What A Crappy Day

[Datzun76]

Some BMW made an illegal u-turn right in front of me and there goes my front end.

Was able to drive it home and it does not appear any damage was done to the frame. Air Dam, Right Front Panel, Headlight Casing and Part of the hood all destroyed. Cop wrote $1500 estimate for repairs on the accident report. Yeah right. try $1500 just in parts.

Only good thing is he was fully insured and cited for the illegal turn.

Never fails just when you get your Z in great condition some idiot screws it up. Will post the lovely pics later.

[bonniec75209]

My sincerest condolences. That has got to hurt!!

[2ManyZs]

You are lucky in a way, at least it's repairable and the parts you need are still available. Doesn't make it an easier to swallow, but there have been a few members who have had to total their cars.

Hmm, maybe you can get them to replace the ball joints, tie rod ends and a few other items while they are fixing the car....

As long as the frame rails and core support are OK, maybe it will get fixed and be better than it was before. The best thing is it was someone else's fault and no one was hurt.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by Datzun76

Air Dam, Right Front Panel, Headlight Casing and Part of the hood all destroyed. Cop wrote $1500 estimate for repairs on the accident report. Yeah right. try $1500 just in parts.

Only good thing is he was fully insured and cited for the illegal turn.

It sounds like a similar amount of damage to what Bambikiller had 3 years ago out here in CA. The cost for repairing (replacement of the Hood, Fender, Bumper, 1 Headlight case, and 1 Turn Signal lense) with the required labor and painting was $4500.00.

Good thing that Foolio has insurance! Make him PAY!!!!!!!! Take the car to the BEST shop in the county!

[Bambikiller240]

Make sure that the body shop measures EVERYTHING. Your radiator support can be pushed back towards the fan without appearing to be moved. On Bambikiler it was moved back about 1/2 inch at the top. It would have made installing a fan shroud at a later date impossible if it hadn't been caught. It's the DETAILs that will make the difference between a correct repair and an incorrect repair.

[Gav240z]

Had same thing happen to my 260z. Wrote off the entire front end bent the chassis and all. he was insured and I got paid for the car but that car had already been in a accident in the rear once in it's life so it was scraped and I did not complain just look at my new z .

Sorry again.

[Datzun76]

I agree with the 3 to 4000 range for repairs. Looked up all the parts I can see that are damaged =$1000.

I am taking it Monday to get an estimate. I turned to the left right before impact so it was not a full head on collision.

I do have pictures of the car before it happend so I am sure that will help my case. I am just worried the other drivers insurance company is going to try and pay lower than the cost it takes to fix it including new paint.

[bonniec75209]

Be prepared to stand your ground!! !@%&! insurance companies, always trying to rip people off!

[beandip]

If I can add my condolences. Here is a little bit of advise take the car to a cusotm auto body shop , if there is one where y ou live. Most of the auto body shops today are not fabricators and just pannel and parts changers . Go to a true body shop.

[Datzun76]

Estimates from repair shops are $1900 and $2400 to repair damages.

The $1900 is from the company affiliated with the insurance company and it was obvious they were trying to stay under $2000. If they go over that then the insurance company would make a settlement offer.

[Datzun76]

Here we go again back to the courthouse.

Now the insurance company is trying to pay for only 80% of the damages even though their driver was cited for an illegal u-turn which caused the accident.

[justaZcarguy]

That is the age old trick by the insurance companies...

Tell them the more they drag this out the more your back hurts!

But, be prepared to buy the car back, you are headed towards totalledville. I just wentr thru this with my '73, I was able to buy the car back for $105. Hell the hood alone was worth more than that!

I went onto classiccartrader.com and did a nationwide search and handed the 7 page document to the adjustor and told him to have fun.

If you have the car, clean it up, but do not make it spottless or they get "suspicous" and drag it out.

Threaten them with a lawyer if they try to blame you for 20%, try to find witnesses. The sad part is, they are doing their job by trying to get you to admit 20% fault, don't stand for it!

And remember the back thing, it's insurance companies that bring this kind of crap onto themselves.

Good luck, if needed we will send the Z mafia after 'em! :dead:

Bri

[Datzun76]

I did tell the insurance rep on the phone that I am not paying a dime and they are going to pay 100% of the damages. I also mentioned a lawyer and will have to start making calls.

I dont know what you mean on the other part. It will wind up costing them more with court and attorney fees in the end so I really dont get their reasoning. If your talking about getting them to settle for an amount of the car value I doubt these clowns would even come close.

If I felt the accident was my fault in any way I would agree but this was all on the other driver.

The ouch suddenly my back hurts is not my style but I dont feel sorry for insurance companies when people pull that trick.

It is possible that this caused damage to the frame as well but I really will not be able to tell until it is taken apart. I took photos today since I really need to pull the air dam off for now to drive it.

[Daniel]

I am certain the lawyer thing is common.They have a staff of lawyers on hand.It cost them nothing. Now if you tell the bmw that his insurance is playing with you and you don't want to but you may have to sue HIM for the difference ,he may get on your side.If it was me I would tell my insurance company fix that man's car!! I screwed up and thats what I pay you for!!! You said the cop wrote $1500.00 est. Are your cops there trained estimators???HUH????

[Datzun76]

I have thought about that. I may give the owner of the BMW a call. Maybe he will agree to pay the other 20% out of his own pocket and then we can both take the insurance company to court after the car is fixed so he can recover his 20%.

Otherwise I will have to file the lawsuit against him since he is local and the insurance company is not.

His car was damaged as well as both doors on the driver side were totaled. Told me he has a $500 deductible to pay so they may be trying to screw him over as well. Full coverage on a 97 BMW is not cheap so Liberty Mutual needs to fork it over.

[justaZcarguy]

NEVER accept any of the blame if the accident is not at all your fault.

The reason that I say this is because of future insurance costs the accident will count against YOU also. It does not matter to the companies that make your rate weather the accident was 1% or 100% your fault, as long as there is a percentage attached to "your" side of it, your insurance has the right to assume that you are considered a "risk" and WILL charge you accordingly.

In the future when you are renewing insurance, you will want to say the accident was 100% paid by the other company. And they will ask you if they paid 100% when the time comes.

There is NO WAY I would agree to anything except 100% payment from his insurance to cover my arse in the future.

Good luck, keep us posted.....

Brian

[beandip]

You MUST stay cool , dont get on your high horse here it will only make this more difficult than it should be. If you think you have a back inj. dont wait , go the the Hosp and get treated. Then It's on the record. You cant be like the prostitute that hollored rape after the check bounced. Threating to lawyer up will usually stop them from dealing with you at all and then you will need to do just that and get a lawyer. They don't care they have lawyers coming out there ears on retainers and it costs them nothing. Dont make the threat if you are not prepaired to do it If the situation is as you say and the other person is at fault you should be able to settle with them .I think that doing a fair ammount of shopping for another Z would be good as was already stated by justacarguy .If you think you are going to screw them then all I can say is good luck. Try and remember the person that you are dealing with is just doing there job , treat them as you would like to be treated and you will be away ahead of the game. Good luck

[Datzun76]

Yes I back it up. Remember I took Maaco to court and won. Not the entire case but a good part of it. Tired of people screwing up my Z and then thinking I am just going to say ok. My Z is my baby and tired of it getting abused .

The owner of the BMW had full coverage so I am sure he is ticked at them as well. They have already agreed to pay 80% so they are trying some kind of scam to get me to pay the remaining 20%. If it does actually have to go to court then they are just paying more money for attorney fees and court costs. It's not worth it. They need to give up the rest of the money and stop playing games.

I am writing a letter to the owner of the other car and sending it to him, the insurance company owner and the Insurance head honcho for the state of Florida. Apparently insurance companies fear him according to my girlfriend who works with non paying insurance companies on a daily basis.