# My cruze got swiped



## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

This morning i was driving to disneyland from my hotel and was stuck at a red light when i noticed someone behind me that wanted to turn left. So, trying to be the nice driver on the road, i inched closer to the car in front of me in order to give them enough room to get into the left turn lane. 5 seconds later, and an indian woman in a dodge caravan did this to my car:










Anywho, the main dent on my car is part of the body panel right above the rear bumper. And my question is, can that panel be easily fixed? Will they need a long time to fix it because the panel runs from the tail lights to the front fender? Or is it part of the frame of my car, and therefore unfixable?

The paint can be redone, and the scratched tail light is fine, and at worst can be replaced, so i dont care about that, i'm just worrying about the dent that cant be quickly fixed by snapping on a new bumper.

*sorry if the picture is big, im on my phone and cant make it smaller. If a mod could shrink it for me if its really big i would greatly appreciate it.


----------



## coinneach (Apr 10, 2012)

*wince* Crap like this is why I firmly believe that there should be graduated licenses based on vehicle type. If you (as in her, not *you* - you done good by trying to make room for her) don't know where your corners and sides are, stay off the **** road!


----------



## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

**** that sucks dude. The bumper will be a an easy (not cheap) fix but the the panel is fixable. But you don't have anything to worry about because you got her insurance right?


----------



## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

I got her info, although it was rather concerned with what she said. I have her license plate number however, and submitted the info to AAA already.


----------



## JMORIN (Jun 2, 2012)

What did she say that concerned you?


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


----------



## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

It looks like the 1/4 panel is creased, in which case they will not be able to unbend the metal properly. they may smooth as best they can and fiberglass over it or they would probably cut part of the panel away and weld in a new piece of sheetmetal. it is hard to tell from that pic just how bad the damage is.


----------



## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

Wait no police report?


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Mick said:


> Wait no police report?


I would definitely file a police report and quickly. Many states have a requirement that any accident that causes more than $xxxx amount of damage be reported. They all require accidents with injury be reported. I can guarantee that Chevy is very proud (read expensive) of their body panels.


----------



## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

She had her insurance, but it was a month after it expired, and she said that the current one was at home. We got all we could qt the time(i was with my family), and we got pictures/wrote down info on the intersection, and a police van came by and asked if everyone was ok.

Is there any way i could take a better picture to show more of the dent? That is, without having to remove the back bumper.


----------



## ems2158 (Feb 2, 2012)

I had nearly the exact same dent in the same place on my 2010 Equinox. They took the bumper cover off to repaint it and straightened the sheet metal over the bumper. The paint over the bumper was blended in. It is 2 years later and it's impossible to tell there was any damage. It took 4 days and I got a rental car. The idiot that hit me ran off and I couldn't get the license number, I had to put out the deductible from my pocket.
Sounds like you may be in the same situation I was in even though you got her info. It will be more trouble than it's worth to get her to pay up since she was basically uninsured if her insurance was expired.


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

ems2158 said:


> I had nearly the exact same dent in the same place on my 2010 Equinox. They took the bumper cover off to repaint it and straightened the sheet metal over the bumper. The paint over the bumper was blended in. It is 2 years later and it's impossible to tell there was any damage. It took 4 days and I got a rental car. The idiot that hit me ran off and I couldn't get the license number, I had to put out the deductible from my pocket.
> Sounds like you may be in the same situation I was in even though you got her info. It will be more trouble than it's worth to get her to pay up since she was basically uninsured if her insurance was expired.


I don't know about your insurance company, but since you got her license plate I know USAA would go after her even if her insurance had expired. Hopefully you gave all the information to the police van that came by.


----------



## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Smurfenstein said:


> This morning i was driving to disneyland from my hotel and was stuck at a red light when i noticed someone behind me that wanted to turn left. So, trying to be the nice driver on the road, i inched closer to the car in front of me in order to give them enough room to get into the left turn lane. 5 seconds later, and an indian woman in a dodge caravan did this to my car:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Smurfenstein,
I am sorry to hear about this accident that you had. I am very happy to hear that everyone is alright. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or if you need any further assistance; I am always happy to help. Either way, please keep me posted on the outcome.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


----------

