cygnusx1

Took these photos tonight at Joe's garage. GOT TIRE?

Here are damage photos from the body shop. http://dcerutti.smugmug.com/gallery/1749234_5BA2m#602812980_4H2pF Hatch/Quarter Panel Alignment....FRAME DAMAGE? ORIGINAL: ACCIDENT:

The body shop took pics after they dropped the tank and took out the rear interior/exterior panels. The only possible unibody damage that I noticed was a slight vertical misalignment of the right hatch seam. The quarter panel seems about 1/16" lower than the hatch line. I have before and after photos. The doors look perfect and there is no visible damage/warp to the rear quarter or sail panels. Pics uploading... BTW...does anyone remember my rodent battle from 2 years ago? Well I figured that I was blowing brake light/hazard fuses because the mice chewed wires somewhere. I was RIGHT. Those mice were NASTY.

Great. Let me see how much Hagerty can chew down the price on the body shop it's at now. If they can't get it down low enough. I will have your buddy send a truck over to pick it up.

I signed up with an agreed value of $8000 about 10 years ago. I have made improvements to the car and the values have gone up a little. I still think I could sell it for 10-11K which is not that much higher than the 8k it's insured for. It's misleading because you need to go 30-40% over what the car would sell for if you want no hassle coverage.

Hagerty is a business. They look for the cheapest way out. Can't really blame them. They are doing whatever they can. So far I have only good things to say about Hagerty. I only wish they had told me to "review" the value of my car once and a while to adjust my policy, but that's really my fault. Jasper, I will pull the car out of there and get estimates out the wazoo until we get to the number that works. Keep that guys info handy, I many need to send the car over to him.

More drama and some lessons for handling your insurance. The latest repair quote dropped from $8700 to $6200. My car is insured for an agreed value of $8000. With the first quote the insurance company would total the car instantly. With the second quote, it is very close to being totalled also. Hagerty said quite frankly that the Z is in great shape and would cost me about $5k to $6K to buy it back from them if they were to total it. So they would hand me $8000, and sell the car back to me for $5000-$6000. Then I would be left with about $2-$3K to fix it and I would have a salvaged title. Not good. I still don't know what is going to happen but I will not let them total the car. I will try to get the repair cost down to where they won't total it, by negotiating with the bodyshop or finding inferior body shops. It really sucks. The lesson here is, if your car is worth $10K, you should insure it for an agreed value at least 30%-40% more than that to cover the BS. ...Not sleeping well here not knowing the fate of my Z car.

I am betting that this guy can match paints. I saw some of his work and it was awesome. Fingers crossed.

I am looking at this as transparent. My car was nice, it was hit, it will come out nicer than before. No cost out of pocket to me. We also spoke about fixing the bubbles that formed on the bottoms of the doors while the car is there, and he was also talking about respraying the roof where there is a metallic mix fault in the previous paint, and the hairline cracks where the quarters meet the roof. WinkWink. In any case. The car gets improved at no cost to me. I really can't ask for more. Nor do I want to. The front end paint is still great asides from the "elbow waves" on the fenders. They don't bother me much. They are a hint of all the work I have done under the hood. I just want it fixed correctly, and quickly. I am not going to try to scavenge cash out of the deal. I am anxiously waiting for the green light from Hagerty right now.

Shot yesterday morning. 400mm. Canon/Sigma

I spoke to the shop this morning and he said that he is going to reduce his labor rate and re-use some parts that he was going to replace. This will bring the job down to around $6k which should fit under my $8K limit. I reviewed the quote and it all seems fair. He is very throrough. It is really expensive when you start repairing these cars the right way. The right rear rail/quarter panel is slightly pushed down, evidenced by the poor alignment on the hatch. He will be straightening the unibody and probably re-painting the right rear and the rear. It will probably get into the roofline as well. Then he has to straighten the rear sub floor area and the valence and paint top/bottom inside/outside of it. Fabricate rear bumper brackets for the 240 bumpers, new rear bumper, a couple of trim parts, hardware... As far as insurance culpability, he said that with these cars, if you go through a "standard" insurance company (the guy that hit me), they will value the car at a blue-book value and you will need to fight it out to get the car repaired. He said that I am doing the right thing by going through my classic car insurance. They appreciate the true values of the cars and are much more likely to pay out for a proper repair and work things out. I made the mistake of only carrying an $8K policy. He recommends about $15-$18K for my car. Lesson learned. He said that if the car was hit just a little harder, it would have to be totalled due to my policy limit. I hope this helps some of you out. My fingers are crossed that Hagerty accepts the new quote and the repairs proceed.

I guess I'll have to call on some of my officer friends to get some advice on convicting this guy and writing an accurate report of the accident.

The plot thickens. I brought it to probably the best restoration place in this area. I figured he would do it right and quote it on the high side for a comprehensive repair. I have Hagerty coverage of $8000 for the car. I was guessing around $2 to $3K for the repair. I just got the formal repair quote from the shop and they copied Hagerty on the email. Are you sitting down? $8779.95 Hagerty left me a message saying that they were unsure of what the deal is and that they need to talk to me. I left a message for the body shop telling them that the estimate was over my coverage. I am living on pins and needles now. I dont want this car totalled. I dont want to get a cheap fix. I dont want to spend $9K to fix it. The shop had to take the rear of the car apart to get a good quote so it is not driveable right now. Another question mark....why is my insurance limit coming into play if I was rear ended by an insured driver? Someone mix me a drink and give me some good news! I know I should get other quotes but the car is now in the resto shop with lots of parts removed. I looked at the quote in detail and it seems like about $2K might be able to be pulled out of the job to cheapen it. Argggghhhh.

I can't stop eating goldfish! Does that beer go well with the fishies?

This is the guy that will probably be fixing up my Z since it was rear ended. He has a talk show here. http://www.modavox.com/worldtalkradio/vepisode.aspx?aid=39597

Lipo's rule! They are bricks of power. To give you non-lipo guys a reference. A lipo battery a bit larger than a cigarrette pack can crank over and start your real car. Nice work. http://www.thunderpowerrc.com/html/extreme-V2.html I use 3cell 2200mah "Thunder Powers - Pro Power 30C" in my planes.

Is that 9/10ths or 10/10ths? He was working it.

Making the best of soggy weather and no Z car. Playing around with my Sigma 80-400 lens on the 20D.

PA is "local" to us. Welcome back to the Northeast!

http://web.archive.org/web/20030818193038/http://home.ccci.org/Key_Information/2ndWaterInjection.htm

I miss my Z. Paint Jail.

Check out this green I found on a 350Z

http://www.trapster.com/ http://gps.about.com/b/2008/07/25/download-speed-trap-locations-to-your-gps.htm

I feel your pain Phil! Mine has only been away for a week and I hurt...

Lot's of GPS units will allow you do download camera location maps and sound a warning. I think it serves it's purpose. It slows you down at a dangerous intersection with advanced warning. Perfectly safe. Oh wait a minute...was the intention to slow you down and make you safe, or was it to generate revenue? Crap, I forgot.