I guess, how much is it worth it to you to have this repaired?
Functionally, you car is just fine. (Though you might want to consider replacing the light assembly - mostly to avoid the risk of shorting out your tail light due to moisture.) Cosmetically it's probably fine, too. FWIW the paint peeling is pretty common with mid to late '00s Hondas (and early '10s), and that's a much bigger concern than your fender - no paint + salt = sheetmetal rust and eventually roof structural integrity failures (a long long way off though and nothing you'll have to worry about in the next few years).
If you don't like the look of things, you either are going to have to pursue her to try and get her info and have your insurance companies duke it out, or you'll be needing a fender (bumper acutally in your case) replacement. A quick look online shows that a replacement (unpainted) rear bumper is around $100 shipped, and any auto body shop should be able to paint and install that for around $250. In a worst case scenario, $500 for the bumper, paint, and a new tail light i reckon.
Alternatively you could just shrug it off, drive your bruised car a little more carelessly, and ponder whether to sell it or not.
On the topic of needing a small SUV - though the Civic coupe really isn't too versatile, what exactly would a small SUV allow you to do that your current car (with light modifications) can't?
Really I'm not worried about looks of my car all that much, just that I had put a lot of money into buying it years ago and since it is still under 100k I feel it should still look decent. I do live in Pittsburgh and it is raining or snowing here roughly 60% of the time, so rust is the true concern. My buddy has a trustworthy mechanic, who does body work, at very reasonable prices, so I am going to look into this. I have a little damage prior to this, but this is just more severe. It also makes a bit of noise when I make turns or I move onto uneven pavement, so I need it to be looked at.
The different may sound negligible, however, I am tired of a coupe. I have some friends and we share driving each other around where we go, however, my friend is 6'3" and he just doesn't really fit in the car well (and we ride together a lot). Carrying passengers is a pain because adults don't like to go in the back. My mom or dad basically can't ride in it unless we are the only 2 in the vehicle. In addition to this, I would like to go on more trips with other people and that would be more possible with a vehicle that people can sit, and the dog can have some space as well.
Functionally, you car is just fine.
I'm not sure I would go quite that far. It depends if the damage made it through the paint. A "bit of a rip in the fender" would indicate it has. Rust (especially in Pittsburgh) could make pretty quick work of that, which then can become an inspection problem (assuming PA has inspections).
Yes PA does have inspections. I have seen very rough vehicles around here though. I want this to be checked out soon by someone I trust. I'm tired of going to Pep Boys (what a rip off that place feels).
From the description you've given it sounds like mostly cosmetic damage, and it certainly wouldn't warrant dumping this car for a new one.
With your car, the damaged area you've described is almost certainly part of the plastic bumper cover, which should be fairly easy to repair or replace for a few hundred dollars at most. I see the unpainted rear bumper listed on Rockauto.com for $56.79 right now. You could run it unpainted if you DGAF, spend a couple of bucks on paint from your local Autozone, or go full baller status and pay a paint shop maybe $200 to prime/paint/mount the thing.
The replacement taillight costs $38.79 on Rockauto.com and may require no tools at all to fix.
Unless they really slammed into the car it's unlikely they breached any metal in that area due to how that car is put together, so I wouldn't worry at all about accelerated rusting in that area.
Thanks for the numbers, this helps a lot. If my buddy's mechanic can give me a good price quote, maybe I can have him do it without going through insurance. The damage on the other side of the car is from a side-swipe to it from last year that was mostly glancing but almost all cosmetic and the roof isn't rusting yet, just looks really bad.
Thanks for the advice everyone!
Because of my savings rate I have created recently, it sounds like I could cover the repairs myself out of pocket, if need be. That's good because I really don't want to consider another vehicle at least until next year at the earliest.
