The Dilemma

So, I have a dilemma.

Last week, a woman hit my parked car in a parking lot. She tried to drive away, but an employee of the grocery store where I was shopping saw the whole thing and chased her down. To make a long story short, she agreed to pay for the damage. She wants to pay for it without involving insurance if it doesn't go over $500.

This woman was not having a good week. She had just moved here from out-of-state. When she got here, she discovered that her apartment was not going to be ready for a couple of weeks. She is staying in a hotel. She also hit me with her 2-week-old car.

The damage to my vehicle is fairly superficial. There are no dents. There is a sort of scratch along the back quarter panel and on the bumper. There are a couple of small chips in the paint, but no bare metal is exposed.

Today, I went to get a couple of bids on the repair work. The first place I went gave me two bids. One of the bids was for doing some buffing and minor touch up for about $85.00. The other bid was for "doing it right." It would entail painting the entire panel and bumper and would be about $505.00. I went to another place and got a comparable bid that came in at $675.00.

Herein lies the dilemma. Do I go with the bid for minor work, or do I go for the brass ring and take her for every dime I can. My car is nearly 8 years old. It has other unrepaired body damage (my fault). My gut tells me to go with the minor work and charge her $85.00.

I made the mistake of mentioning this to my friends here at work. They think I should go with the very highest bid I can get and fix my car, OR NOT. They suggested that I might take the money, not fix my car, and spend it on something else like a vacation.

I WAS UTTERLY APPALLED!!! Isn't that dishonest? They say no, it's not. They claim that this is why we pay for auto insurance. I feel like it would be stealing to take the money and not fix my car.

I will digress here. A number of years ago, I took my kids to the batting cages. I opened the door to my van and the wind tore it right out of my hands. It took the rear view mirror right off the car next to me. I was heartsick. It was a beautiful muscle car, 60's vintage. It was in cherry condition with a gorgeous paint job. I left my name and number on the windshield when I couldn't find the owner. He called later and said he would get back to me. A few days later he called and said he had gone to a junk yard and found the part he needed and repaired it himself. He charged me about $60 to $70 for the part and paint. I was so relieved. I had envisioned hundreds of dollars that I could not afford.

I'm thinking that this might be my chance to "pass it on." Other people think I'm naive and crazy.

So what do you all think??????

I'd like some opinions. Please share.........................