Insurance Payout - Fix Car or Keep Cash?

We have a 2014 Honda Civic LX Sedan. The most basic of the Civic Sedans.

Currently has 65,000 miles and is in perfect mechanical condition. Everything done on schedule...oil changes, tire rotations, filters, etc.

Our 21 year old drives this car. Over the last two years and before that it was always garaged, but now is being parked outside and will be for at least the next 18 months as he is changing apartments at school.

According to KBB, Private resale value is about $13,000.

It was in a hail storm that resulted in most body panels being damaged. These are small dings and dents. Hail was maybe the size of a nickel...not the ball-peen hammer dents from huge hail. Don't even notice them through the dirty exterior but look intently and you will see them. Even pictures are tough to show.

Took it to the body shop yesterday. Insurance is sending me a check for $3634 to get it fixed.

I can keep the cash (which we don't need but hey always nice to have) or fix the car.

Given the peak value of used cars now, the future of this car sitting outside and being driven by a 21 year old, and never being washed, I am thinking it makes no sense to spend that much money to preserve a value which is going to be dropping.

So what say you?

Anybody have any issues of not fixing hail damage or something similar and then filing another claim on that same body part...say a fender bender? I know they can and will deduct what they gave you for the hail damage if you didn't fix it. But any other concerns?

TIA.

 

There's so many hail damaged vehicles here that nobody even takes a second look anymore. I guess it depends on your intentions and OCD. If you're going to drive it into the ground and don't care about the "damage" then keep the cash. If you will constantly be eyeballing every ding, and/or want top dollar on resale, then get it fixed. Personally I wouldn't if it is as you describe.

 

Is that from the insurance recommended shop? What about taking the money and see if a Paintless Dent Repair shop and see what kind of magic they can do.
Got any pics?

 

The Texas sun will pop out a lot of those dings. My wife's car was heavily dinged in a hail storm a few years ago. The insurance payout was enough to total the car. Fortunately, Texas doesn't issue salvage titles for hail damage. We kept the cash and over the years the sun popped out almost all of the dings. The car was passed down to my younger daughter, and is now being driven by my younger grandson. If the dings really bother your 21 year old, one of the do-it-yourself dent removal kits might make for a fun afternoon.

https://www.amazon.com/Manelord-Rep...gid=pla-633452736917&ref=&adgrpid=63790029762

 

I tried to take pictures just now. The dents are so small they don't really show in the pictures. If I posted a picture, I would be writing a paragraph telling you that 99% of what you are seeing is either dirt or a reflection. I doubt 98% of the general population and 85% of the car person population would not notice even if the car was washed and waxed and parked in the sun

I took it to a shop of my choosing. They worked on my wife's CRV the the other party was paying and I really liked their work. The recommended shop I had dealt with before and wasn't overly impressed with the final result of the paint.

 

Can you clean off a spot and take a picture?
It sounds like you are ok with leaving it as is. Take the cash and do something cool with it.

 

For too many reasons to list, simply keep the money.

 

We each have our own threshold for how much we care about this sort of thing so no one else can really coach you into a meaningful answer here at all.

I probably would not fix it.

 

Drive the car into the ground and keep the money IMHO. It’s for a young kid and one of two things will happen. Either you kid is going to drive into submission or he is going to save up and buy what he wants… Hence a win win for him either way while you have 3k to help him down the road or not with another car or even a house.

 

Any concerns about a future claim on the same body panel if I don't fix it?

 

My wife's Subaru has been hit twice now, didn't fix either time so I look at it as only costing me 23k instead of 30k with the money I kept, I'm hoping the other side gets swiped too maybe get it down to costing me 15k for it. I would love to find a trdpro with heavy hail damage and a huge discount

 

I woul

I would assume yes, but you should really talk to someone about that. Another thing to consider here is the diminished value from the hail. Yes the insurance paid to fix it but the repair will forever affect the resale. It MAY be worth dropping the full coverage…

 

keep it. 65,000 miles on a civic is nothing. it's the perfect student/commuter car

 

Keep it our 2012 Civic LX has 165000 miles and still runs good. Changed water pump at 85000 just for safety and about to change it again. That, and a fuel filler cap is all it's needed apart from regular maintenance. We plan on running it for 3 more years till we are both retired.
2019 Tundra with 5000 miles now after 2yrs 3mths is my retirement truck.

 

If the hail damage is so hard for you to see, an adjuster would likely completely overlook them, especially if he was looking at major damage to a body part. I don't think that would come up at all. In your situation I would definitely keep the cash.

 

When my 1998 Civic got hailed on in 2010, the insurance adjustor said there was only $3000 of damage but every body shop said it was more like $5000. So it was an easy decision to pocket the money and keep driving the car without comprehensive insurance on it. Might be a tougher call with a new vehicle, though.

 

I have no plans to sell or trade the car. Not sure how that got started. But anyway, was finally able to get a picture last night just before sundown. Actually the picture make it look worse than it appears to the naked eye and there are two others in close proximity to this one that just don't show. Quick count shows about 8-10 of these on the trunk, maybe 15 on the hood and 15-18 on the roof. Body shop said some on the sides, but I really could not spot them.

 

Dang, yeah f that....take the money and run! The most i'd do is check with a paintless dent repair shop and see if they could get the big dents (if there are any) aout.