I was enjoying some good old high school senior fun last night, as I didn't have to be in school until 11:15 this morning, and as I was coming home (around 11:30 or so), I was going down a long straight road. I wasn't going all that fast (maybe 30 or so), when a SUV with HID's (on high beams, nonetheless) came out of one of the few corners, going pretty fast. As I got closer to this guy, he was swerving pretty wildly, though I couldn't see why, until I was right along side him, and I saw a deer right in front of my right headlight. Now, I couldn't very well swerve out of the way, with the guy right alongside me, so I hit the useless creature (using that term instead of far worse things). Not a good night anymore . . .
Got home, and evaluated the damage. The passenger side headlight mounting bracket is pretty much gone, the passenger fender is buckled a bit (which is high cost, in either labor or parts, it seems), and the hood is a little scratched up. Went to a body shop this morning, and got an estimate of $1700 or so, which isn't good as the car's value is only $2200-2300. It's covered under my insurance's comprehensive policy, so my premiums won't increase, but the fear of them totalling a car that I've put $3500 into a new engine for, as well as 4 new Yokohama AVS ES100 tires, as well as the time to put a decent stereo in is quite high. I want to know what all you guys think of my options here . . .
And my options are . . .1. Show all the documentation on the new engine, tires, etc to the insurance company, in an attempt to raise the value of the car enough so they'll still fix it instead of totalling it. (Might work, might not)
2. Try and increase the value of the car and get higher estimates on the repairs, and let them total the car, buy it back, and fix it with whatever money is left. Not an option I'd want, as the car would then have a salvage title, and I might no longer be able to get the kind of insurance coverage/rates I'm used to, though I'd have a significant amount of money to repair it ($8,000 into the car since I bought it, including the cost of the car, I can't afford to lose the car).
It's basically an awful position to be in, and to be perfectly honest, if I didn't have all this money "invested" in the car, I'd love to have it totalled, because this 240 truly seems cursed. Ironically enough, "Christine" was on when I got home from work tonight . . . it's starting to feel like my biography. :-( If anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it . . . thanks, in advance.
Deer Suck.
That was another thought . . . problem there is pulling an engine is a bit more involved than a suspension, I would imagine, heh. For that reason, I'd like to stick with this engine/chassis that I have now, or move on to something entirely different. The joys of deer . . . I have the sudden urge to watch that part of "Bambi" where Bambi's mom gets killed, over and over again, and I'd be cheering each and every time. :-)
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nismofan14
- Posts: 579
- Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2002 5:55 am
Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to do man, with the new engine, and all the time I've invested in putting a decent stereo in the car, I can't loose it, I guess. If nothing else, I'll finally be able to get the front of the car to look a little better than before (the paint is still shiny as hell, but quite a few chips that weren't a result of this that are going to get fixed anyway). Thanks for the advice!
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Checkered-Member
- Posts: 1593
- Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:14 am
- Car: 1998 Nissan Altima (modded)
2003 Audi A6 2.7T (stock) - Contact:
The more I hear from the insurance company, the greater the likelihood will be that they won't total it. They mentioned that, with receipts for all of the added equipment & engine, that the value of the car would be increased enough so that the damages would no longer exceed 80% of the car's value, and they would then fix it. This is what I am hoping for, obviously . . . we'll see how things go I guess.
On a brighter note, went to the NY Auto Show today, hopefully will have some pictures up later tonight/this weekend. Some neat stuff there, including my relatively down-to-earth dream car (MR2 Spyder), heh.
On a brighter note, went to the NY Auto Show today, hopefully will have some pictures up later tonight/this weekend. Some neat stuff there, including my relatively down-to-earth dream car (MR2 Spyder), heh.
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fastblue240sx
- Posts: 62
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 9:52 pm
- Car: cars, video games, racing, drifting, etc.
I know exactly where you're coming from on the deer subject. About 6 months ago, I was coming down one of the backroads in my town and thank God, I was the only one on the road, I looked up and there was a deer in the road about 20 yards away from me, and I couldn't really swerve as the road was kinda narrow and the friggin deer was in the middle of the road. The only thing that saved my car was that wonderful, lovely hand brake. I just yanked on it, turned the wheel, and prayed for the best. I guess it heard the tires squealing and took off. Scared the crap out of me though.
Yeah man, deer definitely suck. I've had close calls before, but I've never not been able to correct for a deer being out there on the road, until this happened. I can certainly see how it scares people; I've done so many stupid things in my car (and learned from them, thank god), that the deer didn't scare me at all, I was just pissed off that I couldn't do anything about it. :-)
The car's probably going to get fixed, and though it's a nice enough car, I just don't want the thing anymore, it seems cursed. And driving your dad's S2000 for like the 5th time in the year he's had it doesn't help improve how a 240SX feels in a driver's hands either. :-) It's rather unfortunate that I have so much money put into this car, because I won't see a cent out of it, obviously . . . ugggghhh.
The car's probably going to get fixed, and though it's a nice enough car, I just don't want the thing anymore, it seems cursed. And driving your dad's S2000 for like the 5th time in the year he's had it doesn't help improve how a 240SX feels in a driver's hands either. :-) It's rather unfortunate that I have so much money put into this car, because I won't see a cent out of it, obviously . . . ugggghhh.
Well, I got the 240 back today, from A1 Body Shop right here in New Milford; the car looks amazing, not only can you not tell it's never met a deer, but it looks better then it has since I got it. I had the front spoiler repainted at my cost (easier to do since they had to take it off anyway), and now that looks great too (was really badly damaged paint-wise from the previous owner). I'll have to get pictures when I get a chance, as well as my September 1988 issue of Road & Track where they test the 240; mine looks identical, just as glossy. :-) Insurance paid a little less than $2,000 to fix the car (I have enough repairs/modifications to the engine to elevate the car's value beyond the point at which $2,000 would be the totalling point). It worked out pretty well, I think . . .
It feels particularly good to have it back, since I was the boat captain this week, behind the U.S.S Oldsmobile Aurora; what a beast that car is . . . :-)
It feels particularly good to have it back, since I was the boat captain this week, behind the U.S.S Oldsmobile Aurora; what a beast that car is . . . :-)
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MECPInstaller
- Posts: 811
- Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 10:49 am
- Car: installing stereo systems and minor performance upgrades
back when i wrecked my 240 (took a turn in the rain to quick i'm a dumbass) any had it towed to the bodyshop and they said it would be around 2300 to fix. i didn't claim it on insurance since no one else or other property was damaged and and went down to the bank and took out a loan for 2000 and took the check from them and the 300 bucks to the bodyshop and afew weeks later had my car back in running order with no changes in my insurance. thats one option thats if you can easily get approved for a loan from a bank