Rental Car Repairs
 

Not sure if it's at the right place but..

I have a rental car, and I had to put a credit card security deposit for damages.
Unfortunately I made a deep dent in the back of the car and I was wondering if it's cheaper to get it fixed myself at a local bodyshop or wait for the rental company to charge me?
What are your opinions? Thanks.

Did you get the optional coverage? Yes/No, Maybe So.
I'm guessing you didn't.

If you did take the option coverage there is a certain amount of deductable you would have to pay to the rental company. It could be $0 or it could be $500, you would have to check your rental agreement to know. There could be a default amount, but it will more than likely exceed the amount of cost to repair the dent.

If you did not get the option coverage the rental company will charge you for the damage. Most rental companies, as a corporate policy, don't allow the customer to get the car fixed, often even for glass repair (personal experience).

Some credit cards do cover you for rental car damages, so you may wish to call up your credit card company to see if you have any coverage.

Assuming you are in BC and have Autoplan insurance you may want to double check your policy, because depending on the circumstances of your rental (loss of use vs. general rental) your autoplan policy may cover you in the same manner as your regular coverages on your own car. Meaning the deductable would be the same as on your own car. However this option may not be worth it for dents.

Was this rental car acquired under say, an ICBC claim?
if so your current insurance coverage will be transferred over to cover the rental car.

if not, then you are at the mercy of the rental company.

tip: Get Roadside plus next time, or even now for the future so that whenever you rent any car, you can use Roadside plus and transfer your *better* insurance over instead of the rental companies. Roadside plus costs less than $100 per year. Alternatively, ICBC does offer seperate rental policies which generally are cheaper than what rental companies will charge you. Just walk into Autoplan agent, tell em you want rental policy for x amount of days. I don't know if the rate went up but it used to be around $7 per day and gets cheaper with more days.

and under *most* rental agreements it should be noted that in an event of any accidents the rental company shall be notified immediately or asap because they want to be able to decide what will happen to their car right away. It's in those fiiine little prints. That stipulates that you do not have the right to fix the car because it's not your property.

The cheapest solution in the future -get a travel Visa card.
e.g. TD Visa Gold select. It has no fees and you're covered for car rental insurance.

Back to topic, I'm sure it would be cheaper to get a body shop to fix the rental car.

OP: do you drive a red 350z by any chance?

Be very careful with credit card coverage.

don't credit card coverage covers most things?

Credit card coverage is a pain in the ass. They tend to make you go and get 3 quotes. Then you have to wait for authorization, etc etc. What you can get done in days, takes months.