Accident QUestion

[psycoticclown]

Hey, so I was at a Stampede Breakfast this morning in a parking lot, and the place was packed, cars everywhere, anyways, so I am looking for a place to park, can't find one, so I decide to turn out and look for a spot elsewhere. Well theres this old woman in a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire thats sitting there trying to turn also and I thought I had enough room to clear her and I didn't want to back up as there was 3 or 4 cars behind me and there was no real room to back up. Anyways, so I turned and my front bumper ended up scraping against her door, the part of the body that juts out from the door about an inch. I was going about 0.5 kmph... if that, I was basically inching forward when that happened.

So I pull over and get out and take a look. No real damage, just my bumper left a scuff mark on her car. There was some lady that was working parking with this old lady and said that her top coat might be damaged. I scratch off a bit of my bumper and the paint underneath is still in perfect condition. Another man and my friend come over, both take a look and both say that the mark didn't do any damage to the paint. The lady that was with her said her top coat was damaged though :rolleyes: We exchange information and I told her that I would pay for the scuff mark and since she wanted it "professionally" removed, I told her my friend that works in a body shop could do it for her and I would pay for all the work (even though I could have fixed everything there with my finger).

I got a call back from her a couple hours later and she said her neighbor looked at it and said her the bottom of the door is bent in too now. Now when the accident happened, the damage wasn't there, at least I didn't see any damage there, neither did the lady with her, my friend or the guy that came over after. And it doesn't make sense, cause the door is apparently bent about 3 inches lower than the mark and I was going dead slow and heard nothing other than a tiny squeek.

Now here's my question, I don't want to get my insurance involved and I don't have the names of the other witnesses (I can probably find them out as they were working there) I was wondering if
1) She is legally allowed to point out damage after the fact? 2) Can she make a claim with my insurance?
3) How much would it be to even repair something like that?

[Zero102]

1) yes
2) yes
3) no idea, don't work in a body shop :)

I can tell you that attitude won't help you though. You're at fault and you want to avoid going through insurance, you're at her mercy.

[tom_9109]

As Zero said, Yes and Yes.

As fot the damage, it depends on how thorough the person who writes the estimate is. Could be range from $450 - $1000 bucks.

Are you talking about the moulding running from the fender to the quarter??
If its just that parts its like .4 or less of an hour to refinish it.

If you carry collision contact your insurance company and tell them what happened and that all the was damaged was a scuff. Advise him now that there is apparently damage that may have been added since the collision. They will send an appraiser who will attend, document the damage and determine what is from the accident and what is not. If they determine its just the moulding or is under your deductible you can just take care of it yourself.


Keep in mind though that it is completely possible that the dent a few inches below where you scraped could be caused by the pressure you applied where you scraped.