josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Went to the track. Staurday night I was helping someone adjust their valves. I hear a crash and I see my car rocking back and forth. I walk over and I see the dudes trailer hitch in my fiber glass type 3 airdam. It was held on by two braces on the bottom and then 5 bolts in each top corner, holding it onto the fiberglass headlight buckets. Airdamn = crushed One headlight bucket = crushed Hood = folded down in the front Grill = bent in So basically that sucks. Now I get to drive a rental car to school or something and hopefully the insurance company won't short change me? Anyone here have an accident? Do insurance companies short change us old Z car drivers on a regular basis? Hours before my baby got crushed: I'll have videos later. I'm depressed now. Such a beautiful shot. Atleast none of my mechanicals broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 man that sucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Look at it from the good side: I did the body work and paint myself at home and I haven't a clue how to do that stuff the proper way. The fiberglass had a ton of spider cracks in it that I tried to bondo up and everything. With the insurance money I can buy another one, so I start with a new piece and then an actual body shop can paint it. Hell, maybe I'll have some left over money and I can get the car wet sanded and buffed. I don't want to be short changed though. Have some insurance noob say "oh yah we can replace the hood" and finds me some old rusty 280 hood rather than the proper 240 or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Look at it from the good side:I did the body work and paint myself at home and I haven't a clue how to do that stuff the proper way. The fiberglass had a ton of spider cracks in it that I tried to bondo up and everything. With the insurance money I can buy another one, so I start with a new piece and then an actual body shop can paint it. Hell, maybe I'll have some left over money and I can get the car wet sanded and buffed. I don't want to be short changed though. Have some insurance noob say "oh yah we can replace the hood" and finds me some old rusty 280 hood rather than the proper 240 or something. The 70-76 hoods are all essentially the same, I don't see the big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 It was just an example. I can see an insurance dude being like yah it should bolt right on. Try to talk me into getting a hood with the vents in it or something. You know? Like they go out and price everything themselves, but who knows if their replacement part and/or value is even the proper. I wouldn't mind getting metal buckets, but I want the same airdam and the same non-louvered hood. I don't want them to be like "Oh the bodyshop can fix that" and have them fill it with a ton of bondo or something. I had good rust and bondo free body work on this car, I don't want to screw that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I assume his insurance is paying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Happened yesterday so I don't know whats going to happen but I was parked in a legal spot I wasn't in the car nor was the car running so everything points to his fault his insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Ins company doesn't care what year the parts are that you are going to use. They are going to give you a check and you can do whatever you want with the money. Get an independant appraiser or a body shop that restores classic cars to do the appraisal. Use that estimate to pull money from his insurance company. You can choose your own shop to do the appraisal and anyone can do the repairs, or you can just keep the check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Ins company doesn't care what year the parts are that you are going to use. They are going to give you a check and you can do whatever you want with the money. Get an independant appraiser or a body shop that restores classic cars to do the appraisal. Use that estimate to pull money from his insurance company. You can choose your own shop to do the appraisal and anyone can do the repairs, or you can just keep the check. Well that sounds cool. There is an expensive but good dude like 10 feet from our shop... I don't think I could get away with having Dad appraise the damage since he's a shop owner. Last thing I need is trouble so keep everything legit. Really what I need to do is order another airdam and get another headlight bucket and hood so that they can get painted by the dudes next door. My Harbor Freight gun is crappy and probably caked with paint and clearcoat or something. Who knows, I bought it as a disposable. How do they price out stuff that isn't made anymore? The headlight buckets aren't made anymore, nor are the grills. Aren't good, nonbent grills expensive too. Blah! I guess we'll see tomorrow when I call them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Get stuff appraised as new. Check MSA or Black Dragon. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SBC1A01/30-7023 New grill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 No 240 though. :[ Headlight buckets, I see fiberglass and then I see some expensive type, I guess thats metal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 just get a written estimate from a body shop, including parts and labor, then submit one to his insurance, along with his policy number and/or claim number. Your best bet is too call up his insurance company, explain the situation and ask for instructions and what they need to approve the claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I had a mangled front passenger fender.. broken headlight bucket and bump in my rear quarter panel.. they totaled the car and I now have a salvaged title =( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhp123166 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Fix it yourself and charge the guy lower than his deductible. Odds are you will make money on the deal as well; "for pain and suffering". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 I priced everything out here, no tricks or ****, all legit pricing from MSA. Hood: $450 Airdam: $230 Headlight case: $180 Grill: $230 Total: $1047 I think I'll see what I can do with that, plus the labor to "install and paint" and just buy used good parts. I'll still need to get them painted but I can install everything myself since its really easy and I'd much rather do that than have someone else attempt to do it. So there may be some money left over, we'll just have to see. The dude and the insurance company already called me and we're going to setup a rental car plan sort of thing so I'm not stranded. I'll keep you guys updated, someone here is bound to get backed into or run into the back of someone else so it may be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Oh LOL I talked with the insurance agent and the moment I said the hood was damaged he was like oh... that may change everything... If its extensive enough then you can either have us pay to fix it or or call it a total loss and then we give you the value of the car. And I was like uh yah but that leaves me with... >_> copious amounts of cash... and a car that still runs? He said yes but we don't deal with the money we deal with the claims and getting the car back exactly how it was before. He also said, with some people they may have a scratch all the way down their car and it gets written off because they deem it too expensive to just repair all then panels. I may get lucky, even though I was trying to be legit. Sweet! How much does Kelly Blue Book price a '72 240z @ like a 3-4 condition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 if cost of repairs exceed 50% or so of the vehicle's worth, you get a payout and the car is totalled. 'copious ammounts of cash' would not be how I catagorize what you get left with, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letitsnow Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I had a mangled front passenger fender.. broken headlight bucket and bump in my rear quarter panel.. they totaled the car and I now have a salvaged title =( My firebird was deemed a total loss from similar damage(everything but the rear quarter), they wrote me a check for value of the car - deductible -'buyback'(about $1800 all said and done) and told me that there would be no salvage title involved because it's too old to bother. They basically paid me to repaint the car and put a bigger engine in. It might be different in a different state though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Tony's right. It's referred to as uneconomically feasible to repair. Insurance companies love to use it because if you want to keep your car, they'll total it, pay you a set value for the car minus what they consider the current value and then you end up with a little cash and car with a junkers title that most states won't allow on the roads anymore. Check into your current state laws and see what the insurance company is going to do. Getting some money doesn't always mean you'll make out in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Yah I realized what I said was goofy out the wazoo. I haven't a clue what the car is worth but I hope they don't rape me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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