Buying and Selling Vehicles - Pay repair cost or file insurance?

I recently backed into a 1994 Nissan Quest Van with my Safari Van. My van incured no damage and the condition of the Quest, driven by owners high school son, has so many dings, etc., and no noticeable dent, only scrape of the rubber molding and scraping between front passenger door and front fender-from my van. The owner asked if we'd like to settle w/out involving insurance co. when it happened, due to age of vehicle and I said okay, based on repair est. he was going to obtain, which I thought would be almost nothing. Nissan wants $1400+ and Macco wants $700. I've tried to pull blue book value, based on the condition of the van and my neighbor telling me about the condition of the vehicle(it was parked in the road in front of their house), air not working, rust, outer condition, worn tires. I don't know if I should turn it over to my ins co or offer the man a few hundred dollars and a signed receipt of closure. I wish I were a man right now and a little tougher. I pulled CARFAX and the mileage is 150,000 as of last year. Any advise?

If it was me, I would offer them $500 and tell them, politely, that if that's not enough, you'll have to turn it over to insurance. You're talking about a vehicle worth perhaps $1500. They may bite, may not. The down side is that if they don't you'll have to decide whether to bite the bullet or actually turn it over for insurance, which will probably impact your premium. If they hold out, I would DEFINITELY make sure I paid the money to the body shop AFTER the actual repairs were made because I can pretty much guarantee if you just fork over the cash that van will never see the inside of a body shop.

I would also get pictures of the van just in case it turns ugly and ends up in judge Judys court.

Hi,
I'm an appraiser,employed by a large Maryland Ins.Comp (20 yrs employed)
I would offer them no more than $500.00 & (yes) get a signed release stating that this claim is paid in full and an agreed settlement. Also take photos of all 4 corners of this vehicle,and of the prevoius existing damages. Make sure to get the vehicles tags in one of the photos.
This veh sounds like,what we call a rolling Total loss (money maker). You are correct in assuming that it most likely will never see the inside of a body shop. Christmas is coming up & guess where this money will be going?
If they dont agree to this,then turn it into your Ins.company. They will investigate & only pay the minimum of what the veh is worth. This will protect you from them trying to milk you for any addit cash later.
Their veh is also listed on a nationwide list of having been totaled & being in another loss. This will prevent them from trying to pop someone else the same way & maybe even for the same damages.
Hope this helps...

I'm sorry for not responding sooner, I've been with a sick sister--what's up with hospital rooms, full cable yet no internet connections? Thank you Tow Guy, I was hoping you would respond. And thank you, too, Jackofall Hills. I will increase the amount offered to $500, but I spoke with him Friday before I left. I couldn't let this go, even though I was NNNERVOUSSS, and offerred him $300 or SO and he just couldn't do that because he "couldn't get it fixed for that". I said I'll be gone for the weekend and back Monday and a police report could be done then. He knows I'll be gone again for my sisters open heart surg. Tues night through Thurs, out of state. I think a police report is good anyway--it may show up on future CARFAX reports. How much longer can the vehicle last? I'll get pictures of all 4 corners, the plate, and damage he incurred from me. We tried to pick my damage out of the pictures we already took. I'll zoom in this time.

"If they hold out, I would DEFINITELY make sure I paid the money to the body shop AFTER the actual repairs were made because I can pretty much guarantee if you just fork over the cash that van will never see the inside of a body shop."

I kept running this over in my mind and I finally understand what you meant about paying the body shop myself, after the repairs are done. He didn't call me back this afternoon about having the police report done before I leave, but when he does I'll offer $500 or pay Maaco for the repairs myself-once he takes the vehicle in for the repair. I know I need to be prepared to fork over either amount or file the claim, and I'll be ready to "bite the bullet". Thanks again to all who responded--Michael Van, too.

How much do u figger your insurance will go up and for how long??? Maybe be better just to turn it over to insurance company and be done with it

Not sure what company you have or your previous record.

The first claim my wife had our ins. company paid and didn't raise our rate the second claim she lost the good driver discount which is costing us $60 a year for the next 5 years. The next claim and her rate goes up. If she doesn't have a claim in the next 5 years the rate goes back down and the cycle starts over. The rate on my vehicle hasn't changed.

Well, I finally got together with the owner and called the police dept. to come out for the report. The owners son parked his van, and I too with mine, like the day it happened. The policeman arrived and I told him why I called. He looked up and down the '94 van and wondered where it had been hit and as the son pointed it out, he wrinkled his brow and said, "I'll be happy to write the report, but I'll have to cite the driver of the '94 van for illegal parking, was that you son driving this van?" I was bursting inside, but didn't say a word; I just let the man talk. The owner still wants my help to repair the vehicle--to sell. I asked him why he would spend $700 to make at most $1500 and why he didn't take my original $300 offer and make prob. $1000 as is. Why would he sell a running vehicle, paid for, only to have his HS son drive the next vehicle he has to BUY, and where would he get one that cheap--that's running? I've got to thank all of you who responded and gave me courage to ask that last question to the owner!!

Thanks for posting back; just never know how things are going to turn out.

My wife bumped a car similarly. The estimate was for $600, and we let the insurance co take care of it. She also got a ticket for doing 81 on a 70-mph freeway in Texas. Then our insurance went from $1500 to $2500--one minivan! So we wished we had paid the $600 instead of giving it to the ins. co. We then shopped around and ended up with the same ins co. through an internet go-between for half that.

Rich32

On the other side of the coin. It's really his business what he does with the repair money. It's his vehicle and he can choose whether to fix the damage or not. If a person damages your property they must compensate you for that damage. I agree that it sounds like the guy is trying to get more out of you than the van is even worth but if he settles for $500 bucks or whatever just give him the check and be done with it. If he chooses to put that money toward a different vehicle it's his choice.

If the veicle was parked illegaly when you hit it , your ins. co is going to refuse to pay -they will say let each party take care of their own damages -

this happened to me when I sideswiped a cop in her own vehicle , when she sped down a parking lane to beat a light