I'm on a bad luck streak...

[GnatGoSplat]

I'm on a bad luck streak where something bad manages to happen to me every day, and this is the latest...

 

Went to Arby's on my lunch break, I was heading north and pulled into the center turn lane to left-turn into the Arby's north entrance and a woman had left-turned out of the Arby's south exit to head north, and bam! She hit the back of my car and pushed it halfway into oncoming traffic so the inner lane of oncoming traffic had to stop. Apparently she was unaware I was going to enter the turn lane, despite the fact I had my blinker on before I entered.

 

Ugh, I'm so bummed.

 

 

Oh well, I guess I should be thankful I wasn't hit by oncoming traffic. That could have been a real mess. There go my insurance premiums (well, probably not that much since I'm pretty old these days).

[Artemis]

Why would YOUR premiums go up? You had the right of way and she hit you.

[runt]

I hope that they fix it proper for you!

 

It really sucks when people don't pay attention.

[GnatGoSplat]

I don't know what the insurance system in Missouri is called, but the insurance companies assign "partial fault". That is, both drivers are assigned part of the blame. Whether or not the police were involved or issue someone a ticket is irrelevant, as the insurance companies will negotiate with each other and come to a settlement.

It's likely they'll find this 50/50, 60/40, 80/20, etc. I'm hoping they'll find in my favor since I had right-of-way, but I have seen it turn around the other way. For example, my mother-in-law was broadsided while trying to cross a busy street. Although she stopped at the stop sign, she didn't notice a pickup coming towards her. The truck hit the rear 1/4 of her car. The police issued her a "failure to stop at a stop sign" ticket. Her fault, case closed, right? Wrong! The insurance companies decided the pickup going straight was probably speeding, so they ruled the pickup is 60% at fault and my mother-in-law only 40% at fault, despite the law finding her 100% at fault. Although in that case, those people deserved what happened. They were really rude, hateful, and one of them faked injury to try to get more insurance money.

 

Anyway, I hope my bad luck streak clears up before I find out what the insurance companies decide!

[tornado_735]

Hopefully they don't try and total it out. It hurts to see a first gen scarred like that

[GnatGoSplat]

It's got 217k miles, it probably has a pretty good chance of being totaled out. I'd like to buy it back if that's the case, but I wonder if it would be a huge hassle. I'm going to try not to worry about that until I have to.

[jreed10]

I really hate to see something like this happen to such a good looking car, but at least the damage doesn't look all that bad. Good luck with the insurance companies. Hopefully your bad luck streak ends soon.

[intern8tion9l]

doesn't look to be tooooo bad; i mean it sure could have been far worse. hopefully you can fix her up for a decent price!

[WhatTheFehl]

It really sucks that your car got hit but... that is... wrecked? Really? Lol. I doubt the insurance company will total it. In fact I don't think I would have even bothered reporting it as long as the other driver was willing not to. The damage isn't that bad so I would just continue driving it and fix it when I had the time and money. Shiiiit, there's more dents and dings in the van and the Skyhawk and we still DD them... some pretty bad ones too in the van...

[White93z34]

our cars are old enough that something like that very well could total it out, lets face it they are all but valueless. I worry about that every time I have my z34 out.

 

Shawn get it all fixed good and proper and then get the car appraised.

[tornado_735]

our cars are old enough that something like that very well could total it out, lets face it they are all but valueless. I worry about that every time I have my z34 out.

 

You could almost sell the 284 swap for more than the whole car, LOL!

[GnatGoSplat]

our cars are old enough that something like that very well could total it out, lets face it they are all but valueless. I worry about that every time I have my z34 out.

 

Exactly. It's a damaged 1/4-panel so it will need labor to straighten, Bondo, sand, and paint. Rear bumper will need sanded down and painted. Parts and materials could exceed $1000, which is probably over 80% the value of the car. I'll probably just take what insurance will give or buy it back if necessary, then have a PDR person look at it to see if it can be fixed without Bondo. If so, then I'll see if someone really good with paint can blend the paint rather than paint the whole 1/4 and bumper. PDR+blend paintjob should be a lot cheaper.

 

My mother-in-law had an 03 Mercury Sable and it wasn't damaged all that badly either, but these 1/4-panel repairs estimate HIGH. Probably because you can't just swap it out like you can a fender or door.

[jake91]

that sucks man

[jeremy]

sorry to hear that it got smacked

[GOT2B GM]

Shawn get it all fixed good and proper and then get the car appraised.

 

good advise!

[Q-Ball]

That dent could probably be pulled out. It doesnt look that bad. I Really like your wheels! What are they?

[GnatGoSplat]

They're CSA Gladiators, it's an Australian company that used to sell at a big chain in Canada, but now they aren't sold in North America at all. Tirerack's Sport Edition KV5 are probably the closest in appearance.

 

UPDATE: My insurance told me to get an estimate, so I did. $842, I asked if that could total it and he said, "it's really close". The body shop guy did comment that the car is in really good shape considering the age and mileage.

 

UPDATE #2: The other lady's insurance called me and said I cut her off and thinks I should have gotten in behind her (which wouldn't have made sense because I wanted in the North entrance, not the South exit), and since there were no witnesses or police on the scene, they refuse liability. Unless my insurance wants to fight it, I guess I just got $842 worth of bad luck which I suppose could have been much worse.

Edited April 22, 2010 by GnatGoSplat

[GnatGoSplat]

Just thought I'd add to this thread because my bad luck streak with the 89 isn't over yet!

 

I was rear-ended Saturday evening while sitting at a red light, yielding for cross traffic because I was wanting to right turn. Since I was stopped and the other driver admitted fault, I should get paid on this one. The other driver was a super nice guy as shaken up as I was, so I considered not making a claim at all since there is almost no visible damage other than the bumper being pushed in about 1/4" in the middle. However, I got under the car and saw the bumper bar is all bent in the middle and hit the spare tire well making a good sized dent in it. It only looks fine because the bumper cover popped back out. I definitely need to get the bumper bar replaced.

[94 olds vert]

That sucks man. I had to just go through this too.

[jimmyfloyd]

I hope you had the police called for this second one. ALWAYS call and get a police report on an accident. Having them take down the report and being an intermediate party is helpful in a lot of cases, especially if there is a chance that the other person might try and deny fault.

 

Never assume there isn't much damage, especially in a rear collision, as you could see from the spare tire well and bumper bar. It will always cost more than it looks like in most cases.

 

Never decide not to swap insurance. You can decide later that you don't want to persue a claim, but you cannot decide later that you want to if you don't have their information. Unless you yourself have a reason not to (Lapse of insurance, risk of getting dropped, etc) then you should always get it.

 

 

Hopefully you get money from this one to fix your car. It appears to have been in great shape before the incidents.

[GnatGoSplat]

We did call the police, and he said with the damage being so minimal, we had the choice not to file an official report. It may have been a dumb thing to do, but we decided not to file the report because the other driver was so friendly, we actually felt bad for him and didn't see any reason for him to receive a ticket (proof that being polite and friendly can be helpful, lol). He did admit fault to the officer, but stupidly enough, we completely forgot to ask for the officer's info. It happened in a small town so figuring out which officer was dispatched to that location at that time shouldn't be too difficult. Knowing the smart thing to do, and actually doing it while all worked up in the heat of a situation, is sometimes two completely different things - at least for my wife and me!

We did swap insurance, I had a feeling there was likely more damage than meets the eye.

[White93z34]

Sweet Jesus. I hope you can get all that collision damage fixed.

[GnatGoSplat]

I just got back not long ago from getting an estimate for the insurance. $1339!!! It needs frame rails, rear panel, etc. pulled and straightened, new impact bar, new impact absorbers, bumper cover repainted, etc.

The guy said the car is definitely not worth $1339. He told me insurance will probably just offer me a cash settlement and since he thinks it's safe to drive, he'd just drive it like that and use the settlement money to go out to dinner a few times. I guess he thinks the car is only worth the value of a few dinners out, hahah! I guess when a car is still drivable and not worth anything, the insurance doesn't keep the car and make you buy it back? It sounded like that's what the adjuster was implying. Sometimes driving something very old and worthless can be a little embarrassing when strangers point it out.

[jimmyfloyd]

Well, it's not worthless, it's just worth less than the estimate to the insurance company. When you look at it from their eyes, they insure a chunk of metal and plastic, with a determined value based on age, condition and desire. Since you have an older car, even though in good condition, there is not a high demand for it in general, as say a 68 camaro would. I don't think that person is calling your car worthless, but rather that they would not put the money back into the car cause you wouldn't see any return on it. Now to you, if you love the car, that lack of monitary return may be made up in sentimental value, and be worth it to fix. It is up to you to determine the value of the car and what you want to do to it.

 

I, myself, would do what the mechanic said, and get the insurance money, buy it back from them, and drive it, and maybe at some point you decide to fix it, and maybe you don't. Being 21 years old, you should be able to keep the clean title since you are technically keeping the car, and should have no issue driving it, assuming there's no issues there.

 

 

Plus, you haven't posted pictures of it so we can see what yu are working with, so it's hard to give you suggestions. I know your first one looked like it could be pushed out and made to look 90% better atleast.

[GnatGoSplat]

Yeah, I was planning to keep the money and buy back the car (if necessary) and replace the bumper bar and absorbers with junkyard parts. I can replace those myself. I'm considering to spend the $305 labor to get everything straightened out. The first hit the 1/4 panel, I plan to see if I can find a PDR place that can pop it out. I've already buffed out most of the scuff marks and it looks like after PDR, it'll come close to looking good.

 

21! I'm flattered, but actually I'm 34. I still do love my old Cutlass despite being something most people would have disposed of long ago!

 

Actually, it doesn't really look any different. The bumper is pushed in 1/4" in the middle so that the top edge of the bumper is more under the taillights than it should be (doesn't seem to be pushed in at all on the sides). The reverse lights also appear a tiny bit pushed in at the center when compared to the trunk lid, as though the panel across the back of the trunk is slightly bent inwards, but the trunk opens and closes just fine. The bumper bar is bent quite a bit though, but the plastic bumper cover popped back out which is why it looks fine for the most part. Some of the plastic fasteners at the bottom are pulled a little and maybe some of the holes in the bumper cover stretched due to the cover being in its normal position while the bar is bent in the middle. You have to look closely (or look under the car) to see that anything is really wrong.