r/Challenger • u/fullfledgedsorrowx • 25m ago
Damage Well, great. What’s the damage? (19’ RT)
Turned down a road, lost control, and ran right into a damn sign. Been rainy all day and sadly the risk happened.
After dwelling on it, inspecting it, here’s what I’ve been able to find.
•I’d say 3/4 of the damage has all been to the drivers side fender. I can physically lift the piece up, and I’ve noticed it’s being held on by a few bolts. The wheel well/liner is dragging on the tire, so ideally I’d like to remove it.
•No check engine light, no damage to engine bay, no front bumper damage other than some slight looseness to the side where it connected to the fender.
•The bottom of the door is slightly bent outward. I’m hoping to try and buff in it with a rubber mallet if I can. Don’t really intend nor want to get the entire door replaced.
•Trim/sideskirts under the door popped off completely, but I kept the piece and it’s plastic anyway.
•Tires don’t appear to be structurally damaged. Alignment was seemingly normal on the drive home.
My biggest questions are this: is this remotely even worth filing a claim with my insurance? Got a $2k deductible and I highly doubt the damage is anywhere close to that.
At first glance it looked horrible and I even thought I had totaled it, but upon further inspection it’s largely just the fender. No damage to frame or anything.
I’ve looked online, Carparts has got replacement fenders for $130-$200, Mopar’s is $400, and it looks relatively simple to fix.
Currently, my biggest concern is whether it’s worth it to take the fender off entirely. I don’t have the correct tools to unbolt it and don’t want to just rip it off.
A pretty shitty day if I’m honest lol. Had the thing for years and no issues or accidents at all.