Ouch :(

[Chieftanfeces]

Hello all! I'm a new member as of this moment and have owned my 06 G35 coupe since April Fools Day.

Last week, one of our drivers walked into the office saying he'd just hit my car. "Yeah, right," I said. But then I noticed the look on his face and followed him outside.

Let me just say semi lugnuts will win a fight with sports coupes anyday. I wanted to kill him, but the thing is, he was obviously regretful and felt so bad about it, I told him not to sweat it. It's just a car, could've been worse, that kinda stuff. So now I'm without my ride for another week and a half.

At any rate, I just wanted to introduce myself and cry on some shoulders

[rydwhite]

Ohh, ..... I just crinched. That is painful. At least that is all that it was.

[gjohnson66]

Owwww!!! You, my friend, are a better man than I...I would have strangled the life out the person that did that to my car with my bare hands!

But welcome anyway!

[audtatious]

I hope you have a M as a rental.

[joe603]

such a sad site...at least it wont be totaled....make sure you get the insurance company to give you depreciated value!

[J-Owner]

You are a better person than me. I would have gotten arrested I would have been so mad.

That is the problem with people today. No one slows down long enough to do even the simplest of things.......like pay attention!!

So sorry that happened. I hope your repairs go smoothly.

[Chieftanfeces]

such a sad site...at least it wont be totaled....make sure you get the insurance company to give you depreciated value!

My insurance guy said that only works on total value policies, or something along those lines, in that the car is insured for an exact amount like $42k, or whatever. (I got mine for around $37k, with sports package and just about every option available).

Is he feeding me a line of bull???

[yzarcur]

In California your car is insured with an Actual Cash Value. That value is determined at the time of loss. This only applies to totaled vehicles. Now you could have endorsements added to your policy that would cover any custom wheels or whatever, as long as your company will cover aftermarket products, at an additional premium.

You paid $37K for your car and that is what they will use to determine your premium but you would be responsible for anything above that in fincance charges, loans that are above that. There are gap insurances avalilable but that is another topic.

[C-Kwik]

Diminished value is the correct term. And it's not recognized in California. You could argue it, but there is no way to actually substantiate such a claim to a measurable degree. GA is the only state I know of that has made diminished value a law. From what I've seen, they use some sort of forumla to calculate it, but in theory, diminished value would be much harder to calculate over some formula. Many things would have to be factored in. I'm sure it was a compromise of some sort, but personally, I think the whole concept is weak to begin with. As long as an insurance company is involved in paying the loss, then there is little chance the car will be improperly repaired. The ones I'd be most worried about are those who pay for repairs out of their own pocket and try to save a buck with their body shop. The shop will have no choice but to cut corners...perhaps to the extent that safety could be compromised. In visiting some small used car dealers when helping my cousin find a car, I had to make him walk away from a car in which the airbags had been deployed and someone stuffed them back in and performed a dash repair to mend the seams where the airbags punch through. I'm fairly content with owning a car that went through a few small collision losses over one with a non-existent history. Being in the insurance industry, I see quite a few nice cars out there with liability insurance only on them. And they are definitely damaged as I don't see these policies unless an accident occurs. I'd imagine many of the repairs to these vehicles are paid by the owner. And given the fact they don't want to pay for the collision coverage, I'm sure they are reluctant to pay top dollar for the repairs. A car with some minor claims history at least shows the vehicle had been insured and damages were most likely taken care of properly.

As far as stated value policies, they really only apply to total losses. Make sure you read the policy language if you are getting one of these. The verbage may indicate that you may only get the appraised value(appraised at the time of loss). In some cases where the value appreciates over time, it may actually limit youir settlement to the stated amount and not the actual value which would be higher. A good option is a carrier that offers full Price of the car should a total loss occur within a certain period of time from the date of purchase. 21st century will pay what you paid up to 1 year for a brand new car. Allstate is not offering this through the 1st 3 years of a new car's life. May vary in some states though.

[joe603]

Thanks C-Kwik...i couldn't think of the actuall term! My wife was rear-ended by a fed-ex truck after a month of owning [her] car...and they gave us money for diminished value. I guess GA has some good laws.
Modified by joe603 at 9:11 AM 8/18/2006

[Chieftanfeces]

Thanks for all the info, guys! Actually, though, insurance isn't even involved in this one.

I work for my parents' company and they are paying for the repair out of pocket. My step dad didn't want to put it through the company insurance, and Allstate (my company) said they would handle it, but then would go after the company insurance to recoup my deductible.

I dropped it off at the body shop a week ago today. They are replacing the rear quarter, as well as the rear left tire - which got scraped up to a minimal degree but was still something I refused to live with. They said they'd have it ready in about two weeks, so I'm halfway there already.

All I can say is my wife's car (2004 Murano SE), which I'm driving now, is nice. But it certainly isn't my g. I want my car back!!!!!!

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard, Chief - We have the same ride, and I cringed as well seeing that.

I've often wondered what those big lugs would do to a small car - Now I know.

Glad you're here, and hope you find this place to your liking. Let us know if there's anything we can do for you.

[KA-Te]

Yikes that sucks!

It always sucks when a cow-orker hits your car. It's one thing if it's a stranger, but when you have to see the person everyday!

[C-Kwik]

Thanks C-Kwik...i couldn't think of the actuall term! My wife was rear-ended by a fed-ex truck after a month of owning the car...and they gave us money for diminished value. I guess GA has some good laws.

It's two-fold though. Consider for a moment where the money for these claims come from. The insurance premiums you pay are pools of money from all the policyholders that are distributed to those who have losses. Ultimately, it comes out of your own pocket as insurance companies will have to compensate for the additional loss dollars by raising the premiums. Unfortunately, nothing in life is ever truly free.

[joe603]

I view insurance as a game...there are winners and there are loosers. While I'd never want to get into an accident or have something happen to my home forcing me to make a claim, its those that don't make claims that "loose". If I put X amount of dollars into the pool, and have a loss, pulling X amount out, as long as I'm not at fault (making my premium go up) I win.

I think I remember you saying that your into insurance so I'll be nice...but insurance is like a dentist: everybody hates having to go through it, but its just something that you need to do!

[C-Kwik]

No offense taken. It would be nice to see a world where insurance would never be necessary, but unfortunately, that would never be a reality. The real losers are those with legitimate claims that suffer due to illegitimate ones. There are way too many people out there who see an accident as an opportunity to put some cash in their pockets by exaggerating a claim or even flat out filing fraudulent claims. As a result it's natural for adjusters to question losses, even if just to test one's credibility. We get a bad name for it while those who have to go through this questioning who have legitimate losses end up feeling like they are treated like criminals. I'm sure there are many collateral victims of insurance companies trying to aggressively settle what they think might be illegitimate claims for lower than it would actually be worth. It's hard to pick the good guys from the bad ones sometimes. And the bad ones not only affect these people but also those who pay premiums. IIRC, fraud accounts for something like $200-$400 annually in premiums per household. Sucks to think about sometimes.

I could go on, but this is getting quite off topic so I'll stop here. =)