Stupid carpark tip = €1000?

M

microsquid

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Rear tip in car park on hill, coming out of manoeuvre from reverse to 1st, forgot handbrake and rolled 3ft.
I drive a Micra, no damage.
The other car is a Prelude, at the time I got out, gave it an examination, I thought no scratches and drove off.
Mea culpa.
Apparently I'd dismounted the bumper (by about 2 inches by the time the owner got to the car an hour later) and because it was an import etc the damage is coming to €1000 for a new bumper, sprayed, new numberplate mounting etc.
There's still no scratches or anything.
Granted the owner is entitled to bring it to a Honda dealer but:
a) Micras are made of cardboard *sic* and all that happened me was there was a crack in my tail-light. Not a hole, just a small crack.
I have previously cracked my tail-light on bracken. (True story, maybe I should never reverse again)
b) therefore it seems a bit mad that that degree of cash would need to be spent on the other car?
Am I missing the motoring economics here or am I being screwed?
Can anyone take a poor girl aside and explain?:confused:
 
It's possible that other person is taking the mickey. A few info questions:
What year was the Honda?
Who are you insured with?
If it turns out that the figure is correct would you pay privately?
How did the Honda owner find you??
Have you got a written estimate or just owners word for the amount involved?

My little book gives values for Preludes from 1997 to 2000, so surely even if it was an import, the bumper wouldn't be more expensive than for a Prelude bought here??

You could ring a Honda garage, give them all the details and get an estimate yourself. The majority of larger garages/dealers use a system called Glassmatics - a program that works out how long different parts take to install, spray etc. they should be able to help you with minimal hassles. I would have thought that if you had dismounted the bumper, it would need new brackets and re-mounting (not replacement).
 
I had to replace a cracked bumper for a Ford Mondeo last year, the main part of that job was to re-spray the bumper and mixing the paint etc as well as re-alighning the various parts that absorb the impact on between the body and the bumper.

I got this done at Ford main dealer and it cost approx 600 euro if thats any help as a guide price and it was a complete new bumper but Fords would be much cheaper to repair than an imported Honda.

I would have thought that if the bumper was not cracked and could be re-used, it shouldnt warrant such an expensive price?
 
Were you reversing out of a spot? Ok, this is useless hidnsight but people should never do that no matter where they park. It just makes more sense to reverse into a spot. Otherwise, you could run over a small child.
 
Not sure if it helps you but I was previously told that if you had a tip in a car park (on private property) you were not covered by your insurance.

This may work in your favour as insurance companies are far too quick to pay out for minor tips as they couldn't be bothered to fight them as it is too expensive.

Perhaps you should check with your insurance company.

If the insurance company is not involved then you can make a reasonable offer to your man (boy racer I presume). If he doesn't accept it he can can take you to the small claims court. If he is acting the mick, which seems likely, and if you have shown yourself to be reasonable, then the court will grant a reasonable amount to him. It is highly unlikely that he will go that far.

It's strange. Your micra hit a bumper of a much bigger car at a very low speed and he is claiming that you caused E1,000 worth of damage. What is the point in having bumpers if they are so easily damaged. Surely the main reason for having bumpers in the first place is to absorb minor bumps like this. If the damage is there I wonder if it was there before you rolled into him
 
I don't think it's fair to assume that the owner of the Prelude is either a boy racer or trying to pull a fast one to get the bumper repaired.
If microsquid had travelled a distance of 3ft (on a hill remember) without having time to respond to step on the brake, it's most likely she wasn't travelling at a very low speed - her car was rolling backwards down a hill and the Prelude stopped her car. I think damage is only to be expected, but can't comment on the scope of that damage.
 
Another thing to consider is that the main dealer may not be prepared to simply replace the existing bumper due to the possibility of being sued in the event of the Prelude being hit in future and the bumper failing to perform its duty adequately. The foam used in modern bumpers does not recover after knocks, and the dealer has no way of knowing the damage caused to this.
Leo
 
I'd get another estimate. Your own panel beater this time.

I bet you will come in a lot cheaper.
 
Thanks for all the replies. It's a 99 Prelude and he doesn't seem to be a boy-racer.
The main reason I'm up the creek is that it looks like I did a hit-and-run.
In hindsight I should have gone into the reception of the place and paged the owner but at the time I couldn't see any major damage aside from a bare centimetre gap in the bumper which I wasn't certain I caused. My man was with me and we looked as carefully as we could but we were hungry and we went home.
Apparently there were witnesses (don't remember anyone else or we would have asked their opinion) and my number plate was taken. It could also have been on the CCTV of the car park. At any rate I got a phone call from my friendly local garda :eek: and was eager to do whatever needed to be done to make it right.
If I'd seen significant damage I would have stopped, but as it was it is entirely possible that with the weight of the bumper itself it could have shifted to the two-inch gap later.
I rang a Honda dealer straight away and they said that Preludes were funny and that the bumper depended on the specific model. That if the support was damaged that the entire bumper would have to be replaced even if there wasn't a scratch on it. And that depending on the bumper if it was presprayed I was looking at €600 for the job, or it could be quite a bit more.
I don't really have the right to insist that he goes anywhere based on the appearances above so I was acting in good faith and going along with it.
I don't know what else I can do but I just needed a moan near learned parties.
 
Oh yeah, as regards insurance, I had another tip earlier in the year and was hoping to keep this one off my insurance if it was lower than €750 as that would fit in 'rainydayfund' territory.
 
Maybe you could tell us where you shop so we could avoid it. About twice I've returned to my car to find a scratch or dent in it most definitely not caused by me. They are very annoying. If I could have found out who did them (no matter how small) then i would and take them to the cleaners. Its not cool to hit and run even if the damage is minimal. Would you have driven away if it was a brand new Aston Martin?
 
If I could see absolutely no damage on the AM then I would have blessed myself and driven away.
A scratch or a dent I would have seen at least.
And I can understand the guy being annoyed (as I would be) and his right to take his car to be fixed whereever.
I was just hoping for ballpark figures.
 
Murt10 said:
If the insurance company is not involved then you can make a reasonable offer to your man (boy racer I presume). If he doesn't accept it he can can take you to the small claims court.
Click to expand...
Not true - Small claims court is for consumers taking cases against businesses only.
 
if he rejects the offer he should just go to her insurance company.

some of the posters here seem to be forgetting that microsquid is the one at fault, not the prelude owner...

and as for the assumptions that the owner was a boy racer, what about the hit and run driver...
 
You would be mad to claim on your insurance; sure you will save money now but you will lose much more over the new few years due to increased premiums and you will have to declare this incident if looking for a new insurance company in the next 5 years and many will not insure you then.

My advice is that unless there is a substantial amount of money involved i.e. >€2500 or you really cannot afford it pay it off yourself
 
How did you arrive at this figure of 2500? Interested to know. The NCB applies only to a portion of the insurance premium, and reduces to 40% (I think, or is it 60%? - don't have my policy in front of me) over 5 years. Last time I had to decide whether to claim or not, the breakeven figure was only about £400.

Perhaps someone could do the maths for us. I think far too many people are afraid to claim for fear of "losing" the no claim bonus.
 
I dont know the figures but they way I see premiums being calculated now the 'gross premium' is pretty hefty ie over 1,000 before they apply the ncd which brings it down to €500 straight away. then they start applying all those extra discounts ie two cars, house, no penalty points etc and this brings it down to under €400 so a claim might be more expensive in the longer term. you will have to look at your own insurance policy and work it out. dont forget the excess when doing so.
 
a one in a million chance - who's to say it won't happen when you reverse in?
 
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