Repairing the damage after an accident - 94 Accord EXR

Well, we had a snow storm a couple of weeks ago here in Toronto, and my
car survived just fine through the worst of it. That is, untill after
the storm when I went to visit a friend and I parked on the street in
front of his house. That's where some idiot decided to speed off his
driveway and slammed right into the driver's door on my 94 Accord EXR.

Luckily (if I can call it that) the front fender escaped without a
scratch, the central pillar is straight, everything else is fine but my
door is pretty mangled. It's sagging, the shell is pushed in quite a bit
and I can only open the window a bit, since I'm afraid not to break it.
I know it's not a bad accident, and after I get it fixed the door will
look and work better than before the accident. I'm taking it to a
bodyshop that replaced the front fender three years ago, and it still
looks like new (same fender that escaped this time around).

But the amount of inconvenience it caused me is quite high. I was lucky
I caught the guy when it happened, because I was just about to leave the
house. Otherwise, who knows if he would have stuck around. I tried to be
nice to him, and not go through the insurance companies. I know this may
sound like a mistake, but in Ontario, even if an accident is completely
not your fault, it still stays on your record and you may be assessed as
a higher risk. So it was in both our best interests to keep this a cash
affair. But this decision meant running around to several body shops to
get estimates, and then force the guy to pay for the repairs up front.
He wanted to take me to some back alley shop that would just hammer my
door back into shape. I could not accept that since even though my car
is 10 years old, it's still in mint condition, so I couldn't accept a
half assed job.

The aftermath? The pleasure of speeding off his driveway cost that guy
CAD$1700 (CAD$1500 for the repair and $200 for the car rental), or about
US$1400. And this is on a car that is worth CAD$6000.

Sorry for the long winded post, I just had to share it with you guys. I
know some of you went through a lot worse, but it's unbelievable how
even a smallish accident can ruin 2-3 weeks of your life. And when you
go to school, and have middterms and a lot of other things to do, 2-3
weeks is a loooong time.

Cosmin

 

Hi,
You did right thing. Hope that guy learned his lesson.
Tony

 

I have had the similar situation happen to me but I did not trust the person
to come good ( he said he had a friend who would fix it up)

Simply said its and insurance job as I see it and boy did he go ballistic.
My time is just as valuable as his and had he been not so much of a rush he
could have fared a lot better. One by not getting into the mishap and two by
acting as if it was my fault. I was standing at the curbside in a mall
watching him and just prior said to myself this guy is a danger the way he's
backing out and whack! right into the back of my car.

Attitude goes a long way when accidents occur but this guy got what was
coming to him.

Car was fixed to my specs where I wanted no questions asked thanks to the
insurance company. The insurance aduster asked me why i didn't settle with
him as it was not all that major and I told him why and he agreed let the
jerk suffer the consequences and proceeded to tell me a number of stories of
people and their stupidity in dealing with aggrieved parties.

The experience was worthwhile for me as I learned from the adjuster how to
act in case of an accident. Amazingly many people do not do well under those
circumstances.

Cosmin consider yourself lucky the guy paid up.

Regards
Mike

 

Artfulcodger wrote:
[long snip, see parent posts]

Believe me, I do consider myself lucky. And if my circumstances were any
different, the first thing I would have done would be to go to my
insurance company instead of dealing with him. Unfortunately, I am a 23
years old male, with one at fault accident on my record (very minor, no
claim on my part, but it still counts). I have no demerit points, no
convictions, or any problems otherwise. BUT I am looking for motorcycle
insurance right now, and given the horrible situation here in Ontario, I
stand a good chance not to find anybody to insure me.

I was quoted insane rates on the big bikes (Honda CBR1000RR, Yamaha R1,
Suzuki GSXR1000), in the range of CAD$8-9000/year, when the 2-3 year old
bikes I was looking at are worth that much. I'm hoping I'll get about
CAD$3000/year for one of the 600cc bikes (Honda CBR600F4, Yamaha R6 or
Kawi ZX6R), but having yet another accident on my record (even a not at
fault one) wouldn't have helped one bit.

It's funny you should mention people acting like it's not their fault,
or worse, that it's yours. The guy wanted to do the same... "Why did you
park there? Couldn't you park somewhere else?" Even though I was
perfectly legaly parked, within the time restrictions, etc. I even had
the other side of the car sticking up on the snow bank to give people
enough room. But luckily I had him by the balls with 2 witnesses and his
insurance information. He had two options, either pay up, or have his
insurance rates double. He paid up.

Cosmin