Yeah, he had the right of way and I recognized that... It's not like I didn't see him or was trying to beat him... I just got tired of waiting for him after he stopped, with no stop sign. Sigh... be more patient next time. Live and learn. I don't feel it was completely my fault but... very hard to fight given the point of impact and the fact I was making a left in front of him. He just created "confusion" by doing what he did, right of way or not and the accident was the result. Oh well...

Good luck in getting a "best case" resolution on this...

Your washer fluid reservoir may be broken... It just drained before it made it home. Mine emptied in about 30 seconds. I thought it was the rad at first and I'd need to flatbed it but... fortunately not. Also... I wonder if this was damaged up front before and that's why the airbags didn't go off. My bumper support was black and the replacement was unpainted, like yours. The standard R&R for that part called for the shop to paint it black. I wonder if that was replaced before and the shop skipped that step... and maybe some other stuff...

 

UPDATE : insurance has not been out yet because of holiday but from what they see through pics car is totaled they don't want send anyone out to even check. They are looking for someone to pick up and cut a check early next week!

 

Update: adjuster wants to come take a look they are trying to fix the car from what I gather between our conversations! Very aggravated. Anyone know of good body shops in north nj Paramus area?

 

Take it to directly to the dealer or better yet, a very well renowned body shop that works on classics or exotics. They will quote you the highest and get a better chance of a total. The airbags need a signal from 3 separate locations in the car with pretty high amounts of G ratings to go off so, it may not be as bad as it looks, although I agree, you'll need at least everything you listed...

 

the insurance co will have a list of suggested companies they trust. wat happens if you dont pick those or pick a shop thats super expensive? will the insurance co not cover the overage charges or the work?

 

Unfortunately, if you don't "know" of a good body shop, it's tough to say for anybody not from the area. Mine took a LONG time but... I took mine to an old high-school buddy who's dad is my dad's best friend. He restores cars, works on expensive cars and has a stable of show-quality cars of his own. He's a car-guy and knows I expected the best. He's slow because... he's the *only* one that actually works on the car. He has part-time help for other "shop" tasks but... There's no (recent) Vo-Tech grads (though he is) doing the actual repair work. It's all him. He was straight up with me too as the fender was very marginal. He spent a long time on it trying to keep the original fender but... couldn't get it just right without a tiny bit of filler. He "ate" his time, told the insurance he needed a new, OEM fender and went that route. Didn't charge me extra even though he lost money on his time.

As far as the dealer goes... it would be good to determine if it's totaled or not. My dealer has a shop that acts as the body shop for that whole dealer "family", all the brands they sell, which is about all of them. They're not known to be that great. Bobby Rahal (MB, Volvo, Jag, etc. here) doesn't have their own shop but they refer to a very respected and reputable shop so... the dealer thing, to me, is a mixed bag but... they would hopefully be good at the totaled aspect of it, if not the actual repair.

Side note... enthusiasts, especially of classics will like this... My dad's best friend (this is where my buddy got the car gene) bought three, almost identical, 72 (I think) Chevelles, way back in the day. Drove each of them occasionally. Even bought new, in the 70s, fenders, doors, hoods, trunks, etc. and stockpiled them. He gave each of his three boys one of the cars but knowing "boys" and cars, held onto the spares, just in case. One of them did end up needing them... My buddy, probably against his better judgement, tubbed and caged his... big block, blower... It does like 7s 1/4s at like 260 or something crazy like that. No longer "original" obviously.

 

Here's the deal- rented my car through and app called Turo. You rent your car to strangers. Long story short they have their own insurance policy. So basically I'm fighting with them who I don't have anything to do with.

 

OMG!!!! Good luck, really keep us up on this outcome.

 

Damn no offense but Wat a dumb thing to do.

 

Tell me about it.

 

UPDATE: as per insurance the Initial estimate is $8900. This is based on what they saw. Insurance is concerned that both fenders are pushed into the doors. They are not sure what's going on underneath the mess. Next step is possibly taking it to a shop for a tare down to get better numbers. My car is a 11 with 91k. Any ideas on what it's worth I've gotten lot of different feedback on that

 

I personally wouldn't let a tear down begin. A visual inspection and estimate at a body shop of my choice, yes. That amount of damage there will be a supplement once repairs begin. More down time waiting for adjuster to approve that. As far as value of your car at time of loss. Check Auto trader for ads in your region to establish current asking prices. Also, Kbb, Edmund's, and Nada will pretty much let you know the value of it based on mileage and condition. Don't expect to get there full retail numbers, use private party, high trade in numbers from all three sites and figure a average. With the $8900 figure you all ready have I would think damage is close enough for a total loss. Just thoughts from a former body shop owner and someone who has dealt with insurance companies for a long time, personal claims and in the business. Again hope it works out for you and keep updates coming.

 

Thats weird. I just heard about the Turo thing for the first time today and then read this. This exact situation was thefirst thing that came to my head. Do they pay a good amount to rent it?

 

Theres an insurance scam where u pay for insurance for like 6 mos or year then get the card then cancel. Don't this rental thing check they actually have insurance?

 

Not to scare ya but, as an insurance agent, they could drop you after this claim since you weren't paying the rates for a commercial use auto and leave a bad review on your Evidence of Insurance report. Every company is different but most underwriters would agree. If the next insurance company you go with requests an evidence of insurance, you'll be SOL man, your rates are going to sky rocket for a few years. I wish you the best of luck and hope all of this just gets fixed and things go on like nothing happened.