<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/97338/rr-a4-damage1.jpg"></center><p>Long time reader here (well actually only 3 months, but that's when I got the car), first time poster. Please bear with me as it's a bit of a story.

Got a 2005.5 A4 2.0T Quattro in late July. (Its got premium, cold, lighting, wood, Sirius, 16" Rims, Automatic) I live in NYC where parking in expensive, so we park it on the street. Well sometime on Friday night/Saturday morning, something hit my car. Not sure what it was, not sure how it happened (could have been on purpose, maybe random vandalism, or maybe just an accident.) It definitely wasn't another car b/c the right side was parked to the curb.

Anyway, as you can see from the picture below, the front right of the car is all scratched up. Whatever happened, the front end piece, the front right panel and the front right light were all damaged. (I have more pictures to follow, just not sure how to post them all in the same message.)

I've taken it to a one body shop to get an estimate and he was telling me its $500 to get a new front end, $200 for a new front right panel and $500 for a new lighting assembly, and thats just for parts, not painting or labor. Now insurance might pay for this, at least a portion of it, but as I was discussing this with the mechanic, we think that it may be possible to just get a new plastic cover piece for the headlight cover, instead of an entire new assembly.

That's where I come to you all. Does anyone here know how/where I can get a new plastic cover for my front right headlight? I imagine this piece would cost like $25 bucks, not the $500 for an entire new headlight. I'm hoping that if I can get my hands on this and give it to the mechanic; he will pass some of the savings onto me.

I appreciate any responses or suggestions. Again, sorry for the long post.

Thanks!

 

Won't insurance cover it??

 

I'm afraid if it costs like $2,000 then they may raise my rates, and that's something I definitely do not need.

 

I would let insurance take care of it, I mean that is what you have it for. They shouldn't raise your rates because you where not neglagent nor where you repsonsible for the damages. At least with my Insurance Company, vandalism and a repaint of an entire vehicle was covered for my brother.

I would fight for insurance to pay, and just do everything right. You don't want to cut corners on a brand new car, just pay the deductible and your insurance should take the rest.

 

The headlights are all one piece as far as I know. If it was just a cover there would be lots of us with clear corners by now.

 

But not sure how... it looks like some sort of glue is holding it down and preventing moisture from getting in when I was taking a close look at it. From what I've read so far, nobody has taken apart the headlight yet.

Looking at that damage, I wonder if it was somebody on a pedal bike that obviously came too close and the pedal did the damage.

 

ouch, sorry to hear that, same color as mine.

 

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/81746/kcar.jpg"></center><p>
Here's a solution you might consider (the Plymouth, not the Ford) j/k :-)

 

Yeah - I would never own anything nice and park it on the streets in NY

 

about $4k in repairs over a 1.5 yr period. That was on my previous car, a leased B5 A4. You might want to rethink the cost of a garage versus the street. It's not as clear cut as it seems. BTW, my car was generally parked on Riverside Dr., in a fairly low traffic area up around 100th. I got damage to every side except the front. Usually accompanied with some bright yellow paint (my car was silver).

Also, you should know that if you make a claim to your insurance company, it goes on your "permanent record" and is used to figure your rates. It doesn't matter if it is your fault or not, or even if the claim is approved or not. And the database is shared by all insurance companies.