Ooops ....

[B5_Alex]

I would like to thank everyone for welcoming me RMCB5.
While we were posting yesterday on here, my brother and my wife took my beloved B5 for a ride to the local CityMarket and some amigo in an F150 pickup managed to back into the back of MY car. The damage isn't too bad as you can see from the picture, but needless to say I was not too happy to see my tail light busted and the bumper bent. The cops didn't want to be bothered with making an accident report because they claimed that the parking was "private property". Complete BS if you ask me ... This is the first time this car has been involved in any kind of an accident and I managed to keep it without a scratch for almost two years parked on the streets of Queens.
So here comes the question: Does anyone here have a driver side tail light for sale. I found one on www.busdepot.com for $105 which seems like a good price, but I thought I would ask here first.

Thanks again! You truly are a great bunch of gearheads!

[03Indigo]

Insurance?  do they cover it?  They other guy should be responsible, so does it matter what the cost is?  I hope you got his info.

Either way, $105 is a great price for the rear tail.

sorry about the fender bender, that sucks.

[92UrS4]

That is a good price, also check http://www.centralforeign.com as well as http://www.clubb5.com and http://www.vwvortex.com classifieds.

[Chas]

I'd get the tail lamp from Bud's Depot and fix it yourself. I wouldn't involve the insurance company at all. It seems like the damage is very slight and not worth you increasing your premium any more. Plus they might just drop you over this. It's been known to happen over stupid shit like this. I'm not saying it's right, but that's the way the insurance companies are doing things now days.
A freaking conspiricy if you ask me!

Also, did your relatives get your "amigo's" info? He should be the one to pay for this. Chances are that he's not even a US citizen so he's probably back underground, hanging low for a while. Oh yeah, Welcome to the Vail Valley, Colorado's biggest employer of illigal aliens!

[B5_Alex]

Insurance is tough to claim without an accident report from the cops. They gave them some form that we are supposed to mail somewhere and drove away. We got the driver's info (dr.lic number, address, lic. plate) but he didn't have his insurance info handy ... (what a surprise) He wasn't the owner of the truck either ... Oh well s#$t happens.

[velo]

I'd say call your insurance company and give them all the info for the other driver.  If they're a good company they should follow up with him and try to collect from his insurance company (since it sounds like he caused the accident).

That looks like a pretty big gap between the bumper and  the rear quarter panel.  I'd get it fixed and repainted.  In the short term, you can get a used tail light for under $100 from central foreign in Denver (Jay provided a link above).

[B5_Alex]

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked with Central Foreign and they don't have it. I think I am going to have to remove the entire bumper and see what's the damage under it. I was thinking about  re-painting it too. Any suggestions on a good paint shop with a proper paint booth?

[SweetVW]

I am sorry to hear about the fender bender.

I do not know about Vail, but If you decide to take to a reapair place, do not use McDonald's Collision here in Denver.  I had/have issues with them.  I have a co-worker that has good luck with Cars collision, I do not know if there is a locataion locally to you.  My $0.02.

[ColoradoB5]

Dang Alex!  That is a real bummer.  For the tail I would definitely check out Central Foreign.

For paint, I would post over in the Rocky Mountain regional forum on VWVortex, since they have a lot of people that have had custom paint done that can chime in.

The only one I know of is in Colorado Springs.

[B5_Alex]

I already checked with Central Foreign and they didn't have it so I ordered it from Bus Depot. I will checkout a few local shops for the bumper.

Alex

[aowhaus]

That's a real pain.

When I got rear ended at a traffic light (in my Acura), I didn't call the police nor got an accident report.  I just exchanged information with the driver and got her insurance information -- the process was hassle- and problem-free.

THat driver should've gave you his insurance info and if he wouldn't you should've called the police so that you have something solid to support your claim.  You could always do some kind of background check on this driver as you have some of his personal information and go after his insurance company (if he is indeed insured).
If the driver is not insured (and in this state it is not uncommon, especially with all the illegal aliens and all), I would definately get the police involved and hire a decent lawyer as that is the most effective way of getting compensation -- or even threaten to contact the INS if they are not cooperating.

I'm surprised that that the police wouldn't do an accident report as the police up in the mountains are not exactly that busy (other than catching drunk drivers), based on my experience living in Aspen & Carbondale.

I would stick to getting OEM parts and going to a highly reputable body shop -- it's the truck driver's fault and you shouldn't be stuck with anything less.

It's a good thing it happened in your wife's presence, as the driver could've driven away without being caught.  I just discovered a scrape on my driver's side front fender which probably happened in a parking lot, which I'm really pissed about (it was just painted last summer too), at least the scrape didn't go through the paint.

Good luck.