Pretty annoyed. It was the second time in a brand new Sienna. I was pulling out of a supermarket parking lot and turning right onto the street. A woman was crossing in a pedestrian crossing zone so I stopped to let her cross. The car behind me didn’t see me stop and rear-ended me.

I had my two young kids in the car, but thankfully no one seems to have gotten hurt. The car behind me wasn’t traveling that fast.

There’s a dent and a few visible indentations / scratches we’ll need to get fixed.

The other driver was involved in something like this recently so doesn’t want to go through insurance. Recommended a local car repair shop. We didn’t call the cops or insist on their insurance because they didn’t seem to be a flight risk (we have it recorded in our dash cam and have their license info) and seemed genuinely willing to be cooperative.

Q: Beyond getting the repairs covered, our concern is with the hit to the resale value. Having gone through the car trade-in & purchase process, we’ve seen how any minor incident, especially for a new car, can impact resale value - which may go far beyond the cost of the repairs. What should we do in this instance? Is it fair for us to ask them for cost of repairs + impact to resale cost? What’s the safest way to structure a private settlement so we’re protected if hidden damage shows up or they back out?