A friend crashed my car. How much should I ask for the damage?

[Blankpage]

Go for the $7K, you can always get new friends.
Give me $1K of it and I'll be your friend.
We can swap pm's every now and again and you have $$$$ left over.

 

[mercurial]

I bet the sales volume for these pieces of shit is so small, that the pricing is all over the place. It's like having a stock with a bid/ask spread of 1.00/1.50. Is it worth 1.10, 1.25, 1.35? Who knows, it just depends at any given moment on how badly a seller wants to sell, or how badly a buyer wants to buy.

If I was OP's friend and I knew what he paid, I'd tell him to go fuck himself. What seems pretty clear to me, is that hosing your friend so he pays 25% more than you paid for the car 2 years ago and drove for the last two years, is a total scumbag thing to do.

 

[High-Side]

Years ago I rode my motorcycle over to a very good friend's house and parked it by his garage. His wife didn't know I was parked there and opened up the garage door and put a nice ding in the paint on my gas tank. She was real sorry about damaging my tank and both her and my friend wanted to pay to have it repaired. I felt it was an accident and I would not take their money. Sometimes you make amends for friends.

 

[Asphaultnaut]

this is why I don't borrow what I can't replace.

But then, I'm one of the weird ones.

 

[corndog67]

If I was OP's friend and I knew what he paid, I'd tell him to go fuck himself. What seems pretty clear to me, is that hosing your friend so he pays 25% more than you paid for the car 2 years ago and drove for the last two years, is a total scumbag thing to do.

What if it was his brother or someone in family that sold him a $3000 car for $1500? It doesn't matter what he really paid for it, if it was a good, reliable car, it's worth what it's worth regardless of what he paid for it. As for his friend, I still think he should have either fixed or replaced it with something of equal or greater value, without being asked. I would. Especially for a friend, I would not want them without transpo because I was uninsured and trashed their shit. I would make it right to the best of my ability. But maybe I'm a weirdo like that.

Remember that if you ever loan me a bike. And I would absolutely expect the same if you borrowed one of mine. One of my buddies borrowed a bike from me several years ago, and it came back with a new set of tires on it. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. And to this day, he can borrow anything I own. Complete trust.

 

[MrIncredible]

I bet the sales volume for these pieces of shit is so small, that the pricing is all over the place. It's like having a stock with a bid/ask spread of 1.00/1.50. Is it worth 1.10, 1.25, 1.35? Who knows, it just depends at any given moment on how badly a seller wants to sell, or how badly a buyer wants to buy.

If I was OP's friend and I knew what he paid, I'd tell him to go fuck himself. What seems pretty clear to me, is that hosing your friend so he pays 25% more than you paid for the car 2 years ago and drove for the last two years, is a total scumbag thing to do.

He's probably had any number of repairs done to it in the last few years-if nothing else, a $1500 car one could actually trust because it's vettedat that point is not the same thing as the same year/make/model off craigslist for the same price.

I have a $2800 beater pickup that since I've bought I've fixed every single thing wrong with it and gone through it so it's been nice and reliable. If I loan it to someone and they ruin it-it's worth more than $2800 IMO.

 

[Cycle61]

For everyone mentioning insurance... does anyone here really think it's a good idea to carry full coverage on a 20+ year old $1500-2000 car? It wouldn't take long for the cost of coverage to exceed the value of the car.

We keep full coverage on our 20+ year old $2k Honda. It's the daily driver, and for the $20 a month that full coverage costs over liability, easy choice. Nice knowing that if anything happens, we don't have to worry about it.

Also, what Mr Incredible said. I've gone through every bolt in this car in the last two years. I know it inside and out. I know every little quirk, which things I can trust, which things I need to keep an eye on, and the last 100k miles of maintenance history. That's worth quite a bit of value, although it'll never show up on a balance sheet.

 

[mercurial]

Points well taken, I guess it wouldn't be an interesting question if there weren't several angles to it. I too have a beater truck that is worth BB maybe $2800, but is much more valuable to me. She's the apple of every gardener's eye

On the full insurance part, my ex just had her old beater accord stolen. Unlike 20 years ago, the beaters are the cars that now get stolen, probably worth it to get comprehensive on them if it's just a few bucks a month.

 

[Cycle61]

On the full insurance part, my ex just had her old beater accord stolen. Unlike 20 years ago, the beaters are the cars that now get stolen, probably worth it to get comprehensive on them if it's just a few bucks a month.

Yep. My car (a '92 Prelude with a billion miles on it) is worth way more in parts at a chop shop than it is assembled. And there's still so many 20 year old Hondas and Toyotas on the road that it's good business supplying them with repair parts.

 

[High-Side]

Points well taken, I guess it wouldn't be an interesting question if there weren't several angles to it. I too have a beater truck that is worth BB maybe $2800, but is much more valuable to me. She's the apple of every gardener's eye

On the full insurance part, my ex just had her old beater accord stolen. Unlike 20 years ago, the beaters are the cars that now get stolen, probably worth it to get comprehensive on them if it's just a few bucks a month.

A lot of the beaters have the old ignition and are easier to steal. My father's old 1980's Cadillac was stolen from our driveway while our neighbor's Mercedes, Audi, and BMW's were left untoched. The newer cars have the chip in the key while the old Caddy was a quick bust the steering column. They found our Cad later that day in the next town over while making a report of another older stolen car taking that day.

 

[mlm]

If that was a true friend, he'd already have paid you what it was worth, or fixed it, or replaced it. Whichever you wanted. He wouldn't need to be asked to do it. If he can't afford to fix it, he shouldn't have borrowed it.

Exactly this. It shouldn't matter that it was a friend. Loaning them your car was something a friend would do. Expecting to lose money on the deal isn't

edit: BTW, in a case like this there is a difference between what I'd ask and what I'd think was right. If I ended up with 1500 in this case its a pretty sure bet you won't be borrowing anything of mine in the future

 

[R1-Limited]

A friend of mine crashed my car, 1991 Volvo 740 wagon.
The repair bill came out at $7000 and resale value is around $2000 - $2400.
The car was purchased from another friend two years ago for $1500.
How much should I ask to my friend for compensation?
Thanks!

Has he got a girl friend, then screw her

 

[malibu_adam]

That is one of the things wrong with the world today... Everyone cares more about materialistic items than people themselves. He/she is a FRIEND. Shit happens... It's not like the borrower purposely drove it off a cliff to screw you. Like it has been said before, you run a certain risk when you loan someone a car. If you plan on doing that, put it in your insurance plan.

Now, if the person who borrowed it has $10,000 sitting in the bank, yes, ask for something of value to you... If that person is barely scraping by and you did a "good deed" by letting them borrow your car... then have a little compassion and work something out. Doesn't matter the money or value, the only thing that matters is that you aren't left worse off than when you lent the vehicle. Whether it be a 1997 Honda Civic for 1,000 that runs good... or a 88 Corolla... etc.

 

[mlm]

That is one of the things wrong with the world today... Everyone cares more about materialistic items than people themselves. He/she is a FRIEND. Shit happens... It's not like the borrower purposely drove it off a cliff to screw you. Like it has been said before, you run a certain risk when you loan someone a car. If you plan on doing that, put it in your insurance plan.

Now, if the person who borrowed it has $10,000 sitting in the bank, yes, ask for something of value to you... If that person is barely scraping by and you did a "good deed" by letting them borrow your car... then have a little compassion and work something out. Doesn't matter the money or value, the only thing that matters is that you aren't left worse off than when you lent the vehicle. Whether it be a 1997 Honda Civic for 1,000 that runs good... or a 88 Corolla... etc.

Totally agree that shit happens, and I also wouldn't hesitate to cut a friend a break, but it's a two way street. If I crash a friend's car I'll be a good friend and take care of it instead of hoping their friendship is a cheap way out of it for me. It's not about the money.

 

[Diezel]

What agreement did you have regarding liability?
If I crashed it I'd totally pay her deductible. If you don't have insurance, then your friend should make good on the car, but not a $7000m repair bill for a $1500 car.

^^^ THIS ^^^

I'm gonna play asshole (devils advocate).

First off, its YOUR CAR, and YOUR responsibility. Physically, Liability and Monetarily.

If you lent a car to someone, and your insurance doesn't cover it. You didn't discuss or have an agreement (in writing) with the person said car was lent to. Then it's YOUR problem. Man up and deal with it.

Now if the friend you lent it to, is ethical. They'll make good on what a grown up should do. And either pay the money to return the car to previous condition (and nothing more***), or replace said vehicle.



*** - I know a lot of people and places are completely fucking un-ethical about collision damages, and "return to previous condition". They pad the cost to fix minor or major shit that was pre-existing. Hopefully the OP isn't one of those assholes.

Totally agree that shit happens, and I also wouldn't hesitate to cut a friend a break, but it's a two way street. If I crash a friend's car I'll be a good friend and take care of it instead of hoping their friendship is a cheap way out of it for me. It's not about the money.

This is the bay area. Stuck up mother fucker central. It's always about the money.
But I agree 110% with you.

 

[MrIncredible]

A friend of mine crashed my car, 1991 Volvo 740 wagon.
The repair bill came out at $7000 and resale value is around $2000 - $2400.
The car was purchased from another friend two years ago for $1500.
How much should I ask to my friend for compensation?
Thanks!

How'd they crash it btw?

 

[Cycle61]

How'd they crash it btw?

 

[malibu_adam]

^^ WIN

 

[moond0ggie]

.....The fair market value for 91 740 turbo right now is between $2200 and $2400 and I got this car two years ago for $1500.
The guy don't have an insurance. I have asked him for $1900.

sounds fair to me....
everyone is trying to show how cool of a friend they are to let the guy off,
but no one has considered how you are going to get to work now because numb nuts stacked your transportation....

 

[mercurial]

sounds fair to me....
everyone is trying to show how cool of a friend they are to let the guy off,
but no one has considered how you are going to get to work now because numb nuts stacked your transportation....

I don't think most people are saying he should let the guy off. Most (at least I was) saying that OP had a bit of a windfall when he bought that car, and if the guy is a good friend it would be appropriate to share a little bit of that windfall to dampen the damage.