Need Help... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

xP3R5i4Nx · 03-08-2009, 07:19 AM

so yesterday i was backing out of a parking spot at a restaurant. and my left taillight was damaged along with yellow marking along the left side. the body got messed up, and is scratched pretty badly. Can someone tell me what im looking to pay? and im 17 so if the insurance company covers it thats gonna be bad cuz they are gonna boost the price for the bill. so how much am i looking to pay out of my pocket?
this sucks so badd :[

Honda city · 03-08-2009, 07:38 AM

Without looking at it, and not being a auto body repair person it is hard to say. I can only guess at a few things to give you an idea of what it will cost to return the car to its original condition. First the tail lights are amazingly expensive and at this time a used one from the scrap yard is very rare. I can only guess that a tail light might go for approx. $400 - $600. Auto body repair cost form $70 - $90 per hour where I am, an you can expect about the same where you are. So, just guessing without seeing the damage the repair may be from $800 - $1500, for a total cost of $1500 to $2000. I believe that these numbers are very realistic.
To ask the insurance company to pay for the repairs will boost you premiums, in the long run you will be paying them more than the price of this repair. Also you will have a record in your insurance policy that you are a high risk driver. This may effect you for 10 to 15 years.

pwain · 03-08-2009, 01:40 PM

It really depends on how many body pieces you damaged. We would need to see a picture to give you an idea. I would think $1000 sounds reasonable if you did give it a good whacking right at the corner and wanted it back to perfect.

Also if you go the insurance route, you would have to consider paying a deductible + any boost in your premium.

xP3R5i4Nx · 03-08-2009, 02:10 PM

this is the accident :[ au revoir money i saved for HID/UnderGlow/Rims/Springs

pwain · 03-08-2009, 05:35 PM

Not as bad as it sounded.

I think your best bet is to pay for the damage yourself. If you find a good body shop, you probably save the bumper or get a used one of ebay. If you are looking to mod, now would be a good time for LED tails, and install them yourself. Hopefully the bottom lip is salvageable, otherwise you only need to be the driver side piece. The quarter panel will likely cost a bit though.

Corollanation · 03-08-2009, 06:41 PM

I'm not an expert but back in a day I had an accident.. woman decided to make right turn from left lane.. anyway I had scratch and paint smeered like yours.. What I'm saying is your bumper looks ok to me just got a lotta paint.. try waxing it a lot and see how bad it's damaged without all that paint maybe it's not thaat bad.. meaning maybe you can leave bumper repair for later you know..

Go for LEDs man! that is a good advice there.

CJCride · 03-08-2009, 06:53 PM

A ton of accidents happen in reverse, low speed = reduced sense of risk, plus visibility generally sucks.

If you guys can settle it on your own thats the way to go.

Good thing there was no one walking there.

Could have been a lot worse, don't feel too bad.

Drachenv6 · 03-08-2009, 07:22 PM

That sucks. I would try to get a replacement light first, and see what needs to be replaced from there. The bumper looks pretty usable to me.

btw. I had my 1st oil change at Tufankjian.

xP3R5i4Nx · 03-08-2009, 09:00 PM

thanks guys, helped alot. i just talked to my parents and we are calling the dealership to check the price of 1 tailight. most prob gonna be 175-300. so im prob gonna get the LEDs. i guess something good might come out of this, haha.

my dad is taking the car to a body shop to get a quote on it. will post up the quote, and maybe you can help me out on the decision making a little bit more.

FirstXrs · 03-08-2009, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xP3R5i4Nx

UnderGlow

Quote:

Damn, it IS tinted red. I was hoping it was some stupid film or something. Got my hopes up on that one, haha.

Hmm, you should give me your broken tail. I want to play with it a little.

joeylgarcia · 03-09-2009, 01:30 AM

look for the left side tail light on ebay. you might get a good one for a good price.

Honda city · 03-09-2009, 05:43 AM

Thats how I imagined the accicent, and my guess is that it might cost $1500 - $2000. My last car was a Honda Civic, many people changed the rear lights to clear from red. I suspect that there are tons of original red tail lights for the Honda Civic out there somewhere, jusy as there might be some original break lights for 09 Corollas from sone people that have changed to LED taillights out there. If you can find them.

qwertytheasdf · 03-09-2009, 07:25 PM

More expensive if you go the dealer way, but they probably will do a better job. If you claim your own insurance, they might not have it repaired at the dealer. My dad's 2001 Civic got T-boned and the insurance went cheap. You can see that they took scraps and cut it to make it fit.

Honda city · 03-09-2009, 08:47 PM

I have never seen an insurance repair done on the cheap here in eastern Canada. Usualy they insist on a dealer repair unless you ask for a independent shop of your own choice.