The taillights on one side of my 2000 Camry were broken by someone while my car was parked. As shown here:
And how much does it cost to fix the dent? New York price as I'm in New York.
Call your dealer for a complete unit. new price, then call a wrecker and get a used price. Lens are not available separately. The dent MIGHT be popped out with no paint damage, otherwise maybe $200 or so. Or just don't bother.
Stewart DIBBS
I agree, try wrecking yard. New is high. Might find used online. worth a shot
About $87,000.00. Just guessing.
Call your insurance company. That would cost me $100.
--- Rich
taillight wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
It's one-piece, unfortunately. The reflector and lens are bonded together.
A local wrecking yard is your first choice.
Secondly is this site:
Don't even consider buying new at the dealer. It will be (guess here) well over $100 for each light.
Or you could try Certi-fit. Some of their stuff is OK and WILL fit, some of their stuff...
EX: 1994 Chrysler LHS: Right Frt turn sig; dealer $89, Salvage yard $50, new from C-F, $59 including shipping.
I can't tell from the picture if there is any paint transfer in the "Dent -->" area. If there is, see if any of the other cars regularly parked in the neighborhood are painted that color, and if they have any new damage on their right side (either end) at about that height. A little "Amateur CSI" sleuthing may save you a /whole lot/ of money.
First, go sweep up and save any loose 'car bits' at the accident site (if the sweepers haven't come by) - some of the bits might be from the other guy's marker light. Then grab a camera and notepad and start looking at all the parked cars in a pattern search for about a mile in all directions - unless the other guy is a moron, he isn't going to keep street parking in the same block as you, he's going to park a long way away and walk home till he gets his car fixed.
If you spot the car in the area, get the license number and the VIN in the windshield as a backup (*1), take pictures of the damaged spots on both cars (*2), and go talk to your friendly neighborhood precinct cops. You dont have to (or want to) confront him yourself.
If there's enough evidence that makes the cops curious enough to check further - like the guy lives next door but has suddenly started parking in an expensive indoor pay garage (*3) or on the street eight blocks away - the cops might go talk to the other gentleman about a hit and run accident (*4) that was reported to them a few days ago...
(*1- In case the plates are stolen, they can trace the VIN.)
(*2- That photo is evidence in case the other guy tries to quickly cover up the damage on his car.)
(*3- Ask around at all the local parking garages about any brand new customers. If they're smart, the garage owners usually take pictures of any pre-existing body damage so they don't get blamed for it.)
(*4- IANAL, but... He hits your car and doesn't leave a note or attempt to contact you, it's Misdemeanor Hit And Run. Bada-Bing, now it's serious. Cause enough damage, and it might rate as Felony Hit And Run. Real serious.)
That looks like one of the permanently glued together lens and reflector type assemblies, judging from the little red and yellow bits clinging around the edges. Got to replace the whole thing as a unit, I'll take a wild guess at around $100 new for the light.
It's a 2000 car, so there should be a few appearing at junkyards after a front hit. (Meaning the trunk and taillights are perfect.)
After a car is about 3 to 4 years old, if they get in a collision that pops the airbags and breaks the windshield the insurer is probably going to total the car. Even if the bodywork and paint damage is only $2,000, it'll cost them another $3,000+ to replace the airbags (could go past $5,000 with side curtain or seat airbags, or gadgets like explosive seatbelt pretensioners), another $400+ for the windshield, and suddenly it's cheaper to scrap the car.
And the junkyard can make more than that selling off the good bits, or sell the car off to someone to repair and salvage, and resell as a used car.
My guess, for a nice job around $500 to $750 (NYC) to pop it out, skim over the last few wrinkles with putty, prime, and spot paint the fender. If they start quoting $2,000 someone's getting hosed.
Add a little more for metallic paint, because they have to respray the whole panel up to the door and trunk breaks or the touchup job is painfully obvious.
It looks clean - a good fender man can pop out the dent to where it's barely visible, and buff out the paint. If you want to pick up the tab yourself without getting your insurance company involved, you could just change the light, have the dent popped out (with maybe a wrinkle or two left), and do a spot touch up on the paint (inside and outside) to prevent rust, for a whole lot less.
... for the deductible.
But think it through for a minute - making an insurance claim on your own policy now might also mean shopping around to find a new insurance company when renewal time comes around in a few months. At a higher premium rate too, because now you have "a claims history."
Some insurers will allow you to make a claim (even two for longtime customers) "with no penalties" I.E: without canceling you or raising your rates. Others will 'non-renew' your policy at the first claim.
See, the insurance company is all chummy buddy buddy as long as you are sending them your premium money - as soon as that role is reversed, now you are a liability to be dropped like a hot rock, or you'll have your rates jacked up for the next three years to cover the added exposure.
If you can find and make the other guy (or /his/ insurance) pay for the damages, that's all the better.
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Or...
Red/clear:
--- Rich
My Allstate insurance has $500 deductable for Comprehensive. My understanding is I have to pay the first $500 for any damage to my car. So it ain't gonna help in this case.
That's an excellent advice. I'll do that. Might be lucky this time.
Give me a hint if you can, what car would hit the taillight first but not anywhere below that? It can't be a sedan. As a edan would hit the spot below the taillight and about the same height as the bumper first.
I've saved customers lots of money just by being observant.
Case #1, a 6x6 wooden streetlight pole knocked down in a gated neighborhood of $5M mini-ranchos, and a funny dent in the wood like a piece of 3/16" plate steel hit it at about 40" up. Parked 200' away by the house, a 20' box van with a liftgate, and the edge of the 3/16" diamondplate top deck of the liftgate sitting at 40".
Seems the company owner who lived there didn't drive the company cargo truck very often, and mis-judged backing out of the driveway. And kept denying he had anything to do with it till the property manager for the HOA showed him my photographs...
Case #2, a 36' Steel tapered light pole (painted with latex beige) down in a city park parking lot that was all rusted out at the base, but there was also a funny dent with green paint transfer at about 5' up. I mentioned this to the City Inspector as we were dealing with the remains, and we discussed what might have happened here...
A few days later the local trash company called the city. The supervisor noticed a fresh dent in the truck (with some beige scrapes) and the driver confessed to backing into the pole while tipping the trash. His 'love tap' was the last straw (the pole would have blown over in the next stiff wind) but at least it explained the how and why
- and we know nobody got hurt.
The trash company picked up most of the tab for the portable welder to cut off the rotten section of pole and weld the baseplate back on, a new cobrahead fixture, and a crane to put the pole back up.
Pickup truck, SUV, MommyVan, USPS LLV Mail Truck, UPS Truck (Brown scars?)... If it was a SUV with a contoured chromed bumper, you wouldn't get any paint transfer from their car - but the pattern of the scrapes would tell a lot. And there might be some of your paint on the end of their bumper.
Look for possible culprits at the same day and time of day the incident happened (if you know) because that's the time that a 'foreign' driver that caused it would be coming by on his route. Could also be the Thursday soccer carpool.
Most delivery trucks just double-park, but if there was an open curb space he might have tried to parallel park in it.
Be observant, be open minded, and the answer just might jump out at you and say "Boo!".
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~> The taillights on one side of my 2000 Camry were broken by someone ~> while my car was parked. As shown here: ~> ~>
What about Headlight Wholesale at
Ouch. It doesn't cost that much more to bump the comp deductible to $100, and considering that (in CA) it covers vandalism and glass breakage/replacement, it's worth it the way I go through windshields on the freeways.
--- Rich
You can find tail lamp assembies on eBay for varying prices, but generally $25 is a good place to start.
When the trunk is open, you can remove the lining to expose the nuts that hold the tail lamp on. The lamp assembly is easy to remove, and the hole that it makes when removed is large enough that you can pound out most of that dent.
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