BottomsUp

I was bumped in stop and go traffic on the freeway this morning and the guys license plate put a small dent in my rear bumper and scratched the plastic/paint.

We exchanged insurance and he asked me to give him the quote first since he wants to pay out of pocket.

How much you think I'm looking at to fix this? Sorry for the crappy night time pic. I want to get it fixed right since I don't even have 10K on my car yet. It's too soon to be driving around with battle scars.

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Pineapple

If this happened to me I would go to my dealership and have them quote me for an entirely new bumper installed. Its going to be expensive but hey, it's his fault and you deserve to have a perfect Lexus.

Tony59blue

iTrader: (3)

From the looks of it, you will need a new bumper and have it repainted. I'm in the same situation right now. It wasn't a hard hit, but they went ahead and installed a new bumper and had it repainted. Took mine to the North Side Lexus and had them installed OEM parts.

sirkfc

I read your subject heading and immediate thought of an inappropriate Catholic priest joke.... sorry.

SerKevin

I had a similar situation with my front bumper, somebody backed a truck into it and put a trailer hitch through the front bumper. I took it to Northside Lexus as well. They were great to work with and did an amazing job on the car. I can HIGHLY suggest them. They even had a rental car place right at the dealership, which was really helpful.

To the original poster, looks like you'll have to have the bumper cover replaced... even if it is only a "small" nick.

Good Luck!

Bass Mech

usually a damaged bumper always needs to be replaced and painted, being in insurance i know from experience your looking at between 500-800 bucks to get that fixed.

Bass Mech

btw you want to make sure you get their insurance involved, if the repairs are not done to your satisfaction you have no help from anyone to get it done right. if you use their insurance company at least you have someone standing behind you to make it right.
its their fault they hit you, and its too bad if their rates go up. perhaps next time they will pay better attention

Evitzee

+1 on that. Most insurance repairs on body work are guaranteed for as long as the owner has the car. If it starts discoloring or something a year down the road you are covered. If you just settle with the other driver outside of the insurance area you are stuck if the repair isn't done right.

tex2670

$500 minimum. If you let them pay out of pocket, call your insurance co now. If they stiff you, your insurance company will pay, you pay your deductible, then your insurance co will go after his insurance co. If you never involve your insurance co, you may get stuck.

rroy

iTrader: (1)

I had two markings like that after only 3 weeks with my IS250... my white paint was still on the other guys license plate screws so i called the cops... The lexus bodyshop painted the bumper which cost him $430 and it came out perfect. Good luck..

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

i wouldnt replace the bumper, they can repair that and yes i agree about 500$ after its all said and done. i had this happen on my last car and i never did anything about it. turned in the lease and i kept the money that i should have used to fix it. depends on how important it is to you....

VF84

regarding replacing the bumper or not, depends on which is more expensive. does lexus sell prepainted bumpers like some manufacturers do? sometimes, a shop can fix that cheaper than getting a new bumper and/or paint, doesn't seem to be that bad a damage.

take it to a shop u trust and take pride in their work. if u can find a place like that, having the individual pay for it may not be a bad idea.. ur choice to spare the guy or involve insurance. just seems a small deal to involve insurance.. u should see some of the cars in metropolitan areas.

gl

ben_r_

Whatever the cost Im sure its going to be more than the guy it willing to pay, and on top of that like Bass Mech said you will have no recourse. I would just go through insurance anyway, why bother even telling the guy? Unless you are one of those people who has their home address on their drivers license and now he knows where you live... lol

ULTiMaX99

iTrader: (5)

i got lightly tapped in my old car and the guy was working for a concrete mixing company. he just got the job and didn't want them to know he hit somebody already so he pleaded to pay out of his pocket. i got 2 estimates and told him how much it'll cost. at first he didn't want to pay and wanted me to goto his friend's shop but i threatened to report it to insurance. he finally agreed to pay but didn't have enough money at the time so i made him write a letter in his own handwriting stating that he hit me and he's totally at fault and he'll pay me said amount in x number of payments on such n such date. he eventually mailed me the money orders and i ended up keeping the money and not repairing the car at all. insurance companies are a hassle and if i had a choice, i'd settle it w/o their involvement... this is for minor accidents of course.

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

I was rear ended and had that same license plate screw imprint. I didn't get a new bumper. I think they just sanded it down a bit then and painted. I'm not sure because the guy who hit me paid but think it was around $300?