Question About A Small Accident And Rights....

[Simon-S14]

My gf had a small scrape with another car while turning into a shopping centre carpark, The other car was a 4wd and there wasn't much room for a R31 to park i have to say. The owner of the car was loading her car up when it happened.

My gf and the owner exchanged details.. then i rocked up to the scene, damage was no more then paint transfer from my gf's black bumper to the plastic rear bumper of the silver 4wd (forget what make)

anyway the owner of the car has already gotr a quote to fix it.. from a crash repairer in the adelaide hills.. Quote was $300 and they reckon there is suspension damage also. Now i am a mechanic and LPG fitter and this is clear as day solid bullshit.

What i want to know is what are my gf's rights in this case?

Cheers

Simon

[Blitz]

Was your girlfriends car insured?

The damage may only be minor but her insurer would act as a mediator in this case and would have the claimed damage independantly assessed.

[Simon-S14]

No it wasnt... and it will be very soon but that doesnt help this case.

Damage in my opinion wouldnt exceed 100 max.. and thats buffing and touching up the existing paint.

[Gazee]

[quote name='simon-ae86' date='8 Mar 2007, 06:01 PM' post='2964545

anyway the owner of the car has already gotr a quote to fix it.. from a crash repairer in the adelaide hills.. Quote was $300 and they reckon there is suspension damage also.

what a load of shit... tell them that you want a second opinion and try and take it to someone you know... otherwise if they have no insurance tell em to stick it up their asses and to fix it themselves and that you'll give their car a cut n polish

f*kn criminals

excess with insurance sometimes is worth more than damage caused... seriously tell em to blow it out their asses with the suspension...

[Jdfnq]

Ask the 4WD owner to get three quotes....

that is what we have to do at work if someone prangs a guest's car.....

then go and get an indepaendant quote.

oh and good luck

[Link]

If your at fault you should pick the smash repairer and get at least one quote to compare

[Al]

No it wasnt... and it will be very soon but that doesnt help this case.

Damage in my opinion wouldnt exceed 100 max.. and thats buffing and touching up the existing paint.

Why should the other driver put up with a sub-standard repair?

$300 to repair/repaint the bar is resonable, as i have had my undamaged bar preped and painted for about the same price.

The suspension bit sounds like bullshit. Tell them you want to come and take photos, then let them take you to court and the case will be thrown out the doors

[Al]

If your at fault you should pick the smash repairer and get at least one quote to compare

Bullshit............. I wouldn't let my car go to the cheapist/dogey repairer, chosen by the person responsible. The victim should chose their prefered repairer.

[Simon-S14]

Why should the other driver put up with a sub-standard repair?

$300 to repair/repaint the bar is resonable, as i have had my undamaged bar preped and painted for about the same price.

The suspension bit sounds like bullshit. Tell them you want to come and take photos, then let them take you to court and the case will be thrown out the doors

thats just the thing.. its over quoted because the bar does not need repainting, the black paint off the bumper has just transferred onto the car, no actual damage to the base coat of the 4wd had occured.. so all it needs is a good cut and polish + buffing.

[32vspecII]

you should have insurance

then they would tell them to piss off for you

your only hope is to get a couple of different quotes supporting your case and try and negotiate with them

and if thats no good tell them to stick it and see if they go to court

[Zappn]

The other person should get two/three quotes from places of their choice, then pick the cheapest

[SKY031]

its over quoted because the bar does not need repainting

You may be a mechanic, but if you're not a panel beater, it's not really up to you to say how much the damage will cost to repair.

$300 isn't much.

I had someone reverse into my Ti in a car park (came out just in time to see it happen) it was mostly paint transfer, but the bar had a tiny squished flat spot, and the quote to fix it at a reputable place was almost $600

There is a fair amount of work involved in these sorts of repairs, it's not just a matter of "it'll buff right out", would you like it if someone hit your pride and joy and then expected you to get it fixed cheaply?

The "3 quotes" thing which people have mentioned is a bit of a crock too... it's their car, they can take it to any repairer of their choice.

If she doesn't agree with it, then she can refuse to pay.

The worst they can do is take you to court.... in which case she'll get stuck with paying their court fees and the $300

If the damage is as minor as you say, it won't be hard to prove that it wasn't possible to cause damage to the suspension.

I hope you took photos of the damage to both cars.