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- no punishment / fine
- see what a body shop says - I bet a large amount they can fix it without replacement. Next time he will be sure to be more careful.
People make mistakes when they are new at something. Having a new driver is all about assessing and managing risk. You want the mistakes to be minor, inexpensive, and without injury. You don't want the mistakes to involve deaths, expensive lawsuits, or massive property damage.
Have it fixed and move on. So he made a little error at low speed in close quarters. He wasn't texting, he wasn't drunk, and he wasn't reckless. Stuff happens.
Location: The Northeast - hoping one day the Northwest!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by momofson
My son has had his license for about 10 months and has never had any tickets, never been pulled over, and has never been in involved in any accidents....until today. He went to Target to buy me some stuff, and returned home. In between the two parking spaces my husband and I own is a stone pillar. Today the parking space adjacent to mine had a minivan in it, making it a tight squeeze for parking. Unfortunately, my son turned too late and hit the pole. The car is fine, but has a 3-inch-wide dent and some small strips of paint were scratched off. I'm afraid I might have to replace the whole bumper for almost a grand..... Should I give him a warning this time, and make him pay in full for the next accident (hopefully there will NOT be another accident in the forseeable future!!), or make him pay me the sum it costs for the bumper? Thanks!
For myself, I would give him a warning in this situation. It is something small that happened and it wasn't a major fender bender that he caused.
My advice? Its all part of learning how to drive. I dinged cars learning. My son dinged a car learning how to drive. My wife still dings cars after 35 years of driving.
No one is perfect. Its all part of a process. Don't charge him for it.
He's still learning. It was an accident. That means that he didn't intentionally do it. Give him a break. It's your own son for goodness' sake.
I agree, when it comes to our kids money isn't more important than them. Let it go and chalk it up to experience. I have no tickets, don't speed, obey the laws, but about a year ago I was backing out of a spot in a shopping center and backed into another guy who was also backing up. Things happen when two objects try to occupy the same space.
My thoughts exactly.
Superficial aesthetic reasons are the only reasons for fixing it.
And your normally great 17 year old with no previous accidents put a ding in the car,
Make him help pay if you have to fix it but seriously, if the functionality of the car is ok there is no reason to go get a ding out.
Go easy on him, he's less than a year from 18 no one punishes adults for this type of thing. Have him pay a little and be done with it. If you have insurance have him pay the deductible.
I'm honestly shocked that you're even considering making a big deal of this!
Seriously? If you love your car that much, you shouldn't have your teen driving it.
You're considering billing your own child a thousand dollars.... to remove a SPOT on a part of your car that has ZERO impact on any part of its functionality? It might be an issue if he blew your tire and drove on the rim... or shattered a window. Those things actually cause problems. But a BUMP on the BUMPER? You're being ridiculous.
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Should I give him a warning this time, and make him pay in full for the next accident (hopefully there will NOT be another accident in the forseeable future!!), or make him pay me the sum it costs for the bumper? Thanks!
