Heart Break

[realgren]

I was driving the 911 to work today which doesn't happen to often. I was 3 minutes from work and in the final turning lane of my commute. That's when a work van decided it would be a good idea to get in my lane as quickly as possible without signaling. In order to avoid it, I hit the brakes and dodged the van. Sadly, I hit the curb on the right side of the car going 40-45mph.
The car flew up in the air and luckily landed back on the street rather than on the curb. The curb is lined with trees.

The damage?
The front wheel looked pushed in and back into the fender.
The back wheel looks like it's pushed back a little.
The deck lid looks like it moved over 1/2" to the passenger side.
The steering wheel was facing 90 degrees to the right when the car came to a rest.
The passenger door opens and closes, but it seemed a little harder to close than before. not sure.







I'm crushed. It's my baby. I'm making parts for these cars. I love them.

So Progressive towed the car. Now I have to wait until their verdict which won't come until the middle of next week.

The tow guy said he's seen such damage before with his 30 years of experience, and the cars are usually totaled. I hope he's wrong.

I remember some of you guys getting in accidents. What happens if the car is called "totaled" by the insurance? Did you fix it? Did you have to fight to get the valuation of the car correct with the insurance companies?

[Jeff NJ]

Oh man, that sucks. Sorry to hear. Hopefully the damage isn't serious.

I am fairly certain that I would have strangled the van driver.

[nycplumber]

Omg

[realgren]

In typical LA fashion, the van didn't stop.

[Nine9six]

Originally Posted by realgren

In typical LA fashion, the van didn't stop.

...nor anyone else that may have witnessed the accident and chased down the van to take a pic of the license plate.

Sorry about your accident.

[Steve@Rennsport]

I would strongly recommend putting your car on a Celette to see if the chassis is bent.

You may simply have bent control arms and possibly a rear trailing arm, however you really don't know until its on the Celette so you can check measurements on the suspension's pickup points.

[realgren]

You're right Steve.

The car is in the insurance's hands now. Hoping they value the car to market price

Originally Posted by Steve@Rennsport

I would strongly recommend putting your car on a Celette to see if the chassis is bent.

You may simply have bent control arms and possibly a rear trailing arm, however you really don't know until its on the Celette so you can check measurements on the suspension's pickup points.

[porschenut]

If they total it, they give you a check for the value of the car (guess who gets to determine the value) and you say goodbye to your baby. In this case, you may have the option of buying the car back from them, which will require you to retitle it as salvage.

Regarding value, it's almost certainly going to be a battle with the insurance company. They'll lowball you first and hope you take it. Don't agree to it. You may ultimately need a lawyer to get them to pay you what it was really worth. But hopefully, they won't total it and they'll just pay for the repairs.

[mjshira]

I live in Hermosa also, would be happy to help. I'm back from vacation Sunday. Drop me a PM

[gamin]

This is why an agreed value policy is a good idea. No hassle with the insurance company about how much the car is worth. I had an engine fire. The only good thing to come out of that was the experience with Hagerty and the agreed value policy. No hassle. Handled everything very professionally.

[Jonny042]

I've been putting off switching to Hagerty for two of my cars. I really should fix that.

To the OP - Sorry about this, yes it sucks. Yes, parts of your car are bent, but they'll bend back - a decent body shop with a Celette will pull it back straight again. Suspension parts are easy to replace.

Even if you come out the other side of it with a salvage title, there's an excuse to keep the car forever!!!

[wayner]

I'd try to push for getting it repaired without having to title it as salvaged

[Joe Bob]

Another vote for the Garmin GPS/dash cam.....I have two, along with a rear view cam in my cabriolet....

Good luck on the fix.

[Cairo94507]

Sorry to hear and see of your experience. Start gathering facts and figures now re the value of these cars. I just went through this on an '06 Boxster S that was totaled when a teenager took it out head-on while texting. I fought for almost 2 months to reach a fair valuation of the '06, which ended up being about 40% more than they were offering.

I used all of the car classified sections I could think of, Panorama, Excellence, etc., to compile sale data to argue the point with the insurance company. I also compiled all receipts for work done to the car since purchase as a way of proving its condition. Uphill battle but in the end we got what we felt was a fair valuation.

On my '71 Six, undergoing restoration, it will not leave the shop w/o having an agreed upon value in the event of an accident, earthquake, fire, freakin' zit-faced teenager, etc. I definitely do not want to have to go through the dance of proving its value should the unthinkable happen. Good luck.

[86 ssinit]

Wow that sucks!!! Sorry to see this. Car still looks great looks like the rims are shot and hopefully its just parts not totaled.. Do you have an agreed value? Is the car at your body shop or the tow trucks company? If it's the tow trucks remove it to yours asap. A tow truck driver telling you your 80s Porsche is totaled before its been on a lift would scare he hell out of me.
Being that the van never actually hit him the vans insurance company would never pay. If you had a dash cam the van driver may only get a reckless driver ticket. But to prove that you would have had to get the driver in the video.

[osidak]

Happened to me years ago driving my wife's car.

I was in the left lane and had a van swerve into my lane. I avoided the van but ended up in the median (very wet grass sloping downward) I ended up in one of those wire barriers and one of the posts stopped me.

A state trooper was two cars behind me and saw the entire thing.

Trooper and his supervisor got out and helped me get the car untangled - I asked why they weren't stopping the guy that just caused this. The supervisor replied he didn't make contact with you. So it was a single car accident.

He told the trooper to write me a ticket for the damage done to state property and walked away. Apparently the trooper didn't agree cause when his supervisor walked away he handed me a ticket with a big "X" on it and told me to have a nice day.

Did about $2000 in damage to her car

[Tony V]

Years ago, I experienced something similar.
This was in a '75 Alfa Spider.
The insurance co told me the repairs exceeded the value of the car and it would be totaled.
It was my wife's baby and I asked them the $$ cutoff for totaling it.
They gave me a number and I told them I would fix it for that amount or less.
I sourced used parts, did a lot of work myself and brought the repair in at their figure. No salvage title and a happy wife. Even made a couple of bucks!

[RSBob]

Sorry to the OP, but as others have advised, find a shop with a Celette bench, where many frames are restored.

This is unfortunately another argument for getting agreed value insurance unless your car is your dd.

You may want to solicit opinions here for the best shops in your area with a Celette.

[realgren]

Originally Posted by Tony V

Years ago, I experienced something similar.
This was in a '75 Alfa Spider.
The insurance co told me the repairs exceeded the value of the car and it would be totaled.
It was my wife's baby and I asked them the $$ cutoff for totaling it.
They gave me a number and I told them I would fix it for that amount or less.
I sourced used parts, did a lot of work myself and brought the repair in at their figure. No salvage title and a happy wife. Even made a couple of bucks!

Good advise Tony. Thanks!

[realgren]

That's what I remember reading from other members.
I'll have to make sure to gather the values of our cars in order to build a case. The insurance company would be more inclined to fix a $40k car than a $20k car.

I'll find out mid next week their verdict

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

Sorry to hear and see of your experience. Start gathering facts and figures now re the value of these cars. I just went through this on an '06 Boxster S that was totaled when a teenager took it out head-on while texting. I fought for almost 2 months to reach a fair valuation of the '06, which ended up being about 40% more than they were offering.

I used all of the car classified sections I could think of, Panorama, Excellence, etc., to compile sale data to argue the point with the insurance company. I also compiled all receipts for work done to the car since purchase as a way of proving its condition. Uphill battle but in the end we got what we felt was a fair valuation.

On my '71 Six, undergoing restoration, it will not leave the shop w/o having an agreed upon value in the event of an accident, earthquake, fire, freakin' zit-faced teenager, etc. I definitely do not want to have to go through the dance of proving its value should the unthinkable happen. Good luck.