Front end smashed - less than 3 weeks old

[OppoLock]

You could get a roush front end. The price is probably going to be similar.

I just can't warm up to it :/ I'd rather save up and do a full GT350 conversion from the A-pillar forward. I plan on doing it down the road, really.

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[Rhys]

Well this sucks.

Was following this van on the way into my company's parking garage this morning. Guy gets to the base of the ramp leading up to the second floor, realizes his van won't duck under the clearance bar, and proceeds to put it in reverse. I'm right behind him, and before I get a chance to do anything except get out a quick honk, he crunches my whole front end in.

The front driver's side QP ended up getting pushed back underneath the front of my door, so it was a little hard to open it and get out.

Right now I'm just in shock. Hard to register this bullshit so early into ownership, especially when I'm not at fault.

Asking for advice: I tried calling 911 to file a police report, but the operator states that we can't make one due to the location of the accident. We were both cooperating with each other, and he was genuinely apologetic about the whole thing. We took photos of each others' IDs, exchanged phone numbers, and I took a shitty video documenting the time/date and briefed what happened with both license plates recorded. Dafuq do I do now? FL is a no-fault state. Does that mean I have to bite the bullet and go through my own insurance? Also, I don't want any of this shit repaired. I want it all replaced with new parts. The car is new for christ's sake.

TIA for any advice and listening to me vent. Going to try and make it through work and enjoy Gasparilla tomorrow.

I would of cried at an incident like that, seeing as though you just got it

 

[BumpnRun]

I find that picture just devastating! The emotional attachment I already feel for my Mustang, that I haven't even taken delivery of yet, and seeing all of these other accidents, makes me want to leave mine in the garage for a year and just admire it. I feel for all of you that have already gotten bumps and bruises on these special cars. We all have waited for so long to get them, and enjoy them, and things like this happen.

 

[Todd15Fastback]

Much better now bud!

Good! I would be going insane, too!

I told my wife about your situation over dinner. She said that blows and could not imagine how I would've reacted

 

[Theby]

In Costa Rica we call an inspector of the insurance company of each participant in the incident, they come and take pictures, document the details and file a report. The traffic cop comes to the scene, draws a plane with all the information and gives you a report with your case number. That way you have all the documentation necessary to repair your car with the other guy's insurance.

The responsible gets points deducted from his/her drivers license and has to pay a big fat traffic fine.

 

[L8APEX]

I can't imagine how you are feeling right now. Someone hitting your pride and joy sucks.

Make sure you choose a body shop that does really good work. Ask around. And obviously you should get brand new OEM parts.

You should go after diminished value as well since it is a brand new car that is now devalued because of the accident

 

[Todd15Fastback]

Make sure you choose a body shop that does really good work. Ask around. And obviously you should get brand new OEM parts.

You should go after diminished value as well since it is a brand new car that is now devalued because of the accident

Great points, especially the last one.

I got into a wreck with my 01 Cobra convertible back in 2002. I got a check for almost $2000 due to diminished value.

 

[foghat]

Totally buying a dash cam or getting a mount for my GoPro though. I don't want to deal with this shit in the future.

Check out www.blackboxmycar.com Canadian outfit and pricing. Free shipping to US. with the exchange rate the way it is right now, you'll do well.

I bought blackvue dr650. Still need to install it though.

 

[wjones14]

Far from rock bottom. I've got a brand new GT. It'll be fixed soon enough. Life is good. :cheers:

Wow, just read this thread from beginning to this point, and it was like a roller coaster! So glad it's on the rebound.

Sounds like he's taking responsibility as much as he can. Could be worse for sure. Just insist on new parts for anything with even minor paint damage. It can be back to a new car again.

 

[Blacksheep]

Sorry to see this happened.

 

[valentinoamoro]

Hey Oppo, I know this sounds weird but thanks to your participation on 6g I feel I know you well and honestly, seeing this happen to anyone, but in particular a forum member who was so psyched up about his ride (like many of us, way before it arrived) is hard. Part of it is an instinctive reaction "OMG, I could be next", the other is the hassle one has to go through to bring things back to spec - the "I've experienced this and can relate" and lastly - it's to see this happen to a new car - in particular, an emotional ride like a Stang (dunno if this last part made sense).

My condolences to you and S550_Magnetic.

As folks mentioned, its a random world and other than minimizing the odds of these kind of things (from door dings, rock chips, maintain distance, accidents, keying etc) occurring there is not much we can do and shit still happens - the primary mission is to enjoy our rides and you were doing that (esp judging from your posts on driving with ESP/TC off ;-) ). I lost a car (Acura Integra -R) while it was PARKED on the street outside a condo I used to live in (I was lazy ONE day in my entire 7 years there and came upstairs for an afternoon nap). When I returned a few hours later is was WRAPPED AROUND A TREE - it was such a strong impact my sunglasses inside were cracked and the bottle of cologne I had burst open. Apparently someone has smashed it with a truck or Boeing 747 - the insurance company at first was suspicious (thought I had hit it somewhere and claimed hit and run) until they say the damage at the scene and their jaw dropped. Another incident - I came back from a roadtrip and was super tired and left a bag in my car. I never do that and it was in the trunk (this time an Audi TT) - that day someone decided to break in to my car. I lost a lot of expensive stuff, not to mention my rear seats were torn up. I felt 'violated'.

Anyway, looks like folks here are guiding you the right way. I'll try to avoid repeating what they said, just a few things:
- police report at least in my state means CARFAX and AUTOCHECK will report it as an accident (so if they didnt accept a report and insurance is OK, good for you). I went through this with my BMW M6 - a valet hit the ride, but since I didnt do a walkaround denied the claim. It was a small bumper scratch - tooks me weeks to fight the valet firm, work with insurance etc and was hardly wort the 500 bucks it cost to repair. Regardless, showed up on those reports and was a PITA with me fielding questions from potential buyers EVERY SINGLE time.
- let me know what dashcam you end up buying?

 

[valentinoamoro]

Oh, for the sake of injecting some humor here, I'll say this - if this happened to Pacman (my ride) - it probably would align the passenger side front fender better with the door/hood. That gap is so bad Ford is having a body shop align it for me. LOL

 

[OppoLock]

Update #2

Eric (slight change in name for privacy reasons) has accepted full liability and his insurance company will cover any potential out-of-pockets on my end, from repairs and replacements, to rentals and possibly even diminished value. I have another inspection due tomorrow at 10am.

Seeking more advice as I got great tips last time: When I first got into this mess and opened up a claim with my All-State carrier, they had me get an inspection and quote from these guys who specialize in collision repairs (reputable shop called Sterling Auto Body; I've used them in the past). Well, now that Eric is accepting liability, I'll be going through his Esurance policy and they are wanting me to get a quote with their agent. Where do they want to send me to? The same exact place. Apparently All-State owns Esurance, and both carriers tend to refer customers to this same shop. So this is going to be a repeat of last week. It'll take 30 minutes, they'll go ooh-ahh-ouch, take photos, then print out a quote that's worthless (my entire hood was valued at something like $65 last time I went here). But they said the displayed values don't matter since they bill based on VIN and parts numbers.

Anyways, back to the advice seekage I need from you smart people. Would you just have the shop take care of your car? They look nice and they specialize in collision repair and only use OEM parts, so I would figure the end result should be promising.

Or... would you just say, "nope, I'm going to drop my car off at my Ford Dealer's collision center and you can work out how to pay them."

I just want the best possible work done. With the collision center, I saw them working on other cars and it was a very clean, professional environment. But this is their first shot at a fucked up Ford bumper (in an area that tends to never come out properly fitted from the factory as is for crying out loud). If I take it to Ford, something about them having access to these ambiguous (in my mind) records and knowledge of how to repair my Mustang will lead to the better end result. I just fear that they'll be less professional and have a higher chance of running my car around and having some fun. For what it's worth, I ordered my car, and it had over 20 miles by the time I picked up my keys. That hasn't sat right with me.

Basically, what would you do in my case?

 

[OppoLock]

Hey Oppo, I know this sounds weird but thanks to your participation on 6g I feel I know you well and honestly, seeing this happen to anyone, but in particular a forum member who was so psyched up about his ride (like many of us, way before it arrived) is hard. Part of it is an instinctive reaction "OMG, I could be next", the other is the hassle one has to go through to bring things back to spec - the "I've experienced this and can relate" and lastly - it's to see this happen to a new car - in particular, an emotional ride like a Stang (dunno if this last part made sense).

My condolences to you and S550_Magnetic.

As folks mentioned, its a random world and other than minimizing the odds of these kind of things (from door dings, rock chips, maintain distance, accidents, keying etc) occurring there is not much we can do and shit still happens - the primary mission is to enjoy our rides and you were doing that (esp judging from your posts on driving with ESP/TC off ;-) ). I lost a car (Acura Integra -R) while it was PARKED on the street outside a condo I used to live in (I was lazy ONE day in my entire 7 years there and came upstairs for an afternoon nap). When I returned a few hours later is was WRAPPED AROUND A TREE - it was such a strong impact my sunglasses inside were cracked and the bottle of cologne I had burst open. Apparently someone has smashed it with a truck or Boeing 747 - the insurance company at first was suspicious (thought I had hit it somewhere and claimed hit and run) until they say the damage at the scene and their jaw dropped. Another incident - I came back from a roadtrip and was super tired and left a bag in my car. I never do that and it was in the trunk (this time an Audi TT) - that day someone decided to break in to my car. I lost a lot of expensive stuff, not to mention my rear seats were torn up. I felt 'violated'.

Anyway, looks like folks here are guiding you the right way. I'll try to avoid repeating what they said, just a few things:
- police report at least in my state means CARFAX and AUTOCHECK will report it as an accident (so if they didnt accept a report and insurance is OK, good for you). I went through this with my BMW M6 - a valet hit the ride, but since I didnt do a walkaround denied the claim. It was a small bumper scratch - tooks me weeks to fight the valet firm, work with insurance etc and was hardly wort the 500 bucks it cost to repair. Regardless, showed up on those reports and was a PITA with me fielding questions from potential buyers EVERY SINGLE time.
- let me know what dashcam you end up buying?

Oh, for the sake of injecting some humor here, I'll say this - if this happened to Pacman (my ride) - it probably would align the passenger side front fender better with the door/hood. That gap is so bad Ford is having a body shop align it for me. LOL

You and a whole bunch of people on M6G are like forum bros. I do get upset when I see someone's car get messed up or have a bad experience if I know them at all on here. And I really appreciate what you wrote up there man. Hope you don't have to go through something like it.
Cheers! :cheers:

 

[ScottsGT]

They have the right to look at the car and write quotes all day long. But it stops right there. They cannot tell you where to get your car repaired.
Go to the shop you want to use and look at the cars customers are about to pick up. There's your measuring stick.

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