Hey,
A few days ago I was involved in an accident where another lady (in a 99 Grand Cherokee) hit my rear bumper and passenger side quarter panel. She was unable to speak English and did not have a driver's license, but did have insurance. The insurance is through some random company I have never heard of so I expect a lot of headaches in the future, especially because she did not believe she was at fault. The question Im wondering is what is the cost of damages to my car and if y'all think it will be totaled. I really hope it won't be but Im not too confident. I really appreciate any advice or comments you guys have. Please let me know if y'all need any more info or pictures.

Thank you

My Car -
2005 WK1 Limited
97500 miles
Good - Very Good condition prior to accident

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This one could go either way, but given the value (at best $5,000) it might get totaled. Cutting out that rear quarter panel and part of the rear pillar is going to be expensive. The rear door gap looks fine and if the rear hatch panel gap with the tail light is still straight the damage under the rear panel might not be too bad. The rear bumper is not torn and could be repaired. If the insurance company totals it, then ask about buying it back. Then have a body shop bang out the panels and refinish it best they can at minimal cost. Then drive it until the wheels fall off. Glad no one was hurt in the accident, and good luck with either the repairs or settlement.

ive seen worse damage repaired, but it depends on the value of the car vs the repair cost. understand that a body shop always finds additional damage after start a repair job. have you contacted your insurance agent to find out how t handle this? that's what we pay them for

its possible that it could be saved but it all depends on the value of the vehicle. Their insurance company will value it pretty low and insurance rules can be different in all states but in Washington the total loss threshold is 80% of the vehicles value. so if they value it at $5k and you have over $4k in repair work, they will total it. I could see the labor and paint on that getting up in that area but there is the option of finding a cheaper shop that may be able to do it for under that. The quality may not be the same though.

Selling any fun stuff off it? Haha

I'm just impressed they managed to only damage the one panel, looking at how close it gets to the light, window and bumper.

Let your insurance deal with it. I would have called the cops though. How could you possibly be at fault when the other driver has not passed the driver's license test?

last time I got hit, i didn't get a police report but it was pretty obvious it was the other drivers fault, and I got pictures. It still took over a month to get their insurance to accept it because they were not answering or returning any calls or letters to verify the information.

Let your insurance company deal with the other company. You don't have to. Less head pain that way. Does the crash report indicate at fault driver?

be careful if you take the 'let the insurance company' deal with it. If you don't have collision/comp, they will not try very hard for you. If you do have collision/comp, they may find it easier to just stick you with your deductible rather than try to get the other side to pay. If they do this, I think you can get them to pay everything if you do paperwork with the cops describing the accident as a hit and run. your jurisdiction might be different, but at least call your insurance company and see what the possible outcomes are.

Insurance fraud would be costly too. Probably more costly than not getting your deductible returned to you. JMHO

Thank you guys for all your input and advice. I did not call the police at the time of the accident and Im really kicking myself for it now but oh well. The other people ended up filing a claim against my insurance (Geico) and are claiming I pulled out in front of them. I have no doubt that my insurance will side with me given the damage on the cars and that the other driver has no license, but I still have to deal with their insurance (American Access Casualty). I feel like I will most likely end up subrogating through my policy and letting them deal with the other guys. The current NADA, KBB, Edmunds, etc. estimates for my car are between 7300 and 8750. These were a lot higher than I was expecting so I have a lot more hope now that it won't be totaled. No one ever wants to say goodbye to their first car haha.
Thanks

Haha I wish I had some cool stuff on it. But being a college student doesn't leave much extra money to do I what I want to the jeep hahah