Topic: Minivan crashed into my car

[Ironhide]

Yesterday hasn't been my best day.

I parked my car on the parking lot of my GM dealer and went into the office.

Suddenly a guy entered the building and asked for the owner of the black Saturn Sky.

I looked at him and wanted to know why he was asking for the owner,  he told me that a young girl shifted into reverse instead forward gear
and she hit the car with high speed. 

The mechanic and I went immediately to my car and noticed that the rear bumper was broken and that my car was leaning to the left.

The girl's minivan hit my car so hard that it pushed the left shock absorber completely down.

On Monday an estimator (is that right in U.S. English) will look at my car and tell the girl's insurance company the costs for the repair.

I hope the car will not be totaled.

My brother asked me to consult an attorney, because you'll never know if the insurance company tries to avoid to pay for the crash.

[DaveOC]

The dealership also should carry insurance covering customer's cars while they are on the lot, as well as your own insurance carrier.  Report it to your own insurance company and let them do the work for you.

 

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[Sol Asylum]

That sucks, can you post some pictures so we can see the damage and maybe point out some thing to look at to see if there is other hidden damage?

[Ironhide]

That sucks, can you post some pictures so we can see the damage and maybe point out some thing to look at to see if there is other hidden damage?

I would like to post some pictures, but the mechanic pulled the bumper back in it's position after taking some pictures (he also checked the left shock absorber).

At the moment you can just see a lot of scratches a small dent and a "crack" on the bumper, but the mechanic is pretty sure that there is a hidden damage (the whole bumper around the license plate left/right up to the Saturn badge has been pushed in, only the gray plastic around the backup light looks good, but it might be broken too).

On Monday they will remove the whole bumper for the estimator.

The mechanic told me that just the bumper is about 2000 Euro and that he thinks that there is much more damage than meets the eye.

[elff]

O man
Sorry to hear that.  I hope it gets properly repaired and at zero cost to you.

[DeepBlueGXP]

Sorry to hear that. 

[Kelu]

Damn, sorry to hear that, I hope you will get it fixed completely. Sucks because is spring and who knows how long it will take them to fix it.

[Sly Bob]

Yeah that sucks that this has to happen and I thought they only had drivers like that on THIS side of the pond.   
Hopefully that parts that are needed are readily available and they can get you back on the road quickly.

[Ironhide]

Yeah that sucks that this has to happen and I thought they only had drivers like that on THIS side of the pond.   
Hopefully that parts that are needed are readily available and they can get you back on the road quickly.

To be honest the U.S. and Canadian drivers are far better than the Germans (the drivers are very aggressive down here.).

It's so relaxing to drive in the USA! 

Less rules and less traffic signs.

I love the right of way thing in the USA, here it's so complicated.

Additionally we have too much foreign drivers from Russia, Syria, Turkey etc.

[Ironhide]

Finally got the estimate!

The repair cost are 3100 $.

Fortunately the damage hasn't been as worse as we thought.

Hopefully the insurance of the minivan owner will pay in the coming weeks.

I'm thinking about taking the money and buying oem Saturn Sky parts.

By the way my car worth is 17.000 $ (the estimator told me it's because the car is in awesome good shape).

[Kelu]

That's good news

I barely sold mine for 10 000 Euros (11 800$) when we left Romania.

PS: Another visa lottery results have been published yesterday, did you checked yours?

[crisco]

Sorry to hear that Ironhide. 
It definitely sucks. I had a similar experience with my Precious last year. I was parked at work nice wide open area and a uniform truck like a UPS bread truck backed into it. Gashed my tire and took the bumper off at that corner. Yelled at Driver and asked him Why he needed to back up as far as he did.  He shrugged and said I don't know why.  Thier manager came out looked at damage gave me insurance card and
the uniform company paid for the repair and it is all set.
That driver was having a bad day also, he quit later that morning.
But it is fixed they replaced rear bumper and tire. 

[Kelu]

So you had a man loosing his job

[crisco]

It was Justified.....he did hit a defenseless KAPPA!!! 
He was on his way out according to his boss, who came out to see me. Guess that was the last straw for him that day.

[Sky Pilot]

My brother asked me to consult an attorney, because you'll never know if the insurance company tries to avoid to pay for the crash.

I agree with your brother. I was hit last July and the moron's insurance company only paid a fraction of the cost and the moron himself refused to cover the balance, so now I'm having to sue to collect the deficit.

[Ironhide]

That's good news

PS: Another visa lottery results have been published yesterday, did you checked yours?

I can do whatever I want, I don't get a greencard in the lottery and I'm taking part for ten years now. 

All of my U.S. relatives don't understand what's going on, even  the agency which is doing all the paperwork for me (also checking the results) has no idea.

I've the right education, job experience etc.

By the way finally got the money from the insurance and I will order the spare parts in the U.S. (like the U.S. bumper more than the German one).

[elff]

I agree with your brother. I was hit last July and the moron's insurance company only paid a fraction of the cost and the moron himself refused to cover the balance, so now I'm having to sue to collect the deficit.

In situations like this, I would have my insurance pay for it, which does require that you pay the deductible up front.  The benefit of doing it this way is that the insurance company has better lawyers, takes you out of the question, and once they get their money, they refund yours.   

[DaveOC]

In situations like this, I would have my insurance pay for it, which does require that you pay the deductible up front.  The benefit of doing it this way is that the insurance company has better lawyers, takes you out of the question, and once they get their money, they refund yours.   

Always have done it this way, and my insurance company is tenacious in recovering from the other party. I've always been paid, which means my insurer has always recovered everything.



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