Car damage advice

[Norelco]

Last Monday my neighbor scraped the back side bumper of my car. They left a note on my window with contact information and said to get an estimate for the damages and they would cut me a check.

I got two estimates, one for $529 and one for $398. The first estimate was a dealer estimate, so I don't mind going to the cheaper place since they seem to be pretty reputable. So I called her and told her the estimates, and I said I'd go with the cheaper one. She wants to stop by and cut me a check for $398, but I'm thinking, this is just an estimate. What if they start work on my car and tell me that it's going to cost more than the estimate? Should I tell this person to wait to write me the check until I have the actual bill, or are car damage estimates relatively close (or higher) than what the actual cost will be?

[Azkarin]

To be safe and just to cover your ass I would wait to take a check for the final bill. Estimates are just that... estimates. If it comes back for more, you are going to have a harder time getting the second check than getting one for the overall bill. Thats just my opinion.

[Keno]

Last Monday my neighbor scraped the back side bumper of my car. They left a note on my window with contact information and said to get an estimate for the damages and they would cut me a check.

I got two estimates, one for $529 and one for $398. The first estimate was a dealer estimate, so I don't mind going to the cheaper place since they seem to be pretty reputable. So I called her and told her the estimates, and I said I'd go with the cheaper one. She wants to stop by and cut me a check for $398, but I'm thinking, this is just an estimate. What if they start work on my car and tell me that it's going to cost more than the estimate? Should I tell this person to wait to write me the check until I have the actual bill, or are car damage estimates relatively close (or higher) than what the actual cost will be?

I'd wait until you know exactly how much it's going to cost.

[Sanoske]

If its cosmetic damage only, you should be ok as far as "additional charges" go. The worst I can think of is they may try to say they had to remount the bumper and charge for extra labor/parts. If they start checking elsewhere, hit em.

If you tell them to respray the bumper and touch nothing else, hopefully they'll comply. Makes me thankful I have the resources to do 90% of my own repairs. Good luck.

[Norelco]

If its cosmetic damage only, you should be ok as far as "additional charges" go. The worst I can think of is they may try to say they had to remount the bumper and charge for extra labor/parts. If they start checking elsewhere, hit em.

If you tell them to respray the bumper and touch nothing else, hopefully they'll comply. Makes me thankful I have the resources to do 90% of my own repairs. Good luck.

Yeah, it's costmetic only as far as I know. It was more of a scrape than really a full on collision. I called and expressed my concern and they said we can go that route if I want, but she thought it might help out if I had the money up front to pay for it. She said if it's more than it was estimated then come back and ask for more money, no problem.

Problem solved I guess. I'm not sure once you have an official estimate that they can charge above a certain amount off of it.

[Xavier]

You sound incredibly lucky that your neighbor isn't a douche. Normally I'd say to wait and just hand them the bill, but it doesn't sound like money is going to be an issue.

[Norelco]

You sound incredibly lucky that your neighbor isn't a douche. Normally I'd say to wait and just hand them the bill, but it doesn't sound like money is going to be an issue.

I am lucky.

[pirahna1]

You should call your insurance company and ask them to be honest. They would know better than anyone the course of action to take.

Barring that however, I would wait until you have an actual bill from your repairs (I would get 1-2 extra copies of the bill, 1 if you need it down the road just in case, and the other to hand to your neighbor so they don't think you're pulling them around).