Heading down I95 just south of Philadelphia to pick up my wife at the airport. Traffic is slowing, I'm in the right lane, the car a bit ahead of me in the middle lane isn't paying attention. Looks up, slams on his brakes and rather than hit the car in front of him, steers directly in front of me. Nowhere to go but into him. He's accepted liability but doesn't have enough insurance to cover the damage to my car (almost $7,000). Thankfully, no injuries.

Some of my damage (more hidden and in the back):


His car:


LL

 

Looks like his car took it better than yours! He hit you in the front and the back? Sorry to hear the misfortune! I hate unattentative drivers!

 

Cold blooded

 

His insurance doesn't cover your damage fully? WTF?

Sorry to read of this.

 

from the looks of the other guy's car, I'm not sure he has insurance

 

What's up with people getting crazy estimates recently? $7,000?!? Did you take it to the dealer? A whole new front bumper costs <$500. I had two doors painted, one door reworked, the quarter panel reworked, two wheels refinished, the side skirt painted, the weather stripping painted, and the door molding replaced for $2700, and the work was emmaculate. Did the rear end get smashed in?

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I can relate.

 

How the hell does somebody's liability insurance not cover $7k in damages to another car? Isn't there some sort of minimum amount required by law? I would have thought it would be well over that amount.

Edit: Never mind. I just looked it up. PA has the lowest required property damage coverage of any state at $5,000.

http://personalinsure.about.com/cs/v...utominimum.htm

Colorado is $15k and I know our insurance covers WELL over that. When I set up our new insurance I opted for one of the highest coverage plans just in case. When you have assets that can be sought out by a lawyer you make sure your ass is covered.

 

Wow this is eye opening. In Texas the MINUMUM coverage required by state law is 30k per injured person (up to 60k total per accident) and 25k for property. They call it 30/60/25.

 

Right. That's how car insurance works. Colorado is 25/50/15 and, until this thread, I was under the impression that was a nation wide liability minimum. We have 100/300/100. It's funny how broke ass people are the ones that get the cheap insurance and, at the same time, they're the ones who can't afford to pay any additional damage over what their insurance covers.

OP, I would take their ass to court if I were you. That's bullshit and people need to be held responsible for their actions and lack of responsibility.

 

civil suit.

 

The guy was from NJ. $5,000 minimum property coverage. I'd bet these minimums were set years ago when $5,000 could buy a new car. If I go after him, I'm sure it will cost me more than his net worth. My insurance covers the rest but my deductible comes into play.

As for the repair cost, no, I didn't go to the dealer but the car needs a new headlight (broken tabs $,1,102.77), front fender ($507.83), front bumper cover ($442.95), reconditioned PAX wheel (219.95), fog lamp ($190.23), plus various trim pieces and other parts. Also, the way the car was hit on an angle pushed the reinforcing bar under the front bumper to the side so there's work to do underneath (the hood latch attachment loop (not sure what it's called) is pushed to the side a bit, hood and front door seams don't line up properly), may be some suspension work. Paint and body work (front and rear), and it adds up quickly.

His insurance did "officially" accept responsibility so at least I don't have to fight that part. All I can hope is that his rates skyrocket or they drop him since I doubt he'll spend a penny fixing his car (couldn't even tell if there was any new damage or not).

LL

 

Let your insurnce fight the battle. You do have under-insured clause I presume.

 

I still don't see how that adds up to $7k, but whatever. Who did the estimate, the insurance adjuster or the body shop? Just like going to Dr. when you have insurance, they are going to screw you ten ways to Sunday until the insurance comes in and tells them what to charge. My body shop did the first estimate @ $3,600. The other guy's insurance called their bullshit and estimated $2,700, and the body shop had to accept it, not that they would turn away good business like that anyway.

I've hit 2 deer, a dog, been hit by a Silverado in the rear quarter panel, and side swiped by a Tahoe. All of them adjusted by insurance, none of them over $3.5k, and top notch work every time. I would be all over his insurance to adjust it before paying a dime of my deductible.

EDIT: I can already tell someone is licking their chops waiting to bend you over. A new headlight costs $800 at oemacuraparts. No body shop would ever pay MSRP. Get a used one. Also, if they are replacing the fender, get a new body shop.

 

Fender is aluminum, I wouldnt want that reworked. More trouble than what its worth But yes used parts where acceptable and I don't see this coming any where near $7k

 

I realize the body shop doesn't pay list but if it's not out of my pocket why do I care? The other driver accepted fault so it doesn't count against me. Since I'm not paying, why would I ever want used parts? I like this body shop because they do very good paint work.

LL

 

Ouch! No worries, a new A-spec front bumper would patch that up like new.

 

If they give you a $7k bill, the other guy gave you $5k, and you have to have a deductible for your insurance to pick up the rest, how will you not pay out of pocket?

Whatever you want to do is up to you and doesn't affect us, of course. I'm just saying someone is getting ripped off.

 

What my insurance agent told me is that they (my company) pays for the repair (less my deductible). They then request the funds from the other company (which they say will be no problem since the other driver has accepted responsibility). They'll get $5,000 less the cost of my rental which the other driver's company will pay. Once they get the money from the other company, they will reimburse my deductible to "make me whole" (my agent's words) since it wasn't my fault.

Final (initial) estimate came to $6,565.49 but I think there's will be some suspension repair that's not in it. I'll meet with the adjuster for my agent next week and will post if anything changes. At least my AFS works and he didn't hit my CMBS. That probably would have added $5,000 or so (maybe the car would have been totaled at that time...RLX?).

LL

 

Got it. Glad you're taken care of, and good luck with the repairs.

 

Yikes, glad it wasn't too serious. Doesn't look that bad but wow still $7000 in damages!

 

I initially thought the same thing thinking it was just a bumper cover ad I had that replaced on my old RL for around $700 total, but with all those parts, I can see it.

Back when I had my old 2001 TL I got into an accident that had similar damage. New bumper, new HID headlight, new fender and repair to the hood with painting an blending into surrounding body panels.

Total repair was over $4,700 and that was in 2005. Add the more expensive adaptive headlight of the RL, the aluminum fender and th wheel damage, I can see it.