related especially if you were hit from the rear. I know that 95 and 96's have wimpy bumpers compared to 97+ so you may have even more damage

 

You may as well do a 97-99 bumper conversion while your at it, i found this a long time ago while i was looking for another car....

"Rear bumpers on 1995-96 models allowed more than $2,000 damage in a 5 mph pole impact (left). Bumpers on 1997-99s are much improved. They allowed little damage in the same test (right)"

(click to view picture)

 

about your insurance going up or not, i think it varies. some states are no-fault meaning no is at fault and your own insurance pays for your own property. i dont know if it applies here....i dont know if that law exists in canada but you should find out

 

IMHO; if its more than double your deductible let insc do it..if not, do it ur self

 

Ya, so this case is closed. The lady ended up paying me $1600 cash. That should be more than enough to cover the damage. I'm happy, she's happy, everyone's happy. Errrmmm, well maybe not the insurance companies...those rat bastards!