Hi guys, I did search forum but didn't find a concrete answer. My car got rearended a few days ago and there's some minor damage. The entire rear bumper will be take off and repainted. The color of my car is PPW and I am mostly worried about matching the paint. I need some recommendation for a trustworthy body shop to work on it. Paying out of own pocket so no insurance company limitation here.

I live in Fremont and please give me some suggestions.

Thank you!

 

Non of my business but... If you got rear ended, why would you be paying anything? Unless it was done by a family member, I would make the other person pay.

 

I know two good shops. One in Solano County and other in Sac County, but those not close to Fremont. Let me know if you want to travel that far.

Rear end (usually 99.98% by default) is not your liability.

G/L

 

Thanks guys,
Yea the guy who hit me wants to pay out of his own pocket to avoid bad insurance record. That is ok with me. I just need to decide on a body shop then show him a written estimate.

Aww...those places are far. No one knows anywhere closer to Fremont?

 

Dude get his insurance info. you would be getting a lot more $$ from the insurance then him . You would have some left over

 

That's called fraud...

 

Hmm i dont want trouble...it is already super annoying and I just want to get it fixed. Actually most collision centers offer cheaper rate to insurance companies so i am not sure i'd actually get more money that way.

I think I'm gonna go with this shop called "Pan American Collision Center". It has 5 star reviews on Yelp and the guy i talked to today seemed very knowledgeable. Anyone had personal experiences with this shop?

Thanks

 

+1 get his insurance info and have the insurance to pay. Depend on how bad the rear damage is, if its just the rear bumper, find a use rear bumper of your car color and swap out parts. It save you lots of money and the paint match will be perfect.

 

I have seen so many owners get ****ed because they wanted to be the nice guys. By the time, they settled the claims with the other parties, signed the settlement and they found out more internal damage than the visual damage. The other parties either refused to pay or couldnt find them anymore. So its ur choice.

 

My question is if I show the guy who hit me a written estimate for the damage and collect money from him, and then i decide to not repair it for some reason. Can I get in trouble for that? I mean, once he pays the money, his part is done and I won't bother him again. If he follows up and realize I did not go through with the repair, will there be trouble? Please advice!

Thanks

 

^Its a grey area...

Like Pat said, the shop can quot something out but once they start work and discover more, you can be screwed because you were trying to be nice. I highly recommend going through his insurance or have him meet you at a notary and get a document notarized saying he will pay out of pocket for all the damages he caused.

 

I'm taking the car in on Monday for inspection for further damage. They are gonna open up the bumper and check for cracks then give me a final estimate on total cost. I'm going to collect based on that. That should be ok...right? I guess I can ask the mechanic if that is going to be the final cost. Sorry guys i'm just kinda inexperienced in with things like this.

Thanks

 

Not sure how bad the damage is but it is possible that more damage may be found that they may not be visible when first inspected.

Maybe Pat can give a better insight on this.

 

The damage is very minor (see pic) to be honest, the only reason I'm fixing it is because my car is spotless pretty much. I hate seeing this one thing on it. The guy's license plate cut into my paint.

 

Cooks collision

 

eh, doesn't look too bad based on the pic. I would just get and estimate, collect the money and not fix it. I was rear ended not too long ago, very similar in damage. Estimate cost to repair is $950.

 

No, you don't get in trouble for that. You are the owner, you have the right to do whatever on your car, EXCEPT, you are still paying for your car, which the loan company owns the car, not you.

If there is no insurance company involved, you are fine. If you go through insurance company and you are still paying for the loan, then you have to get it fixed.

But anyway, from your picture, it looks very minor. You should be fine by just getting the $ from the other party. Just make sure your mechanic to check the inner component before you sign any paper. Without insurace company involved, you are ok to collect the $ and leave that damage alone.

*note*: Please let a body shop to do estimate for you, not a engine mechanic, since they do not have the software to calculate the paint material price.

 

Thank you so much guys for all the great advices!

 

Cali Darkness that is not called fraud...... You are suppose to do that when you get in a accident. Get information and then claim insurance.

 

If you claim more than enough $ for the actual repair, then keep the $ for urself and not returning it back to insurance company, now that is fraud.