Honda Car Forum

So I was in my first damned moving fender-bender (my fault) the other
day in friggin' 17 years of driving, while on a trip out of state.
Scraped (roughed up) the guy's rear bumper at the left corner and the
rear side panel a bit (Nissan Maxima), though I'm not sure exactly how
much cuz it was dark and we didn't have a flashlight handy.

Anyway, he went to the dealer (I think) who quoted him minimum $300 to
fix it, or about $1000 to do it perfectly, which I assume means new
bumper and rear side panel. He was very nice about it and said he wanted
to put himself in my shoes as I wanted to take care of it out of
pocket--no accidents and I'd rather not have my insurance to go up--and
see what I thought. Of course putting myself in his shoes, I'd want it
done right, and he also doesn't want a minimum job.

Of course, there was a bit more damage to my car--probably on the order
of $1500 for new bumper and right front fender (94 Civic EX), unless
they can just straighten out the fender and touch up the paint. The
bumper (cheap plastic) cracked part-way when he pulled forward
afterwards, and of course the mounting hole at the corner tore. {Would
you believe I just had the same job done thanks to someone else's
fault??) I could probably fill the crack with epoxy and glue a
reinforcing strip over the mounting hole to save the bumper and reduce
the claim.

What's the likely result on my insurance (Geico) for a first claim of
~$2000 ($2500 less my $500 deductible)? Expensive mistake, eh? Shit.
Since I don't have any experience in handling something like this, I'd
appreciate some input.

Embarrassed Abeness

Abeness wrote:
> Anyway, he went to the dealer (I think) who quoted him minimum $300 to
> fix it, or about $1000 to do it perfectly, which I assume means new
> bumper and rear side panel.

BTW, this quote was done in the dark, apparently. (???) I had originally
wanted to pay him out-of-pocket to avoid an accident on my policy, but
it looks like it will wind up being an insurance matter after all, and I
expect the insurance adjusters will have to look at it to firm up a quote.

Abeness <news@nada.x> floridly penned in news:buCdncJG3-ll1SPcRVn-
jA@rcn.net:


> What's the likely result on my insurance (Geico) for a first claim of
> ~$2000 ($2500 less my $500 deductible)? Expensive mistake, eh? Shit.
> Since I don't have any experience in handling something like this, I'd
> appreciate some input.
>


You're in a tight spot here. In Ontario, Canada, where I live, you don't
make a claim unless damages are very high, like $5,000 or so. we have no-
fault insurance and rates have skyrocketed for years. There are horror
stories of first-time claimants being hit with rates up to $1,000 per
month.

It is very common these days, so a body shop owner told me last month, for
people here to settle between themselves for cash, anything to avoid
involving the insurance companies.

I had my very first (and ONLY) at-fault claim in 23 years three years ago.
My car was damaged to the tune of $2,700 and the other person's was about
$3,000. My rate (first claim, remember!) went up from $800 per year to
almost $2,000.

The only thing I can think of is to get a friend to call on your behalf
from another telephone, and not mentioning any names or other traceable
details, describe the accident, your driving record (x-number of points,
whatever convictions, etc), what you're paying now and how much would the
rate go up by if the accident were claimed.

You might get lucky and it won't go up by much. In my province we do not
have that luxury.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Abeness wrote:

<snip>

> you believe I just had the same job done thanks to someone else's
> fault??) I could probably fill the crack with epoxy and glue a
> reinforcing strip over the mounting hole to save the bumper and reduce
> the claim.

I too have a '94 civic. The bumper is made from polypropylene, and
regular epoxy will not bond to it. After my bumper had an unfortunate
encounter with a hacksaw I did some research on adhesives. 3M has an
acrylic adhesive made specifically for bonding polypropylene and other
hard to glue plastics. It is called "3M Scotch-Weld Acrylic Adhesive
DP805" Most hardware stores do not carry it, but I have heard that some
marine equipment places has it. I got a tube at R.S. Hughes
(http://rshughes.com/). Spring for the gun and a couple of the
disposable mixing nozzles as well. I didn't, what a mess that was. Also,
heed the warnings about good ventilation when using the glue, the smell
is very strong and very unpleasant.

I glued my bumper with DP805 about 2 years ago, and it is still holding.

TeGGer® wrote:
> You're in a tight spot here.
<snip>
> You might get lucky and it won't go up by much. In my province we do not
> have that luxury.

I guess I'll find out. Turns out it's law in NY State that such things
must be reported to the insurance co., and since I don't know this guy
from Adam (seemed nice enough), it seems smarter to get the adjusters
involved to make sure everything's on the up and up, and to prevent
other "interesting" claims from cropping up later on... Not reporting it
would definitely negatively impact my policy should my insurance co.
find out about it later for some reason or other (as in if the dude were
to pull a fast one).

Supposedly Geico has "Accident Forgiveness" in many states for drivers
with a 5-year good driving record; that means they won't penalize you
for a 1st at-fault accident. Maybe I'll get lucky, but of course if I
do, I'll lament not having it if something more serious comes up.

Off to find a defensive driving course to head off rate increases... or
reduce them if they do increase. :-((

Randolph wrote:
> I too have a '94 civic. The bumper is made from polypropylene, and
> regular epoxy will not bond to it. After my bumper had an unfortunate
> encounter with a hacksaw I did some research on adhesives. 3M has an
> acrylic adhesive made specifically for bonding polypropylene and other
> hard to glue plastics. It is called "3M Scotch-Weld Acrylic Adhesive
> DP805"

Thanks for the info, once again. Should it make sense to do it myself,
I'll be sure to use this stuff.