I hit a truck, was asked for $4000 to repair. Can I ask for other repair estimates?

You can ask, but whether they do it or not is up to them. Good luck!

You can ask. They may not do it, but you can certainly ask.

Get another shop to give you an estimate !

I have tried this and if you push it at all, they just say, “screw it,” and then take it through their insurance. You’ll be saving money because it will mean that your insurance rate will go up. If you can afford it pay the estimate.

Most people get three estimates to make sure a ‘friends’ shop is not jacking up the price on you.

generally, if you are at fault, the person you hit only needs to provide one estimate to show the cost. You can ask for other estimates and if they are honorable people they might get them. But you are asking them to take extra time out of their day to try to save you money. Going to court wouldn’t get you any better deal since the judge would take their estimate and say that was what you owed.

This is why it is better to pay for insurance. Insurance companies can tell within $50 off it is a good estimate or over priced.

As people said, you can ask for an estimate from another shop, but the other party is not obligated. And if you go to court, the judge will ask you both why the insurance company is not involved.

Since you obviously didn’t have insurance, I think you should suck it up to experience and pay the $4000. It might be cheaper and easier in the long run. Then do the smart thing and get some insurance!

Here’s trick I leaned the hard way, just like you.
Call the guy you owe the money to and ask for his policy number and insurance company’s phone number. The idea is to talk to the insurance company and see what you can work out.
(You may find out this other guy has no insurance, like I did. We settled out of court for about ½ of what he wanted!)