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DIY: Fixing car after accident (paint/scratch damages)
Spacemilk
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I got into a very minor accident the other day, where another car's back bumper scraped against my front bumper. Due to accident details (which I've spoilered below) I'm technically 50% liable; my insurance will pay anything after my deductible which is currently $500, but won't pay for the whole thing.
I got the damages appraised last night and the total cost is $715. I really, really don't want to have to pay $500 (and possibly have my insurance go up when I make the claim) for what basically amounts to minor paint damages. Not to mention they were charging a good amount just to buff out the scratches and possibly paint over them, and it seems like I should be able to fix that myself. My friend advised me to try to fix as much damage as I possibly can, and wait for either (a) when I go to sell the car, at which point it may be worth fixing so I can get a better price, or (b) someone else to hit me and have the damages fixed then. The damages are primarily cosmetic and, in my opinion, not really noticeable right now and possibly even less so after I put some work in.
The damage is basically some scraping along the bumper, on the flares (I think that's what the mechanic called them, they are right above the tire wheel) and on the headlights. My foglight is popped out of place but is still functional. There are some small holes in the actual body of my car. I will try to post pictures later on. (although my camera has been on the fritz lately, might have to use my phone camera which will suck)
I have a 2009 Rav4. My questions are:
Details of the accident:
I got the damages appraised last night and the total cost is $715. I really, really don't want to have to pay $500 (and possibly have my insurance go up when I make the claim) for what basically amounts to minor paint damages. Not to mention they were charging a good amount just to buff out the scratches and possibly paint over them, and it seems like I should be able to fix that myself. My friend advised me to try to fix as much damage as I possibly can, and wait for either (a) when I go to sell the car, at which point it may be worth fixing so I can get a better price, or (b) someone else to hit me and have the damages fixed then. The damages are primarily cosmetic and, in my opinion, not really noticeable right now and possibly even less so after I put some work in.
The damage is basically some scraping along the bumper, on the flares (I think that's what the mechanic called them, they are right above the tire wheel) and on the headlights. My foglight is popped out of place but is still functional. There are some small holes in the actual body of my car. I will try to post pictures later on. (although my camera has been on the fritz lately, might have to use my phone camera which will suck)
I have a 2009 Rav4. My questions are:
- Can I fix the scratches and stuff on my own, pretty easily? The majority of the scratches don't seem to go into the primer so based on a little Internet research (right here) I should be able to do it.
- Is that article I just linked pretty good? Any additions/subtractions to the advice?
- What tools/products are recommended for this?
- How the heck do I pop the foglight back in?
- What should I do about the minor holes in the body? (they're maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter, and there are two or three of them, right around the front right headlight. it looks almost like crushed fiberglass around it, I don't know how else to describe it) Do I need to worry about rusting or it continuing to - I don't know - fall apart and make bigger holes?
- Did I receive a good quote for the cost of the work or should I be looking around? (I'll try to post the exact text of the quote, as well as pictures, since what I've posted so far may not be enough to answer this question)
Details of the accident:
I was making a left turn onto a semi-major road. The road is divided by a fairly large median, and usually cars will drive across the first half, stop at the median, then make a left turn on the second half. It's four lanes total, two lanes for each direction. I was stopped at the median, I turned to look over my shoulder and saw only one car coming, and it was in the right hand lane and wasn't signaling to change lanes. I slowly started to pull out and was 90% into the left-hand lane, when suddenly, bam! The car I'd seen was in front of me, about a foot into my lane, and her rear end hit my front end.
When we pulled over, she tried to claim that she'd been in my lane already and I'd pulled out in front of her. However I pointed out that she would've rear-ended me or t-boned me if that were true, not to mention she was going full speed when she hit me and clearly hadn't hit the brakes, which she would have done if I'd pulled out in front of her. (rather than swerving 90% out of the lane, which she was trying to say she'd done)
However, when I talked to my insurance company, they said I was still 50% at fault, because even though she was negligent for failing to use her signals and also failing to see me coming, she still had the right-of-way over the entire road, both lanes. The more you knowwww....
When we pulled over, she tried to claim that she'd been in my lane already and I'd pulled out in front of her. However I pointed out that she would've rear-ended me or t-boned me if that were true, not to mention she was going full speed when she hit me and clearly hadn't hit the brakes, which she would have done if I'd pulled out in front of her. (rather than swerving 90% out of the lane, which she was trying to say she'd done)
However, when I talked to my insurance company, they said I was still 50% at fault, because even though she was negligent for failing to use her signals and also failing to see me coming, she still had the right-of-way over the entire road, both lanes. The more you knowwww....
Spacemilk on
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I'd just grab the buffer and buff the scratches out first.
Barring that, I'd probably do the whole "sandpaper, paint, dry" thing as listed all over the internet.
As for getting your foglights back in, that's something you need to play around with. This is one of those things where you'll just have to tool around with on your own.
As for fixing the holes, I would need a pic in order to tell you how to do that. Bondo is generally what's used here, and that gets painted and sometimes clearcoated over.