This morning my Fit was involved in an accident on the way to work.

 

That really sucks. Stay on the insurance company if the repair isn't up to par.

Get genuine OEM parts.

 

only accept oem parts! less than 2k. man that sucks! sorry to hear!

 

sorry about this.

GA insurance regs require compensation for loss of value even after the car is fully repaired. You'll get a check.

Don't accept a run-around from the other guy's insurance. If they give you a hard time get your insurance company involved.

They should also pay for a rental car while yours is being repaired.

 

Thanks for the tip.

I verified that they will only use Honda OEM parts for the repair. I'm not sure what will be needed for the repair.

His insurance company is USAA and they've been great thus far.

 

Thank you for mentioning this part. I called the insurance company representative and left a message asking about dimished/loss of value. I never heard of it before, so I'll see what she says. I didn't even consider what this will do to any future trade in value.

 

From what I understand USAA is good insurance, but honestly, don't even involve his insurance company. Talk to yours, they'll know what's up. Get it fixed the way you want at the shop you choose - definitely research the shop you're using. Your insurance company will then sue his for the money, and it will not reflect poorly on you. I have, unfortunately, had to do this on more than one occasion, and it is the way you want to go. My brothers old girlfriend hit my car a few years ago. She had Nationwide, which most folks would think is good, but they do not really care about anyone but themselves. Dealing with them was a nightmare and I was without my car for weeks(!) for what should have taken 2-3 days, tops. The owner of the body shop explained to me what Nationwide was trying to pull; thankfully he was upfront with me. It took me days on the phone with people that were horribly rude once the money was involved, but were nice as could be beforehand.

The lesson: It's YOUR car, and YOU are the one who is greatly inconvenienced by their insured driver damaging your brand new vehicle. They'll fix it under your terms; trust me, once your insurance company says that they're going to sue them for the money, they will pay up to have your chosen shop do it right. Court costs will quickly eat away that $500 bucks they tried to shortchange you by having an area covered in bondo vs replacing sheet metal. (This might sound crazy, but I've seem them try). Insurance companies are in the game to make money, and the less they have to give to you the better. I would recommend having your insurance company let you fix it the way you want it done and letting them deal with it. You do pay them, after all.

Just my friendly word of advice after, sadly, going through this same situation more than once. Good luck, and with a good body shop your car will be as good as new. I've had a civic with vivid blue pearl paint that went to a body shop, and it was matched so perfectly you could not tell. Good luck.

 

I want to thank everyone for their help and words of encouragement. Steve244 has been a tremendous help and took time out to help me via PM. Thank you so much!

Here are some pics of the damage. As you can see, the door is pretty much bent. It closes fine. There is some light and minor black scuffing running on the other side of the wheel well towards rear bumper. It was difficult to get pictures of that, since the car is dirty. My wife saw the damage tonight and said, that isn't bad. Of course, I've been bummed about this all day. She's always the positive one.

One thing I will definitely say, this is a tough little car.

After the accident, I drove the vehicle the rest of the way into work and home tonight. I listened for any clunks, weird sounds or oddities from the rear of the vehicle and heard nothing. It's running smooth, just like before the accident. Since the impact wasn't great and I was able to swerve away from it, I'm confident there's no damage to the wheel/suspension. I will ask them to check it. The wheel wasn't touched. No damage or marks on it at all.

If anyone has any feedback on what I should expect at body shop (by looking at the damage), how they'll repair this or what questions I should ask, I value any and all of your opinions.

Thanks again all!

 

And here I was thinking this was some major impact... that's not bad man. I know it's frustrating since it's a brand new car.

It sucks they hit the rear quarter panel, that's gonna be some work to fix that little dent there. Interested to see what they want to do to repair it.

inb4replacethewholequarterpanel$2500

Is there even any dent on the door? I can't tell if it's just scratched or what?

 

Thanks man!

I guess cause it's new, I'm over analyzing the damage. I was wondering about the quarter panel damage as well.

Yes the door has a dent/crease and bottom of door is bent out. It doesn't line up. There's definitely a crease in the door. I added a couple of pics trying to capture it.

 

That's not too bad. They'll probably still replace the door. Getting that perfect would be difficult, and the labor to repair it is probably about what the door would cost ($542 for the whole door or $217 for just the "skin"). I'd expect them to repair the quarter panel, the dog leg area in front of the rear wheel. I'd rather that be a repair than cutting the section off, welding, etc., if it were mine.

Keep us updated!

Expect at the body shop? $1,200 (swag) plus your rental car and "diminished value." Oh and at least 5 days, maybe 8.

 

Hate to hear it man.

 

I have to ask, what was the other driver's excuse? I didn't see your orange car coming?

 

Maybe... "ooh, what's that? gotta get a little closer. oops, too close."

 

Sorry to hear this happened, especially so soon after you got your new car.
Am glad no one was hurt. As everyone said make sure it is fixed to your satisfaction.

 

Again, thanks to everyone for the kind words.

I'm off to the body shop tomorrow for an estimate. I'm going with the dealership's body shop, since I'm pleased with their service.

I'll update this thread with any information they give me about the repairs.

 

Yeah not too bad, if it's any consolation. Those of us who love our cars can relate. The dent is more on the owner than the car.

But hey, if the Fit wasn't as agile then your damage would have been more or you could have lost control while doing your avoidance maneuver. Good luck!

 

Subie,

This is a very cool post. Thank you so much!

 

As Mr. Clinton would say, "I feel your pain." So sorry for you but keep in mind that good body shops nowadays can do miracles. And I agree with ShadowMoses - let the insurance companies fight it out. That's what you pay premiums for. They'll go after the other guy's insurance - I believe it's called 'subrogate' - and get them to pay it all in full. What I can see from the damage, I doubt it will have any effect on eventual resale, esp. if there's no frame damage. Wouldn't even mention it...
Good luck!

 

This is so true. Someone hit my Fit less than two weeks after I brought her home. It hurt real bad, and I wasn't even in the car when she got hit.