Seriously?! It's only two months old!!

[Ammunition]

Sorry for your loss man - I hope you can get her fixed up. I definitely feel your pain - my car is only a little over three weeks old and I've gotten four rock chips - one if which is really bad, right on the front, and happened just after I had her professionally washed and waxed at a detailing shop.

This is all despite the fact that I've completely altered my driving in my FR-S coming from my previous car - I don't drive it down any dirt or gravel roads, avoid any roads that go through a construction zone, I stay away from any sort of trucks or utility vehicles, and I give an extremely generous distance between myself and the car in front of me.

It's definitely caused some stress - despite the fact that I take exceptionally good care of my car, and I am constantly doing things or avoiding situations that might jeopardize it, yet I seems like it's been a magnet for bad luck .

As far as your situation goes, I hope that everything works out as best it can to your favor!

[tennisfreak]

Yeah tell them to look for where that lady lives and take a baseball bat to her car.

Then when she comes outside and sees her car backhand the shit out of her and tell her to pay more f_cking attention to what she is doing.

[Evil Jesus]

I would assume that you called the cops to write up a report, correct? Did they put her at fault?

[Spirit7]

Originally Posted by Evil Jesus

I would assume that you called the cops to write up a report, correct? Did they put her at fault?

Yeah, I called the cops and got a police report. Right after it happened, she got out of her car and told me it was the first wreck she's been in, then proceeded to ask me if we should just exchange insurance information and be on our way. I said "Um, no. I'm calling the police to get a accident report, this wasn't just a bump."

[Spirit7]

Well, the verdict is:

New quarter panel welded in
New door
3 new wheels
1 new tire
New mirror
New window
New weatherstripping (Apparently it's a one time use item)
Alignment and suspension inspection
and whatever else they find when they start tearing it apart

So far $7000 in repairs

[Evil Jesus]

That sucks man. Hope it goes as smoothly as possible for you. I can't believe she just wanted to exchange information. She'd probably try to pin it on you and say that you turned right into her.

[Mototilla]

I had an issue on the same side and basically had all the same repairs from the RT F fender to the rear quarter with my last car. I used the local privately owned repair shop that repairs most the Ferrari's and Lambo's from the local dealer but also does high dollar restorations. Some advice for you is to interview the shop and have a look at their facility. I visited 4 shops before deciding who I felt would earn my business. Ask if the booth has been serviced and what type of guarantee they have on the work, how long the car bakes for in the booth.. Etc. Some places only offer a one year and others will offer the life of the car as long as it doesn't change hands. All paints are now water based but match great and you can even request the same brand that the factory uses. Make sure that they take the extra steps in prepping the car for paint and that the body work is done to your satisfaction. The insurance company decides how much of the car they will cover depending on the circumstances, that is between you and the insurance company. When they cut the check that is your money. The body shops do not work for the insurance companies they are hired by you. Make it very clear to them the level of work you are expecting and how you would like it done. If you don't communicate your standards and stay on top of them they will most likely cut corners to save on labor costs. Repair shops most often do have relationships with insurance companies and I'm sure there are back pocket deals happening but that is your check and you should hire the shop you feel fits your needs. I was very pleased with how the car came out.

[Steve201brz]

Originally Posted by Spirit7

Yeah, I called the cops and got a police report. Right after it happened, she got out of her car and told me it was the first wreck she's been in, then proceeded to ask me if we should just exchange insurance information and be on our way. I said "Um, no. I'm calling the police to get a accident report, this wasn't just a bump."

Was sitting in my buddy's camry at a red light when a highlander rear ended us going what seemed atleast 30+. Back end was completely smashed in, trunk wouldn't keep closed etc. Guy looks at the damage for a minute then says, "Are you sure all that's from me?"

[imom]

Originally Posted by Spirit7

Well, the verdict is:

New quarter panel welded in
New door
3 new wheels
1 new tire
New mirror
New window
New weatherstripping (Apparently it's a one time use item)
Alignment and suspension inspection
and whatever else they find when they start tearing it apart

So far $7000 in repairs

Why 3 new wheels? Too bad insurance couldn't declare this as a salvage and get yourself a new car. If it was my new car and this happened I would be really bummed and what about the paint job and then this getting on your carfax... depreciate your car value even worse. If you got 7K in repairs I think you're getting the wrong end of the stick here...I'd insist on a new car it's totaling new 1/3 of the car's worth.

[SigmaHyperion]

Originally Posted by imom

If you got 7K in repairs I think you're getting the wrong end of the stick here...I'd insist on a new car it's totaling new 1/3 of the car's worth.

No insurance company is going to total a car with just 1/3rd in damages. Even the best do it at twice that much, and many do it as high as 75-80% of the value.

There was nothing damaged that will detrimentally affect the performance of the car. It's all aesthetic stuff. So no worries of any ongoing issues. As long as the paint matches well, you'll never know there was an accident going into the future.

Best thing you can do here is go after the insurance company for depreciated value. But it's not the easiest thing in the world to do. There are companies on the internet that'll do it for you -- send nice write-ups on attorney letterhead. You'll give them a fair chunk of the money, but as least it's something. I imagine you could get at least a couple grand out of them. No where remotely near enough to get it to the point of being a total though.

The cash in your pocket can be nice. In theory you lose it when you sell the car in the future in the form of reduced value, but if you keep the car long enough you won't lose much of anything. And a great many accidents never are reported to CarFax anyways (I've owned 3 vehicles that I knew were in major accidents handled through insurance, none were ever on CarFax). So you may not actually be out anything in the future.

[fistpoint]

Time to start investigating a "diminished value claim"...look it up, start researching. The payout, if you get one, will be separate from the initial check they give you. That means you can get your car fixed and drive it while you await the outcome of the DVC.

[TheEradicator]

I was run out of my lane by a short lady in a big truck, because she didn't see me, she was to my left and I was to her right. It was beyond annoying, because I see her start to drift into me, so I check the next lane and luckily no one was in it so no harm no foul, but as she's moving into my lane I honk and she stops for a second and continues to merge... Anyways I learned to not drive on the passenger side of trucks.

[Mikem53]

Sorry to see this! I hope you get it worked out to your satisfaction. Such a bummer, good luck.

[Minhtyfresh]

Posts like this make me cry a little inside. Good luck getting this resolved!

And ladies, don't be offended by the comments you find here. It's all generalizations that I'm sure nobody ACTUALLY believes is 100% true.

BMW drivers are pricks
Truck drivers are aggressive
Lady drivers can't drive
Old drivers are slow
Young drivers are irresponsible
Asian drivers all drive poorly in their civics
Etc etc...