So, driving to Pep Boys today before heading to the airport to pick someone up, and I was involved in an accident. I'm in the left lane of the road, and slowing down to turn right onto another road. There is an old Honda accord at a stop sign leading to the road I was on. I had my turn signal on. He saw me, I saw him. I figured he saw my turn signal, too.

Nope. Next thing I know, I'm shot sideways and my sunglasses nearly fall off my head, due to my head being whipped to the right rather sharply. And, right then and there, I was in the mode where it's like "Please tell me this is a dream. This didn't just happen."

Well, it did.






And, this is the son-of-a-bitch that did that damage:


Guy admitted fault, altho he said (according to my insurance claims adjuster) I was traveling too fast. Seriously....turn signal is on, you see a car slowing down, what drives one to pull forward into a car that's turning?!

Insurance is already getting involved, however, I'm fearing what would happen if they supposedly consider the car "totaled". I don't want to lose my 7, I love this car, I've put too much into it.

In all honesty, if the guy's insurance will not pay for damages, repairs, medical bills (I'm going in to see a doctor because my neck is hurting), and a rental car and lost wages (I drive a dump truck and if I'm out of work cause of injuries, I'm looking for some good compensation), then I'm going to see about taking him to court. He did claim fault, cop never issued me a citation, just gave me the guy's information and said that I'm good to go, so I'm going to see what can be done.

And, right now, I need to see about finding a new door. My CD player's **** got broken off, my front left speaker is pretty much busted, my front left fender is dented in, power window doesn't work (and yet my mirror and door locks do), and I'm not sure if there's any frame damage.

 

Did you kick his ***? I had a dumb old lady doing 20 in reverse down the street (dumb huh?) ram into my front end with her back end the other day... Did no damage at all to my tank of an SA. SA bumpers must be pretty sturdy. Totally screwed her rear bumper up on a brand new looking Avalon.

 

That's too bad. Hopefully you can save it. If not find a shell and buy that one back from the insurance company and swap everything over. Use the rest of the insurance payout to have it painted if it needs it or buy some parts.

Good luck

 

AAaarrggghhh! I'd lose my mind. The other driver is lucky to be alive. You showed great restraint. Wishing you the best in getting compensated for your loss and back on the road.

 

You can't get cited for traveling too fast...not like the guy had a radar gun lol and the skidmark test they do isn't THAT accurate and they never want to do it.

If you car is totaled buy another one and transfer all the **** from your car to that one.

 

from the pictures it really doesnt look like a whole lot of damage.... i dont think they will total it unless they think your car is really not worth much...

replace the door, punch the honda driver in the face, go eat a sandwhich and it will be all good.

 

hopefully you'll be able to just fix the lower quarter panel, replace the door, fender, and windshield and be good to go. looks like the damage is too high to effect the structure of the car. keep us posted on how this unfolds. glad to hear that you're not seriously injured.

 

i smell another SE going to the junkyard. just replace the good stuff with junk parts. sorry about your loss.

 

I can't really picture how this happened? Diagram? lol

Looks like you could fix all of that damage though.

 

wow some honda driver would have a black eye if this **** happened to me

 

Where are you in Northern VA?

I'm in Dale City/Woodbridge and I have a spare set of 1985 doors.
They're for my track car, but I wouldn't mind letting you use one to see if the door frame is damaged or out of shape.

 

that is totally fixable. the "A pillar" will need a pull, but i think its pretty simple

 

I'm in the Wellington area of Manassas. Near 234-bypass leading to Dumfries. You're rather close. PM sent.


And, trust me. I REALLY wanted to beat the guy. He wasn't even the owner of the car. And, he was fairly old. On the information sheet that the cop gave me, it said he had 30 years driving experience.

.... I have about 20, and drive big rigs and even *I'm* smart enough to know that you don't take off from a stop sign into someone who is turning. I'll see about drawing up a diagram.

 

Dang, Ivan. I think things are just attracted to your car. First you get damaged at work and now this. Doesn't look too bad.

Hope the insurance works out for ya.

Kent

 

If you need some parts let me know. I am stripping two 85 RX7s.

 

I'm going to say it just because nobody else has-

RX7's are replaceable, your life is not. Driver's side impacts are no joke, and you are lucky that the driver's side window didn't shatter as well, in fact, i'm surprised that it didn't. At least this accident you where able to get up and walk out of the car. Not many moderate-speed collisions end that well in such small vehicles.

On the other hand, i'd by pissed if i was in your situation. Sorry about your loss

 

+1 ^^

 

+1

 

Wondered why I hadn't seen you on MSN the past few days. Hope you're OK physically. That really sucks with all the work you've been putting into your 7 the past year. Hopefully both the A and B pillars can be pulled out successfully. Unfortunately the high mileage will work against you when it come to the insurance company. PM me and let me know how things are going.

 

Fix it, save a 7

 

Regardless of mileage, I'm going to see about the dipshit's insurance company writing me a large enough check to get another car. Quite frankly, I'm not going to get screwed over by an insurance company like last time. I've looked up the worth of a GSL-SE and only found 2 on eBay, one on some auto listing through Motor Trend. NADA and KBB don't seem to go down far. I'll also be having them pay for a rental car, as my -SE is totaled and considered unsafe to drive. I've taken it by a reputable Mazda repair specialist, and he flat out said it's totaled. So much damage done to it.

The guy's insurance never even called me, even tho my insurance company said they (the other insurance) was going to call me in 2 business days. Depending on how stubborn the insurance will be, I'll speak with an accident lawyer. Actually, I still think I will, just to be on the safe side.

 

That doesn't look good and it doesn't take much to total a $2500 dollar car. As a former casualty adjuster I would caution you from going to a lawyer right off the bat. First make sure they are accepting liability and go to a doctor soon if you really have pain, the longer you wait the less credance your injury claim will get. You can go to the doctor youself collect the reciepts then make a reasonable demand. The problem with lawyers is they generally take 1/3 of the settlement. Generally they also encourage more doctor visits to raise the claim and just draw the settlement out.

For example I would have a guy whose $3000 car would be totalled. He would get that $3000 dollars for the car and if he has say $1500 in medical bills his total settlement would be about $5000-$6000.

Now say he gets a lawyer. $3000 for the car another $3000 in medical bills the lawyer makes a demand of $10,000. We settle for around $8000 so after the lawyers cut the claimant ends up with around $5500 or roughly the same amount that he would have gotten in the first place.

Take that for what it is worth. I am not a lawyer or qualified to give any real advise.

Good luck with everything.

-Greg

 

thats FAR from totaled. i've reparied worse and with the scarseness of SE's, i would fix the car. this is what i'm currently saving:

 

I think it fixable, glad you are ok, I don't know what I would do if someone hit one of my 7's.
I would probably end up in prison. from shooting them in the knees

 

by dollar value it is totalled. but in the real world, its a pretty easy fix. my friend hit a VW bug like that, and the bug was way worse but it looks fine now.