Van was in front of me and decided to cut into right lane but an incoming car was coming from another lane so he decided to cut back to my lane. I stomped the brakes and luckily avoided serious damage but he got my front passenger wheel fender. He told me that I was the one who hit his van. Called the popo and they filed a report. This happen on the highway also. Two questions ...

1) How much would it be to fix the damage, assuming insurance does not cover it?

2) Who would the insurance believe?


yes my potenza wheels are a bit dirty




His Van

 

What did the police report say?

 

Well the police report was pretty much what I described. It does not say who was at fault though so I am a little worried. I hope Statefarm doesn't screw me over like it did to my dad.

 

You're looking at about $1000 to replace the fender, paint it, and possibly blend it to match the door, etc.

 

Thanks for the estimate. The thing that concerns me is how the insurance will see it. Will I be the one at fault?

 

in situations like that i would never call the cop and go through insurnace crap and nonsense and all that which is involved. I would have told the guy give me $100 to replace it and buy a used one with the same color, no worries abt insurance or color matching.

 

without witnesses more than likely it is goignt o be considered a "no-fault". Which sucks for you.

You and your insurance will be responsible for your car. If you have collision then it will just be your deductible.

If no collision it's all gpoing to be on you.

Good luck

 

Well the reason why I called the cops was he blamed me for hitting him which obviously wasn't the case. I told him if you paid me $200, I would get this fix myself and not have insurance to deal with it and he is like "no you were the one who ran into me." I also had a passenger in my car who witness this.

 

Had somewhat of the same situation a few years ago.Unfortunately I didn't have any witnesses to the accident and was deemed at fault even though the other guy actually ran into me.I ended up having to pay my deductable for the repair work and of course it had to happen at the beginning of my vacation.

 

does passenger witness count?

 

I am gathering from your description of the accident that you were both origonally in the same lane you behind him. If that's correct insurance is going to say you were passing before he completed his lane change and deem it your fault. I drive a truck for a living and see that all day long. If your state has "no fault" that might work out best for your insurance record.
Good luck.

 

I just replaced a passenger side front fender for $100.00 got it from the junk yard in perfect shape and shade. Gave it some serious undercoating while I was at it. Need to work on your photography skillz bud.

 

Yea, the quote I gave was for brand new from Nissan body shop. I'm sure you could find one at the JY for much cheaper.

 

Did the same thing a few years back, after Alberston's clerk lost control of the basket and it tore up my passenger side fender. They paid me the estimates I provided..so I went to this place http://car-part.com/ located a fender same color. Took the old one off waxed it perfect match as I refused to have my car repainted/blended as pearl whites are hard to match. Kevin if you have to use this site to try to locate a fender for your car.

http://car-part.com/

 

Actually, he was in front of me and swapped to the other lane and was already on the other lane. He swapped back AFTER when an incoming Altima was turning into his lane and I guess it startled him. He shifted back to my lane within half a second without even looking at his mirrors. Basically he tried to avoid another car but collided into mine instead. I did not try to pass him since he slowed down on the other lane.

Sorry about the pictures, they were taken from my Nokia Phone (e71)

 

I say it would be $1k or less, and it will be his fault according to your description of how it happened.

 

Ok, sorry I got it wrong. You could make a strong argument with the insurance companies about it being his fault since you were already passed his rear bumper. If they dont cover it all you can always go to small claims court to recoup the difference. Again, stress to the insurance adjuster how you were next to him at the time of the accident and for how long you were behind him prior to the accident, this could help defeat his " YOU popped out of nowhere" defense. It's all a patient game of words with the insurance company.