[skunkman]

My wife kissed a curb with her car and broke a piece of the chrome trim and scuffed the bumper. I took it to a shop that repaired my daughters car earlier this year. They did a good job at what seemed like a slightly high price. I didn't pay for that one since the damage came when a cable truck dropped a ladder on her hood. The estimate for my wife's car was $1048 which seemed high but I thought it was a Mercedes so that is what I would have to pony up. Just got a call from the shop and the revised estimate is $3600 since they claim some of the clip tabs on the bumper are broken so the entire bumper needs to be replaced. I told them to forget it and I was told they can't reassemble the car to the state it was in. Needless to say I'm pissed. Waiting to hear from the manager.

UPDATEED BELOW****

 

[crash]

Slight bumper damage repair can be RIDICULOUS. I blame the OEMs for making them so complex and expensive to repair. I know our Lexus and Jeep bumpers were over $1000 to repair when they were newer cars. Now I think I have seen replacement aftermarket covers for a couple hundred bucks. Might want to check for aftermarket?

Still, even if you can find one, it will likely be $500-$1000 just for the cover, then you have to paint match with special flexibility additives, then install charges, and if the foam is damaged underneath...yeah, it adds up real quick.

We may have gotten away from hanging a chromed steel bumper out the ends of our vehicles, but they sure were easier to fix...and harder to damage...than what we have today.

 

[USMC]

Sounds like time to call your insurance company. Let them do the haggling.

Of course I am assuming you have comprehensive on the car since you didn't mention how old it is.

 

[skunkman]

Sounds like time to call your insurance company. Let them do the haggling.

Of course I am assuming you have comprehensive on the car since you didn't mention how old it is.

Here's the problem. Wife damaged the car 6 months ago. We have since switched insurance companies. I am having him put it back together and have it repaired by someone else. The estimate was done in about 1 minute without putting the car on a lift. I know a guy who does mobile repairs and is half decent (not perfect) but almost for sure good enough to pass the lease trade in. The damage was barely visible aside from the broken plastic chrome piece which I could replace.

 

[expat]

Yours is cheap compared to my SIL taking off the rear bumper on my BIL's 911 with her new Lexus backing out of a 3 car garage :evil:

 

[crash]

Here's the problem. Wife damaged the car 6 months ago. We have since switched insurance companies. I am having him put it back together and have it repaired by someone else. The estimate was done in about 1 minute without putting the car on a lift. I know a guy who does mobile repairs and is half decent (not perfect) but almost for sure good enough to pass the lease trade in. The damage was barely visible aside from the broken plastic chrome piece which I could replace.

I wonder if there is any requirement for a repair facility to report damage to a vehicle that comes into their shop? If so, and it goes on something like a CarFax report, then the dealer might look closely at the area when you try and turn it in. At that point, it might say in the lease that they will fix it to Mercedes standards and it might cost you EVEN MORE.

I would discreetly check about this somehow before taking the "cheap" route and then finding out that you have to fix it twice.

I know from a woman in my office that returned a lease car and got a Nazi inspector that it was a nightmare. They wanted to make her replace a non cracked windshield because it had "sand pitting damage". She had her lawyer friend tell them in a letter that it was "normal wear and tear" and the stealership caved, but I can imagine the wringer they will run you through if they find out about an incident that was fixed on the cheap.

 

[R Edgar]

Several years ago I was rear-ended in a leased Cadillac SRX. The only damage was to the rear bumper cover. I took it to an independent repair facility, as the dealer’s collision shop was backed way up. The repair facility had an identical – same make, model, year and color - SRX that had sufficient front damage that an insurance company had totaled it. He asked if it was okay with me to use the rear bumper cover from that SRX. I agreed as I was certain a factory painted cover would be a better color match than a newly painted one.

When the lease was up, the leasing company wanted around $500 due to a difference in rear bumper paint color. What?????

I could not see a color difference, nor could anyone else at the dealership. The dealer talked the leasing company down to around $200, which I paid so I would not have to be bothered with it anymore.

Somehow that leasing company knew our SRX had been involved in a rear end accident. How they knew, I will never know.

So be careful with what you decide, your leasing company may also know.

Roy

 

[skunkman]

The body shop charged my wife $200 to put the car back together. I took it to a second shop for an estimate - $800. When it was time to pick the car up the owner said he would give a cash discount if we were interested. $700. The car looks perfect. $3500 vs $700. Guess who is getting a bad Yelp review

 

[crash]

That's great! Please give us an update if anything happens when you turn the vehicle in.

 

[Derald Rice]

Somehow the leasing company knew our SRX had been involved in a rear end accident. How they knew, I will never know.

Roy

I have been told that some of today's computers will record when multiple light bulbs need to be replaced at the same time, which is interpreted as an "incident".

i.e.... If all rear lights needed to be replaced at the same time, it would indicate an incident at the rear of the car.

How the incident is reported, was not explained to me, I would think that the info is only available from the OBD port. And then there would be the question of how the leasing company obtained the OBD download. Maybe it is sent through OnStar ??