[Spinal]

i hear ya dude, fixing it out of your own pocket is only an option if a) you got the $ B) the damage is that big. a close friend of mine went to advoid a sign in the road last winter, turned to miss it....guess it was too sudden and round he went. he hit the guardrail and bumped off the bridge. split the bumper right in half, took out the headlight, most of the grill, popped the tire because i guess the impact of the car hitting the curb just made it explode, and the rad support was gone (for the most part) as well as a new hood.

with labour it cost the insurance company $8000 - the car was a fofo and was only a year or so old at the time and im sure the body shop milked the insurance company, i mean the plastic grill supposedly cost 100$ so yea...anywho try see how much is actually damaged, if its just on the "surface" you may be able to take a trip to the junkyard/ford and get some oem stuff and fix it yourself.