Hit something on the freeway, need advice

[4B Viper]

If you report the claim, it most certainly can, and likely will, show up on Carfax. The info 4B Viper posted is not correct. The police do not need to be involved. I don't know if Carfax gets info from police departments. They might, and if they do, it's possible a police report could make it show up. But insurance companies report their claims to a central database (almost all insurance companies use this). Carfax subscribes to this database and pulls it's info from there. So if it's turned into insurance, good chance it'll show up on Carfax.

This may be true, in your state, but I'm sure reporting procedure varies from state to state. Over the years, I have been in 5 accidents (only 1 my fault) with 3 different carriers, reported them all and not one single accident has shown up on Carfax.

That aside, I still don't know why anyone would ever consider paying out of pocket. What makes anyone think that increase in premiums and decrease in value (if he sold it and it did show up on Carfax) would even near $17k?

Macman, take your Viper to Scandinavian Coachcraft (310-479-5171) in West LA and ask for Ole. When I got mine fixed there, it seriously came back better than it was before it got in an accident. He even fixed the hood gap that I had. They do top notch work there and specialize in Vipers.