Bummer Of A Phone Call

I'm at work when my cell phone rings. It's my son, and he's asking if it's a good time to talk. I tell him yes, and he proceeds to tell me that while everyone is all right, he got into a fender bender at the mall, and what should he do?

He described the situation to me, and since the damage sounded very slight (a dinged bumper on the other car) and due to the fact that it was undeniably his fault, he should ask for an estimate to repair the other car and not get the insurance companies involved.

The estimate came back as $1300 due to some supposed minor axle damage. He's going to get a copy of the estimate and take it to a shop he trusts, and ask if they concur with the charges. If they do, I'm not sure what we'll do next. He has the money to pay it, but if he can avoid such a steep price, that would be better.