Lady hit me doing 40, she barely hit brakes. She had 3 kids in the car and wasn't paying attention. Heavy traffic on Montrose rd. in MD, nothing I could do. Her insurance is paying for repairs at my dealers shop. Left side got it worse than the right. Trunk floor looked like ocean waves coming in. Left rear control arm bent.
Any suggestions as to what to double check?
What should I be on the lookout for once it's fixed.
BMW was so heavy that I, by far, faired much worse than she did.

Suggestions

 

ouch, that sucks Montrose Road in rush hour stinks....


Where are you getting your work done? I was rear-ended two months ago and I got my work done at Zamoras right off of East Gude Dr. They did a great job. It sounds like you are going to need a bit of frame work done to get all that fixed up... If the frame is bent too much, the car may never be the same. In that case, talk to the lady's insurance about this.... you shouldn't have to drive a messed up car because of someone elses fault.

 

No mention of frame issues yet, initial estimate is about $3000.
Work being done at Brown's Arlington. Didn't know any other places to take it, I figured since I bought the car there and most of my service has been done there, that I might have some leverage for them to do the job right. Didn't know about Zamora's, since I'm not originally from the area. Is it right for them to just straighten and fix the trunk floor pan though, I thought that any badly bent metal would need to be replaced. Shop said it is better to repair that area than to cut-out factory welds under the floor of the car. Is this BS or should any bent surface be replaced?

I got a V6 Camry rental for 2 weeks,car is slowww, I miss my Max .

 

I think they will usually just straighten things out that are bent, but in good shape so that's ok....

 

(To the tune of "Gramma got run over by a Reindeer")

My Max got run over by a bimmer
The bimmer was only going 45
My Max got dented by a bimmer
That bimmer driver ought to learn to drive.

My Max got run over by a bimmer
I can't imagine it being damaged more
My Max got dinged up by a bimmer
That bimmer driver surely is a wh***

 

Man that sucks! I drive on Montrose all the time. There are a ton of accidents on that road. I'm with Nauman... I highly recommend Zamora Autobody as well. They did an awesome job on my Maxima. I have another app't for my Altima in a few weeks. I got hit by road debris, which put a scratch on my car.

http://www.zamorasautobody.com/

 

Damn, that place looks very nice, they have high marks from like every decent insurance company, I wish I had talked to you guys before Brown's started working on the car.
I guess I can go there if Brown's doesn't live up to my expectations, once the first round is done.

Thanks fellas

 

I got rear ended too, on new years eve, I am going to need new rear bumper. anyone have any idea how much its gonna cost?

 

figure at least $400 - $500 for replacement, paint, and other work...

 

I too was hit by a "woman" doing around 45mph. The total damage to my car (3 months old at the time) was $12K, not including rental, etc. Her insurance had to pay so that was cool. They had to completely replace EVERYTHING on my car from the back seat on. Here are the things I learned:

1. When repaired, make sure that you DON'T have wind noise from your back doors. I do. It's not bad but it wasn't there before I got hit. There was no damage to the doors but there was to the frame around door. Once repaired, it wasn't back to factory and there isn't anything they can do about it.

2. If you car was new, FIGHT FOR DIMINISHED VALUE! I got $3K diminished value for my car. That is money they pay you that you would lose if you traded in that day, just because the car was wrecked.

3. DON'T SIGN ANYTHING UNTIL YOU HAVE DRIVEN THE CAR FOR A FEW DAYS AND INSPECTED EVERYTHING. Just to be safe.

4. I had a quirk when they rebuilt mine. They didn't have adequate grounding wire and it caused my car to change gears whenever I turned the blinkers on or hit my brakes. The repair shop didn't realize that the grounding was in the back of the car so they didn't adjust for this. Nissan fixed (under warranty for me).

Hey, if you need any advice, just email me. It took 6 weeks to repair my car and I learned a hell of a lot about prices and what to look for and be aware of.

 

diminished value is a ***** to get from the insurance. In your case you had a lot of damage to the car, so it is understandable. When I was rear-ended, the repairs were around $2000. It wasn't serious enough and the car was over a year old so they didn't want to do it....

 

Mr.Green, I think your looking at a lot more than $3k to fix it. If the trunk looks like ocean waves and the control arms are bent, thats some serious damage. I agree with maximaman69, fight for dimished value because your car will never be the same and resale value will suffer. Did the airbags deploy? If they did the tab might be close to totalling the car which I would fight for. Good luck.

 

I agree with Jason. Your tab is going to be more than 3K if you have that kind of damage. I think you will be surprised. On my bill, the parts costs 50% of the bill and the repair cost was the other 50%. It takes time to rebuild the car.

Luckily, Nissan builds the Max (and all their cars) in pieces so it's easy to disassemble the car and rebuild it. Just takes time.

UMD is also correct. Diminished value is a pain to get unless you have sufficient damage. On a $2K claim, there really wouldn't be any. A plus on getting more on mine was that I went to the doctor..Wasn't hurt but was sore as hell for like a week.

 

They say its gonna take 2 weeks and the initial estimate is $3100 not including 3weeks of rental car and $150 towing charge. The left & lower parts got the worst of it. The right taillight and wheel is undamaged yet the left taillight was cut in 2 with the bottom part 5 inches further back than the top. The trunk lid was barely damaged, but the trunk floor was hosed. the bumper being pushed back is what damaged my left rear wheel and the control arm. If she had hit me dead center it would have probably done less damage.

Here's the part I don't get, The repair place says there's like 11 significant parts need to be replaced, yet the trunk floor is going to be REPAIRED, The quarter panel on the left rear was also damaged and they are going repair it as well. Is this standard procedure? Once the repair is done can I make them pay to have a second body shop's opinion, to see if its done correctly? How do I determine diminished value? Kelley Blue Book?
If I get diminished value on this I will have to donate a little back
to the org for the mention here.

Thanks
Tim

 

My airbags didn't deploy. The rear bumper was pushed into the left rear wheel damaging the control arm. Trunk floor is screwed though.
So far it looks like the estimate is right, I'll wait till I drive it to pass judgement. I 'm gonna fight for diminished value BIG TIME, but my car is 1 month shy of 2 years old. Car was perfect expect for the lousy Nissan paint "super chipped" front area and side guards. Is there any way to make them paint the whole car?

 

if they repair your trunk floor, make sure the shop will give you full lifetime warranty (while you own your car)it is better to have original factory welding seams over if they replace that floor pan. The bodyshop will not rust-proof those seams like Nissan did. If you plan on keeping the car, I'd say better have them repair it, if you want to get rid of it, insist on replacement.

When picking up your car, make sure your paint matches, and check on the alignment of all panels against each other, no paint overrun, check lights, see if doors, hood, and trunk open OK, etc. Test-drive it before signing anything, ask for print-out of alignment report and compare vs. Nissan spec.

I'd say its a great thing when someone rear-ends you, you can save $$$ and mod your car. I think I'll drive to Montrose Ave one day, I need some rims man. Too slow in Baltimore.

 

As far as diminished value, that typically runs around 20% of the total value of the wreck. If your total bill is like 10K for repairs, etc, then 2K is typically what you should fight for. Most companies won't do more than 20% without going to court. You have to mention it though and stay on them about it. It won't be something for final discussion until everything is completed. Be aware, some insurance companies now don't do diminished value. What was the insurance company of the person who hit you (please don't say Geico!)

You were hit lower than my car was. My car was completely gone. I was hit dead center. Dead center causes more damage because it would do both sides, you had most damange on one side. Both sides and both quarter panels of mine were killed. There are parts on my car that were not replaced but were fixed (against my will). I had great concern about that, but the collision center showed me why. Nissan puts "extra" metal underneath parts of the car so that if it's in a wreck, those pieces can be melted and expand the frame. Don't ask me how, etc. They showed me and it was true (or at least fooled me).