Unless the tabs of the headlight are broken/bent or there are deep scratches, the headlight likely will just need a bit of wet sanding and polishing. The other bonus is that if the paint work is done well, the new paint may match your car better than the original bumper's paint.

Good luck, I was cut off by an illegal immigrant with no license or insurance, ended up rear ending him, and I was 100% at fault regardless. He never even filed a claim for his car and strongly discouraged me from calling the cops when I noticed his license, registration, and "insurance" were all under different names even when he claimed it was all for him. :(

the damage doesnt look to bad, just sucks that you have to encounter stuff like that. Anyways i had my front bumper re-painted at my local shop ( carsmetics-Anaheim) and i paid $340 for the front bumper. The reason i had my bumper repainted is i accumulated alot of small rock chips on my car from driving like i maniac lol. Anyways give them a call and i can vouch for the work they do, its top notch :) Just to tell you the process they did was the painter brought out a paint camera and scanned the paint and then scanned the VIN number inside my car from there it was processed and given a matching color code. I was lucky enough that the painter gave me extra paint w/ clear for future touch up use.

Well if the idiot who hit you had insurance you could ask for Depreciation Value of your car.

So the lady came today with her "husband" to check out the damage and negotiate prices. She accused me of adding more scratches/scruffs/paintchipping to the damage. We told her to just leave. I am going to file a small claims lawsuit towards her. The good news is the bodyshop says he can sand and clearcoat the light for $75 and i can buy touch up paint for the chips and clean the rest. I plan on taking it this way since it is a new car and I see no need in repainting the whole bumper for a small damage and depreciating the cars value.

Insurance coverage varies by state and by the policy that you bought. Assuming you bought collision insurance in addition to your state's mandatory liability coverage, your insurance company should be on the hook for the costs of repairs and it should be a non-chargeable accident (won't raise your rates). In that case, you would be on the hook for your deductible. Some states require uninsured motorist coverage (California doesn't), but especially in California, it's smart to buy that coverage anyway. It's usually pretty cheap, and the deductible is usually pretty low (in some cases, no deductible). If you have that coverage, a complete, good-as-new repair would cost you little or nothing.

If you had collision coverage but no uninsured motorist coverage, I'm not sure you can sue the other driver for the whole cost, only your out-of-pocket for the deductible, or other things like out-of-pocket for loss of use of your car (rental replacement). Different states have different requirements. In some states, you can decline to file a claim with your insurance company and sue the other driver, and some states require that you file a claim and can only sue for the balance. Before filing in small claims court, make sure you know your policy and it would be smart to go talk to your insurance agent to find out what your policy covers and what your state requires. Small claims courts are aimed entirely at conciliation and are pretty perfunctory. They don't necessarily issue binding decisions. If you sue for the whole cost of the repairs and win in court, the other person can appeal to the next-highest court and the decision could be nullified if the law wasn't followed explicitly. Small Claims court decisions usually aren't final for 30 days after the decision to allow for such an appeal. It's often not very expensive to do so, and an attorney often isn't necessary since the case is simply a determination as to whether the Small Claims Court followed the law.

I got rear-ended once and the driver was uninsured. I sued him in Small Claims Court for the $500 deductible and won, but he never did pay wouldn't even contact me or return calls. After 30 days, he lost the right of appeal and the judgement became final. I subsequently filed a motion to attach property to cover it, but he didn't have anything of sufficient value when the Sheriff went out to serve him. So I filed another motion to have his driver's license revoked for failure to meet the state's mandatory liability requirement since he had been found liable in court and didn't pay me. That got his attention because I had to sign a release of liability before he could get his driver's license back.

You can try, but it's unlikely that you'd be allowed any judgement for depreciation of the car that the accident caused. Most places only allow you to sue for actual damages.

ETA: I am not an attorney, nor am I an insurance agent. You should contact one or both before you commit yourself to any particular course of action, such as repairing the car or filing in small claims court.