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?
If you have comprehensive coverage on your insurance then you can just use that.
Be straight up with em. Building a relationship of trust with a body shop or any mechanic is tough to do and you have the chance to go a long way towards that here.
You can always append “if you need it fixed, I know a good body shop” with a wink and a nod to the end of your explanation of it.
Will my comprehensive cover someone else's car? Like I know collision works that way in my state, but I'd be surprised if comprehensive covered someone else's car when I'm not even in it.
It may actually vary from state to state! Your carrier can fill you in. When I rent a car (or get a loaner from a shop) I call my insurance and ask for a rider to cover that vehicle for the duration and they tack it on to my bill that month. It’s usually like $5 or $10 for the most insane possible bumper to bumper coverage possible for like four days.