screwed up Bumper - Insurance or DIY?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by hellochicken, Oct 10, 2015.

  1. hellochicken

    hellochicken Junior Member

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    so yesterday, I ran over a damn rogue tire in the middle of the Freeway. the car in front of me had space to swerve, but I had cars on either side of me and a semi-truck behind me....i just drove over the tire hoping for the best.

    Well, it wrecked the bottom side of my front bumper, as well as the plastic protective cover under the car that connects meets the underside of the front bumper, as well as the front driver wheel liner.
    a side of my car also got a bit of some tire marks, but that could probably get rubbed out....i think...
    other than that, thankfully, hopefully, the car seems to run mechanically fine, and no other cosmetic damage.

    Anyways, I have a 1000 deductable and I'm stressing about whether I should try to do it DIY, or call the insurance peeps. with the obvious new front bumper aside, I'm sure I'll still need more divets, a new wheel liner, new under plastic cover thingy...but the front bumper replacement tutorials seem pretty easy to do DIY...

    What would yall do?



    IF I DO DIY, here's the bumper I would probably get...it's 312.00 - hoping that the color would match:

    New Painted to Match Front Bumper for 2012 2015 Toyota Prius w O Light Washers | eBay
     
    #1 hellochicken, Oct 10, 2015
  2. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Ouch. I don't think you have $1000 worth of damage but visit a shop to see what they will charge. Another possibility is contacting the local vo-tech school. Maybe you can get the students in the body shop class to give you a hand.
     
    #2 JimN, Oct 10, 2015
  3. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    You could probably take it to a shop for about the same as your deductible. Not worth the likely premium increase from making a claim.
     
    #3 vskid3, Oct 10, 2015
  4. hellochicken

    hellochicken Junior Member

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    I think I'm going to contact my insurance and just ask them what I should do - hopefully that won't cost anything. It looks like I could probably do it all myself, IF it looks like it's just the front bumper and a few other things.
    or maybe attempting to do it myself is foolish talk...
     
    #4 hellochicken, Oct 10, 2015
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    It better not. Man, I'm not sure if it's Canada vs US, or just BC vs US. In BC one "crown corporation" has pretty much a monopoly on auto insurance, and surprise surprise: it's not bad. For starters, the typical scenario after an accident is you just take your car to an accredited body shop, they assess the damage and submit a report to ICBC, very seamless. There's no bump in rates, or downside, to getting an assessment. If you're deemed liable, they can tell you upfront what will happen if you follow through, file a claim. And when the repair is done, you cut the body shop a cheque for the deductible, they handle getting the balance from the insurer.
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Oct 10, 2015
  6. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    To each their own...but I always use my policy unless it's a door ding I'm going to live with. Have them do the initial estimate, figure lost time, your skill level, the unknowns after open-up, paint match, car rental, ect...and use the numbers to decide.
     
    #6 frodoz737, Oct 10, 2015
  7. timtim2008

    timtim2008 Member

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    Post pics
     
    #7 timtim2008, Oct 12, 2015
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