Im at work right now and a City garbage truck(exempt plates,no insurance) brushed the rear side of my car deeply scuffing the rear bumper and putting a dent inthe fender exposing metal underneath.How big do you think the check wil be that theyll cut me?Anyone ever got a quote on comparable damage?

Well I was parked at bobthecow's house one night and someone hit the leftside of my rear bumper taking out that side marker and cracking it above and beneath the housing. I went to a bodyshop and they said that the whole bumper would have to be replaced since the cracks were too big to just body putty and paint. For a brand new one it was around $770 and for a used one out of a junkyard painted it was under $500. They might tell you the same thing, and depending on the work that would have to be done and the amount of your deductible, you might just want to replace the rear bumper and you should be looking at around the same figures if you go the route I did, that is if they can't just repair the damage which would be about $300-$500 or somewhere in that ballpark.

But that's just what happened to me.

exempt plates doesn't mean no insurance it means it does not have to take emissions tests. city garbage trucks have insurance through the city, just like the police department and the fire department.

anyways, what you do is take it to a repair shop. you get absolutely everything that could have possibly happened during this accident priced for fixing. then you take the quote to the city building and hand it to them. if they have a preferred shop then you may have to go to the preferred shop. anyways you did get a accident report done by the police right? if not its going to be a pain in your *** if the driver wants to lie and say it didn't happen.

so whatever the amount of damage it did to your vehicle is. they will have to cut a check for that price. its the city so they will cut it pretty quick. if it is an option i would suggest you have the bumper replaced and repainted, and the quarter panel will probably have to be banged out, epoxied, and repainted.

shops can only make quart sizes of paint for repaints which is about 300-500 dollars or so. plus they have to pay for the Mitsubishi paint color code as well. if the rear bumper has to be replaced it can cost about 700 dollars just for a new OEM bumper. and the body work can cost about 400 bucks depending on how long it takes the body guy to fix the damage. price may range from 1100-1600 depending on the body shop you go to.

i suggest you take your car to a few (4-5) shops and get price quotes remember the least expensive shops price, taking it to a privately owned shop tends to be pricier so if your looking for the big bucks (from the city) go to one of those. then take it to the cheaper shop to have the work done. also remember that an after market bumper will cost less than an OEM bumper new, and buying a salvage yard bumper will be the least expensive. http://www.car-part.com for that

sorry the post was so long

File a Hit and Run report and let your insurance deal with it.

Ok, I meant they dont have insurance like we do...
Anyways the guy who hit my car was a customer and a mechanic(doesnt usually drive right hand drive vehicles)and he was cool about it.He said find the high quote( he already filed an accident report) and theyll cut a check for the quote I got today $1.027.25 which is almost entirely labor(the damage was like a scratch)so Im not to worried about it plus I already had a dent on that panel by the fuel door.