I guess I'm in the club

['96explorereddiebauer]

Well guys, I've heard sooooooo many accident stories this past few months, I guess it's my turn now.

It happened a couple of days ago. I was driving minding my own business and all of a sudden, my rear end was getting out of control. Then I looked in the right side mirror, a car sideswiped me. She was driving a '95 or a '96 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight. The damage to my rig was minor so was hers because we were going fairly slow (around 30, 35 mph) so I'm very glad since I'm in Raleigh and my home is 2 hours away. The only damage I have was a dent about 4 inches long on my right side door. The paint is scuffed but can be buffed out and she scratched off the paint at the very edge of the rear fender flare. Her car's mirror is gone.

Here's the funny stuff. She told me that she has been in a few traffic accidents and she doesn't want me to contact the police about this so I don't have to report it to the insurance because her insurance is already sky high. She said that she would write and sign an agreement that she would promise to pay out of her pocket and she was trying to convince me that her signature on that note will be valid if I ever sue her. I was like "bullcrap!" (of course not saying it out loud) so I went ahead and called the cops.

The cop came and got the accident report done (thanks guys for sharing the horrific stories about not reporting to the police) and we came to an agreement that I do not have to report to her insurance (her fault). But if she doesn't pay, I can report it to her insurance. So I'm gonna go get a few estimates to get my door and the fender flare repaired and then let her know how much so she can pay me to have the things repaired. Alright...thanks for reading this far. I'll post a few pics of the damage later this week.

P.S.: Do you guys think she could cause my rear wheel to be out of alignment or possibly bend my axle?? From the last day or two of driving, I didn't notice anything weird in the driveline but I can feel a little bit of vibration from the rear. So what's your take on this???

 

[boominXplorer]

She could of took a chumk of rubber of a part of your tire when she hit you. Also she could of knocked a wheel weight off. i dont think she could of damaged anything major but i would still think you need to take it too a shop and get it all inspected just to be safe.

 

[Redrig]

that sucks man. i think she could have bent your wheel or more likely knocked off a wheel weight. good luck.

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

That's what I thought at first but the wheel weight is still on there. I looked into it closer but didn't see any damage to my rim nor the tire so it could just be me. I'm a very weird guy...

 

[Premier]

Take it to a shop to have it checked out, then just add that to the estimate you get from a body shop.

 

[boominXplorer]

What about the areodynamics w/the dent? hey just a thought. Just take it to a shop

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

Phew!! You guys wouldn't believe how much it'll cost to fix a little dent and to refinish the fender flare.

I shopped around and went to the most reputable body shops. One wanted $770, and another one wanted $580. The cheapest estimate was $480.

That includes taking the dent out of the door, refinish the whole door, blend the paint in the rear quarter panel because the damage was toward the edge of the door, and refinish the fender flare.

Then I went to a paintless dent repair place and they only wanted $125 to repair the dent.

Heh...for that price, touch up paint is my friend and the extra money she'll send me will be my "back to school" present.

 

[udmsvt]

i certainly believe it! the pic below cost $730!

 

[Fish Man]

yea i definatly believe it. i had an identical accident to you (except it was non moving) identical damage. $915

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

Oh man...I totally forgot about this thread. But anyways...my insurance gave me $545 estimate to fix the little dent and repaint and blend the surrounding areas. But I didn't even bother taking it in to fix it because I don't have the time to do it. I'll eventually take it to a paintless dent removal place and let them take it out. But here're the pics:

Before:

The scratch and the dent on my door.

After:

Like I said, I didn't even bother taking it in. You can barely notice the dent unless you're in the right lighting level. I used my PC and some SMR to take the scratch out. I was very surprised that I could take it out so I'm very happy with the results!!

Just for posting sake. Some updated pics of my rig...not much new but it's clean!

Another one:

I love the reflection on that thing!!!

Tell me what you guys think.

 

[Alec]

It's always nice getting $500 for someone's stupidity

I'm glad you called the police. Doing so just gets a record of the incident and doesn't necessarily impart any undo stuff to the responsible party, it's just covering your ass.

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

Yeah...I'm glad I called the cops too. Now, the insurance company can't even contact the person that ran into me so I hope it's not a big problem because I'm still waiting for my deductible.

 

[hydroxy]

My neighbor was driving a volvo, on her way to pickup her kid from daycare. She was late as usual. Someone rearended her, she got out, looked at the damage - just a little body damage, she just said forget it and left because she wanted to pick up her kid. Well... the little "bend" in the body panel was just part of the damage. It turned out to have a cracked diff(dont ask me how), messed up drivetrain, which eventually needed the whole tranny and rear axle replaced. If someone hits you, get their info!!! call the cops!!! dont let it go just because it doesn't look big.

Because she wanted to pick up her kid, it cost her $2.5k.

-Patrick

 

[Fish Man]

i think everyone here thinks of their truck as another one of their kids. if my big kid is hurt ill let my real kid wait for a few minutes