Torn between my truck and wife. Wife side swiped push basket rails a

Chevy2014 · October 27, 2014

I just bought my 2014 silverado in June or July. I'm very careful where I park. And I bath that baby till she sparkles. Well I originally let my wife use the truck when we first came home with it until she got a scratch on it. So I said no more. We have a older silverado and she has her own SUV. So today she asks to use truck because she was going to bring a table home. I knew I should of just said no but somehow I always want to extend that trust.. And why she doesn't take older silverado is beyond me. So she calls me that she scraped up the whole bed of driver side. I very calmly said bring the truck back home. But when she got home and I seen the damage I went ape shit. So how do I go about this? Meet an insurance deductible and it gets fixed? I have never made a claim on insurance for a vehicle before. I do have comp and collision and deductible of 500. Does it matter that we caused the damage ourselves? Will the damage be bondo or brand new bed be installed?

Carder09 · October 27, 2014

Well, I have made two claims from my own ignorance, and my wife's ignorance, she ran into ME with our VW while I was in the MR2, it was a small swipe but I was upset lol. Call up your insurancestors and tell them you want to make a claim for your wife's mistake. They will be happy to help and recommend a shop who will then take pics and give you a quote later on. Depending on the damage, they may or not replace the bed. Ifnits cheaper than pulling the panel out, they will find a used bed or try to. I pay $5 a month for accident forgiveness, both times my rates did not go up so depends on your company. Though if I was you, I would get a lower premium. It was only a $150 increase per year to go from $500 to $250 for both vehicles. Good luck either way!

thewhitestallion · October 27, 2014

pics would help us tell you if the bed will be replaced. there are three different scenarios I could think of; 1. pull the dents out and use some "bondo" to smooth everything out. 2. cut the out skin of the bed out and replace it with a new one (doubt it will be used as these trucks are still a little to new to be able to get a junked one). 3. they will replace the whole bed (only way I see that happening is if the whole bed is tweaked and bent to where fixing it would cost more than just replacing it. that usually only happens if you get t-boned or something like that).

just take it to a reputable shop and you will be fine. just because "bondo" is used on your vehicle after an accident doesn't mean it is not going to be durable. it's all about the amount of "bondo" used and the application process. the bondo helps make sure that the surface the paint will lay on is nice and smooth and not small ripples or grooves. if you get it fixed at a GM dealer I believe (at least the dealer I take mine too) has a lifetime warranty on the repairs.

nards444 · October 27, 2014

From your description the damage will will probably require you filing a claim. Its pretty easy you call insurance and say I crashed my truck in a parking lot or whatever it was they. They then give you the procedure to claim it and get it fixed. This wont be comp, it will be a collison claim.

Slo281 · October 27, 2014

Truck is going to have a bad car fax if u report it. Try to fix out of pocket and not report the claim. Even if u caused the damage your self its still going to reflect on you and ur rates are going to go higher unless u have accident forgiveness. My ex jacked knifed my trailer into my old truck and I claimed it and have been paying for it since insurance wise.

Spurshot · October 27, 2014

The first, and most important thing, is to apologize to your wife...nay, beg for forgiveness. If she forgives you for being, what she undoubtedly believes is an ^zz#ole, you are homefree and consider yourself a lucky man to be married to such a gracious lady. Then take her to dinner and buy an expensive bottle of wine, joke and kid with her and minimize the meaning of scratching up your prize truck. If you do this, I guarantee there will be peace around the house and you'll find your life more enriched.

All kidding aside, my wife let someone at her work drive her new Flex to take a gaggle of them all to lunch. The guy driving sideswiped a parked car. I kept my mouth shut about the wreck. I figured she's a big girl and makes her own money and took her to dinner with a $100 bottle of wine to make her feel better that night of the wreck. She felt better, I felt fine. My wife, in her typical giving way, later claimed it on our insurance and said she was driving. I gave her my opinion in a calm and gentle manner. "YOU DID WHAT? WTF WERE YOU THINKIN?" Well, that didn't go over well.

Chevy2014 · October 27, 2014

Gotcha. Ok. I slept on it and came to conclusion I was out of line. So I'll cook her some lunch and apologize for overreacting. Also I didn't think about taking it to a dealer but imagine they will do a better job then some local shops so will see about dropping it off at dealer. Thanks folks

nards444 · October 27, 2014

Truck is going to have a bad car fax if u report it. Try to fix out of pocket and not report the claim. Even if u caused the damage your self its still going to reflect on you and ur rates are going to go higher unless u have accident forgiveness. My ex jacked knifed my trailer into my old truck and I claimed it and have been paying for it since insurance wise.

Car fax maybe, those dont always hit. Really if you trade it in who cares about a car fax. Very few vehicles get passed a certain age without needing body work or having som dents or scratches in them. As far as insurance its going to depend on the damage, past claims, your insurance company. But if its just the side panel alone to the box which I would think thats what it would be, just fix and repaint probably close to a grand if not more, if you choose to replace the panel, which in a new truck thats what I do, your probably looking at over 2 grand.

Either way take it in to at least one shop and get a quote before you call insurance. because it might be close. If its under a grand I would highly think about not reporting it as slo said. If you do i wouldnt worry about I backed into something 5-6 years ago and insurance only went up like 100 bucks for the year.

As for your wife, well I wouldnt let her touch my vehicles anymore.

soltys · October 27, 2014

How accurate is CarFAx anyways. If there are all these users doing the exact thing that people are suggesting that he do and hide it from the all powerful car fax, who knows what kind of crap is out there because of people not reporting minor - and yes, this is minor - bumps and scratches.

Put in a claim, get it fixed to perfection and in a couple weeks time - forgotten memory.

On another note, after "discussing the accident" with your wife, was the couch comfortable? How 'bout the dog house?

At least she was nice enough to "ask" you if she could take your truck. Not that you had a choice - but it was nice enough for her to "ask"

Rme2513 · October 27, 2014

If you can luck up and find a new bed same color do that because your insurance is about to go threw the roof your going to pay for it one way or another

nards444 · October 27, 2014

How accurate is CarFAx anyways. If there are all these users doing the exact thing that people are suggesting that he do and hide it from the all powerful car fax, who knows what kind of crap is out there because of people not reporting minor - and yes, this is minor - bumps and scratches.

Put in a claim, get it fixed to perfection and in a couple weeks time - forgotten memory.

On another note, after "discussing the accident" with your wife, was the couch comfortable? How 'bout the dog house?

At least she was nice enough to "ask" you if she could take your truck. Not that you had a choice - but it was nice enough for her to "ask"

Car Fax is over rated. Its money making scheme that they have conditioned buyers to think is something of importance. Not saying its not useful tool potentially, I just wouldnt pay for it, nor would I fully buy into it. If you truely want to know if the vehicle has been wrecked save your money or the use the money to have a body man look at it, they can usually tell within 5-10mins if its been wrecked.

Like I said earlier and I have heard this before. On most vehicles a vehicle having some body work repaired is not a big deal, specially on high production vehicles. As long as it fixed and fixed right.

Zasker1 · October 27, 2014

If its just body damage, get an estimate and then shop Craigslist or Back page. Lots of shop employees look for side work as the shop might charge $100/hr for labor but the employees only see $15 - 30/hr.

You might be able to get the same person to do it after hours at their shop for much less.

00Silverado4x4 · October 27, 2014

I'm reserving opinion until I see pics of the damage, only because my truck has probably been "damaged" as much by me as my wife. I use my truck for everything (on and off road) so it's got it's fair share of dents and scratches and yes I bought mine brand new as well.