I think it’s a good idea to be reasonable and generous with people you work with so things keep going smoothly. Actually, we’re both graduate students who work together on a student publication. We probably won’t work together after this June.
I haven’t filed a claim in many years, but when I did the insurance company required a police report. Is that likely to be needed here?
This is just your attitude. It does not take very much effort to take better care of a car than that.
Yes, chips in the front bumper and hood from road debris are unavoidable. As is wear on the interior surfaces from everyday contact. Everything else can be avoided.
I had a BMW for about 10 years - I bought it in high school, took it to college in Boston, and then kept it for another 5 years or so after that. I certainly didn’t keep it in a climate-controlled garage - it was parked outside for the last 6 years or so - but I was simply careful with it. I tried to park away from other cars, I cleaned off bird shit as soon as I could, I kept a layer of wax on the paint, I kept the interior clean and didn’t eat in it, I didn’t lean my skis against it when I went skiing, etc. When I sold it, 10 years and 150,000 miles later, it still looked practically brand new, and I sold it for $2500 over the asking price of the next best similar car on the market.
So, you can treat your car like crap if you want, I don’t give a shit. But the fact that you are careless about damaging your car doesn’t allow you to evade responsibility when you are careless about damaging mine. It’s only “standard wear and tear” if your standard is to not make any effort to prevent it.
I rear-ended an SUV once with my low-to-the-ground beater of a car. My hood slid right under his bumper causing a few scratches on his bumper, and some scuffs on his spare tire cover, while my hood was completely destroyed.
It was my mistake, and I was going to make it right. I did the math, and an insurance claim was the losing path, so I agreed to pay for his damages out of pocket.
The “damage” to his car, I would have gladly left unfixed on mine, so I met him at the garage, and payed his repair bill and made him sign a release. There was no way I was going to put $1200 in his pocket and let him drive around with a scuffed up bumper and spare tire cover.
Two weeks later, to the day, I rear-ended a coworker’s SUV, causing very similar damage. That damage was repaired by a 60 oz bottle of Crown Royal. That seemed a much better deal for all parties involved.
This, this, and this…
Vehicles tend to depreciate in value. They get used up. A door dings are, IMHO, an expected part of vehicle ownership. Whats next, you feeling obligated to pay her for a new engine because getting her door ding fixed required her to drive a few miles out of her way? Small door ding is to car body as extra miles are to engine.
I’m of the opinion that if you damage someone’s property, you’re responsible for making it right, but making it right doesn’t necessarily mean paying to get it fixed. Even a minor dent can end up being ridiculously expensive and not really match up with fair compensation. So, just as the person who did the damage has a moral obligation to make it right, the person who is being compensated has a moral obligation not to be overcompensated.
Thus, in a case like this, given that a repair shop might easily charge several hundred dollars, involve fixing the whole fender, matching paint, and all of that, something in the neighborhood of $20-50 is really more than fair. Hell, if that were my car, even taking good care of it, I doubt I’d notice something that minor for some time.
Honestly, it sounds to me like she knows that she can either pocket a few bucks or get some other damage to her car fixed on your dime. I agree with the idea that, if she’s going to pursue it, that you need to talk to your insurance company and provide the photo ahead of time. There’s no reason they should provide full compensation for that.