Does this small like a scam to you?

[GrinStick]

he has a witness who just happens to werk in the mercedes dealership???
at first perusal it appears a scam...he has a witness though, so court is not a good thing.

did you exchange license information???
then he has proof of your involvement.

Send the registered letter offering payment and/or repair, and try to werk it out, ie: come to an agreement on the difference between his estimate and yours. if it do go to court, you've covered that end.

Reinstate your coverage!
First thing they will notice is your lack of it.

Get a buzz on...
Some fine resolutions come from an introspective examination.

 

[sob420]

if i were you i would do the following:


send him a registered letter offering to repair the car on your own expenses from YOUR mechanic....

if he says yes....then it costs you a shitload less than what he is charging.....

if he says no....then when you go to court you have a registered letter saying that you offered to fix the car and he refused it, the judge will rule in your favor 9/10.....this will also prove that he is trying to scam you


EDIT- make sure when you go to court to have an estimation from YOUR mechanic that says it will cost what you say it will




but on a side note, if his car is in the last 8 years i bet it does cost about 2k to fix....they dont come cheap...especially from the DEALERSHIP

It doesnt sound too far off cost-wise, but you should def get a written est. to be sure. The only problem with Joes idea is that settlement offers and attempts are generally inadmissable in court except to prove an admission of liability. I know youre not trying to get out of liability but the settlement offer is pointless in most courts for your purposes. Obviously, talk to a local lawyer to be sure but this is the case in most jurisdictions. Because you are not only at fault for the accident but also driving w/o insurance, it would probably behoove you to kiss a little ass to avoid going in front of a judge. No one wants to get screwed but even if you have to pay dealership prices to get it fixed its better than losing your license plus inevitably paying dealership prices to get it fixed plus court costs... just my .02 hope it helps a little

 

[mdk ktm]

DON'T GO TO THE DEALERSHIP!!! That body shop will fuck you in the ass. Go to a couple local auto body shops for quotes. One of the shops might even let you do some work for them if you are that short on cash. A body shop could order aftermarket parts most likely for 1/4 the price. Fuck that OEM shit if you have to pay for it yourself. I worked for a collision repair shop for years.

 

[sob420]

Seriously? You're driving uninsured and it's the OTHER guy's fault? Standard American MO, I reckon...blame everybody else, no personal responsibility. Pretty sad, no?

Dude... hes not blaming the other guy for the accident; just making sure hes not getting taken to the cleaners. Cmon man... we all know he made a mistake or two in the ordeal but theres no need to be a dick and def. no reason to stereotype all Americans in the process... Not cool man

 

[Toyot4]

at $120/hr shop labor, 2800 for body work don't sound too bad too me.

 

[jd4083]

Dude... hes not blaming the other guy for the accident; just making sure hes not getting taken to the cleaners. Cmon man... we all know he made a mistake or two in the ordeal but theres no need to be a dick and def. no reason to stereotype all Americans in the process... Not cool man

Dude, I am an American And my apologies if I misunderstood, but this guy's worried about being taken to the cleaners...I'd be more worried about Karma coming around to bite me in the ass for driving uninsured, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to somebody's Benz (which, by the way, is entirely possible, as you can cause $5k in damage to a german car just by looking at it the wrong way)...

 

[sob420]

Dude, I am an American And my apologies if I misunderstood, but this guy's worried about being taken to the cleaners...I'd be more worried about Karma coming around to bite me in the ass for driving uninsured, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to somebody's Benz (which, by the way, is entirely possible, as you can cause $5k in damage to a german car just by looking at it the wrong way)...

If he pays for the damage out of pocket then theres no neg karma. I agree that driving uninsured is just plain dumb but it doesnt preclude someone from getting scammed and therefore he should at least make sure hes not. And just bc youre an american doesnt mean you cant spread neg stereotypes about your own people. Either way, I commend you for apologizing for the misunderstanding. I can at least see that your not the stereotypical overly proud American In my book youre a good dude.

 

[supermanlives]

they always inflate the price

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

DON'T GO TO THE DEALERSHIP!!! That body shop will fuck you in the ass. Go to a couple local auto body shops for quotes. One of the shops might even let you do some work for them if you are that short on cash. A body shop could order aftermarket parts most likely for 1/4 the price. Fuck that OEM shit if you have to pay for it yourself. I worked for a collision repair shop for years.

Last time I let a local body shop do the work they did a shit job. I would never let them touch my car again. It was nothing but problems, shoddy work and a huge headache. Had to go back multiple times for repaints and unalligned parts. Luxury cars have expensive parts and even more expensive labor. Consider yourself lucky it's ONLY $3k. It easily could have been much more. Sorry for your troubles, but not only is it irresponsible to not be insured, in CA it's illegal. The fine for being uninsured is somewhere in the ballpark of $1200-2000. Hope it works out for you...

 

[Admiral Canna]

My wife was just rear ended at like 3 mph...just a small dent in the bumper and trunk lid, and a small ripple in the quarter panel, and it cost $3000 for the repair...on a Corolla!!
You hit the guys car...period-- Ask for a copy of the estimate, take it to another body shop and ask them if it seems right-- If it does, then pay the man--
If it goes to Court, you will lose, still owe the $$...and also you will get another big fine for no insurance...plus Court Costs!!
Always better to do the right thing--

Well said.

Shit happens man, and when its yer shit, accident or not, you clean it up.

The right thing isn't always the easiest thing to do.

Good luck.

 

[mdk ktm]

Last time I let a local body shop do the work they did a shit job. I would never let them touch my car again. It was nothing but problems, shoddy work and a huge headache. Had to go back multiple times for repaints and unalligned parts. Luxury cars have expensive parts and even more expensive labor. Consider yourself lucky it's ONLY $3k. It easily could have been much more. Sorry for your troubles, but not only is it irresponsible to not be insured, in CA it's illegal. The fine for being uninsured is somewhere in the ballpark of $1200-2000. Hope it works out for you...

Yeah I know what you're saying there for sure, the majority of people are hacks. I was constantly amazed by some of the things I found when working on previously repaired vehicles. They don't care how good it is, because most people wont notice a couple fish eyes in the paint, and will never know if a couple parts are missing inside a door panel.

To the OP, What exactly is damaged on the car?
A bumper cover can go for 500+ before sanding, priming, painting, and then installation.... Also you have to swap over brackets, lights, reflectors and other shit.

2800 really isn't that bad now that I think about all the shit that could be fucked up. And the dealership will use OEM parts so everything will fit and look correct.

 

[fishheadbob]

It can't be a scam. I mean was the guy riding around with a Mercedes worker in waiting hoping for you to hit him. If you rear ended my wife's sport ute, did you damage the parking sonar or the backup cameras. You're lucky he hasn't developed whiplash.
Take your medicine.

 

[OldPork]

If you hit him from behind he has got you by the short hairs

 

[Securityfirst]

Insurance is a good thing. What if you hit a human being?

 

[supermanlives]

you pay one way or another. i wouldnt drive without insurance

 

[Captain Ginyu]

None of you are going to believe this shit! Same fuckin thing happened this afternoon to me! I clipped the rear bumper of some lady's car, and it's a God dam Mercedes too! I feel like I got jinxed here; only worse, her car was new! Oh well, since I'm in the middle of declaring a chapter 7, & eventual foreclosure anyway, I guess it doesn't matter anymore to me. I'll have to call her tomorrow, & tell her to take it out on her insurance. So sue me whatever, don't care anymore.
You can't squeeze blood out of a rock right?

 

[darko_G]

same sorta thing happend to me... sounds like karma is already biting you for the no insurance thing.. it depends what your life is like and what plans you have man... can you afford to risk all the hassle of court and possibly jail (crazy us justice system)... i mean when it happend to me i could and touch wood it has almost worked out for me does take 5 years to lose bad credit though and iv spent the time with no job.. bank account.. credit.. contract mobile phone.. ability to rent a house... now if that happend to me in my situation i would have to sort it as i now have family and what not kids and shit... so all that hassle and possible repercusssions would not be acceptable.... my advice get yourself to an enviroment where you can clear your head.. be it a friends house smoking or down a bar drinking, in a meditation room or even your grow room relaxing... and think about what you want and what you can afford... does your girl work... are you so tight that she would help you out or are you so fresh out the gates that you having financial troubles like this would send her running? would you need to keep it quiet from family or would they understand that she needed to go to the doctors? anyway look at me all agony uncle and shit i need to smoke a bowl... wish you all the best dude... i mean we all need to do stupid shit to get through sometimes even when we know its a bad idea

 

[ganjaments]

According to Judge Judy, a plaintiff has the right to choose who repairs his vehicle.

 

[jd4083]

According to Judge Judy, a plaintiff has the right to choose who repairs his vehicle.

Judge Judy is a private arbitrator (at least in regards to her show), probably not the best source of legal counsel...although much better than the armchair lawyers on a pot forum, that's for sure...