Car: 1999 Nissan Maxima SE

Last wednesday, on the way to pick up a friend from his house, I got into a ****ty accident. We were both going south on this little 2 lane road, and there was an 1999 Acura Tl 3.2 in front of me. I reached down to remove my school bag from the passenger seat and put it on the floor, not even realize I was looking down to do this. When I looked up a slit second later I was like 20 feet from her car and going around 35 mph. I knew I was not going to be able to stop; and if I would have went left I would have been dead on with a car coming towards me; if I would have went right I would have been in a fence. I slammed on my breaks and tried to make sure I her with the right side of my bumper because it had already been. I just had my front calipers replaced, and ceramic brakes all around. I also had my rotors resurfaced cause they were messed up all around. It had also been raining for about 4 hours before that, but their were scattered puddles. Anywho, Her rear end was pushed in, trunk wouldnt close right, and rear bumber was hanging on right side a bit. When I hit her, my airbags went off. The airbags never touched my face because the belts were already locked from me slamming on the brakes.

My grill was laying in the middle of the street, the front end of my car is pushed in on the right side. I need a new bumper and fender, and the trunk does not close right(front was pushed in). However, nothing is damaged on the inside except for the windshield washer fluid bottle got punctured by a screw about a third of the way down. Runs fine, but there is a bit of a grinding when I'm braking somewhat hard.

I saved the emblem, it just has a nice scrape on the outside rim on the top.







Cost for new bumper, fender, paint, headlamp, labor: $2400+


Driver side airbag:


Passenger side airbag:


Cost for new airbags, programming, and labor: $3000+

Total cost: Over $5500(w/ taxes) for my car and prolly somewhere around the same for the woman that I hit. This estimate does not include bending the frame back to orig. position.

 

if that was my 96 she'd be totalled out... whats the blue book value on your car?

Ant

 

Not sure. Insurance dude is coming out tomm. to check it out. It would be a real bummer to totall though. I just put $1,400 into a 60,000 mile tune up and new brake system.

 

Sorry to hear that. It's probably more expensive to fix than to replace. If you have full coverage, your carrier will probably just total the car. SUcks even more that you just got a tune up. My condolenses.

 

Kbb.com says: $9,265

Edit: $8,620

I'm a poor college student, it would probably just work better for me to get this fixed.

 

Wow seeing this is a reminder of how lucky I am to have never gone through this with my Max. I have put 8,000 miles on her since I adopted her in April and so far not a scratch on her...

 

First accident I have been the cause of in 3 years of driving. Someone rear ended me in the same type of situation. Except I was waiting to make a turn and he was turning around and hitting his kids. He didn't hit this Maxima though, thank god, I just got this like a year ago. He hit my '87 maxima. She was a beast though. Loved her to death.

 

damn, sorry about that.

at f irst, i read "my girl was laying in the middle of the street" *holysh!t* ... good to know i was wrong.

 

Damn bro that sux. Good luck with that.

 

OMG

sorry to hear about the accident, at $5.5k to repair I'm sure the insurance will total it, what exactly has to be done to repair it (if you were to take that option)

hopefully they wont total it, and will pay for the repairs and you just have to pay a deductable. good to hear your safe.

 

Only $500 deductable. $3000 for airbags, reprogramming ecus. $2500 for bumper, fender, headlamp, paint. + what ever it's going to cost to straighten the car. And the brakes are grinding for some reason. If the car is totalled, how much money will the insurance place give me, and what should I do with the car? Part it? Try to sell it all ****ed up like this? Go to a pull it your self junk yard and fix it my self?

Edit: the hood is not bent, it's just not closing right.

 

Well, atleast you're ok.
Maybe you should start looking for another car.
Either way, good luck.

 

I always thought totalled=cost of repairs>cost of blue book value. The blue book value is 8500+ and the repairs are only going to be around 6000....

 

But sometimes insurance companies with total out a car if its close enough to that blue book value...there are costs that come up after the fact of the fix that could amount to more than the blue book was...

Lets say he get the entire repair done = $6000...then a week down the road theres a rattle on the exhaust that they say was "caused by the accident"...that car will need to go back in and more charges will be brought up on that same claim ***Just an example***

Good luck

-matt

 

If they total the car, you get a check and the car is gone, they don't let you keep it.

 

I understand that....they will total the car, so they dont get fuc*ed when it comes to fixing extra stuff, on their tab later on...(there are many things you can blaim on a car acident)

-matt

 

Hmm, so do they give me a check for how much the car can be sold for, or how much the damages would cost?

 

I would be more worried about the woman in the TL sueing you and your parents. You may want to look for another car and a lawyer. I once had a wreck like this. Was going south on I-45 towards parents' house in Houston and a Malibu kept weaving in and out in front of me. When the road finally came to 1 lane, he came back in front of me and stopped, I hit him he hit a truck and the truck hit a suburban... not fun.

 

You get a check for what the car is worth. Which is where people get screw*d if they owe a ton more than what the car is worth and have to pay the remainder of their payoff... that's why it is good tohave GAP insurance, which would pay the difference in payoff and value.

 

Well the lady is a local of this town, and it's a small down. She was an lady in her mid 50s and said to the officer she was fine. I mean it's possible she can sue me, but I don't think she will.

 

if the damage = up to 75% of the car's value the ins. company will declare a total loss.

KBB private party value = $8725
75% of $8275 = $6545
Estimated cost of repairs = $5500 to $6500 w/ frame repair ???

It's a toss up. It all comes down to your insurance adjuster. You'll probably be able to sway them either way. Good luck with the repairs or the search for a replacement

 

damn i got in a wrech going 40 and my air bags didndt even go off

 

Dude dont trust anyone when it comes to this sort of thing. Unfortunatly in this country you can sue for anything!
An old lady backed into my Ford (1st car) in her honda and she messed up her bumper real bad. The thing looked like i hit her goin at least 25-30! Nothing happened to my Ford. So i just went on my way. She later tried to sue me saying that i hit her and she has back problems etc. Granted she didnt get anywere with it but it goes to show you how people are. Sorry to say that 90% of the population can not be trused.

 

dude airbags alone are an expensive game chances are when when both go off it is a total unless the car is brand new and frame damage def leads more towards total. I also believe you have to change the title of the car to repair if the frame gets reapired

 

If it needs to be replaced I can always pick up one of these:

 

My Max is now at a local body shop, and should be back in a few days, I'll post pics when I get her back.

My rental car is a Ford Tarus..... Yuck..

 

Did the ins. co. try to total it or what? Are you getting frame bent back?

 

The dude came out today. I showed him the estimate from a very local shop. The guy is a pro with body work. The shops been there for like 40+ years, and he's got all his guys certified in the latest ****. Anywho, my insurance guy looked at the estimate, and I mentioned that the frame work was not included in the estimate and he said "ok, give me fifteen minutes." He came back with an estimate that was $5 under the body shop estimate. If the bodyshop finds any damage that was not visible from viewing the car w/o taking parts off, they will call the insurance guy, he goes to the shop, ok's it and the shop finsishes the job.

 

Nice! Glad everything worked out!

 

the lady can not sue you for injuries because on the police report she says she is fine, and legally she has to sign a waver to the ambulance saying that she is ok and does not need to go to the hospital, if she told the cops she was ok, than its on the police report, and she has no case

 

Yay! Good stuff! I made sure I told that to MY insurance agent, and HER insurance agent. ; )

 

That sucks man. Only 60,000 miles? She's still a young one... Is your car a stick or an automatic?

 

Yea she's a baby. And she's automatic. She was a orig. lease (my dad leased her in 99) Then in 2003 he decided to buy the car. Then my grandfather died and my dad got his '99 Caddy DeVille - LOADED, and I got this Maxima. I love it. 67,000 miles on her, but I drive 60+ miles/day, so it's steadly rising.

 

dude im sorry to tell u but she can still sue u because she can go to a doctor and say that she has after effects or some sh*t like that... i know cause i went thought it ... my friend was in an accident and he went to a doctor four days after the accident. but even if she ll sue she probobly wont try to get ur own money(since it wasnt that serios) she ll go after ur insurance money