I was in downtown sittin at a stop light... behind another car. All of a sudden, I hear screetching and WHAM, the nastiest sound on the face of the planet.. damn i was so freaked. This is my first accident too. Well, the dude in his POS hit me hard and I got pushed into the car in front of me. We pull aside, and figure out that the guy who hit me doesn't have insurance. I called the cops and they came... then the guy said that HE was rear ended by someone who ran away.

We look at his car, and there's no freakin recent dents on the back of his car. Thank god this happened in front of a construction area... the workers said it was his fault. So yeah, what a hassle. Gotta get this fixed.

Any rough estimates?

 

yea man that sucks, doesnt look too bad though.
so is the guy going to pay for it or ?? what did the cops do?

 

ouch nadir... that sux man.

u can pick up front/rear bumper on ebay cheap. same for the grill. also look around for stock tails...they should be less than $50 for a complete set. maybe $15 just for inner trunk tail. good luck

 

thanks guys.

I have a policy that covers for uninsured drivers. My dad got in a similar accident... except it was on the freeway. The guy who hit him sandwiched his car and didn't have either license, registration, or insurance. Insurance covered all the damages and didnt' require detuctable or increase his rates. whew!

I'm thinking how bad the front really is... i might be able to buff it out LOL. I dunno..... i might just take it back to the bodyshop that did my door last year and have em take care of every possible damaged item.

I'll let you guys knw how it goes. Right now, the insurance company said that they will call me this weekend when they take a look at the police report to confirm the police put that guy at fault and that he was uninsured.

 

Deja Vu...I was recently rear ended like yourself in the exact same circumstances. In my accident a stupid Civic was the car that hit me and a Mustang was the car that hit the Civic. The Mustang fled the scene and I was stuck sitting there for ~2hr waiting for the cops to come cause the Civic driver didn't want to give me their insurance information....dumb a$$. My insurance ended up paying the bill since their insurance refused to and cited that the Mustang was the cause of the accident. The other insurance company didn't care that the Civic was stopped to close to me in the 1st place and had they stopped the recommended distance away from me, they would not have hit me. Anyways, my insurance estimated the damage on my car to ~$450. The quote was for repair to existing bumper and did not warrant a replacement bumper. My back damage was a little bit worse than yours so your back bumper should be repairable. If decide to replace the back bumper on your own, you can get a new rear bumper for less that $150 unpainted if you look around. Sorry about your accident. All that matters is that you were able to walk away from it unhurt. The car can be replaced but you can't. It sucks that people just don't know how to drive anymore. Good luck to you.

 

damn, that sounds like a nasty situation. Yeah, I am glad the guy didn't flood the scene. He actually quickly backed out when he hit me and went to the other side of the street. I thought he was going to run, but I quickly went up behind him and he pulled over.

I thought the damage I had would easily get it replaced... o well. I think the insurance company cuts me a check. Damn, I don't know... worst part is my parents just left out of country and they won't be back for another 3 weeks. This is my first accident and all.


So how does this work for my insurance company? They pay me and go after the guy?

 

didn't you just get your door fixed a few months ago? hope everything works out

people with no insurance

 

A good way to get rid of all those rock chips. Accidents can be a blessing in disguise.

 

Werd


so what happens now? the guy doesnt have insurance, so does YOUR insurance pay for it or what?

 

Sorry to hear about the accident. It always sucks to be in that situation. Atleast now you have the opportunity if you want to do a '97 front and back conversion.

 

haha thanks

the front has already been converted, and i like the back the way it is.


hmm..... if he ****d up my hood, then it would be cool. My hood is the one that sucks the most. Oh well.

I'm not sure what really happens next... im waitin for insurance to call me back when they get their hands on the police report.

 

Yup, stupid Sequoia backed up in to my driver's side ripped my door and fender open while it was parked...$1200 damage. Got that fixed and a few weeks later some dumb a$$ keys my driver's side door all the way back to the passenger door. After this last back bumber accdent, I finally got it fixed and both doors repainted so my car is finally back to to the way it was before the accidents. Lets hope my string of bad luck stops. These accidents are killing me.

 

Well, you normally have a few choices. 1) You attempt to file a claim with the other guys insurance company. If they decide to pay then your covered for the entire accident and have no money out of your pocket. 2) Their insurance denies your claim so you file a claim with your insurance company. If you have full coverage (uninsured motorist coverage) you're in the clear. Your insurance will pay for your repair minus your deductible. They will then attempt to recoup their money by going after the other guys insurance company. 3) The other guys insurance doesn't pay and you don't have full coverage caused you decide to save a few bucks and only get 1-way coverage (liability coverage). You are out of luck and will have to shell out the full cost for repairs on your car. This option sux and hopefully will not be your situation.
With that said, it's a good idea to notifiy your insurance company even if you are going to file a claim yourself with the other insurance company. That way if it gets declined, your insurance company will be able to pick up the ball and run with it. Your insurance company can cut you a check for the estimated damage minus your deductible or pay it directly to their body shop, should you decide to use them. You can save some money by taking the check they give you and get another body shop to repair your car at a lower cost. That way you can use the extra money for MODs. Remember, insurance companies only care about themselve so make sure you are persistant and don't let them push you around. Hope this gives you a better understanding of what to expect.

 

hi guys

it's been about a week since the accident... insurance process is a bit slow because they're waiting for the police report and i'm waiting for some other insurance guy to make a schedule to take pictures...

I haven't had a chance to get estimates from bodyshops yet.

There's one thing... the car is REALLY dirty right now. I've been using it since the accident. About 25% of that damage isn't visible..... I want to wash the car.

Should that be okay?

 

If there is no metal totally exposed then i would think that it would be okay. Just be gentle on the scratches

 

That sucks, dont report it to insurance though. I got in to a worse accident than that, where I had to replace control arms, ball joints, axles, rear links, etc... It is cheaper in the long run to fix it yourself. Not worth insurance rates jumping and you paying for it the next 10 years.

 

Actually, I don't pay detuctable and my insurance don't increase. I talked to the insurance lady and said that my uninsured collision policy covers me up to $3500. The damage doesn't look too bad... i've been driving as usaul for the past week to make sure I don't feel or hear any mechanical issues. So far so good.

I'm wondering if the bodyshop would replace my back bumper...

 

Well this sucks. But I guess there is always a good side of it? 97-99 rear end??

Plus could have been worst so its good you are alrite.

-OS

 

I'm glad it's illegal to drive without insurance in Kansas.

 

thanks Oss, but I don't think my damage is enough to get the whole thing replaced.


The thing that ****es me off is that they didn't ticket him OR tow his car! They just let him go! That's BS if you ask me. The officer was like "hey, he's gonna have to pay for both cars' damages..."

stupid ******* drivers w/o insurance

 

yeah that def sucks.. hows ur neck feeling?? hurts eh??.. maybe u can get a body kit and red/clears..?? good luck

blake

 

I was expecting something way worse than this, good thing everyone is alright.

 

It must be something with where you drive/live. I remember back in time when your neighbors smacked your door(s?) pretty hard.

I am always paranoid about people hitting me from the back, so I will always leave space between me and the car in front and look in the mirror. If i see someone coming down I would ease forward about a foot or two. Not sure if it has actually prevented anything yet, but I am not the only one doing it. Besides, most hits happen just because of that extra foot.

 

damn f-ers who dont drive with insurance. those guys should get their cars impounded and license taken away. it just ****es me off when things like that happen. damn fools.

 

hi guys

I went to my bodyshop and got an unofficial estimate of the work that would be done on the car...

they would prefer replacing my rear bumper cover, but if the insurance company is goin to be *****y, then they'd take it off and send it in to repairs.. then repaint it. They'd also have to look behind the cover to see what kind of damage is there. They also said that they'd replace both inner and outter taillight lens for the passenger side ones. As for the front, they're going to do take it off and send it in to be repaired because there's a screw mark embedded into it and then they'll repaint it. The front grill will also be replaced.

I'm still waiting for the insurance guy to come out and take a look at my car. I didn't think they'd do all this... I have a feeling that I'll probably keep the money and have just the rear end fixed. The front.... damn I have all the detailing supplies and accessories that'd i'd ever need to try to fix it! The grill is coming out a little because one of the plastic screw holder thing snapped off... I can easily fix that. I just left it hanging out a bit because that's how it looked when I got into the accident. Either way, since the thing is snapped off, they'd replace it. Replacing the outter taillense feels like a waste for me because that scratch is so small! I can easily make it not visible with plastic polish. I'm sure to find an inner tail lens for good deal if someone can hook it up here!


Seriously, I dunno...

 

Uhh, I thought that was a given pretty much everywhere? Are there states in which it is ok to not carry auto insurance on your car?

BTW, I'm from KS and always carried current insurance. Esp. in the town I was from with all the ghetto poor people I knew it would be just a matter of time before some redneck in an '84 Celebrity or something rear-ended me.

 

I have a plan for all of us.. if we get ever get hit by an uninsured driver, tell the cops that he shoved a small plastic bag with white power substance up his A55hole... so they do a violating **** search..

 

I got my estimate.

Just under $1600.

Here's the page with the parts that need to be fixed/replaced... the other labor charges and painting is on the other page, but my shakey hands coudln't get a clean pic.

 

you can get all those parts cheaper.. talking about the tails and bumper covers..


as far as paint..
ofcourse i'd let the shop do their thing if they do good work...

labor is not included in that either i'm guessing.. that means cost of painting and installing..


see if the insurance can cut you a check for the estimate.. then you gather all the neccessary parts yourself and pocket the difference

 

seriously, that's what I am thinking! The front damage can be fixed without a problem.

THe back.... the only thing that bugs me is the bumper. I'd just get that repainted... i'll be on the lookout for an inner tail and i should be set!

I don't know if the insurance will take that estimate though. Well, that estimate is from a bodyshop that is "service first" State Farm... meaning, they have some sort of deal and is recommended by my insurance company. The bodyshop in turn gives them a cheaper labor rate. Besides the point.... what do you think? Take the check and try myself?

 

Wow. I feel sorry for that civic. Mustang must have hit pretty hard to push it forward to hit your car, and then it fled the scene leaving the civic guy to pay his own stuff. Was the rear end pretty gone? I saw a civic that'd got rear ended at 30 mph and it practically looked like the trunk was in the cabin.

 

Sucks Nadir...accidents and dealing with insurance is just such a pain in the ***. BUT I would say go through your insurance on EVERYTHING. If you get parts from auto parts stores of a junkyard it won't be warranted by the repair shop and if something happens then you are SOL with that. Most body shops do not warrant work on those parts.

What you can usually do with insurance companies is go to a body shop they sponsor. That way you can drop your car off right after the accident without getting a police report or anything. They will start the body work and have it done way before insurance gets everything worked out. The only thing is at that point you have to pay the deductible. Once the claim goes through and its affirmed that it wasnt your fault you will get your deductible reimbursed.

 

you're right! but the thing is, those are all scuff marks...

 

and that stupid Civic! Be easy on them....cars have feelings too!

 

On the back yes. But they may still have to replace the bumper because of the type of plastic. It's very difficult to repaint, and has a high chance of peeling later on the corners because of the flexibility of the plastic. That's why most body shops replace it. Some can remanufacture the bumper which works ok.

Your hood needs replacing though. I saw where it was bent in. That cannot be reshaped; has to be replaced. The bumper situation is the same with the front.

So if you have a reputable body shop that is sponsered by your insurance use them. They will honor lifetime warranty if they are good. What you may save today in parts may cost you 2 to 3 times down the road.

 

the hood isn't bent in. If it was, that estimate would be waaaay higher!

but thanks for explaining the bumper process... if I do decide to take it to bodyshop, i'll insist for a replacement.

 

Hmmm...must have been the reflection from the shiny paint,