Mikelly Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 INTO MY HOUSE! I got a call from my parents yesterday afternoon and they wanted me to bring the car trailer and deliver some new furniture to their house for them... no biggie... 8) So after the furniture is moved and I"m getting ready to go home, My cell phone rings and it is my wife in full on panic mode... An individual who was test driving the Mustang we're selling, Started the car, stalled it, key'ed the ignition again and managed to hop it into my NEW French doors on my house... Every do 90mph with an empty car trailer? You can burn up brakes in a hurry. My wife was so concerned for this poor mans safety that she called a contractor friend to get to my place before I got home, so he could be the voice of reason... She was sure I was gonna throttle this man to death. However, When I finally get to my house, here is this little asian man and his 16 year old son standing in my driveway, obviously embarassed for what he had done... After the shock of seeing the damage to my house, and the damage to the Mustang, which had been extricated from the house, I got paper and pen and took the guys info, then proceeded to give him the walk around the car to show the mods. I have no idea how this is all gonna turn out, as I do NOT want to turn it in on my home owners insurance policy, not right after My kid's accident... Looks like about $5000-8000 in damage to the house and car... Car has some paint missing from the front bumper and the Cobra bumper cover is cracked. I'll talk to my agent tomorrow, and then get back together with the individual... Here is the funny part... He was trying to find "Park". It is a F-I-V-E speed Manual trans car... Mike 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Bummer. But still, you gotta admit, too funny. Actually I think your car insurance, not your home owners insurance, will be responsible for fixing the damage. Hopefully the guy who did the damage will offer to pay out of pocket and you could sue him directly if he doesn't. But I doubt there is any type of insurance he could have that would cover him in this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEW Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Why wouldn't his car insurance pay for the damage. I thought that if an individual has full coverage insurance it sort of follows him, it covers the individual as well as the car. He was driving so he is responsable under his insurance. I may be wrong, it has been awhile since I did the insurance thing, I hope I am not. Man Mike, who in the hell would of thought that something like that could happen in your own driveway. I hate letting people drive my stuff, when selling, for so many reasons. Too many people with out brains, and too many free loaders looking to beat on your car at your expense. Hope this turns out ok for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Insurance definitely follows the car and not the driver. When my neighbor borrowed my truck to go to the dump and backed into a BMW, it was my insurance and not his that covered it. Have know quite a few other people who have loaned out a car and ended up holding the stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 in california, for sure, if you knowingly let ANYONE useyour vehicle ( that includes a trailer, boat, stucco pump,ect. ), you the owner, insurer, of that vehicle are resposible for any and all damages, if any done by the individual you let use that vehicle. if you have no insurance on a vehicle, a project car, and let some one test drive it, before they buy it ... YOU the seller are responsible for ANY and all damages, if any, the driver of that vehicle causes. meaning, injured party can sue you, as well as the driver. owner of the vehicle will, most often be named as the primary person, company, being sued. yes, business, say you own a company, have a large company truck, loan it to your sister in law, she runs it through the local safeway, taking out the beer chiller. you and your company are responsible for the damages. in the case of a test drive, my buddy let a prospective buyer ( 50 yr old man ), take his mazda for a test drive. residential street, a ball bounced out of a driveway, a child followed. driver hit the brakes, swerved left, side swiped 3 parked cars. did 2 grand damage to each parked car, and 1800 to the mazda ( he pancaked into the cars, slapping em with the side of the mazda ). my buddy's insurance picked up the tab on the damage to the parked cars. the driver contacted his insurance, they refused to do anything, said the owner of the car was responsible, not the driver. my buddy's insurance agent told him, that if it was a larger amount of loss, that they might sue the driver, but not in this case. the day after the accident, he contacted ( phone ) a few lawyers, was told, sorry, you can sue, but we don't suggest it. driver wasn't purposely and knowingly damaging your property. it's your responsiblity to determine driver's ability to properly operate your vehicle. you handed him the keys. later that evening, driver called my buddy, bought the mazda. my buddy's insurance paid to repair the 3 cars. as suggested, 99% chance, it will be your car insurance that picks up the tab on the damage to the house. but, as it sounds as if your home and vehicle are under the same company, the home owners may kick in, depending upon your policy and your agent. sorry to read of your situation, i symphatize with you, good luck with it ! wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synlubes Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 WOW ! Was anyone in the room at the time? It sounds like some luck I would have. Don`t know what will be the outcome with the insurance stuff, but that just sucks. If you need some help, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilRufusKay Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Sorry to hear about that Mike. Its probably best that you were not there at the time!!! Something like that could easily cause irrepairable damage to blood vessles in the brain!! Glad to hear no one was hurt. The stinky part will be dealing with all the red tape that follows something like this. Tell him he now owns the car, and will pay for the repairs on your house. See what he says, he may be reluctant to go through the insurance company as well. Good Luck Man. Rufus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 HAHAHA.. sorry mike but that is pretty funny. was the kid or father driving the stang? HAHA i still cant believe that even after all that you showed him what mods you have on the stang. THATS CLASSIC! but sorry about all that, not a good few months for ya is it. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 See.. thats why I don't let ppl 'test drive' any vehicle Im selling if Im not around. And for starters, I take them out for a drive with ME driving first. I let a guy drive a car I was selling once, and the fool sat on a hill BURNING the clutch. Actually held the car on the hill for 45 seconds or so, then slowly pulled away. I'm yelling at him "Hey! What are you doin!!!", burnt clutch smell fills the car, and he looks at me.. snifs the air.."Hey... thats not right man.. something wrong with your car dude...." What an A$$hole. After that, I never let ppl drive my vehicles unless I'm SURE they know what they are doing. That sucks about your car/house man.. hope it works out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumo Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Well??? did he at least buy the Mustang? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VRJoe Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 Sorry to hear this Mike, I'd check with your agent. Different states have different rules about test driving a car. I know my policy covers any car I drive. On a side note to make you feel better there was a picture in the local paper a while back with a new BMW all mashed. A guy took it out for a test drive and didn't slow down entering a curve despite the salesmans warning. Car went off the road and rolled, luckily neither were injured. Wonder who's insurance covers that one. - Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest goldraven Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 Sorry to hear that man, its always a really crappy situation when dealing with money for repairs on this sort of stuff. See.. thats why I don't let ppl 'test drive' any vehicle Im selling if Im not around. And for starters' date=' I take them out for a drive with ME driving first. I let a guy drive a car I was selling once, and the fool sat on a hill BURNING the clutch. Actually held the car on the hill for 45 seconds or so, then slowly pulled away. I'm yelling at him "Hey! What are you doin!!!", burnt clutch smell fills the car, and he looks at me.. snifs the air.."Hey... thats not right man.. something wrong with your car dude...." What an A$$hole. After that, I never let ppl drive my vehicles unless I'm SURE they know what they are doing.[/quote'] I do the same thing as you now, driving first...talking about the car, then letting them drive, but going out of town then switching drivers. A friend of mine was selling his Eclipse GSX, was lightly modded, turbo was upgraded...this kid gets into the car, closes the door, starts it up, and immediately hammers it, going up to redline in 2 gears...then turns around and brings it back down the street flooring it the whole time..stops hard and shuts the car off. The turbo was done, the kids parents eventually came the next day and baught the car, from what it looked like...the kid's parents were pretty well off. Scary what people do in cars when they act like they know what they are doing as to be "cool". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Bad news again! Well, it comes in threes - you should be safe for a while - right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Now I try to park close to the door but parking the living room is just rediculous! All kidding aside, sorry to hear about your bad luck once again. Hope you dont get screwed over with the insurance end of the deal. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 Actually, you should be able to claim the loss on your auto and home-owner insurance, however, even though that is the insurance that would cover the loss, you can always make a personal suit against the individual and leave the insurance out of it Never thought you would have to ask someone "You know that this is a manual trans, right? Do you know how to drive a manual trans?".. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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