Hi guys,
Yesterday afternoon some ancient rustbucket decided to change lanes in a roundabout that left me with some nasty scrapes and a minor dent in the right rear fender and rear bumper.
Guy has no insurance and no money and broker already confirmed that it's as good as having hit a lamppost. Auto Atlantic repair centre quoted R15k without anything needing replacement; half of it is questionable like diagnostics and respraying an undamaged door for "paint blending".
Car is a 2010 E90 325i with motorplan extended until June 2016, mileage 74,000km, original owner, still spotless condition.
Had the car been newer it would have been a no-brainer to go with insurance, but it's 5 years old with only 9months motorplan left and I will probably sell it after 1 to 2 more years, when it would have accumulated a fair amount of depreciation. I also have had an unfortunate spate of insurance issues in 2008-2011 that affected my claims record, and I would like to keep the current clean run that way.
I now have three options where I would appreciate some comments from those with experience please:
1) Insurance repair. Excess is R3k and premiums shall rise by approx. R80/month, but unsure how severely it will affect a higher value vehicle down the line.
2) Cash repair at a cheaper alternative. I imagine cost would be around R6k, which is more expensive than the excess and 3 years' premium increase.
3) Do nothing; buff out and touch up the worst and just sell it as-is down the line. The few marks after the years are not enough to bother me. Question is whether the value reduction of such reasonably minor cosmetic damage would be more than the cost of cash/insurance repair? (not sure yet whether the next purchase will involve pvt sale or trade-in).
Yesterday afternoon some ancient rustbucket decided to change lanes in a roundabout that left me with some nasty scrapes and a minor dent in the right rear fender and rear bumper.
Guy has no insurance and no money and broker already confirmed that it's as good as having hit a lamppost. Auto Atlantic repair centre quoted R15k without anything needing replacement; half of it is questionable like diagnostics and respraying an undamaged door for "paint blending".
Car is a 2010 E90 325i with motorplan extended until June 2016, mileage 74,000km, original owner, still spotless condition.
Had the car been newer it would have been a no-brainer to go with insurance, but it's 5 years old with only 9months motorplan left and I will probably sell it after 1 to 2 more years, when it would have accumulated a fair amount of depreciation. I also have had an unfortunate spate of insurance issues in 2008-2011 that affected my claims record, and I would like to keep the current clean run that way.
I now have three options where I would appreciate some comments from those with experience please:
1) Insurance repair. Excess is R3k and premiums shall rise by approx. R80/month, but unsure how severely it will affect a higher value vehicle down the line.
2) Cash repair at a cheaper alternative. I imagine cost would be around R6k, which is more expensive than the excess and 3 years' premium increase.
3) Do nothing; buff out and touch up the worst and just sell it as-is down the line. The few marks after the years are not enough to bother me. Question is whether the value reduction of such reasonably minor cosmetic damage would be more than the cost of cash/insurance repair? (not sure yet whether the next purchase will involve pvt sale or trade-in).
