Monday, October 20, 2014

Bad beat



Remember the nice new car I was so excited about not too long ago? Jackass in an old pickup truck wasn't paying attention on the highway and slammed into it. A line of cars stopped for some unknown reason. Everybody managed to stop safely except for him. After he pushed me forward, I very nearly hit the car in front of me, but fortunately had left j-u-s-t enough room not to.

Submit your guesses in the comments as to what the final repair bill will be. Closest (over or under, not Price Is Right rules) wins--I don't know what.


30 comments:

SmBoatDrinks said...

Ugh!

$3479.00

Zin said...

$7750, it might be better to just trade it in and buy a new car.

Memphis MOJO said...

Ouch, sorry to see that.

My guess is $6100.

cokeboy99 said...

$6623.32

Sucky, hope he had insurance and you're ok. Car can be replaced, you, not so easily. :)

Rob said...

So sorry to hear about this. Terrible.

I'm guessing $4,000

angerisagift said...

i like Zin's guess but so has not to cock block him witha guess of 7751 like the show "the price is right". i will guess 8500 and mayb the price will b some weed or gift card to Trader Joes. p.s like yr license plate too

arniejokin said...

Looks worse than it is, $2,500. $20,000 for the whiplash though....

Anonymous said...

My guess to fix your car: $4,285.

ohcowboy12go

geezer said...

5400

Unknown said...

I'm going low-ball at $2,250.00.

Someone hates liberty, it appears.

s.i.

Pete P. Peters said...

I was rear-ended (no jokes, please) about 6 months ago while stopped a light. The damage was minimal. The rear bumper was slightly dented and there was some minimal separation where the bumper attached to the side of the vehicle. The damage was so slight I almost considered not even getting it repaired. Final bill: $1,700.

If I were you, I might consider just starting over with a new car . . .

Anonymous said...

Bumper: 800, Back door:1000, Back-lights: 300, labor: 1000-1200. I would say 3300 to 3500.

GolfPro

itchyskippy said...

I say totaled if that is a crease in the upper body panel. Be sure you demand OEM parts and you can negotiate towards totaling it. (so $10,000 +)

Also don't be to quick to not claim injuries. Might be days before back or neck flares up and at the minimum you should be checked out and compensated for doctors appt and time and inconvenience.

Rakewell said...

I'm putting in my personal guess at $3985.

I may have the official estimate by the end of the day.

Rakewell said...

Early, unofficial word has it that we all were under. Way under.

Except for itchyskippy, with that sneaky "+".

itchyskippy said...

I take no pleasure in being a winner in this contest. Just got through two teenage drivers by a few years and know first hand how a seemingly 'minor' dent can turn into 2 grand.

Good luck. Hope they just total it and you can move on. ((the value is negotiable, despite what the insurance co. might say otherwise)

Anonymous said...

About Tree Fiddy!!

Memphis MOJO said...

Forgot to ask: Did your air bags go off? I've heard those things can really hurt you.

Rakewell said...

No on the airbags. But that's perfectly normal in a rear-end collision; they're not supposed to deploy.

itchyskippy said...

So what's the damage Grump? You shopping for a new car?

Rakewell said...

Went for a test drive of a new 2015 Fit yesterday. But still waiting for the other guy's insurance company to officially declare my car dead. Body shop guy had not finished adding up everything when I last spoke to him, but said he was already over $11,000 in repair costs.

Anonymous said...

How many lawyers have contected you this week?

Rakewell said...

No lawyers so far. But today's mail hasn't arrived yet.

Anonymous said...

Grump, as the gnome says, go n smell a new car. If the repair cost crosses 10K I don't think it worth it to repair.

GolfPro

Anonymous said...

I have the worse, similar luck in red cars and trucks! Just say no to red automobiles. Except maybe, and only maybe, a red 65 Mustang.

itchyskippy said...

Ouch....don't let them lowball you because they will sure come in with some Kelly blue book wholesale offer. Value is negotiable.

Good luck Grump.

Anonymous said...

Hit a deer in a six month old CRV. Cost of the car was 23.5K total damage was 14K needed it to be $1500 more to consider it totaled. I think the rartio is about 70% of the value. So it looks like you are about there. Also the intial estimate came in $2K lower than actual. Make them get you a new one.

Not sure why you would buy a Fit when the Civic ges better gas mileage and is a more comfortable car. (just my opinion) Before I saw the other numbers I was going to guess $8500.

Rakewell said...

(1) The Civic does not get better gas mileage, unless you get the hybrid version. Fit is 33 city, 41 highway. Civic is 30/39 for the base models.(2) Even the basic Civic starts at about $3000 more than the Fit. (3) Try stuffing a bicycle into a Civic.

Scott Maryland said...

Looking at just the damage you can see - lift gate, rear glass, RB cover, rear body panel, left and right tail lamps, right 1/4 is buckled, and all the lift gate trim and emblems. The possible likely hidden damage - absorber, impact bar, floor, rail extensions, rails, left 1/4, left and right inner 1/4, interior lift gate trim panel, associated clips and retainers and parts and motor for the rear wiper. I'm not sure if that model has a rear view camera. Then there is the labor costs and paint/materials costs plus R&I time on l and r rear doors and 1/4's for paint blend. If the shop is using OEM parts you are looking at about $14,500 minimum. At least that was the cost to my little 5 door in a very similar accident. My insurance company totaled the car and pretty much bought me the replacement. I spnet a little extra money for some upgrades.

Rakewell said...

I finally got the repair shop's estimate: $11,037.32.

It's being declared a total loss. From a rough look at the numbers, it looks like I'll be able to take my equity from this car (i.e., the amount that's left after paying off the loan), put it as the down payment for a 2015 Fit, and have a car payment of only about $10 a month more than the current one. So it will be OK.

Itchyskippy is the only one who was even in the right ballpark, with his $10,000+ submission.