Wrecked my car, no police report filed, now what?

[sampson]

I wrecked my car today -- It was my fault. I was backing out of a parking spot and while I looked both ways, somehow I missed a van and before I could react I had already ran Into the van and heard the crash... I'm 16 and only got my license 4 months ago and until today, I have had no problems driving. No tickets, no collisions. I always follow the posted speed limits and pay attention to the signs along the roadway.

I think my mental and motor skills may be a bit on the low side since last Friday, as my doctor prescribed ANTIDEPRESSANTS for me to take (REMERON) to boost my appetite (he's worried since I am in the 5th percentile for my weight, height, and age). It has made me really tired lately... and I have been feeling dizzy and everything, so I'm thinking I shouldn't be driving when taking this medicine

A police report was NOT filed as the only damage was done to my 2006 Acura TSX; the van I abruptly hit was not damaged at all. Now I have probably have a question that has so many possible answers:

1) should I file under Insurance and risk the doubling of an already high payment? What do you think It would go up to? It's currently $150/m under my parent's policy.

2) or should I pay out of pocket with the cash I have stored away for college?

Damage Photo: http://i47.tinypic.com/ok6ezs.jpg

P.S. It's hard to tell from the photo, but my bumper is not aligned with the taillights after this collision.

I also don't want anyone commenting that my "parents" should not have bought me an acura, because I paid cash for the whole entire car myself with money I earned. Thanks and please let me know what route I should take.

[parnell]

just let it go and pay for it with your money, if its not bad, just leave it

[teithi71]

it should be less than 400 to fix.

[ludano17]

the damage isnt that bad at all. if you go to a garage they could probably fix it for not that much oryou cann leeave it until you just get some extra cash because its not bad at all

[adaya]

Well, that's not a wreck, the damage is to the section of the car that is designed to protect you. In the grand scheme of things, it's not bad damage. You could probably get some rubbing compound and take out some of the scuff marks. I'd clean it up as best as I could and let it go - there's no need to report this to insurance, it isn't worth it. These things happen, and quite frequently in parking lots. That's really just a fender bender, not a major problem, and it doesn't impact the vehicle performance. This could easily have happened to anyone.

[bedyw25]

I really feel for you on this one. The first thing you need to do is to discuss this medication with
your parents and doctor. You certainly don't want this to happen again, things could have been
much worse and still can be. You may think this is big damage but it really isn't bad. This is an
expensive repair however and you should get an estimate at some point in time. As Miranda
has stated, use some polishing compound on the area then wax to clean it up for now. Save
your money that you put away for college, your going to need it.

I wish you the best.....

[reuben29]

Pay for this yourself. Just take the car to a body shop, get an estimate, and pay for it.

If you try to claim on your insurance, apart from putting your payments way up, you are going to open a BIG can of bureaucratic fish. The way I understand it, even just calling them up and asking a question goes into your file as an incident. Even if you don't tell them you hit something.

The other thing is, take this as a good lesson learned, and don't drive on medications or drugs, including alcohol. Drugs (I refer to prescription drugs) almost always affect your performance, judgement, and reaction times.

I am an industrial mechanic, and I run a farm. I like to have a cold one at the end of the day, but I never take the cap off, no matter how good it looks, until my tools are cleaned and away, and the tractor is parked in the barn for the night. Not even one beer, until I'm finished.