Hi, so I backed into a pole with a 2016 nissan altima, dented the bumper and broke the taillight. I decided to not involve my insurance company so my premiums don't go up, and so my driver's abstract stays clean. The rental company refused to let me have it repaired myself, and a few weeks after they took it back I got this 3300$ repair bill....

http://www.pdfescape.com/shared/?9C7C54 ... 3EC1E6944D

it includes items such as, 8 hours to remove quarter panel, 2 hours to paint door shell, and some other things that have nothing to do with my damage. There are pictures from the autobody shop where they have a PDR light to show the supposed damage, but there is nothing to be seen on the rear quarter panel. I contacted the rental company damage recovery people, and they claimed that in the second last picture you can see a dent in the PDR light, but that "dent" is part of the body around the taillight, as you can see here.

http://images.dealer.com/evox/stills_06 ... 40_077.jpg

Am I being taken for a ride or what?

I have no problem paying for the damage I caused, but it seems like there is about 1000$ worth of unnecessary work.

this was about $7 or $8k paid for by the other drivers insurance: http://imgur.com/3lTPEDJ

Everything related to the auto body repair business is inflated. Since you're not willing to go through your insurance company, you're at the mercy of Alamo's appraiser. Ask for a discount of sorts, or just pay the bill. You should've said the damage was due to a hit and run to avoid your insurance record from getting hit and let your insurance company deal with the cost. Doing so would not have affected your premiums to significantly.

Sounds about right for putting it all back to where it was. I wouldn't be suspicious. I would consider getting the 'extra insurance' next time I rented though. No need to lie about hit and run or worry about your own premiums at that point. I know, hindsight... 20/20... Was the pole clearly marked with like reflective paint, and at a reasonable height of at least 3.5 feet? Could be the fault of the garage or whomever if you wanted to go that route.

centralcoaster33 wrote:Sounds about right for putting it all back to where it was. I wouldn't be suspicious. I would consider getting the 'extra insurance' next time I rented though. No need to lie about hit and run or worry about your own premiums at that point. I know, hindsight... 20/20... Was the pole clearly marked with like reflective paint, and at a reasonable height of at least 3.5 feet? Could be the fault of the garage or whomever if you wanted to go that route.

The insurance auto body business is all about scams and lies....may as well play the game their way when possible or keep getting your sh1t pushed in.

I guess so. I don't have much nice to say about insurance typically.

It's a bit inflated. Did you end up getting a discount? Any update?