"I'm so sorry I backed into your car..."

[Schildir]

At least they left a note with their phone number and address.









If I can de-mangle things good enough, I probably won't even replace anything, maybe the fender, if anyone has the right color (with the stripe of course). I can't even open the door a foot, but hopefully my dad can look at it before I have to go to class tonight and fix it slightly.

[wybnrml]

Man that SUCKS. Once you get the fender off you should be able to fix the door some. Get ahold of TONYCASH I remember seeing some pictures of some fenders with the stripes on them.

[batstiva]

Ouch! It's cool that they at least left a note. I was wondering, judging by the pics, if the door was stuck open. But I guess you're showing that's all the wider it'll open, yes?

I believe, if no one else has one, and you can't make that one work, that I can source a fender that color with stripe. I'll have to take a drive tomorrow, and see if my 'favorite' yard still has the two charcoal grey cars they had last summer.

[Schildir]

Ouch! It's cool that they at least left a note. I was wondering, judging by the pics, if the door was stuck open. But I guess you're showing that's all the wider it'll open, yes?

Yes, that is correct. The door closes properly, but will open less than a foot.

[Festiva_tunner]

I so feel your pain - My ex's new boyfriend backed into my car while I was picking up my daughter at thier house (right into the passenger door)

[Tim]

Take the fender off and see if you can't pop the dent out from behind.

Looks like you could straighten out the door with a pair of Channelocks, so that it at leasts opens.

Good luck, hope you can find matching parts. And be sure to charge the guy for them!


-Tim

[David88]

Wow bummer. Good you got their info. There are still honest people out there. I would call them and tell them what you plan to do. Tell them if they are willing to pay for it. That you will not have to turn it in on insurance. Really if your door wont open right you may regret not having it fixed. I had something similar happen and I let it go, then later wished I hadn't.

[frogman]

Ouch!!!! The fender isn't as much of a problem as the door is. It must be nearly perfect or else it will catch on the fender again. Not much room for error.
I would get an estimate from a body shop and settle for no less. Also make sure you get their information right from the start, and ASAP. Things and people have a strange way of getting away from you if you are not on top of them right away.

[nonamekid]

Some insurance companies will consider minor accidents as too minimal to adjust your rates. With state farm it is less than $750 or something close to that. I have had 2 of these small accidents and i keep getting the accident free discount.

[Schildir]

Thanks to everyone so far, for your comments and advice.

I don't think I'll be taking it up with my insurance, if Progressive is anything like Liberty Mutual is, they will say "Oh well look, there is rust and other unrelated damage, so you needed a new door/fender anyway, pay up." That is what they did with my Mustang when it was broken into. Plus my car is worth so little and rusted so badly, there's no reason to put body shop kind of money into it, no matter who it is that pays.

I also wanted to add that this person lives across the street from me, so I'm not worried about them disappearing off the face of the earth.

[Festy46]

If they hit your car while it was parked, they are completely responsible for the damage. There is no reason for you to even contact your insurance company. Take the car to a body shop BEFORE you do anything to it and get an estimate to fix it. Take the estimate to the person that hit you and ask them to either pay it or turn it in to their insurance company. They are obligated for the damage, not you. Their insurance agent will probably send out an adjuster to look at your damage or they may just pay it outright.

[nonamekid]

When someone backed into my parked car, we contacted the owner's insurance. They had me take it to a body shop and get an estimate. Then they wrote me a check for the damage. We didn't have to get a police report and I got the estimate done for free as there are alot of places that will give out free estimates.

[Festiva_tunner]

Plus my car is worth so little and rusted so badly, there's no reason to put body shop kind of money into it, no matter who it is that pays.

I took mine up to the ford dealership wanting a quote for repair - the guy looks at it as tells me my car is totalled - I told him that my car is insured well over the cars blue book value due to the custom parts and requardless if its totalled or not it's still getting repaired back to factory quality because I'm not getting rid of the car. He balks for a bit about it and gives me some low ball number - he will source a junk yard do and simply paint the door to match - no color fade at all - needless to say the dealership is not repairing the car.

[marinepolice03]

the fenders in tonycash's pics are already sold to muscle_car.

[25Horseplay]

Man that SUCKS. Once you get the fender off you should be able to fix the door some. Get ahold of TONYCASH I remember seeing some pictures of some fenders with the stripes on them.

Kemp got those fenders from Tony, they are sitting in my garage.
Atleast the person left you a note!