I was involved in an accident in Virginia in a college dorm room parking lot in which I was negligent. I was going to park my car and some people were walking in the parking lot so I moved over about 2 feet to go around them. Then I saw a parking space and thinking that I could still make it in there I went ahead and turned in. What I didn't notice is the car I hit was parked on the line. Even so, I still agree that I was negligent in that I should have been watching more closely as to how close her car was to me. After the accident I promptly got out and checked the damage the damage to her car was 1 dent in the rear fender close to the rear door, 1 dent on the lower side of the rear door, both dents were about the size of a baseball, there was also one very small dent just ahead of those, and some scratches on the dents. By my estimate, because I had a few friends that worked in repair shops and had talked with them alot about how much alot of the work they had done for people cost, it looked to be about $200 - $400 worth of damage. I also noticed a large dent on her passenger side front door that I did not cause. I promptly left her a note on her windshield about the accidnent and a number to reach me at. It was not untill 3 days later that i got a call about the accident as she said she had just seen the car.
She said she lived in a city about 2 hours away, she goes home fairly often, and she would get 3 quotes from places around there because it would be the easiest place for her to get it repaired. I said that was ok and after she got the quotes we would go from there. Then about a month later she called me back and said she had went to 3 places and brought me the cheapest quote but the quote was for $1200 which seems outrageous and she even said she was getting a discount from the guy cuz the family knew him. That is also about 1/3 to 1/2 the cars worth. She said that the biggest reason she wanted to get the car repaired was that she wanted to sell the car and get a new one. She said the repair place said they would have to totally repaint any part they fixed, which is a total lie. The estimate also looked kinda sketchy it was just typed with no signatures or anything and all it was itemized down to was body, paint, parts, and labor, with no details the body and paint was also labor and parts were supposed to be $150. She also said that she would make me a copy of everything that day and bring it back to me, but she never did.
The next day I called her back and left her a message saying that I thought the price was way to high and I had heard of a garage about 45 min. away that was pretty reasonable with their prices. Also it is located on they way to where she lives. I told her that she could follow me there one day and I would talk to the people and see how much they said it would be and if we decided to get it repaired there I would just make the check out to the repair place and give it to them personally. I also said on the message for her to let me know as soon as possible what is going on and when we could do that.
Now, two weeks later, I got a message saying that she went on vacation and got another estimate that was about $100 cheaper. I have seen her car in the parking lot of the dorm every day during those 2 weeks so I don't know when she took a "vacation". Also in the message she said that she also wants a rental car to get to work while the car is getting repaired. She doesn't make that much money in a week though and doesn't have to go to work very often. It seems like she just wants a new car to ride around in for a week. Now she wants me to come to her room and look over the paperwork and sign everything and write her a check for the price.
I would like to know what I should do now and possible solutions to this problem. I'm not trying to get out of settling this I just want a reasonable solution. Now I'm to the point that I regret trying to do the right thing. It just seems like she is trying to get everything that she can out of me and I just don't have that kind of money right now. I just need to know what i should do.

Should have gotten a police report after you hit and not left a note.

Would I have any reason to get a police report now? What would happen if she wanted to take me to court for some reason?

I think youhave done everything correct. What I would follow up on is go to the garage that gave you the estimate for $1200.00 and see exactly what they estimated. She cannot say your negligent in paying the bill if you are requesting to be involved although she does have the right to choose a body shop. If I were you, I would go to her shop and speakwith the manager and ask them what they estimated to fix. She could have very well added damage repairs that were not yours to begin with. although proving them will be impossible and since you did leave the scene of an accident, unfortunately she can get you essentially for whatever she says. I am an x-cop and have seen similar instances like this. I also watch judge judy and I do belive she has had alot of these similar cases. Probably should have called the cops. sorry. Good Luck.

I got a copy of the second estimate from her. It was fairly detailed, but it has a lot of stuff that I know she doesnt need and is way over priced. I want to take her to a place that a friend has been to and talk to the mechanics personally, not to make her get it repaired there but to at least get something to compare her estimates to because I know the estimates she has gotten are way overpriced.

I also called the place that she got the 2nd estimate from after hours just to make sure she hadnt just typed the estimate herself because it could have just been typed in notepad. The guy was very rude and not businesslike at all. He didn't even say that it was the garage to begin with just said "Hello?" after I asked a couple questions he said I had the right place but then he said things like "Why are you calling so late about a estimate?", "Maybe you should just call back tomorrow and get someone in the office", he said it very defensively and rude yet supposedly he was the owner of the place. I would expect the owner to be very polite about it concidering that he might get money out of it.

I'm increasingly getting the feeling that she is just tryin to bulldoze me into forking over a bunch of money. What would happen if she tried to take it up with the police now even though it is already 2 months after the accident? Also, I figure it should be fair for me to ask for her to go with me to another garage to get an estimate for comparison and if it is alot lower ask her to find a place closer to that price or get it repaired there.

After looking over the 2nd estimate I found a few things that I didnt do and many unnessecary charges. Also, the estimate was written for a 1999 Ford Contour when she drives a 1999 Ford Taurus. Also when I mentioned that the estimate was at least 1/3 of the cars worth she claimed that her 1999 Ford Taurus LX, with just under 70000 miles, and in lets just say sub-perfect condition was worth about $12,000... on ebay of all places. She also said that she filed a police report with local police but I was never contacted and the first time she called me after the accident she just called to see if she had the right number and promply drove to work, and I was never contacted by the police.

I also said that before we decided anything we needed to go to the garage that I suggested to at least get an estimate for comparison. She promply said "I would but I don't have time." This would only take about 3 hours out of her day maximum and thats if it took an hour and a half to get the estimate done. Also she argued that I have been taking too long yet it took her almost a month to get a 2nd estimate and 5 days just to call me to say she had gotten a 2nd estimate and the maximum ammount of time I have taken to get back to her about anything is one day.

I think we might end up going to court. I feel like I have plenty to argue in this case but I was wondering If any of you had any suggestions?