Fellow TLers-

My new baby, a 2005 Anthracite/Quartz 5AT Navi with 536 miles (two weeks old!), was rudely trashed, and I need some advice on dealing with the aftermath.

<Sob Story>
My wife and I were in San Francisco (SOMA) at a 1-way to 1-way intersection, waiting at a red light. It turned green, I accelerated, and we were almost at the end of the intersection when a guy hit us in the back right quadrant at 30-35 MPH, slamming us into a bus island, and leaving us askew in the middle of a major intersection. Fortunately, neither one of us was hurt badly (sore back, neck, etc…) but the rear 1/3 of the car was trashed and the rear suspension broken. In a way, I’m glad I was in my new Acura, because if we were in the old Celica I had traded in, things could have been much worse.

The other guy was an unlicensed, uninsured 17 year old in a POS 93 Saturn, and he ran after hitting us. Fortunately, a Muni cop and a Taxi driver forced him to pull over, and the SFPD put him in Juvi for Hit & Run and driving without a license.
</Sob Story>

Sorry to give you the details, I needed to vent…

Anyway, State Farm has been great to us, but they decided to repair instead of totaling it, since the frame wasn’t warped and the engine wasn’t damaged. The car is in a good body shop, and the quite sympathetic owner is doing his best the restore the car to its original beauty. He is replacing the rear underbody, the rear suspension, most of the rear steel and trunk, and all of the rear plastic. The 5 page long estimate is $13K and rising, and he’s using all factory new parts (this took a battle with State Farm, but they relented on a two week old car).

I have some questions for the forum, if you folks could help me out…
Thank you in advance for the help.

Go Bears!

 

That's just horrible... Glad to hear that your injuries were minimal.

Here's my response to your questions:

1. I would make sure the bodyshop is approved by your Ins. Co. and that they both provide warranty/guarantee on the work. (With AAA, their direct repair shops are backed by AAA, which means if anything goes wrong with the repair and the bodyshop doesn't accept their responsibility, AAA will take care of the matter).
Since the damage was in the rear, all I'd check would be the exterior - gaps/alignment and paint job... a quick test drive before signing it off would be good, too.

2. This shouldn't void any part of your warranty, except for the paintwork, possibly the suspension, but probably not - this is why is good to make sure the bodyshop and/or the insurance company will warranty the work.

3. You were hit in the rear... I wouldn't worry about any mechanical issues from this.

4. As long as all OEM parts were used, and the repair comes out well, then it shouldn't affect your resale value too much, especially because you're talking about 5 years down the road... comparing used car prices is difficult, and as long as your honest about it, it shouldn't be a real issue.

On a sidenote, take high-res pictures of your car from different angles, both int. & ext.
Speaking from previous experiences, the repair shops/lot aren't the safest environment for a car... you may discover damages unrelated to the accident (scratches, dings, etc) that the bodyshop will swear that they were there before. Of course, writing down the mileage on their workorder & getting a copy, taking out the valuables (as a matter of a fact, empty out everything, including manual, etc) is a must.

Good luck, and hope you two feel better.

P.S. Anthracites on this site seem to have the highest accident rate... :sigh:

 

See if you cannot get something from State Farm for lost resale value. Even though, if you keep it for 5 years, it should not be really a big deal, especially if you trade in your cars. And even if you sell the car to a private party, if the potential buyer finds out the car was wrecked but you still drove it for 5 years, it obiously gives the buyer confidence that it was fixed right (since you kept it instead of selling it right away).

By the way, sorry to hear about it. If it was me, I would say f*ck it and trade it in on another vehicle before it even got repaired.

Good luck, Mark.

 

Sorry to hear about your accident and glad that nobody was badly hurt. On the side of what to be concerned about the list is almost endless. A police report was filed so you can count on the fact that Carfax will have data on the damage. Secondly is the shop you are using repairing your car to I-Car standards? If so, you can relax a little on the quality of the repairs. Web site for I-Car is:

http://www.i-car.com/

Your resale value will be impacted by an accident of the magnitude that you described. Have you looked into getting compensated for "Dimunation of Value" by your insurance company? I live on the other coast and am not familiar with California's insurance regulations, but here in Virginia, you can be compensated for the loss of value at trade in time. I had a 1998 Dodge Ram quad cab that a woman rear ended while it was parked in front of a friends house. Her KIA pushed my truck a total of 60 feet while somehow wedging her car underneath the back of my truck. The impact flipped her car onto it's roof. Anyway her insurance, after some arguing on my part paid me $1,500 above the repair costs for the loss of trade in value. As soon as the truck was fixed, I traded it in. Personally, I won't keep a vehicle that has been badly damaged. Somehow the woman got the cops not to charge her with speeding on a residential street and claimed she was only going 25 MPH. I think the cops just didn't want to spend the time or make her day any worse.

 

Ouch!!! Many symapathies to you. Your sob story is well warranted.

Make sure that you and your see a doctor if you have any aches and pains from the accident. Better to be safe than sorry.

The good news is that nobody was hurt and it sounds as if the front 2/3rds of the car went unscathed. I wouldn't be too worried about the engine and drivetrain since that's all up front. But it is possible that the engine and tranny mounting alignment was affected in a 35 mph crash, I suppose.

The outcome of the repairs is directly related to the quality of the autobody shop. Trusting that your TL is in the best place possible, I'd check the following:

BEFORE you accept the car back-
- Get a printout of the wheel alignment and make sure all values are well within spec.
- Check the body gaps at all four doors and the trunk.
- Check to make sure that the paint and clearcoat match on the car. I've heard some people complain about the repainted clearcoat looking yellowish. Make sure you check the paint in good daylight from various angles.
- Do a test drive making sure that the steering wheel is straight, the car doesn't pull left or right and the car brakes straight and true. Listen for strange brake and suspension noises on a rougher road. Make sure your ABS is working as expected.

After you take possession of the car:
- Check tire wear often. I'd even get another wheel alignment done to double-check.
- If ANYTHING seems wrong, notify State Farm and take it back to the body shop ASAP. Your car should be as good as new when you get it back. Don't expect anything less.
-Watch your paint over the coming years, the different paint processes may age differently. If they do complain.
- Keep documentation of all work done and issues that may arise and how they are resolved.
- Give full-disclosure when you are selling the car, especially if it's a private sale. Otherwise, if there are problems with the car after the sale and they are related to the accident, you could be held liable.
- The insurance company wants to close the case out as soon as possible. You want to keep it open as long as possible to make sure that they live up to their responsibilities. So far it sounds as if State Farm is taking good care of you.

Best of Luck!

 

Thank you to everybody for the advice.

FYI, the bodyshop is approved by State Farm and I-CAR, so I'm hoping they'll do good work.

I'll look into California law and getting reimbursed for lost value, and let you guys know what I find out.

 

Definitely, definitely push for Diminished Value. Even if repaired beautifully, your car will be worth less because it was damaged, and the insurance company owes you for the reduced value.

FWIW, State Farm ponied up a $5500 check 3 years ago when I wrecked my new (at the time) BMW 540i. That was in addition to the repairs.

This is a website of an appraisal company that specializes in recovering Diminished Value. Give it a look: Direct Appraisal

 

Glad nobody was hurt very bad and sorry about the car. Our 02 MDX was hit passenger side front when a few months old. Damage was $8-9,000 and I was real pissed. Fender, bumper, hood, tire & rim + suspension parts were replaced along with both front airbags. The shop was recommended by 3A and approved by me. They did great body work and good mechanical work. It took almost a year of return trips for me to be satisfied 98%. The shop maintained a good attitude for most of the time. I always had in mind to trade the car when I was satisfied with the work.

My point is that it will not be perfect when you get it back. The shop should work with you to make corrections for as long as it takes. I kept finding little tings that needed correction. At one point I had to call 3A and complain that the body shop could not fix a suspension tweek to my satisfaction. They approved a dealer repair. The good news is that at last I'm happy and will be keeping the MDX for a number of additional years. The paint and body work are now very close to perfect. It also rides and handles as it should.

The bad news, no diminished value payments in California from what I could determine. If you are patient it can work out. If not, fix it and sell it for the loss.

My dealer could tell in less than 5 minutes that the car had been repaired Factory parts have bar codes when they are installed. The only warranty problem is with things that were damaged in the accident. But those things are covered by the insurance company. Best wishes

 

I would get an attorney !!!!!

 

I would 'spot-weld' the kid who hit you, to the front of the car with a sign around his neck saying.... "Loser. Will not have my drivers license until I am 21".

 

I got wacked pretty good while at a stop light. The damage was extensive, complete with side airbag deployment. I called my dealer, and he recommended a very good shop. I took the car there, and they returned just like it came off the assembly line. I looked long and hard and could find any mistakes.

I wish you the best of luck, and recommend you start with your dealer's recommendation for an Acura approved body shop.

 

Baylor Alumni?

Glad they caught the kid, it sux a lot when they hit u and get away w/ it. Luckily things gonna get taken care of for u by insurance Hope everything turns out well

 

I recommend letting the body shop do the "body work", and take your car to an Acura dealership to do the mechanical damage. They'll only use Acura parts, and they'll honor any warranty issues because they did the repair work.

I also recommend upgrading your damaged suspension to the A-Spec. You can purchase it from the dealer and ask them to waive the install since they're doing the mechanical work anyways. You won't regret it!

Don't sweat the small things dude, just be thankful that no one was seriously hurt.