Topic: Someone pulled out in front of me Friday

[GreenBayjeeper]

Someone made an illegal turn in front of me in the rain Friday night.

Now I need a new front bumper, and right fender.

The woman has no insurance, and no liscense.  She didn't even speak English.
How much (if anyone cares to guess) should this run me at a body shop?  I'm not sure if I want to eat the cost and pay it out of pocket or turn it into my insurance.  I have a 500 dollar deductible to meet.  If it's only gonna be 550 or 600, I'll fix it myself.  Then I can put whatever bumper on it I want.

Ideas?

[chardrc]

thats sucks.. nut it could be a good opertunity to get a nie bumper adn fenders

[Liljeepz]

you should have got that lady's car on the spot! Then press charges!!!  

Sucks to hear that happened to you.

[Jeffy]

So did you call the police?  You could always go after her in civil court but that's a hassle.  A fender would probably cost a couple hundred and a stock bumper, free if you look hard enough.  Might be worth it to consider tube fenders if you can get away with them.  Stock bumpers kidna suck unless you trim them.  Once trimmed they will hold up fine.  You also might wnat to see if there is any frame damage.  If there is then you'll definatly want to get that straightened out before hand.

[Jesse-James]

That does suck, a buddy of mine had a 94 rustang with a lot of work put into it get totalled by a driver with no insurance. He was driving it home from storage and didn't have his insurance switch over yet. He now collects 200.00 a month till it's paid off. Hardly a means to replace it with.
Judjing by your name you are in GB, WI. I'm only a couple hours away in Racine and I have a bumper for sale cheap. Not perfect by any means, but definately affordable.

[GreenBayjeeper]

Yeah, the police were involved, and for the moment I'm supposed to meet with an insurance guy tomorrow after work.

Jesse, I might take you up on that bumper offer.  I'll know more tomorrow though.

As for the stock one though, I'm not sure what is meant by "trimming" it.  Is the metal too long or something?

Anyway, thanks for everyone's input, and I'll let everyone know how things are going tomorrow.

[Jeffy]

As for the stock one though, I'm not sure what is meant by "trimming" it.  Is the metal too long or something?

Anyway, thanks for everyone's input, and I'll let everyone know how things are going tomorrow.

Exactly.  The ends are long and when hit they kink the bumper.  Trim off the ends and reinforce it a bit and it should be pretty strong.  I really like the style of the OEM since it doesn't add any length to the overhang which is really nice.  All tube bumper will add 3.5" to the overhang.  This was one of the main reason why I removed my old bumper.

[iismet]

Not sure what year you have. I have a straight, black, passenger side fender, off of an 05.  $100.00 + shipping from Portland Or 97214. Fender is black.

[GreenBayjeeper]

Okay, I closed the tab that I typed a nice big reply/update before posting, so heres a quickie.

I got a check for $104.30 from my insurance.  They're gonna try to get my $500.00 deductible from the woman who pulled out in front of me, but I'm not holding my breath.

On a whim I was looking for new bumpers on Quadratec's site and in their catalog, and found one I liked.
I then on a hunch, found this one on eBay;

They're the same!  Only the eBay one is $50.00 less.  I bought it.

So Jesse James, thanks for the heads up on the tube bumper you have.  I appreciate the offer, but this one is exactly what I was looking for.  You're right too about me being up in Green Bay.

Also iismet, depending on what the body shop says, I might shoot a PM your way about that fender.  If you can sell it before then, by all means do.  I might be a month so I don't want to cost you a sale.

Thanks to all for being cool. This is the best Jeep site on the net!

[Jeffy]

I'd get them to do an estimate and see what it comes out to.  Depending on what needs to be fixed have teh insurence company cut the check for the estimate, (hopefully it's higher). Then go shopping.  You could always buy a new fender and have the shop paint it them you bolt it on and pocket the labor.

[Jesse-James]

No problem, just thought I'd throw it out there for ya'.

[YJmechanic]

remeber paint is the most expensive most of the time.  bumper is no big deal and fenders can be found in junk yards but the paint has to be right and that's not cheap.  make sure the estimate is fair cause if you only got $100 you are far from done.

[wrangler387]

Paint should be the most expensive, especially if done right. paint (what i like to call sanding, because you do more sanding then painting lol). Blending a new panel with the panels around it is a pain in the ass, i remember i had to argue with my insurance company back in the day about this. I didn't want the new fender to be painted and not "flow" into the other panels, but that was back when i cared. Luckily you have a newer jeep so you might not have that problem, i had an early 90s honda lol.

[YJmechanic]

yes paint the one thing i can't do in my garage or at least not well.  that's what herc is for.

[chardrc]

tah must be a warn front bumper you were looking at.. i like them alot.. i have thr rear bumper with the tire carrier adn the front bumper is on my wish list..


as far as paint goes on my jeep.. i have a spray can of black paint i use for tuoch up... hey its a jeep but mines a 90 .. and i would have a hard time spray paintign a tj..