Ouch this hurts.

[bcj]

Got my front bumper replaced after running over debris on the freeway at night.
Talked to the shop beforehand to keep them from drilling holes for the license plate.
Removed the plate holder and stashed it before bringing it in.

Worked very well. No holes in the nose now. They did a good job on matching Whiteout too.

[uEih]

Originally Posted by Euro7R

Damn. That sucks. Hopefully you get a dashcam going forward. I don't even feel safe driving without my dashcam running. So many idiot drivers these days.

What sucks is that I was planning to get a dash cam after I had my car keyed but delayed it until I had more time to install it. With summer around the corner I was planning to get it since I had a little more time and this happened. This time around I'm getting one for sure.

Originally Posted by themadscientist

Whoever did that deserves ass cancer, but growing on their face. I hope everything turns out in the end. That shit makes me sad for your car to be disrespected like that.

I didn't know what to feel I was excited to put my new exhaust in this weekend and this happened. I really want to see the person responsible behind this, praying the building I parked in front have really good quality cameras.

Originally Posted by FloridaBRZ

Being someone who has "ass cancer" I think this is a bit harsh. I do agree however that it royally sucks. I think every time a twin is hit or damaged, a unicorn dies somewhere. But wishing something that horrible on someone is just negative karma. I'm sure the guy who hit your car will have his karma coming. As everyone knows, karma is a bitch. I hope they find him and remember, it could always be worse. You or your family could have been IN the car and hurt. I know its hard to think about, but sometimes you need to count the small blessings.

I was on my break to get food but couldn't because of this so I went a bit later to grab food. There was a homeless guy who was hungry and asked me for food so I got him some, that just put things in perspective that it could be much worse. I'm unhappy about the situation but I think in the end I should be happy with the position I'm in as it's better than some.

Originally Posted by Jfheisenberg

Man that really sucks. What an asshole for just drive away, maybe a drunk driver?

Hopefull you have full cover and insurance can take care of it quickly.

Could possibly be a drunk driver since it's Friday and people just got off work. It was around 4PM so although unlikely I wouldn't doubt it. Either way, drunk or not... Leave a note instead of driving away with a possible misdemeanor.

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Been through it. I'm assuming you have full coverage. I'm also assuming the vehicle isn't totaled, which it doesn't look like it is.

Your insurance company will have an adjuster inspect the damage and make an estimate based on bringing the car back to the condition it was in before the accident. They will not give you extra cash to get a slick aftermarket bumper cover. They will pay the cost of the stock bumper plus the cost of labor to replace it.

HOWEVER, if you're willing to shell out the difference, you can work with the body shop to install your aftermarket bumper cover instead. How easy that is will depend on your insurance company and whether you use one of their "preferred" shops.

The way it usually works:

IF you use their partner or "preferred" shops, the insurance company pays the shop directly for the work minus your deductible, then you pay the deductible directly to the shop. These places often have the claims adjusters right there in offices within the shop, so it's not always clear whether you're dealing with the shop or the insurance company. In those cases they try to present a united customer service experience. The advantage of doing it this way is that if the actual repair ends up costing more than the estimate, the insurance company works that out directly with the shop, and you're not stuck trying to go back to them demanding more money. The disadvantage is that since the insurance company and shop are dealing directly, you have less say in what happens with the vehicle.

IF you decide to use a shop of your choosing instead, the insurance company may pay the shop directly, or they may cut you a check to settle the claim, after which you can do whatever you want with that money. You can then do the work yourself if you want and pocket the labor cost. Or you can cut a deal with your body shop for less than what you got. Or you may end up finding that the actual repair cost was higher than what you received, in which case you're fighting with the insurance company for the difference. In some cases, when you sign the release, that's all you get, so any extra is on you.

To be clear, you always have the right to get another estimate, and it's often a good idea to do so. You do not have to use their partner shops.

So to your specific question about the aftermarket bumper:

If you're using the insurance company's partner shop, they will try to "manage" you into their process where they just deliver you a repaired vehicle with no special considerations. However, you can usually step around the claims representative and talk with the shop personnel to arrange for something different. You could work out with them that you want to replace the bumper cover with an aftermarket item and arrange to pay them the difference.

IF you're using your own shop, you get less interference from the insurance company. You just tell the body man what you want and arrange with him to pay any difference. Or, if you're getting a check directly from the insurance company, you just order the bumper yourself and take it to him, then make sure he takes the cost of the bumper out of the final bill since you already bought it.

I've been through this twice with my Jeep. The first time I used the insurance company's partner shop and felt like I got rather screwed. The second time I got a check directly and used a shop of my choosing, and I felt I had much more control over the process and what happened to the vehicle. That second time I had them do some custom work that would have been nearly impossible to get done at one of those partner shops. On the other hand, I knew exactly what needed to be done, so there were no surprises where I would come up short and have to fight the insurance company for more money.

Does that help?

Thanks! This is extremely helpful, answered everything I wanted to know. I'm not sure about the aftermarket bumper though since most of them aren't nice imo. I might just end up doing the stock one. I know a really good body shop that does a lot of nice cars, not a typical body shop... More geared towards imports, exotics, etc. so I hope they're not too expensive cause that's the shop I want to take it to.

Originally Posted by bcj

Got my front bumper replaced after running over debris on the freeway at night.
Talked to the shop beforehand to keep them from drilling holes for the license plate.
Removed the plate holder and stashed it before bringing it in.

Worked very well. No holes in the nose now. They did a good job on matching Whiteout too.

Hope the shop I want to bring to will do a good job, heard nothing but great reviews on it so based off that I want to take it there. Don't know if their prices are more expensive but I hope I won't have issues with my insurance company with that stuff.

[Eski]

Keep us posted as to how everything plays out! And let us know when you catch the person responsible so we can pop bottles in celebration when they get a ticket and have to fix your car

[cjd]

Really sucks.

My wife had a similar issue not long ago, and not at a corner - just a parallel park jerk. I wish I hadn't procrastinated getting the dashcams, but they're in now. At least available cameras got nicer in the time I waited. :/

[Eski]

I am now very seriously consider a dash cam addition.

[thill]

I hope they have the video footage of the person's license plate and you can go after them. So many people just don't have respect for anyones things, or personally responsibility for their actions. Even if the person was drunk, they could have left a note.

[Agent 86]

This kind of thing really irks me. Had it happen to a car I owned many years ago.

A couple of years ago, I saw someone do this to another car in the parking lot. The woman in an SUV hit a parked car while trying to park, thought no one was looking, then drove away and parked a few isles away. I watched her, took her license plate number then went into the Old Navy store and found the owner.

Someone probably saw this happen.

[themadscientist]

Originally Posted by FloridaBRZ

Being someone who has "ass cancer" I think this is a bit harsh. I do agree however that it royally sucks. I think every time a twin is hit or damaged, a unicorn dies somewhere. But wishing something that horrible on someone is just negative karma. I'm sure the guy who hit your car will have his karma coming. As everyone knows, karma is a bitch. I hope they find him and remember, it could always be worse. You or your family could have been IN the car and hurt. I know its hard to think about, but sometimes you need to count the small blessings.

I'm sorry about your situation and I hope whatever treatment course you are pursuing is working. Cancer is becoming suspicously and alarmingly too common and it's a scary thing.

That being said, this sort of destructive, guiltless and selfish bahavior, destroying peoples' property with no sense of responsibility and/or injuring or killing people in the case of some hit and runs deserves zero consideration. Screw the guy that did this and I did, do and will always hope he suffers on an escalatory scale of pain emotional and physical. That's my perspective on how karma should be.

[Turbo95eg6]

Originally Posted by uEih

Thanks! This is extremely helpful, answered everything I wanted to know. I'm not sure about the aftermarket bumper though since most of them aren't nice imo. I might just end up doing the stock one. I know a really good body shop that does a lot of nice cars, not a typical body shop... More geared towards imports, exotics, etc. so I hope they're not too expensive cause that's the shop I want to take it to.

Yeah, I'd actually be pissed to have anything non OEM installed. Not only does it cost more than your average fancy aftermarket bumper, but it will fit correctly back to OEM spec. Maybe you can tell them your lip is damaged, and have them replace it with an STI one… Doubt they would be able to tell the difference.

[themadscientist]

Is it just bumper damage or is the unibody underneath also tweaked?

[BobbyDee]

in California believe it or not, this is a normal everyday thing.

[Turbo95eg6]

Originally Posted by BobbyDee

in California believe it or not, this is a normal everyday thing.

Believe it or not, it happens everyday outside of California as well.

[uEih]

Originally Posted by Turbo95eg6

Yeah, I'd actually be pissed to have anything non OEM installed. Not only does it cost more than your average fancy aftermarket bumper, but it will fit correctly back to OEM spec. Maybe you can tell them your lip is damaged, and have them replace it with an STI one… Doubt they would be able to tell the difference.

I wasn't sure if that was possible to replace the lip so I just took it as a loss but he pointed it out that he could replace that while inspecting it also. However I don't see it on the paper that shows the lip as being a part that is gonna be purchased. I'm gonna call him about that because like you, I doubt they'll know the difference.

Originally Posted by themadscientist

Is it just bumper damage or is the unibody underneath also tweaked?

The inner lining between the bumper and engine is damaged but with how only the bumper was pulled I don't think there are any body damage or anything serious besides the bumper being pulled.


Monday is coming, i'll be sure to keep everyone updated. I'm anxious and hope they have footage. I'm just glad none of the body got damaged and this should be an easy fix. On the bright side I finally put an exhaust in and it made me smile and can't wait to drive it at it's fullest again.

[BlueSky]

Hopefully it all works out for you man
Don't worry, he will get his


A kid dinged one of my cars at a party and took off, my buddy fortunately saw him do it and quickly got me
Had to call the kid back and he made some excuse about not feeling it hit blah blah blah