I was in Chicago over the weekend and was operating on 3-4 hours of sleep driving around some family while shopping for groceries. While backing out of a garage I hit a pole that had an electrical box on it. I was very slow but it seems that it didn’t matter and it made a massive dent.

I have a few questions:

if not wanting to pay excessive amounts to repair this old car, would junkyard be best option for a new tailgate?

I got quoted $1500-1700 by someone who said they’d get the part, and paint it if needed….$500 if we get the tailgate but then they don’t repair/paint anything

Would this warrant an insurance claim? We don’t have collision insurance but do have comprehensive. We think if we pay $500 deductible and our rates increase a lot over the years it may not be worth it?