Paul Marangoni

A little less than a month ago, I got both of my bumpers repainted. The front one had some damage, and some cracked paint as a result of some jerk 'parking by feel' when I was parked on the street near my girlfriend's place. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the damage until later, and I would never have been able to prove anything anyway....

So, like I said, I got my bumpers painted, and they looked great. It cost me just under $1,000.

This evening, I parked my car in front of my girlfriend's place on the street (you know where this is going) with PLENTY of room in front of me for another car to park, and we went to a movie in her car.

We get back 2 and a half hours later, and as I'm walking up to my car, I see this white Honda Accord parked in front of me all askew, and it looks awful close to my front bumper. I figure I better see if this jerk left a mark, so I get up close.....

This idiot's car was STILL PRESSED AGAINST MY FRONT BUMPER!!! He had backed up right into me while parking it, and then LEFT IT THERE against my car!!!

I got my girlfriend to get her camera and I snapped some pics of it. I was sure there would some scuff marks at a minimum. When I back up and looked closer (it was just after 10 PM, pretty dark) I could see that the paint had cracked in an area just above where the license plate would be if I had it on. This bumper needs to be repainted again!! The cost to repaint the front bumper is going to be around $500, but my deductible is $1,000. I'm going to call my insurance company tomorrow and report it and see if they can go after this other guy for the damage, but what can I expect? I mean, I have pictures as proof, and my girlfriend as a witness, plus the proof that the bumper was in perfect condition having been repainted less than a month ago.

Do you think I can recoup from this *****? Any advice (besides not parking on the street anymore, which is now a given)?

jcnesq

If he's insured, his insurance company will probably pay once presented with the pictures (no deductible for you). If he's insured and they won't pay or if he's not insured, small claims court. Good luck.

BTW, don't forget to ask for rental car expense while your car's in the shop.

I HATE bastards like that!!!

djantlive

Should have gotten a police report filed too. If you must park on street, maybe worth putting on a front plate or just not repaint the bumper. Do you have a clear bra? That can help you save the bumper from scrapes too.

I pretty much almost never park on street now. It's either in garage or in a lot.

smshirk

Many insurance companies documeny any convertsation you have with them, even if you never file a claim. They or another company may count that against you later. Geico is the worse, but State Farm does it as well. I don't know how many others, but I suspect quite a few have adopted the practice.

LVDell

Didn't believe that till this week. GEICO dropped us for 1 accident this past winter. 1-car accident (all cosmetic...no bodywork), very minor, no injuries and they dropped us. No accidents or tickets in 17 years!!!! What a joke. I switched companies and got a better deal than GEICO anyway so it worked out for the better. Still, I am in amazement they pulled that crap.

Paul Marangoni

You don't need a police report if the damage is under $750.

I usually hang a front plate with one of those dealer bags, but what does that have to do with preventing damage? It would have been even worse damage if the plate was there. And 'not repaint the bumper'? WTF? Should I not wash it either?

Clear bra? No, and I don't put plastic on my couch either. Besides, a clear bra would not have helped in this case. The bumper was pushed so far that the paint CRACKED. It wasn't just scraped.

jury_ca

GEICO? That company provides police departments with radar guns and other goodies, just so they can raise premiums. Pls don't support them.

Rico

do it the old fashioned way, kick his ***.
you'll feel much better afterword.

RLandis

Geico dropped you because they saw your Avatar!!!!

LVDell

Ok, Richard, enough outta you! Let' just wait and see how September plays out.

TT Surgeon

Dell, you should be able to get USAA anyway, much better company.

LVDell

You read my mind Chris. Actually ashamed to say that I left USAA to switch to GEICO to "save 15%" and now got burned. Was with USAA for 16 years prior and just went groveling back. And guess what? I saved more than 15% what I was paying GEICO!!!

Res Ips

About 3 years ago I decided to really make an effort to reduce our car insurance. 3 cars was about $4500 a year full coverage, etc. etc.

Went with Geico too. Saved close to 25%. A minor fender bender where someone hit my car and busted a tail light. No paint damage. To either car. No visible damage to the other car. A pretty clean brake of the tail light only. The Yahoo that ran into me, rather than paying the $175.00 out of her pocket for a new lense on my Volvo makes her insurance pay. Her insurance notifies my insurance about the "accident". Geico hikes my rates to more than what I was paying to the original insurer. I dropped them cold and went back to Safeco.

thanatos69

Sorry to hear abour your bumper, I've been there before. I was out at dinner with a friend and upon returning to my car, I found that some (insert proper explicitive here) had used the front bumper on my Mustang convertible as a parking aid. I was not happy, however in my case I did have a front plate on so there was no real damage done. I waited around for him to come out and he acted like there was nothing wrong with what he did. I just love people sometimes.

As to the insurance thing, I've been with State Farm for quite a few years now and I've had no problems with them. I had a slight accident last year in my C5 Corvette coupe (80MPH+20LB racoon=bumper repaint) and my agent took care of it out of pocket minus my $50 deductible with no rate increase.

The one real accident I've reported to them was deemed my fault by the attending officer and my insurance maybe went up $15 per month at the time. That was about 8 years ago and I now will never trust someone waving me through an unprotected lefthand turn across traffic.

I know other people have had horror stories with State Farm but I've had great luck. My rates at State Farm have also been about 15-20% lower than what other national agencies want to charge me. I guess I've been lucky so far with them.

-Richard
'99 Porsche 911 Coupe