View Single Post
Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2006-04-04, 12:29

Similar thing happened to me a few years ago: a man in his seventies reversed his pickup into my path in a car park. I didn't have the heart to get the insurance companies involved, but I did end up needing a new bumper, quarter panel, and headlight, so fairly substantial damage. I did my own maintenance work when I owned a car, and changing a front quarter panel is fairly straightforward, so I got the parts from scrap yards for a total of £80 and installed them myself. The bumper was more difficult than the quarter panel but I managed the whole lot in about three hours. I refuse to live my life in a perpetual tizzy about resale value, so didn't even consider that aspect.

Painting a bumper will cost more than buying it in the first place, so if you can call a bunch of scrap yards to find a white one it would save you some cash. If you're not feeling up to dealing with a scrap yard personally (they're institutionally sexist in the UK, probably the same in the US; in addition, unless you look like you live under a bonnet you'll be ripped off) get a male friend to do that part of the job for you.

All that will remain then will be to find a little garage in the countryside that charges so little you'll feel sorry for the owner and give him a tip. These places exist in every country I've been in, so at a guess they exist in the States too. They'll charge 25% of the city garage quote and probably do a better job.
  quote