So I was driving down the highway on the way to work early this morning. The truck in front of me swerves at the last second and i didn’t have time to react (safely). Needless to say, I hit something rather large. The bumper is cracked and so is the headlight...

I looked on the Lexus website, a bumper is ~$500 and a headlight is ~$1500?!? That doesn’t sound right... I don’t want to claim this on insurance and it jump, but I don’t wanna fork over $3000 over some road debris.

Anybody have any ideas??

 

Buy a used headlight on eBay for less than 1/4th that price, upgrade to f-sport bumper and have body shop paint it, not hard to swap everything over.

Plus if you put a new headlight the other headlight will look pitted and less clear than the new one, so better to buy a used one that would be in about the same condition of the other one.

No worth having insurance involved.

 

I could see it being a $3k repair. Those headlights are pretty pricey, plus the cost of the bumper, paint, and labor.

Honestly, I'd just let insurance take care of it. Your premiums may increase slightly for a period of time, but it won't cost $3k in increased premiums.

 

Do an Aftermarket bumper conversation!

 

@jlandry287 Thats unfortunate but glad its just the car and no one was injured.

The headlamp is pricey. You can check eBay for some good used passenger headlamps for half the price (or less) if you don't feel like spending on a brand new housing.

The front bumper could possibly be repaired but i'm not sure if you know of a good local body shop that would be willing to try. I'd show it to them and see what they say.

 

Did the debris do any other damage? is your car blowing codes? I hit a large piece wood with my 370Z and my entire dash went off like a Christmas Tree. Apparently I damaged the radiator.

 

Also if you look carefully, you are also missing the chrome trim surround near the fog light:



The chrome bezel looks like this:

 

That's probably the cheapest thing to replace. The destroyed bumper, cracked headlight, and rock chips all over the hood are another story.

 

isn't this covered under comprehensive? if thats the case your premium shouldn't go up cause of that, its just whatever your deductible on that part is

 

yeah that sucks man glad your OK if were me I would go through insurance

 

What could possibly be the reason for not going through insurance...unless there is no insurance?

 

Just check ebay for head light housing. I did a quick search and found some ~400. You can also check car-parts.com. Check local dealer for bumper. Dealer might be cheaper than having a bumper shipped from ebay or another source.

Good luck with repair.

 

He doesn't want his rate to go up

 

That should not make his premium go up. And, even if his premium did go up - how many years of paying a slight premium increase would it take to equal the cost for him to repair it without using insurance. Not using insurance makes zero sense!

 

Insurance will get their money back and then some, this is why I have zero coverage and pay $26 a month for liability. I've banked thousands over the last 14 years. Your better off putting that money you would have paid in premiums into a saving account and withdrawing from that is there is ever an issue.