Tl;Dr: Took a loaner car and noticed damage several days later. Should I try to weasel out, or offer to pay something?
My car is in for body work and the shop gave me a loaner. It's a really poor condition Subaru SUV.
I've been driving it and today I noticed really weird damage to the fender. Looks like someone flung a rock or something heavy at the fender. The paint is flaking and the edge of the door has a little chip. The thing is, I have no idea if the damage was there when I picked it up. Probably wasn't because I think I would have noticed it by now.
It seems unlikely it was that way when I got it. There's a bunch of ground bare metal with no rust. You'd think a body shop guy would at least hit it with some paint to prevent rust.
I don't even see how this damage could have happened from a parking lot hit and run, and I didn't hit anything. There's a very deep round dent at the top of the fender, but the lower fender sticks out farther and isn't damaged at all. I don't think it was damaged while parked at my house, either. I have a narrow driveway. Whatever hit this came with serious force.
The only paperwork I have is a handwritten thing on one of those carbon copy receipts. It has my contact info, the mileage and vin of the vehicle and one line that says, "Customer is responsible for any and all damage to vehicle". I signed at the bottom.
Should I be straight up and tell him about it? Should I offer to pay something? It's a little shop and the guy has been pretty good to me. On the other hand, it could be a pretty expensive fix if the guy wants to milk it. To be returned to new condition it would need a new fender and paint on 2 panels.
I can't imagine the entire car is worth more than $4000. It has bad brakes, bad suspension, bad transmission, bad interior, etc. Its a 2018 with 156k miles.
Part of me thinks I should just return it and hope they don't notice right away, but it's kind of a cowardly move. Another option is to point out the damage and see what he says, and if he's unreasonable, force him to sue me/claim against my insurance.
I can afford it, but it also sucks to have to pay thousands for some parking lot hit and run or even damage that was there before I took it.
Any advice, ethical or practical?
You’re over thinking it. Big corporate rental policy is typically “anything smaller than a dollar bill is ignored” and beyond that a lot is ignored anyway. That language is pretty much just so you can’t turn in a car with the windows smashed or bumper torn off.
This is pretty far from big corporate. I would definitely try to avoid paying a big corporate place.
It's also not the kind of minor damage you can just ignore. It's down to bare metal with grooves, it at the very least needs to be painted to prevent rust. I bet getting it fixed 100% would cost 2k at least.
What I’m saying is, big corporate is trying to fuck you for every penny. A local guy loaning you a 150k Subaru is not coming after you to replace the entire bumper for a gash.