Group of parents are setting up a carpool to the pumpkin patch for a preschool field trip. They are consolidating car seats into one parent’s new minivan parked in the garage. The tailgate is up for loading as well. They all move into the house to get the kids bathroomed etc and one of the moms closes the garage door because they will be inside the house and she is concerned about unattended belongings, but is unaware that the garage door will hit the open tailgate, which it does, scratching it near the handle.

So?

the kids. after all, this was their outing.

The lady who closed he door, it seems to me. If the person who opened the tailgate wants to pitch in to be nice, OK, but not needed.

whoever closed the door

OTT is already paying for it with this thread

the insurance company

Serious answer: If it is a "new minivan," it is probably covered by comprehensive insurance. If not, the owner should be assessed the "stupidity tax."

Wouldn’t a claim of this type raise premiums?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But your insurance agent almost certainly won't even give you a hint. If it is just a scratch, it may not exceed your deductible anyway.

how big is this scratch?

The owner of the van even having it fixed seems pretty silly to me. Owner should watch a youtube video and DIY and consider it good practice at getting the stick out of their ass if they are actually upset about it.


If I was person who closed garage I would offer to pay the deductible. If I was owner of van id say not to worry about it. If its actually something that needed to be fixed I would split the deductible with them.

Im also open to arguments that its the owners fault for leaving it open in a position to get hit by the closing garage door.

My wife is the door lady. The van owner is getting an estimate and letting us know what we owe. It looks minor af but maybe on the handle, the trim around the handle and the door itself. Can’t imagine it only being in the hundreds. I’m going to pay it, of course. The only reason it is even a question is I am pretty sure I would not ask for the $$ if the roles were reversed. In fact I’m very sure. But I also wouldn’t get it fixed because I don’t care about that kind of thing and never do.

In that case, I would only offer to pay up to their deductible--and hope it isn't $1000. No deductible? Let's split it and be grateful that I tested its lack of a safety feature for not closing forcibly on a child.

Unless it impairs the opening of the tailgate or is truly a gouge, if I were the owner I wouldn't worry about it beyond maybe some touchup paint. With young kids, it will certainly receive worse damage.

If I've learned anything about groups of women and paying, one of them has already gotten out a calculator and figured up what everyone owes for their share of the damage, down to the penny, using an overly complicated formula.

Well, this happened on Thursday and I just heard about it now. There is a high probability that my wife in her embarrassment agreed to pay for it without prompting about 50 times immediately up to and including buying them a brand new van as a replacement.

If it’s over 1k I’ll ask about their insurance. Under, just eat it.

buy one of those $9 paint pen things from an auto parts store

This is why people in the suburbs are all on oxycontin.

Whoever had this brainstorm for this outing should pay. Cheerfully.

How do you know how big the scratch is?

My wife flashed some pictures at me on her phone as she was leaving the house. I was busy trying to make sure I didn’t over-react so I did not really look hard, plus it was clear they already are taking it for an estimate so there will be plenty of time to look more closely and be incredulous once I get the damage report. I’ll post them when the time comes.

give these jerks the runaround and keep insisting they take the car to get estimates at different places. after like the 4th or 5th time they'll threaten to sue you but they're bluffing, it costs too much to sue you so at that point they'll be more receptive to the $9 paint pen solution than continue driving their car to auto shops every week for a tiny little scratch. you just gotta stay strong, that's all you have to do.

If relatively minor then the owner just needs to live with the scratch. Paying a ridiculous bill for minor cosmetic damage to something that depreciates as fast as a car is a huge life leak.

Door closer pays for everything a 100% of the time unless the scratch is super minor and even then it seems straight forward. Not even sure how this is a question, is your wife not insured for things like this?

This is a rough spot for everyone I think. I'd be kinda upset if my brand new car got a monster scratch on it, but obviously wouldn't want my friend to pay out the ass for doing it. I think it kinda depends on the friend who scratched it. If they're upper middle class with a stable career, I probably ask them to pay. If they're living paycheck to paycheck, I would take the hit. Also depends on the severity of the scratch and the price it costs, maybe I don't get it fixed at all and just put one of those scratch pens over it to protect it from rust.

Also, lol @ preschool field trips, I don't even remember being that age. Might as well lock them in a room with a doll/action figure until they're old enough to keep vivid memories.

Are you saying you actually expect any of the women involved to consider the expected depreciation of the value of the van in this situation? Because they won't.

Although it would be hilarious if op said that to the minivan owner. She'd probly never let her kids play with his kids again.

Does my wife have personal clumsy insurance? No.

Well, she just got home. New info. The van is a year and a half old—when she said new I assumed dealer plates still. The scratches are ****ing lol small, but if they are taking it in to get repaired I am assuming they want the whole thing repainted. I’m kinda agitated now.