I hurt emotionally, maybe not physically..don't know yet.

"conrader" (conrader) 10/30/2013 at 16:27 • Filed to: Wrecklopnik, Mustang, FML

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So, today I was traveling southbound on a road in my town (Newton) and a man decided to make a left hand turn directly into me. Why did I decide to drive my 'Stang today? I definitely didn't feel manly while trying to hold back tears mourning this permanent black mark on my darling cars history, but I feel as though a part of me has died. Damage is to the passenger side because I slammed on my brakes and tried to steer out of his way. He told police I was driving south into northbound traffic, but they didn't seem to believe him. The man is easily almost 80 and couldn't even stand up straight. He claimed to have had neck surgery recently, which made me wonder about driving on pain meds, but thats just a load of speculation. So, I'm ok, but I'm not ok.

$kaycog > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:29

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I'm so very sorry! Glad you're okay..............well, physically anyway.

Party-vi > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:30

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I feel for you. Remember to call his insurance company first - don't leave it up to your company to contact them.

Blondude > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:31

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

conrader > $kaycog 10/30/2013 at 16:33

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:( Thanks $kay, this thing is my pride and joy and I just can't believe it happened. I've never owned a more reliable amazing car, and now its just going to be another wrecked muscle car (in the eyes of Carfax or whoever does that). I almost hope they total it out, but feel really gross for feeling that way..

ddavidn > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:36

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Aw man, sorry for your loss.

Meatcoma > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:36

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I know the feeling. Feels like a little part of you died and you know it will never be what it once was. No matter how good of a job the body shop does. I had $6k worth of hail damage back in june and while no one knows but me.... I still know it and I've noticed I don't baby it as much... I is sowwy for your loss.

conrader > Party-vi 10/30/2013 at 16:37

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Good call. I did already contact mine, but told them that I didn't want it to go through them since it was his fault. I believe the police report reflects that as well. It was strange to me, because I asked for his insurance card from the police officer, but he said, "Oh, we have all of that in the report, so it'll just be one piece of paper with the info that you need on there." But I put a call into the PD to have the guy call me back because I want to get this thing going.

conrader > Meatcoma 10/30/2013 at 16:37

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Thank you, thats pretty much exactly (like exactly) how I feel.

Rainbow > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:38

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Ohh, that's awful! I'm glad everyone was okay. (I'm assuming the guy who hit you is okay, too?) Still, there is no way that can be fun. I hope it all works out somehow.

Who needs sway bars anyway > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:41

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I feel ya man, My mustang took a very similar hit with a lot more damage, It wasn't totaled, I had her fixed up and driving just shy of two weeks after. Before you know it she'll be good as new.

Klaus Schmoll > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:47

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Judging by the pictures I'd say it can be fixed by a good body shop without leaving any or almost any trace of the repair. I wish you all the best that the insurance doesn't try any funny stuff and it all goes smoothly!

conrader > Rainbow 10/30/2013 at 16:51

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Thanks, and yeah I think he was ok too. He was really old, and not very nice about any of it.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:52

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Obligatory "It'll buff out. " comment.

But seriously, did it do any frame damage?

PS9 > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:52

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Well for that money you could have...

For real though, I'm really sorry for your loss. Remember, we love cars here, but a human is much harder to replace than a manufactured piece of technology. Glad you're okay enough to still post with us here at oppo

conrader > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 10/30/2013 at 16:54

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It seemed to drive..ok. I was able to make it back home with my dad (who lives nearby and graciously left work to help me) following along behind me in case anything went wrong. I'm probably hyper-sensitive about it right now, so I'll need to get it checked out so I know for sure.

conrader > PS9 10/30/2013 at 16:56

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Wow that damage is pretty similar! But thank you though, I'm glad everything went as well as it did, all things considered.

Casper > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:57

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Ouch. Sorry to hear that. Remember to look into the issue of diminished value when you get going on the insurance claim. They always try to pay the minimum to fix the obvious damage and move on and avoid diminished value or delayed injuries.

http://www.learnvest.com/knowledge-cent…

conrader > Klaus Schmoll 10/30/2013 at 16:57

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I hope it'll either be fixed pretty easily, or just totaled. I hope I don't have to act like a hardass to the insurance company, but I will if I have to!

OkCars- 22k Crossroads > conrader 10/30/2013 at 16:59

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ah that looks terrible, did the side airbags came off? i feel sorry for you man, ive been crashed in my ex car, now i have a 2008 mustang and im always alert of the people driving around me, i hadnt realized how many idiots drive while using the cellphone.

conrader > Casper 10/30/2013 at 16:59

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Thank you, yeah I was wondering about how that all works. I keep asking myself, what about damage to mechanicals that I can't see? What about frame? What about this and this and this..? AND now its officially a wrecked muscle car in the eyes of anyone who'd look at that sort of thing.

$kaycog > conrader 10/30/2013 at 17:00

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I can understand you feeling that way. You'll always remember that it was wrecked.

Casper > conrader 10/30/2013 at 17:02

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Minor damage like that won't bother most people, just make sure you keep pictures. If you go to sell it and you say it had minor damage.... it helps to have proof of the damage. That isn't enough to brand the title, so it's not a big deal.

ZeroOrDie - Powered By MZR > conrader 10/30/2013 at 17:07

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Oh man I'm sorry. Glad you are okay. Hope everything goes smoothly after this unfortunate event. I totaled my fox body and it was my fault. When I got it hope smoking and all banged up I just sat and starred at it for a while.

conrader > OkCars- 22k Crossroads 10/30/2013 at 17:11

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It's just awful, I can't believe the lack of attention people pay while operating their 2-3-4-5000 lb vehicles! No airbags went off, which is good I guess..

conrader > ZeroOrDie - Powered By MZR 10/30/2013 at 17:13

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Yeah, thats pretty much what I did when I got home. We had to kinda laugh because driving down the road the damage is out facing the shoulder, so you couldn't really tell why exactly we were driving 40 with our hazards on.

ZeroOrDie - Powered By MZR > conrader 10/30/2013 at 17:23

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Ha glad you can see humor in it. I had busted headlights pointing different directions. My hood was bent up and it was over heating while I was driving home the rest of the way. So leaving a trail of steam I was fairly obvious haha.

OkCars- 22k Crossroads > conrader 10/30/2013 at 17:24

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yes its better if airbags werent deployed, unless you need them, i just realized maybe they didnt went off because nobody was in the passenger seat, you know, heres a sensor on the seat that activates the airbags if somebody heavier than a kid seats in them

Frank Grimes > conrader 10/30/2013 at 17:33

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Is it too early or morbid to think about wanting that drivetrain for my fox body?

Also it could be so much worse. A new fender a new door wont be expensive. And the quarter panel shouldn't take too much labor to weld a new one on like it was done at the factory. What sucks is how much paintint will need to be done and that adds up quickly.

SteyrTMP > conrader 10/30/2013 at 17:37

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Find the most expensive repair shop you can find. When some cow hit my Mini Cooper S, I went to Stoddard Imported Cars, a certified Porsche restoration shop... Needless to say, their work was beyond reproach, and the price looked it. I tried very hard to total it, but I had too much in it for them to write it off.

It's worth a try. At least you'll put a grain of sand in the insurance company's very large wallet. I highly doubt they'll total it, There's probably minimal structural damage; the roofline is clean, and the rocker doesn't appear to be bent. I'm no auto repair guy, but I'd figure 6-10k-ish.

Just make sure you don't just deal with his insurance place without a fight. Look back in the forums; someone had a very good "what to do after an accident" post.

I don't know if you got banged around or if it was pretty minor, impact-wise. Have them pay for you to get checked out at a doctor. I should have pushed harder for them to give me an MRI at the start... because it costed me later on in the lawsuit. I still made off ok, but it would have been a lot more of leverage if I had it done right away, instead of 6 months later.

Party-vi > conrader 10/30/2013 at 18:10

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They didn't issue a paper copy of the report on the scene? In my (hopefully) last accident I got a paper copy, the officer's card and I asked for the other driver's insurance info, but again it was listed on the report.

conrader > SteyrTMP 10/30/2013 at 18:11

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Very interesting, I think thats all good information! I guess my question is just at what point do they actually total a car? Like if a car is worth 10k and repairs are 9k, do they fix it or total it? I'm just so clueless about this. I was coming up on my 10 year 'anniversary' of no incidents at all.

I'm going to go look for that article now! Thanks!

conrader > Frank Grimes 10/30/2013 at 18:13

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My first thought was..Factory Five Cobra build? Too soon? Mustang GT for sale, looked great when I saw it this morning.

conrader > Party-vi 10/30/2013 at 18:15

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Yeah, I'm not real happy about that, but I looked in one of my pics, and I did get the guy's license plate info, so thats something I guess..I basically have to wait until Friday (at the earliest, I think) to go to the station and pick up a copy.

Icemanmaybeirunoutofthetalents > conrader 10/30/2013 at 19:12

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Oh man. That sucks! I'm glad that you're ok physically. That is the most important thing.

conrader > Icemanmaybeirunoutofthetalents 10/30/2013 at 19:35

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Thank you! And I do agree with you about that, I suppose!

SteyrTMP > conrader 10/30/2013 at 19:35

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I really don't know. I think once it gets close to the total value... they have some wierd wonky math... like some angry Amish midgets rattling some loaded dice.

Big total factors—if fire or water is involved, it's toast. From what I've been told, if the roof is bent, it's totaled. Obviously, extensive frame damage, totaled. Other than that it all has to do with how much does it cost... I don't know if it's over half, or over 2/3, or something like that...

I had around 35k sunk in my Mini. There was moderate rear frame damage, but being an uni-body, it was repairable. Overall, there was over 13k in damage. They wouldn't total it. If I had kept it stock, there may have been a possibility, who knows.

Now, after it caught on fire a few years later, yeah, it was totaled then.

SteyrTMP > SteyrTMP 10/30/2013 at 19:38

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Here: Apparently typically 70-75%

http://www.carsdirect.com/car-insurance/…

conrader > SteyrTMP 10/30/2013 at 21:32

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Dang, so you've been through the whole thing..thats crazy. Thanks for finding that link for me, my Googling prowess is not up to par right now..

SteyrTMP > conrader 10/30/2013 at 21:35

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I know little to nothing about this stuff... I really wish I had known about that depreciated value thing when I was fighting her insurance... I could have probably settled for considerably more.

Local Miata Bro > conrader 11/07/2013 at 22:22

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I feel us man it sucks it might end up getting totaled. My Hyundai needed a hood, headlights, and a radiator mount. State Farm totaled it as the damage was more than 65% of the value of the car.

conrader > Local Miata Bro 11/08/2013 at 10:04

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Dang man, that sucks..They didn't end up totaling mine, unfortunately (as I think I would have preferred that), and just gave me a check for the damages (which ended up coinciding with the quotes that I'd already gotten) so I just took it and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.