Sigh. Smashed bum on my Dakota

I took my truck to a good friend's place for the winter. He's got a really long, nicely paved driveway and offered me the space, so I parked it and took the insurance off. Unfortunately – he backed into it. Hard. It's been a bad week, he just lost his mom. The roll pan's totalled, tailgate has a big ding, and the box under one taillight is caved in. I offered to pay the deductible if he puts it through his insurance... does that sound fair? Can't put it through mine, since I took it off the truck.

Damn. I was expecting a dead bum smeared on the hood...or at least a bruised bum.

Yeah, I guesd that sounds pretty fair...though, if he disagrees, I wouldn't start a war over it. He did you a favor. It's not like he deliberately busted your E36 M3. I dunno. Personally, I'd let it go. Bad call cancelling the insurance. I'd sooner reinstate the policy and have an "accident" in the snow than bone a friend like that.

Ymmv.

Come to think of it, asking dude for anything is pretty berkeleyed up. Bad call pulling the insurance. If it was on my (private) property, I'd say "a deer hit it" and tell you to get berkeleyed.

God no, I'd never start a war - he offered to totally put it through. I could always wait til it's back on the road and claim hit & run or something.

Delete date stamped post.
Restart Insurance.
Accident could happen anytime between now and Spring.

That sucks. I'd offer up some parts, but all my Dak parts are for the earlier trucks.

If the box under the taillight is anything like the earlier trucks it should be easy to get behind it and straighten it out. Or graft in a section from another bed.

I think your offer is more than fair. If he's really in a funk over loosing his mom it might be a bit before he sees it as fair though.

No, god, he's a great guy- he feels bad about the truck. I said screw it, just a truck.

jrw1621 wrote: Delete date stamped post. Restart Insurance. Accident could happen anytime between now and Spring.

Fraud sucks.

You are being very nice by offering to pay the deductible. Far as I can tell, he's 100% responsible (which is why he carries insurance).

I once let a friend off the hook who had put a sizable dent in my driver's side. I regretted it. I think he felt like he never had the opportunity to make good on his mistake, and he felt awkward talking with me (like he owed me something). It hurt our friendship. Then, I got to be reminded of the hurt every time I got in the car.

I should have let him call his insurance company.

But yes, I find your solution quite agreeable.

It's been a really tough week, so I didn't really even want to talk about the truck (I drove him to see his mom, we just got back). Old friend, good friend. I may just wait til I can fix it, but it looks like it's going to be a lot, and frankly... I haven't got that kind of money. Freelancing's picking up though, so maybe the budget will expand a bit.

Give it a little time. He'll want to make good. Don't stop him.

I think your offer is fine. If you want to pay the deductible, just do it. But, if he insists to pay the whole thing, maybe just let him do it.

poopshovel wrote: Damn. I was expecting a dead bum smeared on the hood...or at least a bruised bum. Yeah, I guesd that sounds pretty fair...though, if he disagrees, I wouldn't start a war over it. He did you a favor. It's not like he deliberately busted your E36 M3. I dunno. Personally, I'd let it go. Bad call cancelling the insurance. I'd sooner reinstate the policy and have an "accident" in the snow than bone a friend like that. Ymmv. Come to think of it, asking dude for anything is pretty berkeleyed up. Bad call pulling the insurance. If it was on my (private) property, I'd say "a deer hit it" and tell you to get berkeleyed.

I don't see why asking someone to pay for damage THEY caused is so wrong.

JMHO though.

If he puts it through his insurance, there should be no deductible. It would be covered under the liability portion, not the collision or comprehensive. I understand your feelings, but if he is ok with submitting it to his insurance why not let him?

Don't sweat the small stuff, and... it's all small stuff. Sorry to hear aout the damage to the truck, but at least you didn't run over a bum.

SVreX wrote: Give it a little time. He'll want to make good. Don't stop him.

Plus one. Sorry to hear the mighty Dak got dinged but it can be fixed.

Give him some time to find his footing. He should pick up the tab on all repairs.

Dang, and I thought this thread was about an inebriated homeless guy sleeping on your truck.

I helped a friend replace a bumper cover on his car. It was a really good time. Actually, all of the car work I've done with friends has been a good time.

Sounds like the box dent and maybe the tailgate are going to the body shop, and the roll pan is getting replaced.

Make it a hands-on project. It all depends on your friend, (as in, not everyone will consider some light car repair quality time) but blocking off a day or two this spring and bringing some beer is probably a very good way to resolve this. It gives your friend some time to get his head straight, it gives everyone a chance to arrange for parts and money, and it will let you spend some time on a project.

If your buddy is a decent fellow, I'm guessing he'll arrange for at least part of the repair costs.

Oh my goodness, he is absolutely not a car guy, lol. I put his winter tires on for him!

I don't see the problem here. He has insurance. He offered to cover it. You offered to cover any overage. So what is the problem ?

He knows that he hit your truck. He may have some other stuff going on right know, but that's not the kind of thing that you forget. My guess is that he'll want to take care of it sooner rather than later.

Playing shenanigans with your insurance company is perhaps not the best idea.

1. Friend buys truck bed.
2. Friend buys roll pan.
3. ?????
4. Profit.

I looked at truck beds - a decent one isn't much cheaper than $1,000, roll pan, $200. Then to have it installed? Yoiks.

Let him report it to his insurance, that is why people carry insurance.

Take him out for some beers and let him know that you've got his back and don't care that he hit your truck and that you're really sorry about his mother.

That's what friends are for, right? Doing the right thing and covering each other when life E36 M3s all over everything.

Yeah, he knows that.

i know how it is to have hit lately. i just had someone hit my s=10 and total it out...now i have a new ride cause of it...good luck wth what ever you do.