Well I've been driving for 7 years and I just had my first accident. It was a nice day so I took the max out on a new road. It had some nice 25mph curves that would have been fun at higher speeds but I was being cautious and taking them about 30-35. The speed limit was 55 and most bad curves were marked, I happened upon one that wasnt. I crested over a hill at about 55-60 to find it went straight back down again and then to the right. I hit the brakes as I came over the hill, didnt slow down enough and had to start turning. My crappy cooper tires started sliding and I spun 180 into a fence on the opposite side of the road. I didnt hit the fence that fast, another 5-10 feet and I would have stopped on my own. Well so I hit the fence and a a signpost.
Looks like i'm gonna need a new bumper, front right side panel and passenger door panel. My hood looks salvageable with a little bending and a paintjob. Luckily my brand new clear corners were fine. Any tips on dealing with body shops? I'd rather just pay out of pocket to fix it rather than trying to get insurance to pay it. Any advice appreciated.

Not for the faint of heart: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jolucas/fencepics/

 

that sucks man. i just totaled my 96 max about a month ago. but now i have a new one, and insurance took care of everything, so hopefully you can get all this straightened out, good luck!

 

that kinda sucks man.
some kyb's and springs would help too if youre going to go on a backroad run

 

Juan if you're going to take care of it yourself, just make sure you take it to at least 3 body shops. Hopefully you can find reputable shops that will do a good job and not rip you off... take it to the one that gives you the best deal and the best "vibe". I've walked out of shops that looked clean and the people were nice, but sometimes a combination of the way they talk or the other customers or even the other cars in the shop... I just couldn't leave my baby there and trust them with it. Maybe I'm too critical.

Also note that if all of the estimates you get are considerably more than your deductible (assuming you have full coverage), you may want to reconsider having your insurance deal with it. That damage doesn't look cheap.

 

You have to get a new bumper, quarer panel and door panel and paint them and your worried about 40 dollar clear corners?

 

wow that looks really bad......

and i thought MY encounter with the fence was bad

 

Haha, no i'm not that concerned about the corners. I think I was just trying to be optimistic.


Yeah i've got full coverage. I'm beginning to think i'll just have them pay for it. Am I going to have any problems getting it out of them since it was pretty much all my fault?
__________________

 

I think I hit your fence's big brother. I gotta get some pics of the hill and fence some time. I'll post em here.

 

tell them:

"I was just driving along when all of the sudden this fence jumps right out in front of me! I tried to swerve but I still clipped it. I think I may have killed it...(sob)...poor thing..."

 

if you have a lawyer "in the family" (or are willing to use one) you could try to sue the city. you were going the speed limit and the road was not properly marked for a speed limit (or marked for a corner at all) on the corner you went around, you can "try" to get the city to pay for it. but not everyone has lawyer hook-ups or can afford to even talk to one about it.

it's definantly worth a try though. that's what i'd do if the fkin' city failed to ANNOUNCE a hazardous corner.

good luck dude.

 

if you are gonna go the legal route...take numerous pictures of the corner at various angles and pictures of where the corner/speed sign should be (but wasn't). including the speed limit sign for that road. the more pictures the better. and use the pictures you have already taken of you max and take these to the lawyer.

it's evidence man, don't let the f**kin' gov't get you. also it's free repairs to your max, where the money you would've spent on repairs can go to mods...maybe.

 

and my tax money paying for your driving too fast....

 

Man, that really sucks, but look on the bright side atleast you didn't get hurt or total your car......

 

I've got ethical problems with sueing for something that was mostly my fault.

<rant>
i don't agree with the american philosophy of "it's not my fault X happened, and i'm gonna find out who's fault it was and sue them."
it ****es me off to see people sueing because they got fat off of this or they got lung cancer from that. i know driving curvy roads is dangerous and sometimes you just have to pay the price.
</rant>

**** happens thats why I have insurance.

 

^ that's true man. driving fast is good and sometimes the roads like to play tricks...

i (unfortunatly) work for the gov't, so i'd milk them for everything i can get.

 

Well you shouldn't have any problems, kinda depends on the company you're dealing with. If they're even a half-way-decent company, they'll ask for the exact loaction where it happened so they can pay to have the fence repaired (covered by your property damage liability). With State Farm after my car got broken into, I had to wait 3 or 4 days before they would look at the car, but when they did, they wrote me a check for $2300 on the spot... I was in an out in about 1 1/2 hours. Hopefully you'll have an experience like that.

 

Mmm I like checks. Did your premium go up? If so how much?

 

how much are door panels some one did a hit and run on my car on the passenger side and its pretty long just dents and scratches i have to get it fixed soon