Back in Janunary, my wife was driving my Fit and got rear-ended when she stopped at a light. There was hardly any damage to my Fit, and the other driver didn't contact his insurance (clearly he was at fault) so it took me almost a month to get things together. Boy, am I glad I did! It turns out the that the bumper and the rear spoiler would need to be replaced to "bring the car back to where it was." Since the other driver was at fault, his insurance will pay for it all.

I am now expecting a check for $907 (the amount on the estimate) this week, plus an undetermined amount for my wife's back and neck pain (I'm not going to aggressively pursue this; she didn't see a doctor and got better after about 3 days, but if someone else's insurance company will give me money for it, I'll take it) at some point in the near future.

I still owe over $10K on my Fit, and my wife needed a new car (she got a 2005 Scion tC, and loves it). We haven't started making payments on it yet, but we now owe about $15K on that (at 9.24% for 6 years!). I'm thinking it'd be much better to use the money from the accident to help pay down my wife's car than to fix my Fit.

(I'm only paying 6.49% on my Fit, so it only makes sense to pay off her higher-rate loan first and not make any more than the minimum payment on my lower-rate loan)

My thoughts go like this: If I sell my Fit, would it be worth more than $1000 less with (assuming worst-case scenario) no rear bumber or spoiler? I'm thinking it would be, because putting $1000 in a car now would probably yield less than that in 5 years, AND I plan to drive the car into the ground. Weigh this against 9% a year for 6 years, and rough math ($1000 X .09 X 6) gives me $540 in savings (I know this is inaccurate due to a declining balance, but it gives a (very) rough estimate and a number we can throw around).

Basically, if by fixing the bumper, I can get more than $1500 additional that if its not fixed when (IF) I sell my Fit, it pays to fix it. However, I don't think I'd get that much more, and I'm not planning (at this time, anyway) to sell it.

Any thoughts on this from everyone?

 

Any opinions?

 

If you don't mind how it looks and you truly do plan on keeping for 5+ years, then by all means put the money elsewhere. I personally couldn't deal with damage to my Fit and would repair it.

 

I would repair it to bring it looking the way it was since you will be driving it to the groud. I am going to drive my baby to the groud as well so i plan on maintaining it as well as i possibly can.

PS. sorry to hear you got into an accident. somone hit my car as well while it was parked. everything is taken care of and of course i got my baby fixed.

 

The damage seems to be all cosmetic. If the bumper and spoiler (this is the spoiler at the bottom, not the top) came off completely, the car might not look so good, but would that impact the car physically? Could that shorten its life? It's not like going 15,000 miles before changing the oil or something like that.

As it is, it's hardly noticeable: the bumper is "shattered" so if you look closely, it looks like lots of fine scratches running through the paint, and its a tiny bit loose, but it's not terrible at all. If I took a picture of it, I doubt the lines would show up.

 

you say hardly noticeable, and it doesnt seem to bother you...so dont let it then, and use the money for something else you find more important.

but life is evil and cars with issues seem to attract more issues....

 

I AGREE WITH YOU TOTALLY!!!!

 

i dont think i would fix something that doesn't really bother me either.

daily drivers will always have some kind of imperfection...thus why they
are daily drivers. i say whocares about the little scuffs here and there
and use the money on something that would most benefit you and your
wife.

 

I'd repair the car, if I was getting money from someone's insurance for that specific purpose. Plus, I'd be afraid that the minor damage would just get worse over time if it's neglected. That's just me, though. If it's nothing major that affects how the car performs, and you plan to keep it for a long period of time, it's up to you what you choose to do with the money.

 

I'd fix it. It would more than pay for itself down the road if you decide to trade in or sell the car. Also, things aren't getting cheaper, unfortunately.

 

personally, i'd feel obligated to fix it, even though my fit is my DD and i obsess about keeping it immaculate anyways

it kind of sounds like you've made your decision already.

 

My concern would be safety... sounds like the structural integrity has been compromised, and that the bumper would be weaker in the future, therefore protecting you less in any future crashes. And if another accident happened, and someone knew about the previous damage, could mess things up there as they could argue for everything being preexisting.

I'd get it fixed, but then I also talk to my car...

 

How would they know, unless they read this thread?

 

I agree with you about the labor and parts not getting cheaper (parts might, but labor certainly won't), but how much more would you pay for a 5 year old car that had no damage to the rear bumper, versus one that had some damage? I can't see it increasing the value by over $1000.

 

This would be my only concern if I were in that situation. The Honda Fit is known for not having a lot of protection in the rear end. If you take the rear bumper cover off the car you'll notice there is basically a steel bar and the frame. If you have any kind of frame damage then you are looking at a lot more than $907 to fix it...more like $2000+. I almost got screwed when I got hit in the rear end of my Civic. It was a small impact with no visable damage. I was given a $800 estimate by the insurance company but the body shop needed another $2200 once the bumper cover was taken off. The car had to have a new steel enforcement bar behind the cover and the frame had to be pulled and straightened. Thank goodness I didn't cash the insurance check before taking it to the shop.

 

This has given me something to think about.... Maybe I should have a body shop get into it. All that's on the estimate is the bumper and the spoiler, the adjuster didn't look under them.

I can still use my tax refund to pay down the wife's car. Thanks for pointing out the error in my thinking to me!

On the other hand, how compromising is frame damage to the overall integrity of the car?

 

really? my local carwash place already put a pre-wash spray wand too
close and scratched my lip by about 4". bet you'd be screamin' at
the guy. lol

im going to touch it up when it gets warmer. it's quite noticable.
it pissed me off for 15sec but oh well. it's not like he did it on purpose
so shit happens.

 

A bent frame can lead to all kinds of problems...great and small. It can cause odd tire wear, compromise ride quality and collision safety, body fitment...doors not closing properly, etc....

 

The world is a small, small place.

The scene, two guys drinking in a bar. One guy to the other, "Geez, my buddy Tom has the worst luck, this is the second time he's gotten rear ended this year! He didn't bother to fix the damage last time, but he's going to have to this time." Other guy goes and phones his cousin...

It's silly, but it happens.

 

lol, i would be SO upset, haha.

i got a tiny dent in my door and got so pissed i bought the side moldings from zeta products so it helps prevent any more, haha (this is also my first brand new car, if that explains anything).

now that it's a year old, i'm expecting stuff to start happening, but it'll still suck when it does.