Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 8/21/2009

Question
You made a statement in an answer that there is "no such thing as an average cost to repair...".   How stupid can you get? There has to be an average and it is mathematically, fiscally and intellectually impossible to state that no such exists. The equivalent distribution of loss among concerned parties, and charges incurred through such loss provide ability to achieve the average cost of repair for any damages; physical (body/fender), drive train, etc. That is law!!
Please do not attempt to insult peoples intelligence by displaying your own lack. While you may have some level of "experience", nothing indicates High School or College graduation. Both lacking, it appears you are unable to comprehend a simple question and therefore gave your answer due to amassed ignorance which equals stupidity. And, there is certainly an average for that among personjs such as yourself.

Answer
Hi James,

I'm not sure where your sense of outrage comes from. If you had provided me with the full question text that was asked, I might be able to provide you with a reasonable explanation. Without the full question text it is not possible for me or anyone else for that matter, to know or understand the context of my answer.

If the questioner was asking about the average cost of repairing a specific named area of damage, then yes, of course, one could determine an average cost. However, if the questioner  asked what is a particular insurance companies average cost to repair a collision damaged vehicle, then it would require having access to that insurance company's database of a large number of claims to make that determination. If the question simply asked what is the average cost to repair a damaged vehicle, well then my answer was correct in that context since there were too many unknown variables, such as the year, make, model of car, extent and location of damage, speed of impact, etc.

So the context of the question, dictates the context of the answer. I'm very sorry if you are not able to make that distinction.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh