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I drive a 2004 Honda Civic. A couple nights ago, I was traveling down the interstate in snowy conditions. As I was going straight, I felt loss of control in the steering so I took my foot off all the pedals. Before I knew it, the driver's side of the car was drifting sideways. Then the car finally started going backwards before I hit the guard rail. now that I think about it, I think if I had accelerated instead of taking my foot off the pedals, I think I would've regained control. I am so lucky there were no trucks passing by as this happened or I might've been squashed by a truck and died!

Anyways... It knocked off part of the bumper on the rear left side and messed up the taillight too. The trunk won't close now. The part of the body where the gas cap is is all dented in... I'm afriad to open up the gas door because i'm afraid it won't close again after I do it.

It looks like a very expensive fix. Can someone tell me how much you think this will cost? My insurance will go up 1 point for every $500 ... and each point increase would mean an extra $100/month on insurance. Do you think I might be just better off selling it in this condition and getting a used car?

 
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I tried taking a pic of it... it's not very clear but here it is:

 
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at the least 3000 dollars

 
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I'm an accountant, and I can tell you right now that doing this is going to put you in the red in no time- without even doing any math. Yeah, its that bad. The price of repairing it is negligable compared to the points on your lisence that are going to increase your insurance by 100 dollars per month... if that is correct, which I do not believe is the case, then your going to be paying 500 bucks a month assuming you already pay 100 bucks a month and there is about 2,000 bucks in damage. In the amount you'd pay in 4 months you would have already paid for the cost of the damage and would still have points on your lisence. So... if you wanted to be smart/dorky you could come up with an equation and find the break even point between insurance cost and damage cost to figure out the optimal decision.

As I see it, you have several options.

1. Sell the car at a low price, get kibbles in your pocket, excape the points on the lisence, and the increase in rate.
2. Keep the car, go through insurance and have them fix it, get the points on the lisence, and get screwed over by the rate increase.
3. Keep the car, fix it without telling your insurance company, keep the points off your lisence, and use the money that you woulda been paying with the rate increase and fix the car. This is the best option based on the facts you gave me.

 
Rep Power: 330

I want to know who your ins carier is?

 
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Sounds more like you have a shady insurance company.

but I had something simmilar happen. Car was rear ended, crushed the rear body pannle, bumper, part of the right quarter and deck lid + trunk floor. End bill $5,800, insurance nearly totaled the car.

Good luck

 
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That'll buff right out. I'm not an accountant but I think its time for you to look for another car.

 
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better pics please

 
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Yeah I use Metropolitan Life. Also, they just told me over the phone that I will get a 3 point increase for damages under $2000 and 4 points over that. So that means it won't go past $400/yr ... I think. They said they weren't really sure either.

Thanks for the responses so far. If I figure out I would be paying way more on the insurance rate increase than repairing it myself or selling it and getting a new car, I might go that route instead.

 
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You maybe better off just coughing up the money yourself. You may have been saved from this problem if you went with the EX with ABS. I don't believe it comes with the LX. Sorry man.

 
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with my calibrated eye and that perfect picture id say it's totaled! My son had a nick in his bumper that did a SMALL ripple in his quarter pannel and it was $1,100!

 
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Short answer: Don't tell your insurance. Fix it out of pocket if at all possible.

Longer answer:

I think you should look for a different insurance company... here in CA we don't do "points" like that - they will just raise your rates the same amount in an accident that is your fault no matter what the damage (to a point).

If you do decide to get the insurance to pop for it (what's your deductible, btw...), call other ins companies and ask for a quote based on your record assuming you did file a claim - that way you can at least shop around and maybe take a little less of a hit.

To get a rough estimate of the damages, I'd say go to Majestic Honda's website and price out all the body panels, bumper, etc. that need to be replaced. Multiply that number by about 3.5-4, and that is probably what it's gonna cost. Factor in the cost of a rental car as well.

Good luck, dude. I had some guy with a couch in his pickup drop it on me on the freeway (and of course he didn't stop). Similar damage to you but on the front drivers end... was about $3400.

 
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god that blows.