Need accident advice
 

I was heading back to work yesterday after lunch, and was at a stop light behind another car. The guy behind me i guess wasnt paying attention and didnt stop in time, ran into my car. It doesnt look too damaged, the guy had a 1989 white chevy camaro, i have an 06 rx8 shinka.

My bumper is scratched up and misalligned, I dont know how bad the damage is under the bumper. The guy said he would rather go with me to the shop and pay for the fix, but im not sure if i should just trust him. This is my baby's 1st accident, and I dont wanna be an ass, but HE is the one that was wreckless.

My insurance company said I have a week to report a claim, or they wont cover anything. Should I trust this guy and see if he has the money ready when I have the car checked out tomarrow, or do you think i should just avoid any chances and report it to my insurance and have them take care of it?

BTW, i filled a police report AFTER i got back to work, i was upset and not thinking straight, went straight to the station to make the report. I got as much of his info as i could, name, license, vin#, address, phone etc.

Also, any good body shops in San Bernardino, CA area? is the Mazda/ford dealership body shop there good?

any other advice is appreciated

Don't trust anybody, tbh. It will be real easy for him to just flake out and get away with it.

yeah, thats my biggest worry. Him flaking out, or if the repair is x amount, he will say the most he's willing to pay is 300.00 or something and anything over that is on me because i dint take it to a cheap body shop. Going through my insurance will give me peace of mind when it comes to the repair, im thinking

When it comes to stuff like this, dont trust anybody.

Report it. Its his fault so he have to pay for it.

You get his license and write down all the info on it, you get his insurance card, and write down all the info on it. you write down the make and model of his car.

Then you call your insurance company and you file a claim.

Or you could just let him drive off and fuck you over by never showing his face in your life ever again, let alone pay for damages.

turn it in. you have all his info right? and a police report. your insurance will pay for yours to be fixed, then will go after his to reinburst them. Your rates dont go up and your car is fixed! wah la!

You MUST get all the info from him or at least something, or else you're screwed tbh with you (out a lot of body $$$)

Take him to a body shop your familiar with and get it done. Don't let him slack off or file a claim. So once it's in the shop send the bill to him, first get and give him an estimate from the body shop.

Also don't go to a mazda shop cause they'll rip you off like crazy. But in this case your not paying so it's up to you.

Your insurance company shouldn't need to cover you...You should go through his insurance and they will write you a check after you get it apprasied.

Thanks for the advice guys, i made up my mind. Im gonna contact my insurance and report it.

Ill pay my deductable ($1000) and let my insurance do their job of getting it fixed and go after the other guy's insurance for reimbursment. After thats done i should be reimbursed my deductable also.

BTW, i did get all the info from him that i could think of at the time:
Name, address, phone number, drivers license, VIN for his car, insurance+policy #

Definitely get the insurance companies involved, it's probably going to be expensive. As I posted in the other thread, my wife got rear ended in my 8 last fall. Didn't look like much, but the final bill was around $2500. New bumper cover, new reinforcing blocks underneath, new mounting brackets, plus the work to paint the back end, and it needs to be feathered in with the fenders. Most of it was not in the original estimate either, they only found the underlying damage after they opened it up.

wow, I wouldnt trust some random stranger in an 89 camaro that I just met via car accident; +1 for getting insurance involved