Got side swiped last night.......

[Brybo86]

New years day 8:15pm get a knock on the front door. Lady at the door says she is really sorry but they hit my parked car and knocked my side mirror off.
I was just thankful that they didn't just drive away....!!

Broke the glass and the plastic motor assembly inside, glass was all over the hood.

Upon a quick inspection with a flashlight there was MUCH more damage... :thumbdn:

.....

Got the right rear door with a big scratches all the way through the paint.

Right rear quarter panel got some big dents and chips taken out of the paint all the way to metal...
Also the trim that goes around the wheel well is all bent up....

Rim is all scuffed down to shiny new metal at the bottom....

more of the quarter panel and bumper even got scraped...

So to continue the story after inspecting the damage the lady kept saying she shouldn't have let her son drive. but neither he nor the car was anywhere to be seen?
I told her that given the damage to my car I was sure her car was damaged much more than just the mirror as well. We walked over to house and sure enough her passenger door would only open about 2 inches before binding....
She was very cooperative and gave me all of her insurance info. But then her husband showed up and started commenting that my car was parked "really far from the edge of the road...?? No, sorry. And even if it was you hit a parked car regardless of where it was in the road....

At this point I told her that I was going to call the police to document the situation. Husband seemed a little annoyed with me after that.

I felt that I needed to protect myself since it was "just" her word vs mine. And a week from now she could just deny hitting my car(not that she would actually do this as we have met before and she lives a block down the street)

So the police came and were a little surprised that the car and lady were not still at the scene. We talked for awhile and then they went to talk to her. I didn't mention to them that she said her son was driving but thought she could decide who was driving. I went with them to her house and she came out with a what looked like 14yr old kid. She was very nice and cooperative with the cops.

I spent the rest of the night on the phone with insurance and taping my mirror back on since I had to drive the car back home this morning from the cabin....

Well see how much insurance decides on... I'm thinking they might total it just because of the quarter panel/mirror/door/bumper.

Hope you guys all had a less eventful New Years Day than I did....

 

[ls1mike]

That sucks. What do you want the insurance to do with it?

 

[bsmithwins]

Anyone willing to place odds that the son was drunk?

BSW

 

[hypervish]

What a shame, hopefully they don't total it out. The LS400 is a gem!

 

[Nick1994]

It might get totaled. I'd buy the car back from the insurance for the $300 or whatever it is and keep the rest of the money.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Buff it out !

Kidding.

A good body shop may charge upward $2-3k to do proper repair all the doors and panels and mirror.

 

[philipp10]

Good you called the police. That husband was itching to get out of it....what a jerk.

 

[901Memphis]

Yeah probably gonna total it and you'll have to buy it from them and use whatevers left to fix it the best you can

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Originally Posted By: bsmithwins
Anyone willing to place odds that the son was drunk?

BSW
He(she) left the scene of an accident for starters. And, yes, the son was probably intoxicated. From experience I can tell you this. Never move the vehicle until police arrive. My wife was hit by a 20 year old kid on a bicycle who came off the sidewalk and hit the right from wheel and ended up on the hood. Kid then left pushing bicycle. Wife pulled across street and parked to get out of traffic. Kid never came back and wife drove on home. Kid went down to emergency room and told police wife had hit him. Imprint of bicycle tire tread was clearly visible on our vehicle's right front tire. Police showed up at our house and wrote my wife citation for leaving scene of accident. Enter attorney. Suggested a plea of no contest. Good samaritan who happened to witness accident came forth and told judge what really happened. Kid had left town and court issued warrant for his arrest. Never leave the scene or move vehicle until instructed to do so. And our insurance company was going to pay the emergency room charges for that little a** #@%*"s claim until receiving court documents. So along.insurance company after being paid for thirty five years of coverage.

 

[KGMtech]

The kid might plead affluenza...

Sucks for you, I hope this was the only thing the kid hit.

 

[Brybo86]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
That sucks. What do you want the insurance to do with it?
I think they will total it.
I would get a new/used mirror from junkyard/ebay

and then probably buff the door as best I can

and use a little bondo/touch up paint to the big chips in the paint(not sure how long that will hold off the Midwest rust from forming???

I drove it home this morning at 80mph all seemed well structurally?
I trans shifts great and I changed the timing belt/WP/starter/thermostat etc all last year so it should be good to go many years mechanically.

Originally Posted By: bsmithwins
Anyone willing to place odds that the son was drunk?

BSW

That's what I was initially thinking since the was not at the scene at the beginning. Also when the husband showed up he smelled of ETOH but I wouldn't say he was acting obviously drunk.
After seeing the kids young age and that fact that the mother bought him out to the police, I doubt he was drunk.
I think he was texting or eating the pizza he just picked up down the road and wasn't paying attention. After he hit my car he drove home freaked out and when mom found out she came back to my house without him or the car.
maybe he didn't have a license/permit, too young? but then why would the mother bring him out? why not just say she was the one driving?
Or maybe he is a huge punk and the mom wants him in a Juvenile detention center asap.

 

[Jarlaxle]

You have any alloy-wheel repair guys in the area?

I bet a good bodyman could fix just about everything else with no filler.

 

[901Memphis]

Buy a reconditioned wheel and save that for a full size spare

 

[Gasbuggy]

I could buff out 80% of that in 20 minutes. Make sure you work with the insurance guy, you have some control here. I would not let them total the car out if it were mine. I've had adjusters write up to the threshold so I get a check and keep a clean title. Saves them money anyway. If you get a stickler that wants to total it, get an estimate from a shop and have them write it lower. Or have the adjuster deduct some damage, say the wheel was scuffed or skip the bumper/mirror whatever.

 

[Brybo86]

the thing is I bought the car for $3000 last year. It is in mint condition, no rust. I am all up to date with the maintenance. I couldn't replace it for $3k if I wanted to, no way. Everything for 3k on craigslist is a rust bucket. There is a mint condition 95 ls400 on craigslist Chicago HERE that has 290K miles(110k more than mine) for $7900!!!
ad says it has an extra set of rims/tires
recent cat replacement
ball joints
and shocks
which I have not done or feel that I need to do.

 

[SrDriver]

I have learned over the years not to park along the street after having something like this happen.

No snow here and a car got hit just a few days along the road near us a car got rear ended with major damage. . 2nd time a car near us was hit.

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Originally Posted By: bsmithwins
Anyone willing to place odds that the son was drunk?

BSW
He(she) left the scene of an accident for starters. And, yes, the son was probably intoxicated. From experience I can tell you this. Never move the vehicle until police arrive. My wife was hit by a 20 year old kid on a bicycle who came off the sidewalk and hit the right from wheel and ended up on the hood. Kid then left pushing bicycle. Wife pulled across street and parked to get out of traffic. Kid never came back and wife drove on home. Kid went down to emergency room and told police wife had hit him. Imprint of bicycle tire tread was clearly visible on our vehicle's right front tire. Police showed up at our house and wrote my wife citation for leaving scene of accident. Enter attorney. Suggested a plea of no contest. Good samaritan who happened to witness accident came forth and told judge what really happened. Kid had left town and court issued warrant for his arrest. Never leave the scene or move vehicle until instructed to do so. And our insurance company was going to pay the emergency room charges for that little a** #@%*"s claim until receiving court documents. So along.insurance company after being paid for thirty five years of coverage.


There were no injuries and she exchanged information. Not leaving the scene
imo.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
You have any alloy-wheel repair guys in the area?

I bet a good bodyman could fix just about everything else with no filler.


Body filler is just how modern cars are fixed. The sheet metal is very thin, so you're not going to metal-finish it like in the olden days. Modern cars also have a lot less access to the back sides of panels, which severely limits your metalworking.

If you have a dent, you get it very close and then you put some filler. If you replace a quarter panel, you weld the new one on and you cover the welds with filler. If you buy a brand-spanking-new door from the dealer, odds are it has a ding in it already; fix it and put a little filler.

Good bodyshops continually invest in training and equipment to stay on top of the latest aluminum, ultra high-strength steel, carbon fiber, and whatever else is coming down the line. Due to insurance company price-fixing, bodyshops get paid less per labor hour than any other industry besides babysitting. And then everyone just says "You're not gonna use any Bondo, right?"

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: Gasbuggy
I could buff out 80% of that in 20 minutes. Make sure you work with the insurance guy, you have some control here. I would not let them total the car out if it were mine. I've had adjusters write up to the threshold so I get a check and keep a clean title. Saves them money anyway. If you get a stickler that wants to total it, get an estimate from a shop and have them write it lower. Or have the adjuster deduct some damage, say the wheel was scuffed or skip the bumper/mirror whatever.


I have a tendency to agree w/gasbuggy/that isn't as bad as it looks. If you're not so worried about the looks of the car, the majority of that will buff out w/coarse compound. I can't tell from the pics if the metal is dented other than around the dog leg.

 

[69GTX]

I had similar damage to my car last summer from a parking lot sideswipe hit and run. They got both left side doors down the center in a 5ft long 6" scrape... and a deep 6" long dent in the passenger lower door. No mirror or wheel damage though. First quote from the shop my insurance company directed me too was $750. I then took it to a shop I've known for 20 years and they laughed at that quote which left out a number of steps. It ended up being $1325 which the insurance co. paid. And other than the over-spray under the rocker panel I wouldn't have known they did the work. You make it a point to park away from other cars and they still go out of their way to find you.