rear ended - the fun begins

[look 171]

Todd, I was rear ended about 6 weeks ago near the 405 and Venice Blvd. Scuff and a couple of scratches on the bumper. Her plastic grill was broken. The woman claimed it was road rage on my part and her goddamn insurance claims guy completely blew me off saying they would not pay to fix my damage and that they will come collect from my insurance co. which is AAA. I made a claim with AAA and I'm still waiting to hear from them. AAA agrees to pay and fix my damage, but I am afraid that they will just let it go and not fight it due to the low dollar damage at only 850 dollars and make that my fault.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I may have missed it, but what about a police report? If you called the police they would have made a finding of fault which would be documented in the report. That makes any insurance company argument null. I was rear ended last month in a rental car while visiting FL, I insisted on a police report even though the damage was a few scuffs on the rear bumper. It was made easier by the nice young military guy and his passenger that hit me, both were extremely apologetic and honestly admitted fault to the police officer. Sad that honesty stands out in our society today.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The PD won't even bother responding unless there are serious injuries or a threat to the public (such as a 951 catching on fire, not that I'd know anything about that...) - at least that's what I was told at the time. AFAIK you should be able to file a report at the station on your own, and unless it has changed you're required to file an SR1 form with the DMV (if the other party doesn't it's potential ammo for you...) see here:

http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/forms/sr/sr1.pdf

Best of luck.

[KaptKaos]

sorry to hear this. Get treatment. Don't settle anything until you're sure you're ok.

[Rick Lee]

I was rear ended by a State Farm insured. SF was great and made me whole with minimal hassle, gave me a rental car too. Damage to my E46 was $7k and it never showed on Carfax, which an appraiser told me would make it hard to claim diminished value.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by nostatic

My understanding is that in CA a rear ending is pretty much a no-brainer wrt fault. I have no doubt the driver may change his tune, but the front of his car into the back of mine is pretty hard to argue.

So for those saying to go to the ER, is it just for documentation purposes? My chiro did a neuro exam on both of us.

IMO Going to the ER is a scam move, you're better than that.

But the way I read it, you have a new CR-V with 500 miles on it and you were planning to sell it to carmax in a couple months?

Or do you have a new car and the CR-V is the old car that you were getting ready to dispose of?

[nostatic]

Bought new CR-V, didn't like it, ordered BMW, will sell CR-V when the BMW is delivered, lose money in process.

At my age, life is too short to drive a car I don't like. I can make more money, I can't make more time.

[LeeH]

Was there damage beyond the bumper cover and bumper?

[speeder]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Bought new CR-V, didn't like it, ordered BMW, will sell CR-V when the BMW is delivered, lose money in process.

At my age, life is too short to drive a car I don't like. I can make more money, I can't make more time.

It doesn't require your time to make $$?

This sounds like an expensive haircut. Did you run into the world's greatest Honda salesman or something? Are you sure this won't happen again with the BMW?

[nostatic]

Actually it doesn't look like it. All the seams still line up on the rear quarter panel and hatch. Hatch functions fine. The tip of the exhaust is a little tweaked. There is an undertray at the rear that has pushed down/out where the bumper cover was hit and one of the reflectors inset in the bumpercover was popped out. It might end up being relatively minor but I'm going to insist on OEM parts being used.

I'm moving a little slow, my wife seems ok. Could be a lot worse. btdt.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by look 171

Todd, I was rear ended about 6 weeks ago near the 405 and Venice Blvd. Scuff and a couple of scratches on the bumper. Her plastic grill was broken. The woman claimed it was road rage on my part and her goddamn insurance claims guy completely blew me off saying they would not pay to fix my damage and that they will come collect from my insurance co. which is AAA. I made a claim with AAA and I'm still waiting to hear from them. AAA agrees to pay and fix my damage, but I am afraid that they will just let it go and not fight it due to the low dollar damage at only 850 dollars and make that my fault.

You get in a lot of weird situations, that's for sure. This board is an endless source of interesting data on the human experience that I will never actually see down here on earth.

[speeder]

Remind me never to buy an "almost new" car at CarMax.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by speeder

It doesn't require your time to make $$?

This sounds like an expensive haircut. Did you run into the world's greatest Honda salesman or something? Are you sure this won't happen again with the BMW?

No, just misjudged my psyche. I thought I wanted to drive an appliance that was all function over (per)form(ance). The CR-V is actually a great ride - but I'm not ready to go there. Plus I swear the seats are designed for 250+ lb people. I slide all over in them. A test drive in the X1 was the nail in the coffin. My gear fits in the back and it is a hoot to drive. The AWD version has the hydraulic power steering which is a vanishing breed and reminds me of the 911 (although it weighs about 1K lbs more)

It might happen with the BMW too. Gotta do the experiment. This will be the first BMW I've owned and the first car I've leased. Maybe it'll be great (I've been averaging 2 years/vehicle since 2005). Maybe it'll suck. Life is short - time to find out.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by nostatic

My wife heard him apologize. I suppose he could say it is our word against his (and his passenger) but given the location (at the base of a hill) it would be a stretch to say I went in reverse uphill at a stoplight with enough force to crunch his front end that way.

No sense worrying about what'll happen. I'll have documentation from my doc from today and the damage on the car speaks for itself.

My truck was at a stoplight when it got violated by an Accord- then the owner backpedaled when she made her statement to the ins. co and said my buddy "Backed into her"-

he was stopped waiting for a red...

Never got paid on it. Had to fix it out of pocket. Just an FYI.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Actually it doesn't look like it. All the seams still line up on the rear quarter panel and hatch. Hatch functions fine. The tip of the exhaust is a little tweaked. There is an undertray at the rear that has pushed down/out where the bumper cover was hit and one of the reflectors inset in the bumpercover was popped out. It might end up being relatively minor but I'm going to insist on OEM parts being used.

I'm moving a little slow, my wife seems ok. Could be a lot worse. btdt.

I do hope that you weren't actually hurt. I've been rear-ended as a passenger in a PU truck by another truck pulling a trailer on the freeway once years ago, he hit us so hard that our heads bounced off the rear window hard enough to break it. No injuries to myself or driver...I've never understood how so many people seem to get debilitating injuries from minor traffic accidents but I guess it happens(?)

The damage to your car sounds quite minor, I'd just make sure to take it somewhere really good.

[gatotom]

I am glad you went to the Chiro. if he has been around the neighborhood long enough he can advise you what to do for your benefit.

PIP protection is a must for anyone having a car because that is the insurance that will pay for your accident, NOT the other person's insurance UNTIL there is a final settlement. If you do not have PIP then all care is out of your pocket until final settlement.

Your car damages is pretty cut and dry, 3 estimates on repair will usually get the lowest bidder. On pain and suffering from the injuries the old formula was always 4 to 1, meaning if you had 1,000.00 medical expense you would get 4,000.00 pain and suffering settlement, case closed. Today since costs are much higher the typical settlement is about 2-1. PIP also has limits, typically a 10,000.00 cap thou you can buy 20k or 30k which in todays world is a much better deal. You can spent 10k at a hospital just getting checked out with MRI and tests let alone any care.

I personally will not take any car accident claim that is insured by Progressive, enough said.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by Zeke

So, my best advice to you is go to the ER now. If not, then get into a doctor's office post haste. If you let this slide for even a day, you will get fooked over.

THIS - big time. I'm lucky to have never been in the situation but I know of many who have. AND if you do, absolutely follow the doctors advice including using any prescribed medicine that pertains to the accident. Good luck and hope nothing escalates.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by gatotom

I personally will not take any car accident claim that is insured by Progressive, enough said.

Hmm. I just added onto them as my wife was with them. I had Geico and was up for renewal and we decided to finally merge policies. If they suck that hard we can swap after this is over, though now I will have an accident on my record.

It's always something...

[Rick Lee]

Get the CRV fixed and sell it on CL in AZ - no sales tax on private party vehicle sales and cars that new are usually sold only by dealers, where the 9.25% sales tax makes it real expensive. Can't do worse here than Carmax there will give you.

[fingpilot]

WIFE???? You got married???