Sheesh.. Totaled '02

[jshow816]

Well, my beloved 2002 Bonneville is trashed. Rear ended in stop and go traffic by some woman doing 65.. No tire marks behind her, so she just ran straight into me.. Pushed me 30 feet into the truck in front of me. She was unconscious. I was sent to the hospital. She booked it and has ignored the insurance company for the last 3 weeks, as I sit idly by waiting. They finally decided to take liability as I was going to sue the driver. We'll see what they pay me for it.

Went from this...


To this




Car that hit me, driver was still unconscious.


Just installed new tires, ICM, Napa wires, spark plugs, and new hvac blower. Also just finished installing my stereo, speakers, subs, and amps. Most of which are stuck in the trunk.

Was such a nice ride. Will be missed.

[95naSTA]

Wow.. Thats unbelievable. Are you ok?

[Sirius]

That stinks. Hope you're ok.

Did the airbags go off? Hard to tell from the pics.

[nos4blood70]

Yikes. That sucks, your car looked quite pristine. I'm glad you are alright, however. The car did its job and protected you.

[WhiteArrow3800]

*dang*!

[Luxrain]

Yikes! glad to see your ok and that the bonnie did its job (and well i might say). did you drive it to the side of the road or were you pushed there by the other car?

[98SSE]

Wow, that was quite the impact. Glad your ok. Cars can be replaced....

[1oldman]

I certainly hope you sustained no injuries, but think that is highly unlikely. Please let us know how you are. I hate to see your Bonneville destroyed. It was definitely a great looking car. Really sad about that. Let us know how it works out with the insurance company. - BC

[RJolly87]

I am glad to hear you are doing as well as you are, and that you were surrounded by as much car as you were.

Captain analysis has observed a few things here that I wanted to share:
The Yaris didn't have any give to it, and sent most of the impact to the driver (and to you)
This wasn't the first time the Yaris had been in an incident, probably thanks to the horrid tires that are on it (fronts aren't even legal), so even if the driver did try to stop, they had nothing to stop with.

Hopefully everything starts working in your favor now that her insurance has accepted fault for everything.

[jshow816]

I am glad to hear you are doing as well as you are, and that you were surrounded by as much car as you were.

Captain analysis has observed a few things here that I wanted to share:
The Yaris didn't have any give to it, and sent most of the impact to the driver (and to you)
This wasn't the first time the Yaris had been in an incident, probably thanks to the horrid tires that are on it (fronts aren't even legal), so even if the driver did try to stop, they had nothing to stop with.

Hopefully everything starts working in your favor now that her insurance has accepted fault for everything.

You are absolutely right. I took pictures of the Yaris's tires while visiting the tow lot to get my belongings, just in case insurance wanted to fight about it.. I have plenty more pics.

Thanks for the well wishes guys, I had a CT scan done at the ER and I didn't have any broken bones or pierced organs thankfully. Been sore the last couple weeks, but getting better everyday. Have an appt with my general doc on 8/2 to get checked out.

Adjuster looked at the car today and offered $3680 for the car. I declined, and requested a copy of the report. Of the 5 cars listed on the report as comparables, none were selling for the price they wanted to pay out for the car. I countered with $4500 and if they take it that reimburses me for the price I paid for the car, and all the upgrades I made to make it as nice as it was. We'll see what they have to say soon..

Thinking about another bonneville or another 7th gen impala, problem is not a lot of nice bonnevilles selling around here.

I'll check back in later.

[smskeeter23]

Wow the destruction is just incredible and so sad. Glad to hear you're more or less ok as seeing those pics I wouldn't have guessed it.

[ddalder]

Great to hear you're okay. That's quite a bit of damage! The car looks to have absorbed much of the energy from the collision (note I didn't say "accident"). Sorry to see such a nice car destroyed by a careless/clueless driver. I can only imagine the gut-wrenching feeling you must have had.

[redfury]

Wow, that sucks. Hopefully they come back with what you are asking for...good on you to have the wits to decline the first offer...I'm sure most people would just have taken it, or accepted it as the best they were going to get. Good lesson for the less informed to pay attention to...

Keep an eye on yourself though....injuries from accidents like that don't always present themselves right away either, nor to the severity that they will ultimately become. Thankfully the CT showed nothing...but that had to have been one heckuva jolt. I'd talk to your insurance guy about the matter if you haven't already...I hope the insurance company has already taken care of any incidentals like a loaner car and paid for any time you've missed from work.

[jshow816]

Dealing with the insurance company has been an utterly miserable experience. We settled on $4300 for my totaled Bonneville. Not enough, in my opinion, but fair enough. I paid $3000 for the car, but put about $1000 worth of parts and stereo equipment.

Word of advice, take lots of pictures of your car and save all the receipts of work or parts you buy. Because I could prove the condition of my car before the accident, they had no choice but to up their offer by several hundred dollars.

Think I'll retain an attorney for the medical portion of this accident, because these adjusters have been absolutely terrible. I'm tired of dealing with them.

[jshow816]

I hope the insurance company has already taken care of any incidentals like a loaner car and paid for any time you've missed from work.

Laughable. As soon as they found out the at fault driver was insured by the same company as me, their entire demeanor toward me changed. They went from saying I could use their account to get a discounted rental (remember I'm liability only), to saying until the at fault driver gave a statement they weren't obligated to do anything, even though the police report made fault clear. After refuting this they sent me $300 for "loss of vehicle use", and until I threatened them with an attorney would not take fault and get me taken care of. Final bill for the tow and storage was over $1000 since they took so long.

This accident happened almost a month ago at this point, and I've been carpooling with the wife since she and I work close enough to each other. My newest adjuster said any damages "loss of work, etc.." would be a part of my final medical claim settlement. All medical bills and incidentals are coming out of my pocket first, will be reimbursed + damages at settlement.

Good thing I have cash reserves. I can see why someone without an emergency fund would jump to take a quick settlement. My first dumbass adjuster offered me $1500 to settle this already, and I haven't even got all the bills in the mail yet.

Such a pain.

[redfury]

This is why I carry full coverage. Of course, full coverage for both of our vehicles is only about $115/mo, whereas liability would be so little of a difference for the risk it's worth it to keep full coverage. Deer are the bigger issue, but also winter. There are people during my commute hitting the ditch every year and a couple of years ago I was involved in an icy spin out fender bender ( not my fault, though I hit her..she braked, rotated right in front of me ). I don't like being insurance poor, but I'm usually tighter than fatter for money. I couldn't afford to lose out completely in an accident like that.

And honestly, with a car that nice, I would have carried full coverage anyway...just for my own piece of mind. This all may change once my spawn become drivers in the household though...I'm sure my insurance rates will double at a minimum.