Southbound

It was never supposed to happen to me.

It was one of those bumper to bumper days coming back from Pasadena to Orange County. Got caught for ONE SECOND too long glancing for something in the armrest. Looked up and "OH SH*T"! We were only creeping, but even at 5mph it was too late. slammed on the brakes, no time to swerve, crunch! into the back of another car.

There was virtually no damage to the other car and they just said forget it and goodbye... However I took the brunt of the hit. I somehow slid under their bumper and

1. Put MAJOR scarf marks on the bumper area.

2. Broke out the center grill.

3. Bent up the hood at the front crumple zone by about an inch.

The only good thing is that there is NO structural damage. Nothing protruded far enough inward to damage the radiator or air conditioning lines, etc. But the cosmetic damage has my gut in knots!

ANYBODY KNOW ANY GOOD ACURA BODY SHOPS IN THE ORANGE COUNTY, CA AREA???

I want a good repair job for my baby... I haven't decided whether or not to turn it in to my insurance company or not? The other guy didn't even take down any of my information or even my license number... he just said "GOOD LUCK" and we shook hands.

Does anyone know if California Insurance companies will DEFINITELY raise my rates to the point where I might as well pay for this by myself? I have Farmers Insurance with a $500 deductable.

ANY HELP FOR A DOWN AND BUMMED OUT TLS OWNER WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED! Any insurance advice, and BODY SHOP RECOMENDATIONS are seriously needed. I feel like such a loser right now, and my wife agrees...


Thanks guys

Southbound

P.S. I was also lucky in that neither of the HIDs were broken... I know they are very expensive. I did break the lense over one of the fog light though, but that shouldn't be a big deal. Any guesses at what I'm looking at, if worst case I replace the entire front bumper shroud, entire front grill panel and hood?

Also, anybody have any experience with paint matching with AEGEAN BLUE?

I'm just sick inside right now, thanks for letting me vent...
SB

Redliner

TMI in tustin

ElegantTL-S

"It was never supposed to happen to me"? Don't really understand what you meant by that. :o

Contact Paul (songoku) on this board, he works at a body shop. It's located in Anaheim.

Either way, going to insurance and claiming is your only bet. Fixing that will not be cheap. Over $1000 i'm guessing.

LiQiCE

I'd recommend getting some quotes from a body shop and seeing how much they think it will be. If its under $1000, I wouldn't bother claiming through the insurance because it will definitely increase your insurance premium! I had a claim for ~$900 in the winter, and I called my insurance agent who told me it wouldn't be worthwhile to make the claim, because I'd have to fork over $500 first, and then my premium would go up so much that it would cost me more in the long run. Saving $400 wasn't a big deal...

The damage is probably worse than it looks too, take it to a body shop and you might be surprised at how "inexpensive" it is to fix.

W/o pictures, I'd estimate from your description, that it'd be ~$1000-1200.

yield2s

dude that sucks!!!!here's something to get an idea on price of body shops.I just got my tls back from the body shop,(a good one out here in Ventura co.) it had minor cosmetic damage to the 2 pass side doors.1 door got a new skin and the other a little body work,the bill was just over 1600buck!!!
now thats high!!!!but it's an ins. job so i didnt care(the other guys ins is paying for it)
I would absolutely not turn it in to ins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stick with a small body shop where you talk to the person doing the work and build a trust with him or her. keep in mind NOONE CARES FOR YOU CAR AS MUCH AS YOU DO this is why i do as much as i can to my own car ie oil change,headrs install,speakers,car wash/wax.
Try to order parts yourself,call around,get your hands dirty,I was sick when i got hit a few weeks ago, and had a relaps when i just got it back in other than pristine cont. from shop.
good luck to you and that sick feeling goes away :o

car_lost

for the hood... if it nees to be replaced... get a carbon fiber one!

yield2s

and the grill should be a breeze to install,hell there's even archieved posts on how to MAKE a grill.

yield2s

HEY Southbound, hey I've benifited greatly from your informative posts over on the audio board. So I've look up a few of the parts you may need to buy.

hood=296.95
grill=125.68
bumper=153.00

I know if you let the body shop order these parts for you,you'll pay much more.these prices were from the first site i found under "acura body parts" its called "Acura auto parts"they sell OEM parts so no worries there. there # = 1(800)314-1506

Tosh

Dear Southbound,

Ouch, I feel your pain!
I know you are just sick of even thinking about the damage, never mind actually looking at it! But don't do anything rash. Like taking it to the first half-decent place that promises to make it "look like new." They all think they can, but your standards are much, much higher than theirs. It is really worth all the time in the world to find an expert at restoring your baby. Insist on seeing other cars they've worked on. Take satisfaction that you can still drive your car while you are searching for that perfect body man. You will get used to looking at it (and maybe even touching it). And do not let personalities influence your decision: You want the job done perfectly, and it sucks having to get on someone you like, or know, because you are unusually picky (like the rest of us who love their cars). Believe me, if for some reason the car doesn't turn out right, you will never have the same pride of ownership in it again, and your thoughts will stray to another...
And insurance can work for you, too, if you haven't had any other claims. Ask your agent. They'll be pretty honest about it. This is what it's for.
(And to think that I did a search for you just today to see what you had been up to after chasing down a rattle from my Blose rear speakers. I'll give you a little time.)
Parting advice: Take some days to get used to the damage, so that you can make a rational decision without the emotion you are feeling right now.

Your Buddy,

Tosh

TopGum

Ouch Southbound!

There are a few I really like here in O.C. The first is AutoPerfections in LaHabra. Another is Bill's Body Works in Fullerton. The third is Jim East in Anaheim. He is higher $$ but does awesome work. Email me at jsldds@hotmail.com if you want more detail. Sorry brother!

wabone

hey,

that sux what happened to your car. if you don't mind driving up north for a bit, you can go this place in eagle rock that does great body work and painting for really cheap. the name is california z cars. don't have the number off the top of my head, but i've unfortunately had to go there many times, and they do nice work and are very accomidating on the price. good luck.

NSXDreamer

:devil: so you were "Creeping at 5mph" and couldn't stop the car... you are either:

1. you r following too close

2. you have poor car control

3. your foot's reation Or (reflex) too slow.

4. you are not concentrate on driving and not being alert

5. Or, all of the above.

???????????????What's that supposed to mean?????????
OK, everybody makes mistakes, nobody's perfect, so do yourself a favor: go attend a defensive driving class and attend a driving school events with focus on car control. LOL.

I was just trying to be funny... seriously, you are very lucky that you didn't hit some anal trying to get some cash from you. ( or scaming your insurance company.)

VTEC Animal

You can also write to the Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair in Sacramento and if you supply the names of the shops you're considering I believe they'll notify you of their history (IE if they've every been fined for fraud or anything). I'd highly suggest checking up on shops in that area before using one. I've been told that it's a good idea to select a body shop BEFORE you need it becuase statistics show you will need one eventually. So checking in with the BAR, talking to people, interviewing the shop, viewing their business and everything are all things you should probably do ahead of time. Anyhow, I thought I'd share all that with everyone since it was a topic, probably should have posted sooner (like when I was told this).

Southbound

Thanks guys for all of the great advice!

I've calmed down now and am just glad that it is cosmetic damage ONLY! While that is still a major bummer, at least I can still drive the car until I find the place that I trust, and decide what best route to take.

Not that I'm making any excuses for myself, but I find that owning this car has its inherent risks. Somehow when you're in such a nice performance car, you lose patience with the slow idiots around you. I find that I drive a LOT faster on the freeway in this car than I did in my other cars. It's only natural... AS YIELD2S says... Slower traffic, move right! However, that attitude can eventually get you in trouble, I just found out. I'm lucky that I haven't been involved in something worse. SO maybe this is a relatively cheap lesson even though initial estimates have the cost of total replacement and repair of the hood, bumper, and grill at $2K...

I'll match my driving skills with anyone... fate just caught up with me. Multi-tasking in the fast lane of a traffic jam will get your number called eventually. I haven't had an accident since 1974, so while giving away my age, I also have a very good driving record. We were in stop and go creeping freeway traffic, where I was probably going around 20mph when I looked up, hit the ABS and heard the crunch at around 5mph. If i'd had another 3feet I'd been OK... The Other car, Ford Taurus was fine and he left the scene wishing me good luck with MY car....

Thanks again for all of the help and support!!!
Southbound

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

How much is your comprehensive deductible?

The other driver left just like that. No accident report, nothing. Now you're free to call the police and file a Hit & Run claim. Tell 'em you parked at Best Buy or something and found it damaged when you came out. Take the police report to the insurance company, file it under the comprehensive coverage (theft, vandalism, natural disasters, hit & run, etc). They will probably waive your deductible, too, if you put up a good fight, and with a police report. Comprehensive covers things that are not your fault, and will not raise the insurance premium.

OR

You can just call your insurance company directly, and file a claim with them. They may or may not ask for a police report. Take it from there.

Disclaimer --
The said above is purely fictional, and may or may not be legal in your state. Take the advice at your own risk.

(My lawyer thought I should say that from now on )

Good luck.

LiQiCE

I was told by my insurance company that hit and runs still count as collisions. I was told any impact that occured with something hitting your car that was not an "act of god" is considered collision. Everyone's insurance is different of course. But this may not work for you.

Filing a claim like you said is of course fraud and if you got caught you would end up getting slapped with an insurance fraud fine that would most likely exceed the cost of buying you a brand spanking new CL-S not to mention potential jail time. Just want you to know the risks...

Southbound

Thanks again guys!

Whatever I do, I won't put myself in jeapardy of fraud, etc. It's all part of growing up... I'll take responsibility for my actions. Either I'll just pay for the whole repair myself, and let no one know that the incident ever happened. OR... I'll tell the truth to my insurance company. The truth is that the other driver refused to give me his name and information and said that his car was OK and drove off. I did take down his license number, make/model of car, time and place of accident, etc. BUT HE DIDN'T WRITE DOWN A SINGLE THING HIMSELF. He just split after seeing no appreciable damage to his car.

I don't see this coming back to haunt me since it was such a minor incident, (except to MY new $30k car that took the brunt of the impact)

I'll probably just keep the police and insurance company out of it. I hate bureacracy, and big brother type rules, etc! As long as my TLS looks good after the repair, and it should with all of the parts replaced with OEM parts, I'll be happy to learn my lesson and pay EXTRA attention to the road while driving my baby! My only concern is ABP paint matching... but everybody says they have that down these days???

Southbound

LacViet

Be careful if the guy you hit claim back to his insurance that YOU "hit and run"; especially you are not report to your insurance company! I know there are a few case like that in So Cal.

Mike H.

Man, sorry to hear about the accident. The exact thing happened to me last year but it was a little faster at about 10-15MPH. It's amazing how much damage can be caused at such a low speed. I slid under the car's back bumper as well, tore up the whole front. Making it short, I had over $10K in damages including frame damage. Althought it didn't look like it just by looking at the car, there was. SO my suggestion to you is find a really good body shop and have them check out your frame alignment. Good luck.