Would you pay B12,000 for tail?

[braxas]

ehm, I mean a tail light..

Roads were wet, and I expected the car in front of me to whiz through the red light like the rest. But she decided to be safe and slam on her brakes, so I smacked right into the back of her. Me on a motorbike, her in a brand new white sedan. This accident was obviously my fault -- "But that's how every other thai person drives in this damn country!" is a defense I can only repeat privately while I lick my wounds.

Luckily, no broken bones, though my bike took some wear. The car hubcap went flying and I broke the brake light cover. They called insurance, who came and quoted B12,000. It seems exorbanant.

I haven't paid yet, but all the paperwork is done -- Handling of the sitaution at the scene was largely left to my female thai friends, who were very nice to show up but were likely too amiacable. The driver's husband showed up shortly after the incident.

My issue right now is simply that I don't think it will cost that much to fix. Will the insurance company show tme a receipt from a mechanic? Shouldn't they? What assurance do I have that their quote is accurate? If I have no asssurance, why not B20,000 or B40,000? The answer is probably: suck it up and don't drive so fast in the rain. But if there is someone out there willing to give me some perspective, or perhaps tips on how to handle this sort of situation, I'd appreciate it...

[i claudius]

you have already answered it yourself ,thats it ,

[CharlieH]

Better over in the Motorcycle forum.

[pgrahmm]

I would get copies of the estimates if possible - if it was a brand new car the lamp assembly could be modular - if led lamps in the assembly the car companies hold them for ransom......

[villagefarang]

If it was a nice car the owner may not be happy with superglue or tape to hold it together. These days taillights are often one complete unit, or modular as mentioned above, and not separate parts, necessitating replacement of the entire unit which would make 12000 baht sound about right to me.

You might want to consider a different style of driving as well.

[braxas]

Honestly, I'm just want to hear that I'm not getting ripped off. Thank you for your replies, and next time I will find the motorcycle forum... I looked for one but couldn't find it.

And yes, it was a nice, new car. And it would require a manufacturer's (Nissan) replacement for sure.

US$370 for a lesson learned... I will consider myself lucky not to have been hurt badly and let it go.

[Seastallion]

Go to a repair shop and ask them what they think.

Odd you just say "white sedan" and don't seem to be aware of the make and model....you will need to know these things.

[ktm jeff]

Pop into an auto-shop or main dealer to get price of part. Fitting will be cheap. I may not have involved the insurance , just replace + big gunch of flowers!. Accidents happen be carefull. EDIT - thats like a BUNCH of flowers!.

Edited June 25, 2014 by nigel jeffrey

[snottgoblin]

12k, for a bike rearendng a car - think it doesn't sound to bad

[frankwhite]

Did u give the money her insurance rep and get a receipt? I did almost same thing u did but had to pay 6k. My insurance guy spoke to their guy and was told to pay 6k sign receipt and it was over

Sent from my iPhone

[robblok]

As you rear ended and wanted to jump a red light.. your the one to blame. The cost does not seem too bad, the person you hit wants their car fixed properly too. I know I would and would not like it if my new car was damaged like that. I drive both a bike and car so i see both sides.

[cornishcarlos]

Do you not have your own insurance that will cover it ??

[ll2]

It is too much if it is not a high end Nissan. Of course insurance companies quote more than normal price.

Best thing to do was negotiating the price right away there and clear it on the spot. It is better for the car driver as she will not bet a discount next year while renewing the insurance and insurance company don't need to deal with paper work etc.

[marko kok prong]

Sounds about correct to me,all car repairs are hellishly expensive,i got charged $2000 for denting the back bumper of a car back in Australia.

[nikster]

12k for slamming into the back of a brand new sedan?

That sounds pretty reasonable, certainly within the realm of possibility. Add to that that usually, they won't try to rip you off or make money off of you, they just want to get their car fixed after some idiot crashed into it - I know I would!

For perspective: A friend of mine collided with a moto-cart, a piece of which flew off and lodged itself into the front of a small white toyota. The bumper was a little bent which did not look too bad but the entire thing had to be replaced and the cost was 6,000 Baht.

2 - I parked my Vespa and a minute later this farang turns up, fails to stop, and slams into the side of it! The result was a very small crack/dent in the floor board. Unfortunately that floor board is rather large and I had to replace the whole thing, and it cost 6,000 Baht. Luckily the guy had much better manners than driving skills and paid up right then and there. Note that despite that, I still had to run around and actually get it fixed. I did not exactly benefit from this.

Now - had it been me, and I had damaged the floor board, I don't know what I'd have done - I'd certainly have considered significantly cheaper fix-options. But it wasn't my fault and so my position was the guy better get my bike back into shape exactly the way it was. And the same goes for the owners of the new car you damaged - it's a brand new car, and they want to keep it that way, so they'll use the most expensive fix possible, e.g. just replace all that's damaged with original parts.

Pay and forget about it, and don't go too close, lessons learned

Edited June 25, 2014 by nikster

[tingtongfarang]

When my car got damaged by a thai woman without insurance to cover it i got a quote from the dealer and gave it to her, she called the dealer and asked if that was a farang price

I just let her come to the dealers with me and pay it 2 days later.

Edited June 25, 2014 by tingtongfarang

[moe666]

Pay up there is the fact she will be put out time getting the thing fixed.

[JonnyF]

I went up the back of red plated Civic a few years back on Bang Na Trat. Put a dent in the boot (trunk to Americans) and cracked the rear bumper. I settled for 5000 baht cash, I thought it was a fair amount when I settled but I'm pretty sure it was on the high side because the moto taxi drivers who gathered round were asking me if i wanted to hit their bikes when I left .

12,000 seems high to me, bodywork repairs are really cheap here.

[VocalNeal]

Time and inconvenience costs money. If she lived near you you could ask if you can go to the dealer and buy her one yourself. If not.

However after paying up I would go to the dealer and find out so you know next time.

[Nickymaster]

Sounds about correct to me,all car repairs are hellishly expensive,i got charged $2000 for denting the back bumper of a car back in Australia.

But that's back in Australia. Not many countries charge like the Aussies do.

[braxas]

I appreciate the points regarding the fact that they will have to take time to get it fixed. And Nikster, you make a good point about repairs.. if someone else does it, you expect to get back to where you were before it happened.

In 1 hour I will go to actually pay the money (I'm not even positive where... at the insurance office? My girlfriend's sister is helping me and will tell me.) If they don't on the outset, I intend only to insist they provide some proof as to the logic of the price. Keep in mind, I'm not dealing with the people anymore, just the insurance company.

Anyway, lesson learned. I had to pick my jaw up off the ground once I heard the quote, but it's only because of how cheap I expect everything to be here.

People say accidents are common here, but after 9 months here I've only seen one. Yesterday, after I made this post,I went to get my girlfriend from work. I passed through the V intersection that is about a half a kilo south of the gate on wu-lai, and saw several bikes in a pile and several people on the ground not moving. I will consider myself lucky and getting off cheap.

[ll2]

I appreciate the points regarding the fact that they will have to take time to get it fixed. And Nikster, you make a good point about repairs.. if someone else does it, you expect to get back to where you were before it happened.

In 1 hour I will go to actually pay the money (I'm not even positive where... at the insurance office? My girlfriend's sister is helping me and will tell me.) If they don't on the outset, I intend only to insist they provide some proof as to the logic of the price. Keep in mind, I'm not dealing with the people anymore, just the insurance company.

Anyway, lesson learned. I had to pick my jaw up off the ground once I heard the quote, but it's only because of how cheap I expect everything to be here.

People say accidents are common here, but after 9 months here I've only seen one. Yesterday, after I made this post,I went to get my girlfriend from work. I passed through the V intersection that is about a half a kilo south of the gate on wu-lai, and saw several bikes in a pile and several people on the ground not moving. I will consider myself lucky and getting off cheap.

just negotiate with them hard!

SUre 12 k thb is more than needed.

Plus do not pay before seeing proof.

good luck and keep the distance!

[VocalNeal]

A guy in our Soi accidental scraped our truck while trying to pass it while is was parked. He said he would pay direct as he didn't want to make an insurance claim. The bodywork was Ok but he broke the headlight assy. where it attaches to the truck (the turn signal sticks out a bit). A new headlight was B 2900 and it has a leveling motor in it.

Edited June 26, 2014 by VocalNeal

[Issangeorge]

฿12,000 for a taillight seems high to me, but depends on the car. I replaced the taillight on my D max for under ฿1,000.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Aussieroaming]

I imagine that a hunk of the money is to cover her excess on her insurance