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Sooooo, my Brother in law backed into my parked van with his truck (I was not even in the van at the time). There is a significant crack in the lower left side of the bumper and the licence plate cover was shattered with the licence plate dented.
My bumper is made from the plastic stuff not metal.
We brought it to someone and they described what they think happened.
He backed into it almost dead on (hence the dented licence plate) but hit it hard enough that the bumper dented and torqued causing the crack. It's a perfect crack, with no pieces missing, I didn't even see it until I got home. When the bumper dented in the middle it caused the ends to flair out which also caused the left side (same side as the crack) to lift off the clamps so it is not sitting perfectly around the headlight anymore. (The bumper no longer looks dented as it is made of plastic and re took it's original shape)
He also said that there is some sort of "bar" in front of the airbag sensor????? That seems to be damaged, and had he hit just a bit harder, my air bag probably would have gone off (I assume if I were sitting in it with the ignition on - do airbags go off if the car is parked and off?)
He said he can fix the crack, repair the damage behind the bumper, and replace the airbag sensors (if needed), for WORST CASE, $1800.
BUT, I looked online about how much it is to REPLACE a bumper, and it does not seem like we are saving money by repairing it instead.
If my my research a replacement bumper is between $800 to $1300 and an airbag sensor is $250 to $290 (each) - I have WORST CASE three that MAY need to be replaced. Then I would assume that if the sensors do not need to be replaced my $1800 worst case drops to around $1000, so why not just get the bumper replaced completely instead of fixed???
My husband is being stubborn on this, because he trusts the guy.
My sister is angry because she does not think that $1800 is reasonable and thinks the guy is trying to scare us to to more work than we need to. (Which I kinda agree, but he did say WORST CASE, it will probably be less as I highly doubt that my sensors need replacing - he'll only know the extent of the damage under the bumper after he takes it off) She also doesn't have that kind of money to just fork over. But she also does not know cars either.
I mean, I remember fixing a small dent and scratch on my fender and that was $1000! So it seems like a good price, but then I read stuff online, and I think that it's not a good price, then my husband explains something else and....I'm overthinking and going back and fourth and just need an opinion.
And I'm stuck in the middle trying to keep the peace so that everyone feels like they are being taken care of and not being taken advantage of.
So to anyone who knows cars...
Is that a reasonable price for the damage described?
What is the "bar" that the guy was talking about?
Will my air bag go off while I'm driving due to the damage?
I'm in Ontario Canada, in case that helps with price comparison.
My bumper is made from the plastic stuff not metal.
We brought it to someone and they described what they think happened.
He backed into it almost dead on (hence the dented licence plate) but hit it hard enough that the bumper dented and torqued causing the crack. It's a perfect crack, with no pieces missing, I didn't even see it until I got home. When the bumper dented in the middle it caused the ends to flair out which also caused the left side (same side as the crack) to lift off the clamps so it is not sitting perfectly around the headlight anymore. (The bumper no longer looks dented as it is made of plastic and re took it's original shape)
He also said that there is some sort of "bar" in front of the airbag sensor????? That seems to be damaged, and had he hit just a bit harder, my air bag probably would have gone off (I assume if I were sitting in it with the ignition on - do airbags go off if the car is parked and off?)
He said he can fix the crack, repair the damage behind the bumper, and replace the airbag sensors (if needed), for WORST CASE, $1800.
BUT, I looked online about how much it is to REPLACE a bumper, and it does not seem like we are saving money by repairing it instead.
If my my research a replacement bumper is between $800 to $1300 and an airbag sensor is $250 to $290 (each) - I have WORST CASE three that MAY need to be replaced. Then I would assume that if the sensors do not need to be replaced my $1800 worst case drops to around $1000, so why not just get the bumper replaced completely instead of fixed???
My husband is being stubborn on this, because he trusts the guy.
My sister is angry because she does not think that $1800 is reasonable and thinks the guy is trying to scare us to to more work than we need to. (Which I kinda agree, but he did say WORST CASE, it will probably be less as I highly doubt that my sensors need replacing - he'll only know the extent of the damage under the bumper after he takes it off) She also doesn't have that kind of money to just fork over. But she also does not know cars either.
I mean, I remember fixing a small dent and scratch on my fender and that was $1000! So it seems like a good price, but then I read stuff online, and I think that it's not a good price, then my husband explains something else and....I'm overthinking and going back and fourth and just need an opinion.
And I'm stuck in the middle trying to keep the peace so that everyone feels like they are being taken care of and not being taken advantage of.
So to anyone who knows cars...
Is that a reasonable price for the damage described?
What is the "bar" that the guy was talking about?
Will my air bag go off while I'm driving due to the damage?
I'm in Ontario Canada, in case that helps with price comparison.