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[RiccochetJ]

Hi Gaf,

Earlier today, while my car was parked in our office parking lot, someone hit my car and apparently took off.

Here's the damage. One is with flash and the other without:

Without flash:

With flash:

I thought that I might just have to replace the outer protection lining, but I discovered that the housing itself is completely busted. Also, the alignment is all sorts of messed up. It's literally looking at the ground when I turn on the lights.

I was thinking about replacing the whole thing myself, but then I think I found what might be required:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bj5n4GH2-w

Obviously, if I'm going to replace one, I'm going to replace both.

I'm thinking I might just say fuck it and take it into the dealer and not even screw around with this. On the other hand, I could potentially save myself hundreds of dollars by not. And yet on the third third hand I could botch this thing so hard that I have to take it into the dealer anyways and it could cost me even more than if I just took it to them in the first place!

If I did it myself, I would make an appointment to get my lights aligned.

What are your thoughts?

Edit: I thought about calling my insurance company and making a claim, but I'm wary about them raising my rates. Short term, they would fix it with no questions asked. Long term they could raise my rates and make thousands off of me because I made the call.

 

[Clockwork]

My thought is you should have reported it to your insurance as soon as it happened/whenever you noticed the damage.

Since it is a comprehensive claim and you're not at fault you would just be liable for the deductible and it shouldn't impact your rates.

 

[RiccochetJ]

My thought is you should have reported it to your insurance as soon as it happened/whenever you noticed the damage.

Since it is a comprehensive claim and you're not at fault you would just be liable for the deductible and it shouldn't impact your rates.

Honestly I didn't see it until an hour ago. In the morning my car was fine and I went to the office. After work, I walked up to my car from behind and just got in and drove. I have a garage and parked in there. I didn't notice it until I went out to my garage and saw the damage. I didn't leave the office during that time.

 

[ScottSullivan]

Im an auto adjuster, those housings are usually sold all together, depending on the model, sometimes you can get repair kits for the mounting brackets, but that might require some plastic welding im not sure. It might be best to take it in just so you can know the new lamps are getting re aimed properly also, clockwork is correct, you are looking at an unidentified motorist deductible, which i know tends to be lower for the company i work for

 

[Clockwork]

Honestly I didn't see it until an hour ago. In the morning my car was fine and I went to the office. After work, I walked up to my car from behind and just got in and drove. I have a garage and parked in there. I didn't notice it until I went out to my garage and saw the damage. I didn't leave the office during that time.

What I mean is instead of asking us. Most insurance policies typically have this as a requirement that they be notified of any/all damage. Of course it's your choice to actually do that... *shrug*

If you do follow that process you are likely to a)have the repair done correctly by a professional and b) they can correct any other damage (I see some scratches/scuffs to your front fascia/bumper cover).

Edit: I thought about calling my insurance company and making a claim, but I'm wary about them raising my rates. Short term, they would fix it with no questions asked. Long term they could raise my rates and make thousands off of me because I made the call.

Where are you making this long term assumption? From personal experience this simply would not happen if you have comprehensive coverage and you were not at fault.

 

[nabe_shogun]

If you have insurance, I'd assume they'd pay for it to be fixed professionally. If not, headlight assemblies are easy to replace. Even if you have to buy one yourself, google tells me impreza headlight assembly's are like $140, so its a cheap fix.

 

[RiccochetJ]

Im an auto adjuster, those housings are usually sold all together, depending on the model, sometimes you can get repair kits for the mounting brackets, but that might require some plastic welding im not sure. It might be best to take it in just so you can know the new lamps are getting re aimed properly also, clockwork is correct, you are looking at an unidentified motorist deductible, which i know tends to be lower for the company i work for

Thanks for the advice! I'm extremely wary about calling my insurance about something that I think is fairly trivial, but maybe it's not.

I'm still on the fence about just paying out of pocket.

Where are you making this long term assumption? From personal experience this simply would not happen if you have comprehensive coverage and you were not at fault.

Insurance companies have a nasty reputation here in the US. I don't need to give you links, just use google to see why I'm wary.

 

[Cheerilee]

Someone I know bought a used car once, and the headlights would blow a fuse anytime he tried to turn them on in the rain. He brought it into the shop, and they said that one of the wires behind the headlight was pinched up against some metal because the previous owner crushed the headlight and did a DIY fix without looking deep enough at what was broken.

 

[User 479360]

I wouldn't fix all that myself. I'd report it to insurance.

 

[RiccochetJ]

Someone I know bought a used car once, and the headlights would blow a fuse anytime he tried to turn them on in the rain. He brought it into the shop, and they said that one of the wires behind the headlight was pinched up against some metal because the previous owner crushed the headlight and did a DIY fix without looking deep enough at what was broken.

You make a good point. I don't want to have people to think that a DIY solution is a bad thing though. Sometimes the DIY will use better materials and better methods than someone who is professionally employed and may be annoyed that they're working on their 300th Subaru.

I wouldn't fix all that myself. I'd report it to insurance.

I'm getting that impression.

 

[Mistake]

Insurance companies have a nasty reputation here in the US. I don't need to give you links, just use google to see why I'm wary.

I would be as well. They can pretty much raise your rates whenever they want for whatever reason. I'm lucky I live in a state where it optional, so I can take my business elsewhere in the event of that bs. God forbid you use something you pay for

 

[Clockwork]

Insurance companies have a nasty reputation here in the US. I don't need to give you links, just use google to see why I'm wary.

I live in the US. I have submitted claims as described. I have never seen a rate impact directly attributed to said claims.

That's not to say that most insurance companies can't/won't increase your rate over time (but this impacts everyone) because yeah that can happen and then you switch to another company.

 

[TheShocker]

At least get an estimate to have it repaired vs you fixing it vs insurance claim.

I know some insurance agencies have lower deductibles for this like this compared to an in motion accident.

I once hit the worlds biggest raccoon, that was on a suicide mission, with my brand new Fusion. It cracked the front lip of my bumper, which required a full replacement. My insurance filed it under and I quote, "an act of God" policy. My deductible was $50. They gave me a rental car too.

 

[Eye for an Eye]

I doubt your rate would go up much if at all. Of course the older you are, the longer you've been driving, the easier they go on you. I had one claim against my insurance with no increase in premiums. I had one claim against some one else with no change in premiums. If there is any change in premiums, it'll be at your next policy renewal. Some are 6 months, some are 12 months. So unless you're close to that date, don't even worry about it for now.

When my car got side swiped, I got a rental car for 5 weeks for free from the insurance company while it was getting worked on.

To everyone else: Leave a damn NOTE. I even left one in the pouring rain with a barely noticeable bump on the back bumper (backing up in a parking lot). He called me, thanked me for leaving the note, and then told me he probably wasn't going to do anything about it unless there was actual frame damage. People can be jerks. Sorry, OP for finding one of them.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Edit: I thought about calling my insurance company and making a claim, but I'm wary about them raising my rates. Short term, they would fix it with no questions asked. Long term they could raise my rates and make thousands off of me because I made the call.

I've made 2 parked car / no note claims in the past 4 years and my rates never went up.

That plus a I filed a total loss claim being rear ended at a red light last year, and my rates have only actually gone down a tiny bit in this time period.

 

[RiccochetJ]

I've made 2 parked car / no note claims in the past 4 years and my rates never went up.

That plus a I filed a total loss claim being rear ended at a red light last year, and my rates have only actually gone down a tiny bit in this time period.

Ugh, ok. I'm going to call them in the morning. The annoying part is that they always try to sell me other shit on top of what I have through them.