Es 330 In Front End Collision

[musafir]

My love ES 330 got into a collision, partly because of my over-enthusiasm to keep driving and not stop at the lights. I know, so stupid of me. I was driving the car at about 15-20 mph, but the impact is bad! No health-related impacts at all though, thank god! The current broken bumper is after-market already, after it got replaced once because of an earlier dent, and this collision proved the bumper's after-market quality (see pics attached). The car I rear-ended was a huge gas-guzzling SUV and the only damage to it was that its left tail light cracked. I am amused yet heart-broken.

I am looking to you guys' response on these 2 questions:

1) What I must expect in repair costs if out-of-pocket.

2) If I take this amount to my insurance company can I get a check from them to pay for the damages?

Thanks,

A sad Musafir

[cduluk]

Is there anything dented/damaged under the hood? Is the fender out of alignment at all?

From what i can see (at a minimum) you'll need a new hood, front grille, front bumper, styro bumper reinforcer, front right headlight, and a few misc. clips, etc. They'll need to paint the hood, bumper, and blend into both side fenders.

If there's no damage under the hood, and by using aftermarket parts, the absolute lowest price to get it fixed is probably about $1,000. Realistically however, with OEM parts, and by doing it correctly, you're looking at probably more than $2,000.

Here are the OEM prices a body shop would likely have to pay:

bumper: $305.74

bumper reinforcer: $51.84

front grille: $162.82

hood: $515.99

headlight: $364.34

Paint is probably another $600-$800, and add $100 for a few misc. clips, etc.

If you want, you "can" leave the car with a body shop, call your insurance co. and make a claim, tell your insurance co. the car's at the body shop, and have your insurance send an adjuster to see the car AT the body shop. There, your shop people will deal a price with your insurance adjuster. At that point, your insurance co. can mail you a check. Or, you can have them send the check to the shop and they can fix it there.

For the damage you have, i wouldn't do it out of pocket. I also wouldn't go the aftermarket route...