Understeered and crashed, looking for advice moving foward

[Oakley]

first thing you need to do is get some quotes. get a few from reputable shops. i don't mean google scores, i mean from people who have used them and are happy with their overall work.

now, keep in mind, just becuase you qre quoted X dollars for X work it doesn't mean you have to do X thing at that time. if the wheel holds air maybe you hold off on that cause you're thinking of getting new rims anyways, etc etc. don't be deceptive but DO be discerning. once upon a time a guy hit my F150 and ruined my sweet dual exhaust. i was paid for the exhaust, like i was owed, but i ended up not getting a whole new system.

the estimates number should determine the next steep. i'd say if you cannot afford to fix it yourself do insurance as others have said. you'll pay out over time but if you can't afford the repair that's what insurance is for. that's life. i've been there and it sucks but that's life and the painful lesson will hopefuly be a good reminder of how quickly things can go wrong on the street.

the most important thing here is that you learn the lesson: you have a 460hp RWD car and you need to be more careful.

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[1 old racer]

File and let the insurance take care of it. Once you touch it you will never be happy with it.

 

[skinnyb]

I would definitely get a few quotes from reputable shops. Then figure the cost minus your deductible and the potential for your premiums to double for at least 3 years. I know a friend that is early 20's and had a non fault accident with no ticket that his premiums went from 200 to 500 a month after an accident. And this was not even for a Mustang but a beater car.. It can happen. If you can front the cost and do it out of pocket, go for it. If you can't front it, file claim and take it as a valuable lesson learned. I have had a couple of unfortunate accidents myself, it happens.

 

[leroychickencurry]

I would definitely get a few quotes from reputable shops. Then figure the cost minus your deductible and the potential for your premiums to double for at least 3 years. I know a friend that is early 20's and had a non fault accident with no ticket that his premiums went from 200 to 500 a month after an accident. And this was not even for a Mustang but a beater car.. It can happen. If you can front the cost and do it out of pocket, go for it. If you can't front it, file claim and take it as a valuable lesson learned. I have had a couple of unfortunate accidents myself, it happens.

Gotcha, I'll take that into consideration. Any tips on how to find reputable shops apart from Google reviews? I don't know many drivers that live nearby me, they are all further in the suburbs

 

[leroychickencurry]

File and let the insurance take care of it. Once you touch it you will never be happy with it.

What do you mean by if I touch it? Are you saying I'll always think it's imperfect?

 

[skinnyb]

Gotcha, I'll take that into consideration. Any tips on how to find reputable shops apart from Google reviews? I don't know many drivers that live nearby me, they are all further in the suburbs

Yeah and maybe see who the local dealer uses to do their repairs.

 

[Ghost45]

Gotcha, I'll take that into consideration. Any tips on how to find reputable shops apart from Google reviews? I don't know many drivers that live nearby me, they are all further in the suburbs

Yeah go CALL some places and take your car there. Nobody can fix it thru there phone for you. If you don't do bodywork , don't even try. I do bodywork, I could definitely fix that quarter panel, it's not that bad. Now you got a bunch of guys who never did a quarter panel in there life, telling you that the quarter panel needs to be replaced. I would never personally pay $10,000 for a quarter panel, fender, hood, headlight and paint but i do it for a living so theres a big difference . You're trying to get estimates from guys who do not do collision work. I actually do it. Good luck with calling your insurance and telling them you were racing around and crashed lol I wouldnt recommend that but do whatever you want.

 

[leroychickencurry]

Yeah go CALL some places and take your car there. Nobody can fix it thru there phone for you. If you don't do bodywork , don't even try. I do bodywork, I could definitely fix that quarter panel, it's not that bad. Now you got a bunch of guys who never did a quarter panel in there life, telling you that the quarter panel needs to be replaced. I would never personally pay $10,000 for a quarter panel, fender, hood, headlight and paint but i do it for a living so theres a big difference . You're trying to get estimates from guys who do not do collision work. I actually do it. Good luck with calling your insurance and telling them you were racing around and crashed lol I wouldnt recommend that but do whatever you want.

Thanks for writing, I will ask around in person and by sending pictures. Around how much would you estimate it to be? And what should I tell insurance?

 

[Jaymar]

Just tell them you crashed, they may require a police report but they can see what happened and they don't care. Either way you are an expense on the balance sheet no matter what you say. It's not like you're trying to explain to your parents why you got in late and smell like a pack of skunks.

 

[Torched10]

Just tell them you crashed, they may require a police report but they can see what happened and they don't care. Either way you are an expense on the balance sheet no matter what you say. It's not like you're trying to explain to your parents why you got in late and smell like a pack of skunks.

Just tellthem the truth leave out the part of losing control and bad tires.just say you were driving down a hill for the 3rd time,rant into some leaves and hit the barrier

 

[Garfy]

Hi guys, was driving on fun roads and on the downhill left turn, understeered and some of the tires went over gravel/leaves. Couldn't brake in time and hit a barrier :(( this is my first accident ever and it sucks. I wasn't going that fast, just a cold day and not enough braking from worn tires/brake pads over loose ground. Did that downhill 2-3 times that day already. No one was hurt and only I was involved. Open to any advice on what to do from here on and how to process things and learn from it, feeling pretty down :(

Do you guys have an estimate on how much this will cost to repair? Anyone with similar damage before? There was no structure damage, only cosmetic for 2 panels and the headlight. No damage to suspension or anything hard. Bottom damage is just ripped splitter and undertray. My insurance deductible is $2000, not sure if it's worth filing a claim. My insurance is already $250 a month (never pulled over or accident before, I'm just a young guy)

(The car is fully paid off)
How I am thinking about the repairs (these are numbers I came up with):

Fender panel - $500 OEM used

Headlight - $500 OEM used

Rear restoration + paintwork - $900 shopwork

Bent hood edge - $400 shop

Wheel repair - $600 shop

Misc - $500 shop/DIY

This is about $3500 to repair. I've never been in accident so I'm new to using auto insurance. If I file a claim and insurance says it's $6000 of damage, and I fix it using the steps above for $3500. Do I just pocket the rest of $2500 minus $2000 (for deductible)? OR do they just repair it fully at a shop, and I pay my deductible. What if I repaired the front myself DIY, and pay for shop to do rear and hood repair and it ends up cheaper than $6000, how does that process work?

My deductible is $2000, how much would repair cost have to be in order to be worth it to file a claim?
Do you guys think this is worth filing a claim? How does it work if I mix DIY/shopwork in how I am paid? It would also affect resell value later and raise my already high insurance costs. How much would my insurance increase afterwards usually?

OK, so you're "young" but clean driving record (no accidents or claims) and you're paying $1500 every 6 months for a policy with a $2000 deductible? I think you need a new insurance company too.

 

[kellyreno]

Seems like a lot of complicated issues (in here)coming up around your misfortune. 2 months into my Mach 1, I had an "off road excursion". Drove the car home. Took it to the Ford Dealer. Came to +$4000 plus. (Tire/Wheel. ect) Paid $500 deductible all good. State Farm jacked up my rate 6 months later at renewal. Oh well. I don't drive any slower.

 

[Oakley]

File and let the insurance take care of it. Once you touch it you will never be happy with it.

okay so could all the "just tell the insurance company" people knock it off? that's an obvious option. to the OP: don't lie to anyone but if you do use your insurance be very careful about how you frame what happened. "i was driving on this road and think i hit some gravel or leaves or something and all of a sudden i'm way too close to a barrier".

sounds like that's basically what happened. loose lips sink ships. remember: they work for you and they should be given only mission critical information. don't lie but don't give things that'll make your life harder, take your time, say your piece and shut the F up.

one time a guy side swiped me and the agent said this: "okay so you both were at fault but we think you were more at fault" which is probably what they told the other guy, too.

they are snakes worthy of all the skepticism and care implied.

 

[Jaymar]

okay so could all the "just tell the insurance company" people knock it off? that's an obvious option. to the OP: don't lie to anyone but if you do use your insurance be very careful about how you frame what happened. "i was driving on this road and think i hit some gravel or leaves or something and all of a sudden i'm way too close to a barrier".

sounds like that's basically what happened. loose lips sink ships. remember: they work for you and they should be given only mission critical information. don't lie but don't give things that'll make your life harder, take your time, say your piece and shut the F up.

one time a guy side swiped me and the agent said this: "okay so you both were at fault but we think you were more at fault" which is probably what they told the other guy, too.

they are snakes worthy of all the skepticism and care implied.

You think they have some kind of check box they check that totally screws you and it's up to you to plead and beg them not to check it? They don't care, it goes off to underwriters and gets processed with everything else. If you start getting cagey or lie things get bad or fraudulent fast.

 

[leroychickencurry]

Seems like a lot of complicated issues (in here)coming up around your misfortune. 2 months into my Mach 1, I had an "off road excursion". Drove the car home. Took it to the Ford Dealer. Came to +$4000 plus. (Tire/Wheel. ect) Paid $500 deductible all good. State Farm jacked up my rate 6 months later at renewal. Oh well. I don't drive any slower.

What percent increase did you see your monthly premium go up?

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