Damnit, not again!

[Densetsu]

21 months ago I was in a big accident. Totalled my Pathfinder. Questioned buying another one because of rust issues, so I bought a GMC and hated it. Went back to a Pathy.

Then tonight? I have the pleasure of being rear-ended at the intersection of a "highway" (it's called a highway, but in the city there's a max speed of 70 km/h and traffic lights).



On the surface, the damage doesn't seem to expensive. Rear bumper is toast, and so is the small plastic panel that holds the mudflap for the rear wheel. That seems to be it. After removing the small panel that was hanging off by one screw, it drove home fine. Didn't notice any pull or weird behavior on the highway.

I have to take it in for an estimate in the next few days. Hopefully the only damage is the bumper and one plastic panel. Even that'll be expensive; good thing there's no way I'll be at fault. The other guy was polite and cooperative, and I don't blame him for what happened.

I really hope there's no frame damage or anything else hidden, because I love this Pathy and -- unlike my other one -- there's no sign of rust on it.

More:

[Towncivilian]

Sorry to hear that. I'm glad nobody suffered any injury. That damage doesn't look awful at all. I don't think you'll have any hidden damage as you worry about, I had much worse damage in the same spot. Looks like it'll suck for the other dude, though!



It was repaired without issue.





I still need paint, of course...

[Chuck Tribolet]

The other guy sure lost. Did he hit anything besides you?

Chuck

[Densetsu]

We were in the left center lane, and the other guy swerved left into the left turn lane. Luckily, nobody was there. It could have gotten ugly if he swerved to the right, because it was just at the tail end of rush hour and those other lanes were full.

This was all caused by a moron in front of me who stopped at a green light on the highway. The light was green as we approached it, with no indication it was going to change. I stopped and honked, then was hit from behind. A couple seconds later, the guy in front waved and took off, light still green.

The initial estimate was $1700; a couple hundred higher than I thought, but still pretty small. I'm assuming his car is going to be a writeoff, since it's a '98 Ford Escort that can't be worth more than a few thousand.

Towncivilian, glad to hear that you managed to get that fixed without incident. No injuries in your incident, either?

[Towncivilian]

Indeed, there were no injuries in my case.

$1700 seems excessive, it really doesn't look like there is significant damage other than your bumper cover and possibly the inner bumper support. The total to fix my damage was approximately $1000 total.

[Chris.m]

Atleast its not your fault, so you don't have to pay a higher insurance rate.

Look on the bright side --> newly painted bumper!

[Densetsu]

Maybe it's a regional price difference? Typically in Alberta it's around $500 to paint a bumper cover, and $300 for smaller panels like the one that broke off my wheel well. $100 or so for touching up deep/large scratches; my quarter-panel sheet metal under the plastic was scratched up as well. Throw in the cost of a panel, bumper cover, bumper, and labour to install it all, and $1700 sounds about right. I was guessing around $1500 before I walked in.

An advantage of living in a oil-rich province is that the prices of everything are high to match. It's especially fun when you're not actually in the oil industry and thus don't have the high wages everyone else does.

As long as my adjuster calls me back in the next day or two and says I'm not at fault, the other party's insurance will pay 100% for this and cost isn't a huge issue to me. Otherwise, I'll look over the prices more closely.