- 18
- 10
- Joined
- May 28, 2011
sup NT, need some advice.
sometime last month, my car was parked outside my girl's house. I hear a loud boom and my car alarm goes off. I'm in bed like '+@+' and I look out the window to see this dude's SUV backed into my car.
anyways, I get out there and assess the damage. He backed into me and did some minor damage. Broke the paint on my bumper, broke one of my headlights and cracked the bumper. I ask the dude if he has insurance and he's straight from Indonesia and doesn't have insurance. He said it was his fault cause he didn't see my car. Mind you, this dude backed into me with a new a Porche Cayenne. Turns out he's here on student visa. He doesn't live across the street from my girlfriend but they are close friends with her neighbors and he's always over there. The dude didn't speak english very well so we consulted with a middleman who is the pastor at his Church, who is also the owner of the house. He proceeds to tell me, "Just get us a quote and we'll go ahead and have it taken care of", these are the words of a Pastor and I respect that, so I thought it would be all good. I didn't end up filing a police report, didn't really get the dude's info because I trusted the Pastor. They have been VERY helpful up to this point though, so I hope that's not going to bite my @!# in the long run. It might though and this is where I need your help.
It took me a bit to get a quote but I got one for like $400 for headlights and $1000 to fix my bumper. Thinking that I will be the nice guy, I just give him the quote for the bumper damage. The Pastor passed it on to the kid who hit me and said that he will tell him to call me. Week goes by and I don't hear anything so we visit the Pastor again, and he said that he is sorry that the dude isn't answering and that he'll tell him to call me ASAP. Couple more days go by and he doesn't call me still so I go over there and they gave me two numbers that he can be reached at and his e-mail, pretty nice.
I contact the dude and he answers. We talk and he said that he thinks the quote is a bit too much, trying to negotiate it a bit. I told him I'm pretty firm cause anything less than that isn't going to fix my bumper and my car, and I told him I didn't give him the headlight quote cause it was already so much. He thanked me and said that he only has $500 right now and that he is saving up to pay me because he didn't tell his dad about this. I told him I'll be in touch next week to see how it is going cause I want my money to fix my car. Thinking the worst that he might be gone forever after this call, I just pray that this ends easy. Surprisingly the next day he calls me again and tells me some story about how it will take him forever to pay me and if I can lower the price. I told him that I'm pretty firm on the 1000, but if he can get me 750 soon then that'll be okay. That still won't fix my stuff but I just want this to be over it. He said thanks and that he would call me again tomorrow to see if that would be doable for him.
It's been a couple days since then. My girlfriend's Mom works at an insurance agency and said that if they didn't end up paying, I would still be able to file a claim against him, etc. I mean, if I filed the police report then and there, he would have had to pay an uninsured motorist ticket of like $1000 and I feel like I would never have seen the money after that. Going through insurance is always sticky, but going through people's word is also not that safe to play.
tl;dr
Dude hit me, gave him a quote for $1000 that he needs to pay me to fix my car. He tried to negotiate with me and we settled for $750 but since then he hasn't been in contact. What can I do from here on out? Or do I just take the L?
I mean the neighbor is a Pastor and they have been very helpful in getting me in touch with him, passing him information along, etc. It just seems like it's more of the guy who is negligent. I don't really have much information on the dude except for two phone numbers, only one of which works, and his e-mail. Honestly I feel like I could get more information from the neighbors if necessary, I just haven't resorted to that yet. But what I want to know is if I am assed out here because I didn't file the police report ASAP or take pictures or get more of his information?
Help me out NT, you guys work wonders I know there is something that I can do
sometime last month, my car was parked outside my girl's house. I hear a loud boom and my car alarm goes off. I'm in bed like '+@+' and I look out the window to see this dude's SUV backed into my car.
anyways, I get out there and assess the damage. He backed into me and did some minor damage. Broke the paint on my bumper, broke one of my headlights and cracked the bumper. I ask the dude if he has insurance and he's straight from Indonesia and doesn't have insurance. He said it was his fault cause he didn't see my car. Mind you, this dude backed into me with a new a Porche Cayenne. Turns out he's here on student visa. He doesn't live across the street from my girlfriend but they are close friends with her neighbors and he's always over there. The dude didn't speak english very well so we consulted with a middleman who is the pastor at his Church, who is also the owner of the house. He proceeds to tell me, "Just get us a quote and we'll go ahead and have it taken care of", these are the words of a Pastor and I respect that, so I thought it would be all good. I didn't end up filing a police report, didn't really get the dude's info because I trusted the Pastor. They have been VERY helpful up to this point though, so I hope that's not going to bite my @!# in the long run. It might though and this is where I need your help.
It took me a bit to get a quote but I got one for like $400 for headlights and $1000 to fix my bumper. Thinking that I will be the nice guy, I just give him the quote for the bumper damage. The Pastor passed it on to the kid who hit me and said that he will tell him to call me. Week goes by and I don't hear anything so we visit the Pastor again, and he said that he is sorry that the dude isn't answering and that he'll tell him to call me ASAP. Couple more days go by and he doesn't call me still so I go over there and they gave me two numbers that he can be reached at and his e-mail, pretty nice.
I contact the dude and he answers. We talk and he said that he thinks the quote is a bit too much, trying to negotiate it a bit. I told him I'm pretty firm cause anything less than that isn't going to fix my bumper and my car, and I told him I didn't give him the headlight quote cause it was already so much. He thanked me and said that he only has $500 right now and that he is saving up to pay me because he didn't tell his dad about this. I told him I'll be in touch next week to see how it is going cause I want my money to fix my car. Thinking the worst that he might be gone forever after this call, I just pray that this ends easy. Surprisingly the next day he calls me again and tells me some story about how it will take him forever to pay me and if I can lower the price. I told him that I'm pretty firm on the 1000, but if he can get me 750 soon then that'll be okay. That still won't fix my stuff but I just want this to be over it. He said thanks and that he would call me again tomorrow to see if that would be doable for him.
It's been a couple days since then. My girlfriend's Mom works at an insurance agency and said that if they didn't end up paying, I would still be able to file a claim against him, etc. I mean, if I filed the police report then and there, he would have had to pay an uninsured motorist ticket of like $1000 and I feel like I would never have seen the money after that. Going through insurance is always sticky, but going through people's word is also not that safe to play.
tl;dr
Dude hit me, gave him a quote for $1000 that he needs to pay me to fix my car. He tried to negotiate with me and we settled for $750 but since then he hasn't been in contact. What can I do from here on out? Or do I just take the L?
I mean the neighbor is a Pastor and they have been very helpful in getting me in touch with him, passing him information along, etc. It just seems like it's more of the guy who is negligent. I don't really have much information on the dude except for two phone numbers, only one of which works, and his e-mail. Honestly I feel like I could get more information from the neighbors if necessary, I just haven't resorted to that yet. But what I want to know is if I am assed out here because I didn't file the police report ASAP or take pictures or get more of his information?
Help me out NT, you guys work wonders I know there is something that I can do