yikes, hope everything's okay for you...snow seems to be the culprit of a lot of accidents of as lately.

 

No kidding. I took my car skating...err...driving in the blizzard in NH last week. Shockingly enough, it actually drove around OK. No sliding nonsense of any sort. But considering all the TL accidents on here in the past couple months....I think I'm gonna keep the snow driving to a minimum.

 

yea i know , im just saying if mine was a total lose , then his is for sure

 

Thanks everyone! We were not injured. My car has only 28k miles. It hurt to see it like that. My wife and I were waiting in line to get into the toll when this guy lost control of his car and rear ended us. Yes, there was a light coating of snow on the ground but he was driving too fast to begin with. I couldn't open the rear door, my navi is smash. The guy had the nerve to tell his insurance company he was doing 5 mph when he lost control. Does that look like a 5 mph damage? The accident happen way before the big snow storm hit. We waited for over 2 hours to get it tow. Another 2 hours for an rental car to get home. It took us a total of 12 hours to get home. This happened the day after Christmas.

 

By the way, I am still waiting to hear back from the insurance adjuster.

 

Wow. What a crock. Sure, that kind of damage could be done at 5 mph......if you were rear ended by a tank.

 

very, very true. the amount of the impact that the car "absorbs" is that much less impact that the human occupants feel. safe, well designed cars are meant to crumple

alot of people talk about the "weak" engine mounts in the 3G TL... the reason for them being so "weak" or "breakable" is god forbid you get in a front end collision, the mounts are designed to break, and have the engine "drop" down and in, to avoid it from coming through the dashboard

 

Guys, I finally hear back from the insurance adjuster. He said the car can be repair. It is not totaled. He said the repair will cost $14,505. And the car is valued at $26,398. I am also given an option to get the $14K check from them if I decide not to repair it. He said everything will be the original OEM parts. What do you think?

 

I wouldnt want it back after that..

 

I say fix it and then if you want you could sell it. but you will not make the money back selling the damaged car. also if you have a loan on the car you will have to give that amount to the bank and then you will have to pay the rest... your bank wont finance a wrecked car.

 

LOL 5 MPH DAMAGE? That guy made me laugh, literally. I would tell that bastard to quit the bullshit, seriously. (Sorry for language), but honestly how you gonna tell the insurance company "I wasn't speeding, I did 5MPH" really? 5MPH? If you did 5MPH, it wouldn't even dent the car probably. That damage looks at least 35 MPH.

Glad to hear you're okay.

 

I think you need another estimate from a 3rd party.

 

maybe get your own adjuster out there, to confirm the amount of work needed (and hopefully they can add roughly $1300 out in order to total out the car, (assuming a 65% in damage of the value of the car will total it)

 

He said in order to be totaled, the repair has to be near $21K so the salvage value of the car is around $5k to $6k. Not sure if this is just with GEICO or because each state is different. I don't think he include the replacement of the nav.system in the trunk. The unit is pretty much destroy and probably would be another $3k.

 

might be worth looking into though (and what 14k + 3k navi + 5k salvage = in the neighbor hood of 22-23k )

and don't forget with the navi, it also needs a new disk too, if it is that destroyed (so add another couple of hundred $ to it)

also maybe mention, about the rental car too, and how much that costs, and how long the car will be out of commission (paying for a rental does add up, wife's subie recently got repaired, and even for a POS Toyota corolla (had been beat on severely before, and i did not help matters either ), was like $900 for a month, and the damaged panels were bolt-on panels, not structural like on yours)


it's just a matter of sometimes, trying to make sure you get EVERYTHING needed, so it can be totaled


also being that it was the other guys fault, don't forget to get deprecation value for it (especially if the car was accident free before)

and if they do total it too, also get taxes and registration fees too (since you have to pay that in order to get another car on the road)

 

good point.

 

Have your car taken to a good, reliable body shop (one that the Acura dealers use, for example) and get a repair estimate from it for fixing EVERYTHING, including replacing the Navi DVD drive and wiring harnesses, to pre-accident condition.

Do NOT rely on the adjuster's estimate, especially an adjuster for the other party's insurance.

If you are doing repairs, take the car to a good body shop and tell the adjuster to start cutting checks until repairs are finished and the car has been inspected-- the body shop may find additional damage, for which the insurance company should issue supplemental payments to repair.

You should accept a check for a repair amount only if there is a reliable body shop that has agreed in writing to make repairs for that amount.

 

The adjuster did say it will take 30 days for my car to be fix. Because the estimated repair cost is based on judging on the exterior of the car, he did say they might find more damages after they taken the car apart to evaluate the inside.

 

If you were in Texas, I would recommend a few good body shops that do excellent work. A car got side-swiped not too long ago and the car was literally smushed. The body shop fixed it and everything seems even better then before the crash.

I say if you know of a good, REALLY GOOD body shop get it fixed.

 

more then likely 30 WORKING days, so 6 weeks out of commission (and that includes weekends too of paying for a rental)


and also i know here in Colorado, and it may even be nationwide, YOU have a RIGHT to pick WHATEVER bodyshop YOU WANT, insurance is not allowed to tell you to go to one place or another, they may suggest one iirc, but that is it though

 

uh oh better get maaco

 

I'm absolutely amazed that it wasn't totaled. IMO do your research and try to find a place that does the best work possible. This might be hard though, because some insurance companies tend to recommend their own preferred shops, and if you want to take it somewhere else they'll just pay out the original estimate.

If you can't convince them to total it, take it to the best shop you can get it repaired at. But in all honesty, you'll probably be in for a long battle. 99% of damage this extensive is never repaired to 100% pre-accident condition, but that's what you should fight for if you plan on keeping the car.

If I were you, I'd get it repaired by a reputable shop, collect for diminished value, and get rid of it ASAP.

Good luck.

 

OP, You can take it to as many shops as you want for estimates but Gieco will just say to bad, they go off of the estimate they write and get agreed prices with the body shop.
Now you should read your estimate and see if the nav unit is on it. if not you need to call the adjuster and tell them that but they do have the right to replace it salvage which is 400-600. Then it will most likely have a disk in the unit when they buy it... you can argue that you want a new updated disk.
Alot of times once you commit to a shop and they can do a "tear down" to add things the adjuster missed they can total the car. i would take the next step and get it to a shop so this can be completed. also point out the rental car angle. when we factor total losses rental plays a HUGE part into if a car will be a total.Most of the time the company will pay 25.00 a day and at 30 days thats 750.00!

 

I looked through the damage repair inspection report and it listed the replacement of the R&L LT trunk side trim including navigation but no cost was assigned to the navigation system. I think he left it out. I am waiting to hear back from him. The insurance is paying $22 per day for the rental. I am going with a local shop that my Boss had his RL repair there before. They came with a lifetime warranty.

 

there is only one shop in L.I. i believe that can restore this car back to normal, and thats martino auto concepts. take it to them and either you will have your car totaled or repaired back to normal. website is http://martinoautoconcepts.com/contact.html

 

my friend has his gtr resprayed there after it was severely keyed. they did a pretty good job, never heard anything about the auto body part

 

Great Neck has a few body shops on Great Neck Ave... just drive by there, and you'll be convinced...

Usually they are filled with Maserati, Ferrari, Bently, Porsche etc... insurance is paying so...

 

Why is my luck so bad? Finally the towing company tow my car to the auto body shop but they couldn't find the my car key. Last I heard they found the key and mail it to the body shop but it has already been a week. I have a bad feeling they got lost in the mail. The insurance company has already paid the towing company or else they could have deduct the cost of a replacement key. I am screwed.

 

Or your insurance company (or you) can make the tow company buy you a new key... they lost it they owe for a new one. Happens all the time!

 

I finally got by car back from the repair shop. It's been over 2 months. Here are the things that bug me the most. First, the screen on my navigation is greenish blue and the pictures are all dull and washed out. I tried to adjust it but still no avail. I can't even make out picture in my back-up camera. I think they connected the wiring the wrong way. Second, they replaced both of my rear wheels. Now the wheels in the back are darker shade than the front wheels. I don't know what to do about the color difference. Third, my steering wheel is a little tight to turn. They said it's normal after a wheel alignment and new suspension in the back. I didn't remember being this tight before the accident.

 

first of all for finally getting it back


the color, almost sounds like they either put a crap unit in, or depending on the wiring they missed out on hooking one of the color's wire (each color may be supplied separate to the navi screen idk)(ie: think about home audio/video systems at home, with the seperate colors that you hook up for like a DVD player, same thing)
and with the screen completely missing a color input, you are not getting the full resolution available, and once that color is restored it will more then likely become a crisp image again

back wheels being different, some of it is also probably due to your fronts having faded over a period of time compared to the new rears, BUT there is also a good chance that those wheels will be refurbished wheels, which means they have been painted, so it may not be a perfect color match, but you can complain about it, IDK if you will get anything out of that bit, but it's worth a shot though


as far as the steering wheel being tighter after an alignment, it is also probably more consistent/responsive in the steering input too, probably because the front wheels are properly aligned now (very minute differences in alignment specs, can make a HUGE difference in how the car handles/feels; and i mean like a 1/10 of degree especially with toe can make a difference)(and more then likely all they did up front was touch up the toe, since all the damage was in the back)






edit: looking at the wheel's color; THAT IS A HUGE difference, and not just a little fading as i thought originally , and i would make sure they fix that (even the center caps are are the correct color, and they should at least match the wheels to them)

 

yea id take that car back those are some major issues well at least from what i can see those rims are totally different and the navi screen looks like blahhhh

 

Send it right back, and don't accept it until it meets your expectations.

 

take it back and make sure to get it fixed ... if ur gunna keep the car for a while, u wanna make sure u get it to as close to preaccident condition as possible

 

Just like they said above^^^ Take the car back asap and have them completely fix it correctly. Mismatched wheels is not acceptable and that nav screen is a joke. Do they seriously not have a person inspect the car prior to it being sent off with the customer? Unbelievable! Let us know what happens and dont let them feed you any BS about an off center steering wheel being "normal". Are they fucking serious??

James

 

Take it back they have to fix it

 

I am waiting for the shop manager to call me on Monday. I will have to take the car back. They charged the insurance company $308.40 per wheel. I don't know why they replaced the wheel in the first place. They weren't damage in the accident. The original back wheels only has scratch mark from rubbing against the curb during parking. I rather have scratch wheel than mismatch wheel. The invoice said something about replacing #2 wheel cores for $100. I know my front wheels has faded over the years but it should not be so noticeable when compare to the back wheels. The car is garage park all the time so it should not be that bad in fading.

As for the Navigation unit, they charged insurance company $2747 for the unit, $152 for the bracket, $33 for the GPS antenna, and $979 for the wiring harness, and $125 for reprogram the nav unit. I believe they didn't take it back to Acura for reprogram and rewiring. They did all the work themselves. I am telling you the guy that did the wiring must be color-blind.

 

Here is the reading from the wheel alignment:

Before measurements

Front
-0.05
Total Toe
0.02
Steer Ahead

Rear
0.18
Total Toe
-0.15
Thrust Angle


Current measurements
Front
0.00
Total Toe
0.02
Steer Ahead

Rear
0.02
Total Toe
-0.01
Thrust Angle

 

If I were to sell/trade my car now. What do you think the value of the car would be worth now? The insurance adjuster quoted the value of the car for $26,500 before the accident. I'm afraid to think how much it is worth now.

 

that much could make a difference in how the steering wheel fells; but also remember the fact that you have been driving a rental car for the last 2 months, which probably had light steering to begin with, where the TL is a little on the heavier side of most cars (which i prefer actually)


but also did they happen to also tell you the camber specs too (and castor too, along with some other angles)


also i am only taking the rear before toe with a grain of salt, because of the damage that was back there (and they just happened to record it on the sheet)









and the fading of the wheels, i did correct my self in that even your stock wheels should have not faded that much to begin with