[culturedape]

A minivan backed up into my front bumper. It appears there is no structural damage, (just had it checked by dealership) but the bumper is scuffed and some paint was removed (see attachment). I got the person's insurance info.

If I file a claim, I am worried it will say I was in an "accident" if I ever sell it, even though it's only minor paint damage. Does it actually appear on your report if there is no police report? Also, is there an easy way to fix paint damage like this without replacing the whole bumper? Maybe I should ask the person to just pay me some cash. I assume his insurance would go up as well if I file a claim.

I don't care about how it looks really I just care about resale value.
Any tips on how to proceed? Thanks!

[Bmw Fan M240i]

Not sure how insurance works there’s but in the UK if you make a claim, even if it’s not your fault you have to inform your insurance and your premium will go up too, their exscuse is you will be more of a nervous driver as you have been in an accident.
My car was parked and I wasn’t even in it when someone hit it but this didn’t make a difference.
I’d say just a simple smart repair. I had one done on my old 8 series and the finish was like new, couldn’t even tell.

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by culturedape

A minivan backed up into my front bumper. It appears there is no structural damage, (just had it checked by dealership) but the bumper is scuffed and some paint was removed (see attachment). I got the person's insurance info.

If I file a claim, I am worried it will say I was in an "accident" if I ever sell it, even though it's only minor paint damage. Does it actually appear on your report if there is no police report? Also, is there an easy way to fix paint damage like this without replacing the whole bumper? Maybe I should ask the person to just pay me some cash. I assume his insurance would go up as well if I file a claim.

I don't care about how it looks really I just care about resale value.
Any tips on how to proceed? Thanks!

No, you do not need to remove your bumper.
Check out a couple of Collision Repair specialists in your area (and check any online reviews of their service to make sure you get guys who do a good job).
Should cost you no more than $200 for a really nice paint job which no one would ever detect - if you got the right guys..
Over the 5 year period I owned my previous 2008 128i ragtop, I scuffed both my rear bumper once and my front bumper on a different occasion. In both cases there were noticeable scuffs with paint missing, but no gouges in the underlying composite material. Damaged areas covered about a sq foot in each case.
A Collision Repair shop close by our place did both repairs on the 1-er and no one could tell where the scuffs had been. Cost for each repair was under $200 CAD.
My youngest son now owns the 128i and 4 years after the last repair I still can't tell where the repairs were made.

[USA-RET]

Agreed that repair cost should be minimal. Re-spray of front bumper. Talk to the mini-van owner and ask if they will pay (out of pocket) for the re-spray. Explain that if reported through their company, their rates are likely to go up and show as a reported accident.

If I were given that choice (as the minivan driver), I'd jump on the offer (providing I could see estimate before any work was done). A couple hundred bucks to keep both cars clean of an accident report is worth it.

Highly unlikely that kind of damage would be reported to Carfax anyway. That could happen with a kid running a small motorized rider into the bumper.

[Maynard]

This is why Carfax is always going to be suspect - the 'lets handle it off the books' isn't just for little fender-benders. When buying a used car you really need to know how to check for major work, even w/ a 'clean carfax'. I have heard of bodyshops that do a brisk business in under the table major repairs, needless to say cutting every corner possible. Local dealerships are a significant source of their business for this - not the BMW dealership, but they also have their own bodyshop.

[culturedape]

thanks for the responses. I'll get an estimate and ask the other party if he is willing to pay out of pocket.

[DanG]

I'm getting my rear bumper repainted in a few days. $150 was the estimate.

[culturedape]

He passed on an offer of $200 out of pocket. In the case of minor bumper damage, it appears the owner is always screwed.

[Lucky13]

If your car was parked your insurance should not go up and the other persons should pay. This just happened to my son’s new Toyota Tacoma, a guy at Lowe’s had his wheel turned the wrong way and nailed his door in the lot while my son was standing near his truck. If the other driver admits responsibilty their insurance should pay. Police won’t even show up to do a report in a private lot.

[morphomeman]

Insurance laws and practices differ from state to state, so I can't give you a definitive answer. Here in New York, in an instance like this, the other driver would file with their insurance company and you would not have to file anything with yours.
That's what happened to me a few months ago. Someone backed into my parked 2. The driver was very gracious and everything was done through her insurance and my long-time body shop. The total cost was somewhere upwards of $1K (fender). And I got to drive around in a Mini convertible for a week at the end of August, perfect weather for a convertible and just long enough for me to get the vert bug and lose it.