Everyone-

Some lady just wacked my car while I was driving down a side street doing 25mph. She just made contact with the nose of the car... but what a damn shame. The paint was just done! Check the pic:




She wants to settle NOW so she can forget about it. How much damage does this look like to you folks? The paint is 2003 Vette Red, and is only about a 6mo old $4500 paint job. What should I tell this lady? Should I just throw a higher-ish # out there and let her pay up, or should I just go get a quote to have the clip replaced and repained? Its hard to tell by the pics... but the plastic actually had some material removed, and did actually shift the entire nose over about 1/4" to the passenger side.

What to do?

 

i would go bring it too a body shop and get an estimate and have them do all of the work..thats what i would do..unless you wanna take the time and do the work yourself and keep some of the money...but just go to a body shop and get an estimate, and maybe even ask them to bump it up a bit to make ya happy...this is were a good friend comes into play and he just happens to be a body man

 

If I were you I'd go to the best body shop in town and ask them how much it would cost to fix it and repaint it. I'm guessing around $2K, if they fix that small area, then patch paint it (with a good shop you won't be able to tell the difference) and realign the nose piece. But that price may be too low or too high. Go by a good shop (hotrod, custom, etc.) and have them give you a quote.

 

I would also go to a body shop and get the quote. Nice car btw but how is it a 90 Z-28? I thought they only made Irocs & Rs's in 1990

 

She want's to settle now, why? #1 No ins? wanting to forget about it sounds a little weak to me! Probably scared her ins. will go up huh? It's up to you! how fast you want to get it fixed or how well it's done. Like the other post said, get an est. that will be sure to cover the expence of repair. If she balk's at the price, take her to small claims and sue her for repairs. It doesn't take but about 10 or 20 bucks to file a claim but the time involved to get to court could take a while. I bet your pissed! I would be.

 

If you have the money, wouldn't you rather skip insurance? My friend is doing the same thing, he was involved in a small accident.. His firebird's nose hit the door of another car. Buffing fixed his car, but the other car, the guy hasn't called him back, yet.. so he's just waiting for a call.. he has the money to fix it, and just doesnt' want insurance involved (i wouldn't, either, since it doesn't seem that bad)

If you can pay it, skip insurance. I think that's probably what the woman is wanting to do.

As far as the damage to your car... someone said 2000$? That's drastic.. There's no way in hell that can be 2000$.. if it is, those are some inflated out the *** prices.

 

i didnt know they had tbi's in z28's either

 

OK OK... Its an IROC you people! Now lets concentrate... either take the car to the fancy shop and get a high quote, OR throw some astronomical # at her tomorrow and scare her into paying up. Well... I guess its a good thing for her that I'm an honest guy. I'll just bring it into a reputable shop and have them give me an estimate. I'd bet they want to replace the whole nose (I'd expect them to!) since some of the plastic was ground up and somewhat piled up towards the front of the clip...

I just can't believe it. I bought the darn car because the paint was so nice. Now I've got a car with a custom paint job and a messed up front clip.

At least I found her after she DROVE OFF at first! The cops found her in the lot just around the corner! I'm glad they did find her... I really didn't want this coming out of my insurance.

Thanks for everyone's $.02.

-Dan

 

slightly off topic but im confused, which is it? 305tbi or 350tbi? and irocs didnt come with TBi at all either

 

Yes they did. Maybe not in '90 though.

 

it's gotta be a 305... He says he has a 5-speed, too.

maybe it was a typo
cause his signature says 305, also

 

Tell her to call your insurance company. Nothing good can come of rushing things and doing it from person to person.

 

Get 2 estimates, one at what would be the most expensive place you could go and the other at a place that you might actually take it (obviously not Macco or Earl Schibe). Then give the lady the average plus 10%. If you can, get the person who did the paint to look at it.

Just my opinion though.

 

Bring it to the shop that did the paint and get an estimate. Tell them what it's for. Show her the quote and say you want all of it up front before bringing it into the shop. If she complains, then go straight to insurance.

 

Lets clear some crap up.

it's a 305 TBI unless he slapped a 350 into it, they didn't make 350 TBI for thirdgens, plus he has a 5 speed and they only came with a 305.

 

Plus to top it off, from 90-92 there were NO IROC/Z28 models that didn't have TPI.

 

Take it to where it was painted and get a quote to do it right. Also, didnt the cops do anything for her hit and run? You said she took off. Thats not legal. Maybe I missed something here. My experience has been that when someone says they will pay to avoid insurance it never happens. They drag their feet and then you have to end up taking them to court. Why would your insurance go up? She hit you.

Your insurance should fix the damage and then they would chase her for the money. It shouldnt affect you at all. The other thing is that your paint job cost 4500. What is the car blue booked at? It doesnt take much for an insurance company to total these cars out (tho i doubt they would yours).

Unless you have had your car appraised I bet your only covered for blue book value. If someone was to total your car thats all you would get. Bye bye 4500 dollars. Same for me. Mine needs to be appraised because of the cost of my engine and tranny etc. If totaled I stand to lose 5k.

 

I happened to end up at fault in an accident that was due to bad driving conditions (police were there... there was no bad driving involved, it was just bad luck and technically it was my fault). The other driver and I agreed to settle away from insurance and I paid to have his front bumper resprayed (it was pretty minor, but the car was fairly new). Not everyone will drag their feet.

 

I would consider you an exception to the rule...

 

She drove off and the cops had to find her? And you think this lady is going to pay you with no problems?

Nice looking car though, whatever it really is.

 

As this thread is not tech related I feel obligated to close it. You guys have spent more time discussing what engine he is supposed to have.