I damaged the rear lower valance on my 06 Gallardo by backing it into a curb. The impact was at low velocity but resulted in the cracking of the valance near the bottom right rivet, resulting in a fragment of the valance where the rivet is attached to the underbody frame being broken off from the rest of the valance. There is slight buckling in the main piece of the valance as well. (Layman's terms: I backed the damn car into a curb and the plastic piece under the bumper cracked).

This damage can easily be seen if you are looking for it, since the whole piece cracked off, but otherwise is hard to notice (because of the fact the car sits so low). To repair the piece, the lower valance is a $1800 part with about $200-$300 labor to install (quoted from Lamborghini Ohio).

I have three options: to repair the valance at my own cost, to claim under my comprehensive insurance policy (there is a $1000 deductible, so basically in this case I pay half they pay half), or to simply live with the damage.

Living with the damage is an annoyance because I will always know its there, but Lambo Ohio service dept has assured me that the issue is cosmetic. Sadly cosmetics is one of the reasons for having the car, however, I can say that if I don't point it out, someone would have to be really looking underneath the rear of the car to notice it. Incidentally, the service manager advised to just forget about it, which I felt was a very honest and praiseworthy attitude considering the potential conflict of interest. I will remember that in my future dealings with them.

As for repairing it on my own money, I'd probably only do that if I thought I was selling/trading the car and it would be an issue in terms of depreciation. Although it is a major annoyance, I don't think that a barely visible piece of plastic is worth the price Lambo is charging for it, although who knows in time if it is annoying enough I might end up changing my mind.

The question is whether to take advantage of my full coverage/comprehensive insurance. If I make the claim I get it repaired for $1000 my money, but I do not know if this will affect my rate in the future and whether it makes sense to make the claim.

If anyone has done something like this before, I'd appreciate advice. I know the general "rule" is to not make small claims on insurance to prevent a rate hike but I want to be sure since after all I am paying for the comprehensive every month and I want to use it if it makes sense to.

 

If you're driving a 250K exotic, what is $1800 really? I think you've already answered your own question, its only cosmetics but its gonna bother you regardless so the only fix here really is to get it done. It's really not worth claiming through insurance for such a small amount, so i think you're gonna go ahead and fix the damage yourself.

 

pm sent

 

Paul, apologies but I have to reply your message here for the time being as I am not permitted to PM until I reach 15 posts, but I won't until you give the go ahead. Otherwise I will give you a call instead.

 

I am attempting to upload a pic of the part damaged since I suppose a picture tells a thousand words.

 

I would pay for the repair out of my own pocket. If you claim it on insurance, it will show on carfax or experian when you sell the car and the hit in resale will be a lot more than the cost of the repair.

 

If that is the plastic rear diffuser, just replace it. It can be done with basic hand tools in a hour. Go to the lambopower website. Go to the classified section and post that you want to buy a used one. You should be able to pick up for less than $500.00

 

yeah call me we can work something out did you get my number in your pm?

 

Yes I did, and I will give you a call once I figure out what I am going to do, thanks.

 

take the piece off
send it to a body shop, they can repair it, and REPAINT it to the color of the car... it will make the car look lower and more aggressive

 

I had a small crack in mine from a towing. The repair was done on the car with some epoxy filler and sanding. Very easy and looks like new. A few hundred bucks to fix this. Unless you upgrade to CF one, don't bother buying another one for $1800. Just fix yours. Get a good body shop to do this though.

 

sice djantlive and i said the same thing, i think you have no choice but to do it now
take pics once its complete
have it painted the same color as the car, trust me on this, my friend did the same thing on his gallardo and the car looks mean
it will not cost you more than $300-400

 

I would update to the carbon fiber rear diffuser like the ones on the Superleggera. Please let me know if you need help. Take care!

 

I guess one question I should have asked from the start, does anyone know how to remove the rear diffuser and does it require special tools? Looking from underneath, I see that there are 3 rivets (or screws?) on each side, and I suspect there must be more rivets/screws securing it from the top, perhaps behind the grill underneath the tail lights? I suspect that possibly I might need a car lift or ramp since the diffuser is so low to the ground, is there another way? And would I need special tools to remove the rivets/screws? Finally I would need at least one replacement rivet/screw as the one holding the cracked piece of diffuser is somewhat damaged. Assuming that I am able to remove the rear diffuser and obtain the proper fasteners to reattach it later on, I concur with everyone's opinions that I should find a way to fix the piece at a body shop.

 

the body shop will do all the work with the part attached to the car. just get a couple estimates at reputable shops.

you don't really need to disassemble it. however, i believe its held by 3 rivet or screws on the front side. you may need to remove the rear bumper too. not 100% sure.