Bumped a car, excessive quote

[lilsquish]

morning, last week i bumped a car in a school car park causing slight damage to both cars.

I exchanged details and took photos of the damage. Very slight, scrapes - no dents. The owner stated she would take it to a garage to get a quote for repair. All fine.

When i got home, my huaband wiped down the scrapes with some T cut and it was good as new. I contacted the other owner and suggested she try this however she wanted to take it to a garage instead.

My husband had a quick look at her car the next day (it was in school carpark) and 100% certain the damage was less than my car and would buff out.

Now iv just had the quote from the garage through and i feel its very excessive.

Theyre quoting £550, itemising repair abd repaint in two areas and refitting the bumper.

Has anyone had any experience if this and know what i can do?

I wanted to settle it without claiming insurance to prevent premium going up etc but i feel this quote is ridiculous.

Its definitely a real quote etc, I dont in any way think the girl is trying to get anything more than she is due, i think the garage tho has bumped up the bill as they think insurance is paying........help!!

Something similar happened to DS. A woman hit him at a junction, very low impact caught on his dash cam. Like you she also wanted to deal with it outside of the insurance.

He made the time to take his car to three garages at her insistence, all of which concurred the impact, even though not huge, had bent something underneath the bumper and would cost £1100 (lowest quote) to repair, despite looking like a few scratches to anyone glancing at it.

Woman went nuts, accused DS of trying it on etc etc. In the end he told her to stop contacting him and he went via his insurance.

If you'd hit my car OP I'd want MY choice of repairer to deal with it not yours, though by this point I'd have told you to forget it and called my insurance.

£550 sounds very reasonable for a bumper and side panel respray. The side panel will need to be flicked up to ensure the paint blends correctly.

Perfectly reasonable to request to send someone else around to quote, just be aware that as you damaged their car they might be funny about using someone you have selected rather than their own approved garage.

I have previously refuse work from someone else's garage and insisted on going through insurance. At which point I provided my garages quote and they ended up doing the work anyway.

Some one recently reversed into my car. They played down the damage and told me a plunger would take out he dent.

It cost nearly £800 to repair, and I didn’t have my car for four days.

They suggests all sorts of cheaper ways to fix it. But they damaged my car, why should I get a shoddy job to save them money? I already had massive inconvenience of getting quotes and being without my car

Your husband is not, I assume, a car body specialist. If you damage someone else’s car you need to step up And pay for it.

Sorry, but going looking for cheap diy solutions is insulting to the other person.

Pass it to your insurer to deal with. You're obliged to tell them anyway, it won't do much to your premium.

Fwiw the quote sounds reasonable to me, bodywork repairs are expensive.

Op your post actually made me quite cross to be honest.

Your husband and you sound like know it alls,. I am probably clouded by the man who hit my car and kept says it would buff out, and the dent would pop out. Neither were true and I took it to three separate bony shops at Greta inconvenience for quotes.

I went with the cheapest and they had no courtesy car so I had no transport for a week. I could have insisted they also pay for a hotel car but I didn’t.

I still think they think it was over the top, but it’s my car why should I drove round with it damaged or half repaired.

How on earth do you know if it needs a paint job, and so what if it’s not a fancy car. It’s her car.

i wish people would read my replies before jumping in.

i havent once said i wanted a shoddy DIY repair or my bloody husband to do it!!

my question was whether or not i could request another quote which other posters have said isnt unreasonable.

and as i dont want to inconvenience the lovely owner iv suggested a mobile repairer who will come to her at a time place which suits her.

You can do a half assed repair on your car but her car should be as it was before you hit it and if that takes a garage then so be it.

You suggested T cut to her!!!

She’s allowed to use her choice in terms of who repairs it to be fair if your not going through insurance OP, even if you got another quote that was cheaper she wouldn’t have to go with them I am afraid so would be a waste of time at her inconvenience. Just pay it or if you can’t afford to go through insurance

How do we sound like know it alls?

my 'knowledge ' was merely based on the scrapes on my car coming off with TCut.

As her scrapes appeared similar i was expecting a quote based around that sort of work. Not removing panels, bumpers and re-spraying.

No i dont know that there iant under lying damage however i suspect the garage is bumping (no pun intended) the work and cost up.

Yes i damaged her car and i absolutely want to get it fixed to a high standard. but as with alot of people, this year has been shit and money is tight.

i was not sniding at her car, her car is lovely! my car is a 12 yr old Kia

i only mentioned her car make etc as a previous poster asked if it was a merc.

No i told her TCut took it off mine. She said she wanted to take hers to a garage. i had zero issue with this. my issue was with the quote the garage gave

Exactly. You have no knowledge. By all means suggest another quote and hopefully she will agree.

They won’t be able to see all the damage and assess properly unless they remove bumper and panels.

With the greatest of respect, for someone whose question was apparently can I ask for to get a second quote, you gave a lot of information about you didn’t think it warranted a respirator, how your husband had inspected it in the car park and his opinion was it would t cut out And how you contacted her to suggest this.

So you did actually contact her and suggest a diy repair.

Even though the person who hit me suggested diy repairs, and even though it really irritated me, I still went out of my way to get a reasonable quote.

However I used a reputable company and somewhere there was probably someone who would have done the job cheaper. But, it’s my car and I wanted it done right, sprayed in the right paint and blended.

Repair not respirator! My autocorrect is working overtime today😂

As previous posters have said, if you are not going through your insurance you'll just have to pay it. She is under no obligation to get another quote and is entitled to get her car fixed wherever she wants.

You entitled git op. I bet you robbed the other driver's Grandma too. Whilst kicking her puppy.

You sound very reasonable and considerate op. If there's a chance the garage are bumping costs (and it does happen), then the separate quotes will highlight this.

I hope it is all resolved quickly.

however i suspect the garage is bumping (no pun intended) the work and cost up.

Why do you think this? How often have you dealt with body shop repair costing?

@ExclamationPerfume

You damaged her car. She is entitled to have it repaired to how it was before.

Peak MN response right here.

And t cut works on very little scratches by removing a layer of paint.

It is only suitable for very minor scuffs, and isn’t recommended for anything more substantial.

I had a similar experience, but from other side. Young guy hit my car, didn't want to go through insurance, I got a quote, they thought excessive and asked me to go elsewhere. I told them to either pay or I'd go through insurance. Went through insurance and ended up with much more expensive claim - I had a courtesy car while work was being done, panels removed and resprayed rather than just buffing out etc.

i wish people would read my replies before jumping in.

i havent once said i wanted a shoddy DIY repair or my bloody husband to do it!!

You hit her car and suggested she tried T-cut to fix it!!.....

my huaband wiped down the scrapes with some T cut and it was good as new. I contacted the other owner and suggested she try this

God OP you are coming across worse with each post.

Yes, yes you can ask her to get another quote but she doesn't have to oblige you. If she had any sense she would have gone straight to insurance when you mentioned T-cutting it.

@Smallgoon

You damaged her car. She is entitled to have it repaired to how it was before.

Peak MN response right here.

What does that mean ?