Car Got Scraped - What the Best Course of Action - Advice please

OzFrugie on 18/10/2017 - 19:05
Last edited 18/10/2017 - 20:43

Fellow OzBargainers,

To my disappointment, I found my relatively new car got scraped today while it was parked on the side of a street.
See the scrape pic here https://imgur.com/a/TsyDc

I do have dashcam but unfortunately I cannot find any records which suggests the cause of this incident :(
Another disappointment as I bought dashcam for this kind of purpose! I guess the sides are the blind spots..

Anyway, if you are in my shoes, what would you do?
1. Leave it as it is (it may cause rusting which cost even more to repair later?)
2. Contact my insurance, pay the excess and let them deal with it (knowing that my premium next year will very likely increase a lot)
3. Go to a smash repair place myself and fix it without going via my insurance (to prevent premium increase and losing No Claim Bonus status)
4. Other options (please put in comments below)

Worth noting:
1. I plan to keep the car for many years to come
2. I have comprehensive insurance with QBE. The excess is $550. No Claim Bonus Level is 5 years.
3. My car was applied with extra coating like OptiCoat (forgot the name). If I fix the panel, do I need to reapply the coat all over again otherwise will it look patchy/funny?

Also, should I report this incident to police for a record?

Thanks in advance.

Poll Options

  • 4
    1. Leave it as it is
  • 20
    2. Contact my insurance, pay the excess and deal with it
  • 14
    3. Go to a smash repair place myself and fix it without going via my insurance
  • 5
    4. Other options
Automotive

Comments

  • teacherer on 18/10/2017 - 19:07
    +1

    Good question

  • whooah1979 on 18/10/2017 - 19:09
    +3

    DIY paint with the same manufacturer colour. Then wait for a major collision and get it fixed by insurance.

  • WTF on 18/10/2017 - 19:09
    +6

    Just use your insurance and get it fixed. That is what it is for. You can often skip the premium rise and the no claims discount by simply switching to another insurance provider after you made your claim.

    The "no claims discount", "Platinum status" , etc etc are all mostly BS marketing that insurance companies use to keep you hooked. If you are prepared to switch, you get best value for money.

    • theHMASfriendship on 18/10/2017 - 19:18
      +5

      I once made a claim with my motorcycle insurer and they put the premium up at renewal. Closed the policy and opened up a new policy with the same insurer for my pre-claim premium.

      • PJC on 18/10/2017 - 19:28
        +2

        Good move.

      • WTF on 18/10/2017 - 20:09
        +5

        This happens with AAMI for me every year. Every year they send me an insurance renewal notice that has a higher premium. Every year, I then just sign up online as a new customer and it is often $100-150 cheaper.

        • JIMB0 on 18/10/2017 - 21:02
          +1

          I rang them up and questioned the premium rise from the previous year. They ran out some BS about people of my gender, in my age bracket, driving the same vehicle, having more crashes in my area. I changed insurer for a few years until AAMI was the cheapest again. They kept the policy rate reasonable for a few years before getting greedy again and trying to raise it at renewal time.

      • jsb on 18/10/2017 - 23:15

        didnt you have to declare that you made a claim in last 5 years

        • theHMASfriendship on 19/10/2017 - 07:43

          Yes but to get your business they might allow a claim and not affect the premium.

    • OzFrugie on 18/10/2017 - 20:34

      Thanks for the tip.

      The "concern" that I have is that I won't get the premium as cheap as it is now.

      When I compared the premium across well known insurance companies a year ago, for some reasons or pricing error, Qbe came out 200-300 cheaper than the second cheapest with comparable cover!
      They did increase it for this year's premium but still few hundreds dollars cheaper than 2nd cheapest then.

      Also, if I close the policy and reapply or switch to another insurance company, if I am being honest and say I have made a claim in past x years, I noticed that it jacks up the premium quite higher than if I have No claim bonus for a good number of years.

    • Ughhh on 18/10/2017 - 20:55
      +1

      You'll still have to declare that you made a claim. That could affect your premiums with future insurance policies.

      OP, go to a few repairers to get a quote. If it's around the same amount as excess, might as well repair it without going through insurance.

      • OzFrugie on 18/10/2017 - 21:11

        Thanks for the advice. Will give this a go.

        Does anyone in Sydney area have recommendations for smash repair shops?

        • kerfuffle on 18/10/2017 - 23:15

          Sydney's a big place. I mean, if you live in Mosman for example, I don't think you wanna drive 45km to the smash repairers I recommend in Wetherill Park (El Toro)

    • adr8 on 20/10/2017 - 21:50

      How can you skip the premium rise when you disclose the at-fault claim to your new provider?

  • chumlee on 18/10/2017 - 19:12
    +5

    Buff it out

  • donga100 on 18/10/2017 - 19:31
    +2

    At least get a quote from a repair shop. Tell them it isn't an insurance job and they will make sure the quote is competitive.

  • Succulent Synth on 18/10/2017 - 19:39

    That sucks. This will get most of the other persons paint off but it looks like it has also chipped your paint.

    • OzFrugie on 18/10/2017 - 20:29

      Will it damage my paint/coating?

      • Succulent Synth on 18/10/2017 - 20:54

        No, my wife had a similar thing happen to her (black car as well) and this stuff worked wonders.

  • aussieprepper on 18/10/2017 - 20:14
    +1

    Meh its not that bad. The bumper will be made out of plastic so no rusting there. I say leave the bumper as is its a common place to get scrapes.

    The front right panel will need some work but clean it up and see how it looks most of those marks will come out? The panel shop may just order a new panel because it easier and cheaper then paying for labor and respray? I think if they get a new panel it has to be sprayed in some cases. So see if you can find a second hand panel to replace it.

    What car is it?

    • OzFrugie on 18/10/2017 - 20:28

      It's mazda6

      • Dont Care on 18/10/2017 - 20:36
        -3

        i'll guarantee you're paying over the odds for insurance now.

    • OzFrugie on 18/10/2017 - 20:27
      +6

      Good trolling

      • whooah1979 on 18/10/2017 - 21:07

        Don't care seems to be on a roll. Perhaps trying to take up where jv left off.

  • dasher86 on 18/10/2017 - 20:30
    +1

    Looks like two panels. At least $700 repair shop unless you know someone.

  • [Deactivated] on 18/10/2017 - 21:04
    -7

    Celebrate that you will pay $500, givin that hard werkin cobba who scraped your car a fair go at life. Mayte… his car was just in the wrong place at the wrong time…

    • pegaxs on 19/10/2017 - 08:27
      +1

      Almost every comment you make on these forums has some tinge of anti-Australian overtone to it. If you don’t like living here and are offended by Australians, then maybe you should find a country filled with people from your own culture.

      Have you ever thought that the damage caused to OP’s car could have been someone not originally from this country? And how exactly does your comment assist in answering OP’s question? Or do you just like collecting neg votes?

      • whooah1979 on 19/10/2017 - 09:49
        +3

        Eggmaster and don't care are locked in a battle to rack up the most number of neg.

  • Yttrium on 18/10/2017 - 21:40
    -4

    dont drive an expensive car, you get problems like this

  • CMH on 18/10/2017 - 23:17

    I'll mention it because nobody's suggested it yet.

    Bikies.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/10/2017 - 08:24

    Contact your insurers and ask what would happen to your premiums and NCB. Might be you'll only have to pay the excess on the repairs.

    Mate of mine gave his car some unscheduled remodeling with the aid of a car park pillar. Because no other vehicle was involved, he only had to pay the excess with no hit to his NCB or premiums.

    Worth the cost of a phone call, at least.

  • SPCTRE on 19/10/2017 - 09:40
    +2

    Do not report it to the police! They won't do anything and it will also give your insurance company an excuse to delay repairs (if you decide to go through them) saying they are waiting for a police report/statement before repairs can proceed.
    Unless it was a major accident with injuries or death, don't bother reporting.
    Maybe get a quote first and compare the difference with your excess. Is the difference worth making a claim and increasing your premiums?

  • altomic on 19/10/2017 - 11:11

    DIY.

    1. clean/wash the area throroughly
    2. remove any excessive paint left from other vehicle - use a green scourer pad (you're going to buff the paint any way).
    3. reascertain the damage.
    4. post a new pic (taken in decent light) and get some further guidance
  • HeWhoKnows on 19/10/2017 - 11:23

    Tough cookies.
    Just wear it.
    Unless you have an EYE WITNESS that is willing to give a statement AND testify in court (doubtful) there is absolutely NOTHING you can do regardless of what anyone suggests here and that is a FACT!

  • Euphemistic on 19/10/2017 - 15:45

    Poll Option 4: DIY repair. YouTube, elbow grease and some polish should make it pretty good, removing the other colour. If not good enough, go and buy some matching paint and further YouTube, DIY, elbow grease etc.

    Panel Beater will cost $$ because they will probably want to spray the whole guard and bumper.
    Insurance will cost $$, excess plus increased premium.

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