*reamed* on repairs

[uranus]

I had a small traffic accident. I don't actually own an NSX (tho I wish I did) but as me and the other guy were both moving at about 5mph the damage was small.

my car was fine but my bumper left a thin 10 inch scratch above his rear wheelwell. it took the two of us a few minutes to even find the damage. ditto when the cops came.

anyway, i don't have collision insurance, so i have to pay cash and this guy's insurance agent has been breathing down my neck to come up with about $3000 for the repair. they say because it's a rare car, aluminum etc it costs so much.

all i want to know is does this sound unusual to you? (please don't tell me about calling small claims court etc, all i want to know if technically, you think 3000 bucks for a scratch is possible.)

thanks a lot you lucky bastards (I drive a 1986 subaru )
-OLW

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Dude,

Sorry to say, It does not seem out of line to me. Fixing the body work on these cars IS a killer$$$$$$$$

HTH,
LarryB

 

[Lud]

The best thing you can do is just ask for an itemized repair estimate. Then you can verify for yourself whether the parts and labor costs are correct.

The price sounds too high for just a repaint, so I am guessing the panel is actually damaged too. Retail on a new rear quarter panel is around $1,600.

If you allow say 5 hours labor to remove the old panel, prep, prime, paint, clearcoat and install the new panel at $80/hr that is $400. That is just a guess at the labor involved - it may vary (I'm not a body shop guy).

If you add $500 for materials and misc. costs, you are at $2,500. (again the actual may vary)

Add tax and you're probably in the neighborhood of $2600 in most states. Add just a little more materials or labor than my example above and you're right up to $3000.

Or if anything else needs to be replaced (any other trim or brackets behind the panel or fasteners), it will be right up around $3000 in a hurry.

Since you said you have to pay for the whole thing anyway, you may want to see if you can buy a new panel yourself and have it shipped to the repair shop. There are some dealers and other sources who mail order Acura parts and offer around 20% off retail prices, which would be about $300 saved on the quarter panel. One place to start is http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org

Also I would call your insurance company to verify that you are not covered. I thought most states require liability for property and casualty...?

Hope that helps.

[This message has been edited by Lud (edited 13 March 2003).]

 

[KGP]

Originally posted by uranus:
... i don't have collision insurance, so i have to pay cash...

Liability not mandatory in your state?

 

[ak]

$3000 for fixing a scratch is strange unless they are replacing the rear quarter panel. As you can see here http://www.nsxhelp.com/parts-c/parts11.jpg rear quarter panel is almost $1500. Add labor and paint cost and it'd come out ot be $3000. You should get an itemized list of what exactly they are fixing. Also, just to note, if you damage someone else's car, it should be covered by your liability which you should have, not collision. Sorry for the unfortunate situation and best of luck!

 

[ak]

doh...exactly what lud said.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by uranus:
i don't have collision insurance, so i have to pay cash

I bet you're sorry you didn't get collision insurance, huh? Penny wise, pound foolish...

 

[NSX-00054]

Originally posted by nsxtasy:
I bet you're sorry you didn't get collision insurance, huh? Penny wise, pound foolish...

Doesn't collision insurance cover your own car and liability covers damage to the person you hit?

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by NSX-00054:
Doesn't collision insurance cover your own car and liability covers damage to the person you hit?

Uh... yeah, I think you're right.

uranus, what's the scoop? Do you or don't you have liability insurance? And isn't it required by law in your state?

 

[LJSB]

Check with your insurance agent he'll know if you have liability coverage.
I bet you do.
Relax Uranus.
It won't hurt too much.

[This message has been edited by pbassjo (edited 13 March 2003).]

 

[len3.8]

I am not surprised. I just got my adjustment for the hole in my door panel. Right at 3k.
The aluminum panels are expensive.
Do you have liability insurance?
Len

 

[KellyJoe]

Originally posted by pbassjo:
......Relax Uranus.
It won't hurt too much.

[This message has been edited by pbassjo (edited 13 March 2003).]

Now THAT is hilarious despite the seriousness of the thread.

 

[snapper]

Originally posted by pbassjo:

Relax Uranus.
It won't hurt too much.

TOO FUNNY, That's what I tell her everytime.

 

[docjohn]

Actualy I thought it was bathroom humor from the start,cmon first post with that "title" from Uranus? LOL

 

[nsxtasy]

Yup, I think we're all being scammed here.

I've heard people diss the NSX for requiring expensive repairs if it's in an accident. Uh, yeah, but... that's what insurance is for. And insurance rates are actually quite reasonable.

 

[uranus]

wow -- you guys are fast. thanks for all the earnest replies, except of course for repeatedly asking me to relax my anus (while I'm worried about getting reamed.)

the question that keeps coming up is whether I have liabilty insurance. well, I hate to say but I haven't been entirely straight with you. I live in Japan. But I figured if I mentioned that in my first post no one would bother reading it.

What I have here is the minimum insurance required by law. Frankly it's hard enough understanding insurance in my own language... Imagine trying to do that in a different language, one that doesn't even use the alphabet.

So I'm working on the legal aspect of the situation. But when I show my forms to cops or insurance people they basically shake thier head. In the meantime, I wanted to hear some honest opinions from knowledgable people about the technical aspects of my situation (eg: is $3000 to high for a thin scratch?)

I know prices differ between the US and Japan, but NSX parts are arguably cheaper over here.

Anyway I hope this settles the question about whether my state makes liability mandatory. Frankly I thought I was covered and as I live in a city where I only drive about 1000 miles a year, I wasn't too worried.

Thanks again for all the fast and thoughtful posts. (Except for the condescending 'penny wise pound foolish' one.)

-Owen
(BTW, uranus is my email address.)

 

[LJSB]

Japan huh?
No liability insurance required there?
Wow, learn something new everyday.
The price for repairs might have some parity between the two countries but as for the insurace part of it, I guess not. Here you just report it to your insurance company and they pay they other guy. There would be a good chance your rates would go up though.
For Uranus,
things will come out a little differenty.
Owen, Uranus,
this is not a good position to be in.

[This message has been edited by pbassjo (edited 14 March 2003).]

 

[nsxtasy]

I bet if you had explained why you were asking, including the part about being in Japan - or even if you had just asked how much the body damage ought to run - you would have gotten straight, helpful answers. After all, the insurance part was irrelevant (and threw everyone's attention off, including mine); you just wanted to find out how much the body repair ought to run. And I would think that that ought to be more or less the same in both countries - roughly the same parts cost, roughly the same amount of labor time, don't know if hourly rates for the body shop are all that different.

Accidents and screwed-up insurance settlements (or lack thereof) can happen anywhere; I was just discussing one at lunch today, that happened to a friend around here. Those things are just crappy to have to deal with, but one way or another you'll get through it and move on. Good luck getting it settled.