Dent the car? Tell them before they see it. The dent costs money. The hiding costs trust.

Two separate problems appear the moment something goes wrong: the thing itself, and whether you were the one who said it. The first has a price and can be sorted out. The second changes how everything you say afterward gets heard, which is far more expensive and much slower to repair. Waiting also quietly turns an accident into a decision.

If something is sitting in your stomach right now, say it today rather than tomorrow. Lead with the fact, skip the build-up, and do not decorate it. The conversation will be worse than saying nothing and much better than being found out.