We were at a full stop waiting to enter the highway Saturday. A motorcycle rally was going by and we were 5-6 cars back waiting. Wham-o! A kid in a Civic ran intot he back of us at about 30-40 mph. He hit us hard enough to drive us into the car in front of us.
Damage report:
- front and rear bumpers trashed
- rear tailgate badly scratched and dinged
- front grill trashed
- fog lights trashed
- passenger side dash - trim pieces popped off
- exhaust hanging down, bouncing off the pavement on big bumps
Limped it to the local Honda collision shop (Acura doesn't have collision here in Rochester, NY).
Called Allstate.
I haven't seen the police report, but NY State Trooper said the report would clearly put fault on Civic driver as we were at a full stop. The kid said he was trying to open his Power Bar and wasn't paying attention.
OK, next steps?
Any tips on how to manage the insurance company and/or the dealer collision shop?
Anything I'm not thinking of?
Thanks!

 

take any pictures of the damaged car for insurance purposes?

 

I'd ask for OEM parts only. The better body shops will insist on this when dealing with the insurance company.

 

OK, thanks - both good advice.

 

Have the insurance company do all the work for you. That's why you pay them. They'll get the police report and give them the pics. The insurance company will take care of anything else. If they don't then they suck and you need to get another insurance company. All you'll need to do is get an assessment from one the places they recommend (and like "kas" mentions ask for OEM parts) and you should be all set. I'm not sure if this is a nation-wide law but in MA if your car is less than 1 year old you automatically have the right to get OEM parts.

 

I spoke to the Insurance company - OEM parts not guaranteed, in fact, not preferred according to the adjustor. My car is a 2008 RDX with 35,042 miles - it didn't have a scratch previous to this (literally).
I will try to call the dealer to see if they can lend influence during the appraisal. FWIW, I am in NY.

 

Keep insisting you want OEM parts only. Worst case scenario, you may be asked to pay the difference out of pocket. That's a good sign to start shopping for a new insurance company.

What insurance company are you using? The local BMWCCA's publication mentioned that Liberty Mutual is pretty good about using OEM parts.

 

Thanks Kas, using Allstate.
I got a call from them today saying they had gone over the car with the dealer. I wish they would have called me first so i could be there. They listed several parts, front and rear bumper as expected, fog lights, etc. It is concerning to me that they didn't note any interior damage after telling them several times on the phone. They agreed to go back and review again tomorrow.
A few things:
1. They mentioned the tail gate has a rubber cover. That they can remove all the acura badging, replace and paint the outer skin and put new badges on - that there was no damage to the metal of the tailgate itself. Maybe, but I'll have to take a closer look. I didn't think we had a "rubber" cover on the tailgate, but maybe.
2. They said all the repairs come to $3700. Again, maybe, but I'll have to see the detailed list. I'll take a ride out there tomorrow to get pics and review the list in detail.
I'll also push the OEM topic harder.
The airbag light is on, but the airbags didn't deploy, at least fully. The passenger side dash looks a little askew and the end trim piece that serves as the diffuser for the side window defroster popped off.
Maybe the airbag light is on because of the front bumper damage or maybe something goofy did happen with the passenger side airbag.

 

Sorry to hear this. I assume you weren't seriously injured? Make sure you still go and get checked out.

 

It sounds to be like this is preliminary estimate they're giving to you which is what they always do. Then when they start taking the car apart, if they see interior damage, they will contact the insurance company and provide a new estimate which they'll approve. I've had that happen twice. They always give the first estimate based on what they see and what they "think" the damage might be underneath. Then when they open things up they'll provide a more detailed estimate if needed.

 

Sad to hear I also was rear ended last year in my previous car and one piece of advice i can give you is if you plan on keeping it drive it into the ground cause your car is not going to be worth nearly as much as it was pre-accident condition. Your not going to get anything for it if you trade it in/maybe you can do better if you sell privately. I know this personally cause I went through the same thing.

When taking delivery of the car look for overspray/ any body panels that might have an extra gap or things that dont look right, take it for a drive and listen closely for anything out of the usual.