2007AcuraRL

So I am back on these boards after a 3 month hiatus. As my friends here recall, my two and a half month old 2007 RL was rear ended by a young Britney Spears type chick on interstate 95. To refresh your recollection, here's what the car looked like that night after I drove it home (yes it was still drivable):



There is no point posting the "after" photos, since there's really nothing to see in the photos. The body shop did an excellent job, even for me, since I am a perfectionist. I spent an hour just now inspecting the car after bringing it home and I'd rate the job as a 95 out of 100. To get the color to match, they ended up having the repaint the entire car except the roof. Even Allstate agreed to cover the extra expense for the paint work due to the inability to get the three stage diamond pearl paint to otherwise match after the first time they tried to painted it. The shop even brought a color guy in from PPG to try and get a better match. I only was able to find 4 minor blemishes in the paint on the entire surface. There is zero orange peel and its probably smoother than even the factory paint was.

Still, I took the car to Acura to trade it in for an identical 2008. The deal I got for the 2007 cannot be had anymore because the invoice price for '08 went up by $500 and there is currently only $2500 in Acura to dealer cash available (rather than the $3500 when I bought mine last August). Then there is the whole issue with the trade in value for my car. The dealer knows the car was repaired and they used a paint depth gauge and confirmed the entire car was painted. Even so, the accident doesnt show yet on CarFax because Allstate hasnt even closed the file and won't be sending me the second supplement until Monday.

The bottom line is it will cost me just over $10k for the swap. I also went to a second dealer to confirm the numbers.

SOOOOo, the question is WHAT WOULD YOU DO? If I had caused the accident, I would probably be thrilled that my car got repaired so well. But since the accident wasnt my fault, and since my car was only 2.5 months old at the time, It just irks me that I should have to drive around knowing my whole car was repainted and wondering whether I will have some problems down the road with in.

I am supposed to buy the new car on Monday, so advice and opinions would be appreciated ASAP.

TampaRLX-SH

Glad you got the RL back satisfactorily.

IMHO, if the car nearly meats your perfectionist appraisal of the repair work (and I am with you on that), it does not make sense to me to loose 10K for a 1 year model change with no content changes.

I personally would hold onto it 2 - 3 more years as the value depeciation will be tempered. By then either the MMC RL will appeal to you, or best yet, wait until the next gen and make a significant change.

If the car drives the same, there are no new structural gremlins, rattles or panel alignment issues, I would not be so quick to drop 10K just to lose the wreck rap sheet.

jumbosizeme79

damn sorry hear that happened to your car, but im glad your satisfied with the work redone to your car, 10k seems like a lot of money for a car that your 95/100 percent happy with...

geronimomoe

Glad you have the car back. IMHO, if it's pretty much 95%, keep the car long term, I mean 7-8 years, min. By then, it won't really matter that much in terms of resale value. Sell it anytime sooner, you're going to feel it in the wallet.

Of course, you could go after the other party for damages, ie. lost resale value, etc. but you'd have to sell the car and take the 10K hit and maybe (I stress maybe) get money back via the courts.

2007AcuraRL

Bear in mind I've got a diminished value claim for about $4,000 based on the trade in values showing at both Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book. There is no gurantee I will be able to recover the money although I plan on suing the girl. Assuming I recover the $4k, then the cost of the swap would only be $6k. If I dont do the swap it will be even harder to prove diminished value since I wont have an actualy number to work from as proof of how much less I got for the car....

VQPower37

^ thats isnt true, you can have someone come out and upraise your car after the accident, and show it in court the difference to what it wouldve been without any body work. that is what i did when my 1 month old TL-S was rearended, granted it wasn't as bad as your, my bumper was juss messed up. But i got a pretty penny from the insurance company. With all the damages you have on your car, I would expect more then 4k.

SpicyMikey

It's a great car. Keep it through warranty and then sell it or trade it

geronimomoe

At the end of the day, even if you get all that money back, that would be before court costs and lawyer costs..

I know, it'd kill me too. I got into a hit and run accident with my 97 Civic when it was just 3 months old. Some low life hit maggot me with a SUV and took off. Cost about 5K to repair.. Even though it was just a Civic, still ticked me off to no end..

2007AcuraRL

Who can i hire for an appraisal? If I buy the new car, the dealership is willing to give me a letter regarding the lesser value that they are willing to pay me because the car has been in an accident.

VQPower37

there is a company called "auto appraisal group" that i called to have my own estimate done, and the insurance company sent thier own person ... i did that to make sure that the insurance appraiser wasnt going to take me for a ride. anyway after all the upraisals, the insurance cut me a check of 2500 dollars which was about what my own company had told me to expect, so i was content. hope it works out for you man, i know how much it sucks to have your brand new car hit

larrynimmo

I am glad your back...its a shame you cant turn your situation around and end up iwth a 2009. It is sad to me, but I think the only way you can prove diminished value it to take one on the chin and sell the car

kixo

Will the damage result in the car being given a salvage title? That would greatly diminish the resale value and would be something to consider when deciding to sue or sell, or both.

geronimomoe

If I'm not mistaken, a salvage title is only for cars that are considered "totalled" by the insurance company.. Since his car wasn't totalled, the answer would be no..

2007AcuraRL

No, the repair work wouldn't change the title to salvage. There was no transfer of the vehicle.
A friend pointed out that I said to him I would have been very happy to have the car repaired to the condition it is now IF I had caused the accident. So basically I'd be paying $10k because of my perception of what transpired (ie. someone else caused the damage) but that its the same car now regardless of how the damaged was caused. I think he's right and maybe I will keep it and just pursue the diminished value claim using the appraiser VQPower37 recommended. This way, if I should have some problems down the road and have to get rid of the car early, I'll already have been compensated for the diminished value and wont be annoyed if a dealer low balls me on trade in price.
At the same time, to make myself feel better about this whole thing, I am going to spend some of the $10k money and get RonJon rims and the A-Spec suspension mod, and then redo the audio system starting with Alpine's PXE-H650 which corrects all the overprocessing of the Bose head unit so you can add amps and better speakers. I know some RL owners think the factory system is great, but I dont.

AsianTL

Someone from here name (Fibbidiboo) just sold his 06 RL and would like to get rid of his 19" Ron Jon Legend wheels.
Here is the PM he sent me.

C/P:

Hi,
You may remember me from the posts I put on the site a few months back. Since then I have sold the RL but kept the RonJon's and the Falken 19's and am looking to sell them.
I tried ebay but got no action. I am willing to practically give them away since they are just sitting in my garage and it has been over 2 months. Let me know if you are interested, or know of someone who is for I will sell them and ship them for $900..total (new:over $2k!). They are in perfect condition and have very little miles on them. Pics available of course. You can reach me at my email address: (DELETE)for his protection.

Thanks,

Riddler2222

I would keep it if there was no frame damage. If the car did have frame damage and had to be stretched, unload it fast.

2007AcuraRL

The shop owner told me that although the damage looked awful that in a unibody car I got hit in the best place. The car that pummeled me was a Jeep with a tall bumper so it completely missed my bumper and thats why all the sheet metal was crushed. The car rides straight although I have rotor vibration upon slowing down. It wasnt like that before I got hit and I am not sure if the car sitting for three months worth of rusting on the rotors may be the cause of it.
I am going to take the car into Acura for the steering hose recall and will ask them to check and resurface the rotors. THe only other problem with the car is the right rear window wont go down when operated from driver's front door, but it does operate from the rear passenger's switch. I had asked the shop to remove all trim and the door handles before they painted it to minimize tape edges, and perhaps they forgot to plug something back in at the driver's door. I'll bring it over to them during the week to look at.

dwboston

I know what you are going through. Back in 1995 I bought a new VW Golf Sport 2 door. I had the car for 5 days and was hit by a drunk driver. The car had about $5k in damage to the front end and was in the shop for almost 2 months - it was a new model so it took a while to get the correct parts. Even though it was repaired it was never the same and I got rid of it within a year. Since you got hit from the rear, it may not be as bad, but with the SH-AWD components back there, I would really make sure that the car drives OK before keeping it for the long-term. If it were me, I'd trade it in for a new 08 or 09 when they come out, take the hit on the trade, and pursue the diminshed value claim. Good luck - it's sickening to see the car all mangled up like that because of someone else's stupidity.

cai06

Agree. Personally I wouldn't invest more money on a repaired car, regardless of the repair outcome. Psychologically it is already damaged goods and that will bother me all the time, being a "car enthusiast" myself . And of course structural and long term problems cannot be ruled out.

"Diminished value in the mind
The other type of diminished value, the perception that the car has diminished value, generally cannot be rectified, regardless of the quality of the repair job. If a repair has been performed near perfection, the average consumer would not visually see a car worth less than it was before its accident. In that consumer's mind, however, the car is worth less because it was involved in an accident. "It's damaged goods" or "It will never run the same again," are common thoughts of vehicle owners. This brings up the question: Should a vehicle owner be paid for this mental aspect of DV - the mere thought that it is worth less? It's only mental unless the loss in value is real. When the vehicle owner sells their car as a trade-in at a dealership or to another consumer, the DV is real if the prospective buyer perceives the value as decreased."

Rob144

I sympathize with the psychology of your situation. If I were toying with trading it in, I'd at least go for the 2.5G RL (whatever the next one is like).

Here are some things I'd do to help me decide. If you're 95% satisfied with the the car itself, then if whatever compensation you get for dimished value puts your out-of-pocket costs at 95% or less of what you paid, then that should tip the scales towards keeping the car.
You could take your car to an Acura lot and park it next to a new one and see what differences you actually can see. Open the trunk and compare (since that's where the damage was). Check the fuel filler. Compare the rear bumper fit to new. By now you've driven yours, so you would know if the alignment were off, or if there are any unexpected noises. You should have the repair order to see what underbody components were replaced should you be worried about the mechanicals.

My wife's car suffered similar rear-end damage (a true front and rear sandwich). It took more than 3 months to get the car back, and she drove the car for many more years with no ill effects. The worrisome part for me, in the end, was how they repaired the rear -- if you looked under the trunk mat, the sheet metal there looked more like a piece of crinkled paper that was flattened out than what it looked like before the accident. The worry was that the impact absorption was compromised should there be another rear-ender.

Rob144

2007AcuraRL

I spent another hour in the car just now reinstalling my Bel remote radar (I had pulled it before the car was taken away to the body shop since I assumed the car would be totalled) and I have to say the car just appears to be repaired so well. I rolled underneath the rear on a mechanics creeper and I have to tell you they did a really good repair. I just cant find any part of the repair job that bothers me enough to justify the $10k for a swap. As much as I want to think i will not be happy with the car, the thought of parting with 10 grand for the identical car (no changes at all between the 2007 and 2008 models) makes me even more unhappy. And I'm sure the price of a 2.5Gen 2009 would be way more than I am ready to spend at the moment so an upgrade to that is out of the question.

I will take out the rear panels of the car this evening in the trunk and give the repair a once over from the inside just to appease any other concerns about the quality of the fix.

In the mean time I reactivated my homelink and put coins back in the coin tray and (assuming all checks out when I do the above inspection) I think mentally I am good to go as far as keeping it. I can always get rid of the car in a year (or whenever) so buying down the depreciation today for the $10k doesnt make sense. I typically drive a car for 150k miles before getting rid of it, and at that mileage I really dont think I'd loose the $10k on a trade even if some dealer runs a CarFax and tries to chisel me for a lower trade. And if I have to private sell it at that point then so be it. Alternatively, my daughter will be 17 by then and I can always just give the car to her. Surely if the car lasts that long then its repair job will have been issue-free.

AsianTL

Keep the car and pass on to your daughter years later.(if the car gives you no problem.)

2007AcuraRL

Thanks, Rob. I checked all the gaps this morning and everything lines up very well. The line between the rear edge of the door and the quarter panel. The fit of the trunk. The fit of the rear bumper fascia. I only had to make a small adjustment to the truck latch so the trunk lid closes with just a tad less closing force. Nothing wrong about how they had it set up from the body shop but I wanted it perfect and the latch plate is designed with various amounts of final adjustment (the bolt holes are elongated for this very reason).

Incidentally, when they were ordering parts, I had them order the rear license plate trim for an RL w/Tech so I can install a back up camera off to the side like the '07 and 08 rather than in the middle and loose the latch like the '06. (if you recall, I have a Base RL and broke ground by upgrading it to NAV) I hadnt gotten around to adding the backup camera when my car got crushed.

dwboston

I just added to backup camera to my 06 CMBS/PAX RL and I kind of like the center placement of the camera. It only takes a little while to get used to the trunk button being over to the left and it works just as well. My wife's 06 MDX has the off-center camera and it is noticeable to me when you're backing up. Either way it's a big improvement with the camera and easier to back up given the high trunk lid of the RL.

2007AcuraRL

Here is an "after" pic. I left the file size pretty big so you can see the panel gaps well.

VOdoc

Wow...amazing what a good shop can do. The repair looks perfect.

I appreciate the angst of just knowing what happened to the car. I dumped a 2003 Odyssey because I couldn't stand the idea that some idiot had screwed it up while I was still paying for it...then the '04 got hit while parked!

If only CMBS were standard equipment on all cars, your Britney look-alike wouldn't have hit you in the first place, even if she was deep in gossip mode on the hand-held cell. The car wouldn't let her.

I think you're smart to keep it, drive the heck out of it, and hand it down to your teen daughter. Five-star safety!!

TampaRLX-SH

That looks like top notch work. If nothing is out of alignment, I'd keep it.

I noticed they kept the badges off too (as was pre-collision), did you have to request that?

By chance did you speak to the techs who did the repair and get an idea from them if any substantial straightening of the unibody was needed? Other than the rear fenders, the other parts were 'bolt on' (trunk, bumper assembly, etc). So if the unibody was intact otherwise, I would be confident with the repairs.

My former SUV was rear ended 3 times in 4 years. They repairs were amazing (although panel seam tolerances where not in the same league as the RL). I never had any issues afterwards. Body work has come a long way.

2007AcuraRL

$%#$Q*% DAMN!

Unfortunately I am back on the fence this evening about what to do because I am having some electrical issues.

1) Keyless remote system error warning on dash cluster;
2) Right rear power window inoperable from driver’s door switch (window operates at right rear window switch);
3) Navigation and Radio intermittently loosing preset memories;
4) Navigation disc scratched with concentric circles around disc surface (NAV unit at trunk shocked and possibly damaged during collision impact);
5) Climate control temperature erratic (too hot even when temp set to low 60s)

I checked fuses and everyone is good so not sure what the problem could be for items 1,2, and 3. Also as to item 2, I also pulled to door panels and everything is plugged to the window switches in both at front and rear doors. As for 4, the Nav unit is working but the disc definitely got cut up by something inside there maybe at the time of impact. The day/night NAV display settings seemed to get erased when I turned the car off and back on which is uusally a symptom of no constant 12v except that the fuse that feeds it is fine.
I dont see how item 5 is related to the accident, but it was fine before the car headed to the body shop.

This blows....

2007AcuraRL

Actually I think they forgot to put them on because the new badges were on the floor behind the front seat. I hadn't debadged my RL originally, I just did a photoshop pic of it debadged and asked for opinions here at Acurazine. However, I think I like it clean on the back. I can always put them on later (I have the factory shop manuals for the RL and it gives the precise measurements for where to located the badges on the trunk.) One thing I was thinking of was possibly just putting the RL and the SHAWD badges together in one spot at the lower right corner. Not sure why I'd need the word "acura" on the trunk since the Acura logo is already there in case anyone was wondering what the car was.

2007AcuraRL

My neighbor said essentially the same thing to me yesterday...

lindros2

Sorry if it's too late, but I have a 2005 RL which was in an accident and it's been perfect since the repair (except for totally unrelated stupid things that the service department did like crack my dashboard wood and such).

I wouldn't trade it for a new one and face such a depreciation nightmare. But that's only me.

As a frame of reference, I "ordered" a 2009 Nissan GT-R in 2006 but the royal price-gouging has forced me to back off and look at other options. The 2009 TL and RL are both in the running right now...

-josh

cwcw

So sorry to hear your new ride got hit! My 07RL was hit by a tahoe 4 months after I got it, so I feel the pain. The guy who hit me was on a hand held cell, reading directions he was holding in the other hand! I saw it happening in slo-mo but couldn't get his attention. I was hit on the front right and drivers door. It was hard to accept but the repairs were perfect (5K total) and I have not had any change in the car's ride or electronics. If you can get the snafu's corrected I can attest that the mental duress does go away over time. I am curious about suing for lost value though because I have also discussed the value of my Rl with a dealer and it's trade value is 3-5K below what I would get if it had not been wrecked. Is it too late for me to pursue this with the insurance company. The accident was in November and I got the car back in Mid Decmber. Also, would you have to actually trade the car to show the loss? Thanks and good luck getting your car back to top condition.

2007AcuraRL

Thanks for your comments. My car repairs have been about $17k so far so you are lucky you only had 5k damage. Its not too late for you to pursue a diminished value claim. I am going to hire an appraiser to get a new value for the car and then present the claim to the driver's insurance carrier, the vehicle owner and and his daughter who was operating the car at the time. 3 to 5 grand sounds about right as my dealer told me $4k was the approximate loss in value. A diminished value claim against your owne carrier isn't allowed unless your state has a specifica statute for this. However a thrid party claim against the other's driver's insurance should be recoverable since its based in tort (negligence) rather than in contract (as to your own insurance).

2007AcuraRL

I think you are right as the hit to do a swap is $10k today, and would be something less than that in the future. Right now my car is still a bit mad at me for thinking of getting rid of it but we will bond soon enough when everything is fixed and I get the RonJon's on the car. I am eyeing the liquid silvers they now have in chrome as an option.

lindros2

Remember, "it's just a car."

We all love our cars but they are indeed just temporary transportation in the grand scheme of things.

csmeance

60% of your problems are related to the navi drive. Most likely components were damaged and the drive needs to be replaced with a new or refubished one. The cost for it is about 3000+ dollars new or you can get a broken one and have it fixed for a total of 300 dollars. Both ways, you should go through insurance to have it fixed properly. As for that rear window not being able to be controled, I am thinking that during the process of removing the panels, they might have damaged the switch.
the other 20%, there is a sensor in the trunk which detects the remote in the trunk to make sure you don't lock it in there. Well that might be screwed up, causing the error.
The last 20%, like I said before, the window switch may be simply broken.

larrynimmo

you could temporarily try the "compass" and see what problems you have from there

2007AcuraRL

I think the radio and NAV settings being 'lost' and coming back may be related to the 2nd keyfob. I tried the 2nd fob yesterday just to see if by using it, it would somehow clear the keyless remote error. I then put the 2nd remote away and proceeded to start the car and drive off using the 1st keyfob, without ever pressing the remote to lock and unlock the car. I think the car stores different radio and NAV setting for each remote? And the settings dont revert to the other remote unless you press the other remote?

I didnt have a chance to try out this theory yet but I cant think of any way that the settings could otherwise disappear and then reappear.

As for the NAV unit, it might be ok and just the disc might have gotten a bit chewed up when the car got hit. The disc would have been spinning in the DVD changer and perhaps the disc jumped off the platter for a moment at impact. The NAV is working but I'll ask Allstate to replace the disc. I'm still waiting to have the car go into Acura to have the other items on the list looked at.

vincethe1

if i was you i'd want to get rid of it as well, but if you are gonna take a hit that big, then why not wait for the 2009 MMC RL which will be out in about 4 months or so, then get that...it'll be a big difference vs 2007 and 2008.

NavyDoc333

Keep it. I had a 94 GS300 that spent over 2mo's in the shop being fixed after my wife took it for a scenic tour of the concrete center divide on I-15 in Cali. It even had frame damage that needed straitening... I owned it for 5 more years after that...and the only problem it ever gave me was a slight shimmy from a bent rim that I never had fixed. If they did as good a job as it looks like they did, you'll never know the difference, and you'll forget it was damaged with time. I did.