Accident! Seems to be cosmetic only.
 

So a guy coming the wrong way almost hit me head on. Swerved at the last minute but unluckily couldn't avoid him. Made contact where the front fender meets the door. Then he scraped all the way to the rear fender. Damn!

Dropped it off with the garage recommended by the insurance company. Initially they said they will try to repair the panels. However, once I submitted the police report and dropped the car at the garage finally, they said they'll try to replace the door panel only especially if they can find one in the scrap yard.

Paint job is required in any case, front fender, door and rear fender.

As its the other parties fault, atleast i dont have to pay anything out of my pocket. However, just trying to get over the guilt of crashing within first year of ownership and the fear of how the car will come out. :(

Yeah that sucks. Better than a head on though. Good luck.

At least you drive with your side mirror folded in so that didn't get clipped off.

Well, that's too bad - :(

I'm glad you weren't hurt.

Your car will fix up good.


humfrz

Yikes! Really fortunate that it wasn't worse. Glad you're ok.


Sounds like a nimble little car in hands with quick reflexes saved the day. :thumbsup:

Recently had similar but worse damage from a sideswipe. Picking it up tomorrow and will post my experience with all that happened. Damage was over $5,000 all on the other drivers insurance. Repaired it a Toyota Certified Collision Center (my choice), didn't even knew they existed. But all OEM parts with VIN tag even matched on the panels. Good luck and glad you weren't injured.

Hahaha who needs side mirrors when people are intent on coming the wrong way! Luckily the cops not only failed to notice folded side mirrors, they missed the fact I was driving with the sunshade on the windscreen as well :lol:
Actually the impact folded it in, glad it didn't clip off. The remaining pics are from the parking lot after accident.

Ouch, that's bad! Hope there were no injuries. Wish I could also get mine done at the agency / certified dealer, but here the insurance only covers that for new cars up to 2 years old only and you have to pay additional premium. Else, its just local garages.

Insist on genuine new parts! If they will not, take it to a shop that will. As you are not at fault they have no choice to to return your car back to original. If the insurance company wants to be A holes get it repaired under yours and let them get the money from the other insurance company. This may cost you your deductible up front buy you will get it back.

You do realize the dude is in Dubai right? The insurance companies may have all the choice in the world there. What works in the US does not work worldwide. Even Canada has radically different rules. Hell, even Ontario has different rules than the rest of Canada that would make most of your suggestions impossible.

Agreed with @Tcoat Insurance companies and policies can be vastly different in various parts of the world. Here in Dubai, we have a concept of "Agency Repairs" whereby it will be repaired at the authorized dealer and is only covered via additional premium for the first 2 years from the date of manufacturing. Mine, being 2013, did not fall under this category. So the only option is to accept their authorized repair shops.

Secondly, the insurance policy also states that "the vehicle will be repaired to the original state as it was BEFORE the accident". This means being a 2013 model, all my parts were 5 years old, so technically my vehicle and the panel that was damaged was also 5 years old before the accident. Hence, I cannot demand new parts.

Thirdly, I do have the option to request new parts (but I will have to pay 30% of the amount) or request cash alternative. However, they have terms and conditions mentioned somewhere in tiny text which makes it very difficult to get the insurance company to acknowledge these requests, especially the cash payout. They usually only honor these request if they have difficulty finding or repairing parts, etc.

Update as of now is, I dropped it off at the body shop last week. They called in today that they tried finding replacement fender and door panel (probably from other totalled 86) but no luck. They will try contacting Toyota and inform me after the weekend. Lets see.


In the meanwhile, they have started work on the rear fender. If they get that done before the panels arrive, I would be able to get a preview on their quality of work.

Yes I forgot to look at the location. Shit it totaled throw it away and buy a new one.

Update: Had a word with the garage, still no parts available locally. Having a bad feeling they may go down the repairing the existing panel path. So, a quick question guys, in your opinion is the damage done on the front fender and door repairable?

I would say it is repairable but won't be easy. I used to restore classic cars and had a guy that could repair rotted panels to like new. Now of course there are also guys that will slap some bondo in and call it a day so you would want to check the work closely.

They will use some amount of filler after returning the panels to as close to normal as possible. How can they claim that your car is repaired to the original pre-accident state when it will have body filler in the panels?

I have read about the following including eyeballing the reflection lines, knocking on the panels for sound differences, feeling the paint for bumps or asking them to check the roof and the passenger side door panels using an elcometers and comparing it with the repaired panels. Any further advice on this?

Agreed. The first option was replacing the parts with used parts of the same grade and standard. However, they search for one week and the parts were not available with any dealer / scrapyard. It is only now they are suggesting to repair it as a second option due to unavailability of parts. Although they did assure that the insurance surveyor will assess the quality and acknowledge the repairs if they meet their standards (what standards?). Further, as I have chosen the insurance preferred garage, it should be under one year warranty, not too sure how that will apply with body work.

If the repairs do not meet their standards and as used parts are not available, only then the garage can request ordering NEW parts. If i request new parts from the start, I have to foot 30% of the invoice value. Sigh!

Cool trick I learned from my neighbor who's into classic cars. Wrap a magnet in a shop rag or washcloth. Feel for differences in how the magnet pulls. Bondo will be obvious.

I used a flat magnet that advertising comes printed on. Strong enough to stick to painted steel but will fall right off if bondo. Flexible for curves, no risk of scratching or marring the finish like a strong magnet and gives a nice consistent pull that you won't get with a rag around it. Almost everybody has one kicking around someplace.


http://upyourbrandonline.co.za/wp-co...dge-Magnet.jpg

Even better!

Thank you guys for the input. So i paid a visit to the garage, here are the pics. He explained the process as well however I have got a really bad toothache and couldn't pay attention a lot. Something along the lines of they have pulled the dents, the next step is to p_____ (i cant remember the name) which will take 3-4 days, once the panel gaps and the lines are correct lay the primer and then additional 2-3 days for paint and polish.

I would have thought a door skin and new fender to be cheaper than that work. The rear panel I understand but everything else, wtf.....

My OEM fender was $157, preprimed

Replacement panels are cheap! A front bumper is like 150-200 new. I guess Dubai doesn't have it like that.....

Labour is dirt cheap in UAE.

Yup, Dubai doesn't have it like that. OEM Front fender is approx. $400-450 and the OEM door skin is around $750-800. Add the cost of installation and paint as well, it would exceeded $1,300 (check below).

I guess so. Apparently, this whole job costs (pulling, putting, sanding, paint) less than $1,300. Any job over $1,300 requires prior evaluation of the insurance company before repairs can be undertaken. In my case, no evaluation was done.

UPDATE: Called the garage, car is ready for paint. Friday is off here so the paint job will be done on Saturday. If all goes well, should get the car back by Sunday *fingers crossed*

UPDATE: Car is fixed and back. Paranoid level 200% => 10%

Man, that looks great.