Ouch! I rear-ended a car today while pulling out of a parking lot. She said someone "cut her off." She came to a dead stop and I rambled right into her CRV at maybe 2-5 miles and hour. It wasn't her fault either I guess, but I bear the brunt of the blow. I took the car at my passenger's side with some good scatches at the bumper. No problem, I thought... then we agreed to go on without insurance transaction.

Got the car home and my side panel is jammed up against the hood, with a dent, also a small dent near the mirror. Pretty sure I have to replace the side panel now. Fender benders..on the corner panel, took my side panel too. Damn

 

You're lucky she didn't want to pursue insurance route. You would have been at fault simply because you rear ended her. So are you going to get your vehicle repaired? Are you going to file with your insurance company?

 

Sorry to hear about that Michie. Sasair is right at least you did not exchange insurance info because you would be at fault regardless of what happend when you hit someone in the rear. Also nowadays you need to be careful trusting people and should always get a police report when any damage is there or at least pictures. She could seem like a Nun and than all of the sudden you get a call from your insurance saying she has injuries due to you supposedly slamming into her by just getting your license plate when you left the seen. Again sorry to hear about it and hope its fixed and looking good again soon.

 

Yea, that would be worst case scenerio, but NYS prevents these kinds of medical after-accident reports and covers all that with "No Fault". So if injured, No fault insurance always pays.


I'm not pursuing insurance cause this was such a low speed accident, nothing but the exterior was damaged. Do you know, if I go to a body shop do they have to report it somehow? I really don't want this on "car facts".
Also, can I maybe purchase a quarter panel from Honda and bring it to a shop to paint it? Then maybe bolt it on myself?

 

I don't think the body shop would report it anywhere. Also I don't think the quarterpanel is a bolt on part. It is likely spot welded on.

 

Okay then, if that's the case, I'll have to bring it in for the whole job. The metal on the quarter panel is so thin, it bucked in several spots, so I'm likely to face pain chipping in the future. Although I read a bit about color mismatch when you replace the whole panel, I think I'm gonna have to go that route. I'll be getting an estimate I hope Tuesday night. I'll run around to get a few.

 

You definitely need to get it checked out by a competent body shop. Unibody construction means that the panels are also a stressed member of the structure and welded to the underlying ACE "frame". It sounds like you have distorted that quarter panel, to the point of even wrinkling the part. Let's hope that is the extent of the damage.

I have a carmax story on repairs if you are interested in hearing it. It was part of the Drivers Edge driver education program out of Las Vegas. My newly minted driver son got to drive BMWs on a wet course where the professional driver sitting in the passenger seat put the gear into neutral after my son did a full throttle to about 40 mph while following a turn in the course...then the professional driver pulled up the handbrake...let the games begin, son, and get out of this mess.

Good Luck on the estimate!

 

I don't think CarFax reports minor accidents like bumper-benders. I've got my insurance company paid for several times on no-fault, or non-insured motorist policy in Maryland, incidents. But if it was your fault in a major accident, it's a different story. Goodluck, Mickie.

 

UHHH, does this mean you're not going to tell whomever you sell it to that the car was in an accident? That is the height of dishonesty; not only that, you can get in serious trouble with the law for misrepresentation. I believe they call it "fraud" and it carries some big penalties. Shame on you. I hope you don't intend to try and hide this. Not to mention it's just bad karma. I had this happen to me when I bought my Stealth. Seller was one of those holy roller types — should have been my first clue. He sure did some back pedaling when I called him out. What a f'ing dishonest LOSER that guy was.

Of course disregard all this if that was not your intent. But not wanting it on CarFax seems a bit odd.

 

Mickie -- please excuse my harshness. I should've let that post sit for a while before I hit submit. I have a sore spot from a previous experience with someone who sold me a car (actually it happened more than once) and didn't tell me certain key facts. Anyway, I hope you will do the right thing when it comes time to sell your vehicle.

 

Pacer- my only point is this.. the car was in a fender bender. Only damaged from the outside. When anyone sees on car facts: "front end MVA" it's a red flag for axil and other problems. I'm frankly amazed at how much the quarter panel took at 2 miles/hour.
I bought the car. I might keep it and drive it into the ground. Definitely won't think of unloading it because of this minor fault. Three years down the road, I don't know how I'll feel if RDX comes out with a V6. I've already lost the value in the car by then.
Just thinking like anyone else, no fraud, no mal- intent, just don't want the whole thing blown out of proportion because of a website.

 

Gotcha. Again, my apologies on the harsh words in my first post.

 

I got a quote today from a trustworthy autobody shop. Let me put it this way, I trust them more then the dealer to do a great job. The headlight appears undamaged from the outside, but the housing has suffered damage. could fix it, but the head lamp FYI is a whopping $700 part. The fender ($250) it could be fixed, but I think I'll opt to get a new fender (quarter panel) instead. Don't want to deal with a refurbished panel that they can't warrentee. Total cost of the fender bender...$ between $1200-$2000. if I get a new light housing...that changes everything. Oh...by the way...guys and gals, don't break the headlight!

For me, I think I must have caught the whole thing at a bad angle, for all that damage. BTW...Pacer? don't sweat it.