The OFFICIAL This is why I will never own a nice SVX thread...

[Subix]

So...

My girlfriend had dropped off my daughter while I was at work and on the way home... someone jumped two lanes over on the interstate and dove right into the front side. (I have no idea wtf he was thinking or doing and neither did she) Thankfully, my girlfriend is ok and my daughter had already been dropped off before the accident even happened. They took her to the hospital by ambulance and I left work rushing up to make sure everything was ok. She's so fortunate to have only suffered neck/back pain and from the looks of it, nothing more. 5 hours later and a few prescriptions to some pain meds, she is now safe and sound home asleep.

Being a night person and still kind of wired, I went ahead and drove out to where the car had been towed/stored sort of knowing what to already expect. (The accident did take place on the highway after all...)

I'm kind of emotionless about it all at this point and I'm nearly positive they are going to total it. To think in a few weeks I will have had LED tail lights back from Chris Apkarian to install and next month a real garage to store the Laguna in for safe keeping and to work on. I don't even know what to do from here or if I even want to bother... I'm sick really. I had so many great plans for this car but I'm not even sure at this point. What a rough week....

[ensteele]

I am so sorry to hear about this. I am glad however to hear everyone is ok. When things calm down a bit, you will be able to figure out what you will do next. Good luck.

[SilverSpear]

Thank God your girlfriend was not seriously injured Subix. Accidents do happen but yeah it sux when a property dear to your heart gets destroyed by an idiot.

Only wish the front damage was only simply cosmetic, for if I am not mistaken, it is twisted by few inches

[Mike621]

Clint,

I'm very sorry this happened to your car. There are many careless drivers out there, and its good to see the SVX is still keeping its owners safe from them. I am glad you and your family are alright. It's a sad situation, but the car can be replaced.

Be sure to show documentation of recent parts/services when negotiating a settlement with the insurance company.

[Subix]

Thanks guys.

State Farm is trying to settle for $2,138 on my car but I've denied their offer so far.... asked me to provide dealers selling the same year model etc. I couldn't find any 94s but I did find some 95s with about 30k more miles on it, one being at $2995 and the one with 149k miles for $4,449. I really don't think I should have to settle for anything less than $2,800 after the buyback fee of $300 - it was a mechanically sound car engine and transmission and nothing was trashed interior. It had a few rust bits but nothing overly major for this kind of car.

I'm really hoping I can fix it. It may seem kind of pointless but I'm sure I can get a non-premium insurance teamed body shop to do it for half in labor cost alone. The front wheel does seem lower on the driver side but it could just be my perception of the body smushed due to the accident but I'm unsure how much damage that could've caused or if it's even repairable.

I have headlights to put in and grill, I think I can get a new front qtr fender for about $125 if memory serves me correctly and a front bumper for $250... plus whatever misc. parts that got damaged near the front side, I wouldn't think would be more than $400-$600. So $900 in parts maybe and I may be able to get away with some good labor but we'll see I guess.

The guy at the body shop just said I should just total it. Of course, they all say that.

[crazyhorse]

From what i can tell in the pics, the damage "looks" superficial. You wont know for sure until ypu get a good look under the hood, and get the bent parts off. My bet is that its repairable for just the outer skin pieces. If you trust it, i bet you can bend the bumper bar back into place.

[kwren]

Originally Posted by Subix

Thanks guys.

State Farm is trying to settle for $2,138 on my car but I've denied their offer so far.... asked me to provide dealers selling the same year model etc.

I would tell state-farm to repair or replace the car. Tell them you will rent a car to drive until they do that and charge them with the rental bill. It is their responsibility to repair or replace it and they are also responsible to make sure the replacement checks out to your satisfaction... I think it is for 30 days from the time they replace it for you to agree on the condition of the deal.

If they don't take care of you, sue them for "bad faith" Don't make the mistake of getting a lawyer...

Good luck!
Keith

[Conn SVX]

Keep in touch, let's us know how it goes, my wife totaled our 2004 Acura Tl 5 weeks ago. When I got the accident the police were surprised I didn't even raise my voice. I was so glad to see her still standing. Cars can be replaced. Worse part of the damage is the rear 1/4 ( labor intense ) having a 1994 Laguna also I feel your pain.Working in a body shop , back in the day, it always seemed worse when it was brought in , after parts are removed it don't look so bad. Good luck.

[Subix]

Thanks for the advice kwren, I'll definitely keep that mindset moving forward. State Farm seems kind of hard headed with it all. I just refuse to allow them to slide it under as what they consider fair, especially if I can't get a replacement or fix mine for what they are trying to offer me ( they said their offer is only good for 3 days, sounds kind of pushy to me considering we're the victims here )

Yeah Conn, Nicole was certain I was going to be angry at her about the car but not the case at all. I'm just glad she's ok and it's not her fault that the other driver ( if that's what you want to call him ) is an idiot. I do hate dealing with these insurance companies though.

[Mike621]

Clint,

Not to be a downer, but from the looks of the photos, I'd say its a fair bet that the left front unibody/frame is likely twisted. I'd imagine the apron contacted the timing cover on the driver's side of the engine.

Good luck with the negotiations & best of luck replacing the car.

[Subix]

It's never ending with this. Not only am I stuck with having to settle with State Farm for their low balling NADA offer (which I am disputing and filing a claim with the department of insurance for not only under stating the value of my vehicle and not capable of providing current results regardless of their dubious *updated in July of 2012 values* but also failing to provide any sort of car rental during a realistic time frame to use - after all, it only makes sense to offer a 3 day car rental the day after to someone who was in a car accident and cannot operate a vehicle due to being on medications DUE TO THE ACCIDENT!) Unwilling to work with us, at all. Just incredible. State Farm is a real piece of work.

To top it off, the body shop they recommended and 'work with'... get this, they cracked my windshield and want to deny that they did it (I have pictures when the windshield was perfectly fine when my girlfriend and I went to inspect the car on their lot) stating it was accident related, even though they didn't report a cracked windshield to State Farm, how convenient (which, guess who backs up the body shop) State Farm saying: it's something they could have over looked? Yeah, well. I don't overlook **** like that. It's the first thing I noticed and said WTF to after they dropped my car off. Tow company said it was already cracked and made note of it on the receipt. The guy at the body shop demands proof and doesn't feel like they should be held liable because it's "most likely accident related".. but supposedly claims that if I can prove it, they'll come out and replace the windshield. (which I hope they do, I'm not too keen on taking anyone to small claims court) and while I'm not happy about making them replace the windshield, it's not fair to me to accept it either, regardless of the state the car is in. The hood doesn't move unless you unlatch it, of course... so it's not like it was just moving around freely during movement.

The battery is barely touching the timing cover and thankfully did not grind into it or smash anything else. Don't ask me how. I still have hope that the car is repairable and that I will be driving it again sometime in the near future. I have far too much passion to just let this thing die, if I can help it.

[kwren]

Originally Posted by SilverSpear

Thank God your girlfriend was not seriously injured Subix.

Only neck and back pain? The chances are that "neck and back pain" will remain a part of her life as long as her life exists.

That NADA thing is a company that was founded to help insurance companies and the shysters that sell cars, new and used, cheat the public. The blue book that was used originally was much fairer but the shyster greed factor changed all that... so... NADA was created.

All this combined with the fact that all these laws are made by legislatures that are lawyers, for lawyers... next if a lawyer has to represent you, his 35% fee, medical, plus all other fees... filing and any other padded incidental expenses that are encored come right off the top... before anything else happens.

Any litigation, including arbitration. goes where? Back to a group of lawyers. All costs for this are taken from your few remaining dollars.
Even the insurance adjusters are the drinking buddies of the lawyers.
Anyone will tell you this... Sort of like the lesson we learned from obama...
The lawyer gets all the dollars... you can keep the change.

You might call me a State Farm expert. The accident that totaled our subaru legacy 8 years ago was because of a 16 year old ornamental girl doing something unbelievable stupid. Totaled our car... State Farm called it a fender-bender.

We ended up getting a lawyer who eventually filed an intent to withdraw from our case... That was the day after he didn't even show up for the trial... The judge dismissed the case.

Yes, I know about State Farm.

You might consider going it our way. Tell them what you are going to do if they don't fix or replace your SVX! Make sure about the extent of the neck and back pain. They aren't used to that!

How ours ended, with no lawyer, would blow your mind.

Good luck!

Keith

[Happy]

Get the number for the State insurance commissioner and have copies of your comp ads. Call up the insurance company and let them know you will be filing complaints with the state insurance commissioner that they are offering you $2,138 while you want the car and $2,800, the car is listed as a future classic by Hemmings, and all the comps show it is worth significantly more than they are offering. Tell them that you don’t understand why they are being so unreasonable and that all the work it is going to take them to respond to all the complaints will cost them more than just doing the right thing by you now.

This is what you need to focus on, that it is going to cost them more top deal with all the complaints you will file than it would cost to just to make you happy. Business wise this should be a no brainer. If the person you are talking to does not have the business savy to understand this, talk to their supervisor. If they don’t then file the complaint asap.
Don’t bother to bring up lawsuits etc… as they know you are not hiring a lawyer over this. Your girlfriend may sue for injuries but that has nothing to do with the issues at hand.

As far as the car, it’s gone, forget about fixing it. Part it out if you want but I don’t think this is worth getting back on the road again. Put your time into something more productive like finding a new one to work on. I know this sucks but there are a lot worse things which could have happened.

[LastSVXintheChi]

This ALMOST happened to me a few weeks back...

i was in the left lane when a red mini van with an elderly woman driving it decided that she wanted my spot on the highway....i ended up slamming on the brakes and swerving so she wouldnt hit me (thank god there was a shoulder between the lane and the LARGE concrete barrier) but that almost ended bad for me cus then the car started fish tailing and i almost hit the barrier...luckily no contact was made with anything...

i can only imagine what the people behind me were thinking when they saw this odd green thing swerving at 65mph on the highway

but anyway its good everyone is ok good luck with the insurance!

[Subix]

So....

I'm not even going to get into the State Farm **** because it's a mess still and I don't care at this point. The good news is the car starts and runs/drives fine.. somehow, magically. There is also no frame damage somehow it only twisted the front bumper and the impact was completely absorbed by the fenders bumper and hood. The body shop that cracked my windshield said they will replace mine but that has yet to happen.

The total cost to replace the front end parts in labor is roughly $1,460. I've come to the sad decision of just completely tearing down my Bordeaux because it needs not only a transmission and head gasket on top of body work and has twice as many miles overall. Plus I'll use the money from the parts I don't need and sell off to help repair the Laguna.

I'm excited that I will be able to keep and continue driving this car. Of course the labor does not include the parts or paint but I planned on having it repainted this year anyway, which will now have to be pushed back later until the car is actually repaired. I'll wait till the dust settles before going into detail about the shoddy estimate

But the good news is... Laguna Lives!