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First accident *now with pics*

D

Dudd

Platinum Member
Damn it, got into my first car accident today. It was snowing like crazy out and I was headed to the opposite side of town to take a friend home from a hockey game, and I ended up off the road when I was changing from highway to another. I was supposed to switch to a lane to my left, but I kept going straight and ended up in the grass, hiting a sign pointing out that we have flowers near our offramps. I was goin around 40-45, but I didn't press down on the brake enough for the abs to engage. Guess I'll chalk it up to experience. Anyways, there's a gash in front of the drivers side door, and neither the driver's door or the one in back of it opens. Still drives fine. Luckily no one was hurt, all four of us in the car had seatbelts on. Damn sign's still standing too, albeit a liitle bent. Does anyone know approximately how much it would cost to repair the car, or how much I'll get reamed by the insurance company for this (17/m)? I'll try and get pics of the car up in the morning. I felt a little better though when an SUV did the exact same thing I did 5 minutes after I went off.



Here's a pic of how it happened, red is where I went, blue is where I wanted to go. It's not to scale, and the shaded area is the grass I ran off in.

Pic of the damage
#2
#3
 
Interesting direction to slide in.

Glad to know you are ok. That is what is important. As for ABS, STAND ON IT.

For the insurance and cost, what kinda car?

<edit>
For the record, people with SUV's are probably the worst drivers in the snow. They think, " I have an SUV, I am invincable" and end up hitting everything and everyone. I usually stand up for SUV drivers, but not when it is snowing. Most have the wrong mindset.
 
I can't really tell you how much it's going to cost to fix the car without seeing pictures, but if neither door on the driver's side opens, it'll probably be at least $5,000.

Yes, I'm serious.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
I can't really tell you how much it's going to cost to fix the car without seeing pictures, but if neither door on the driver's side opens, it'll probably be at least $5,000.

Yes, I'm serious.
Click to expand...

Sigh, I was afraid of that. If it's that much, I might as well go get a decent used car rather than fix up a 7 year old car.

 
Originally posted by: Dudd
Originally posted by: notfred
I can't really tell you how much it's going to cost to fix the car without seeing pictures, but if neither door on the driver's side opens, it'll probably be at least $5,000.

Yes, I'm serious.
Click to expand...

Sigh, I was afraid of that. If it's that much, I might as well go get a decent used car rather than fix up a 7 year old car.
Click to expand...

Yup, sounds about right. Doors are pretty expensive. If you have some luck, you can possibly salavage a door from a junkyard if its a fairly common car. Albiet the door will "feel" a little different but shoud look exactly the same.

My brother got an accident in a 1989 Toyota Cressida where only the back door got crushed (wont open anymore). Cost ~$1500 after salavaging a door.

Had an accident in a van where the side door was crushed also. That one was liek $3000.
 
Originally posted by: Dudd
Damn it, got into my first car accident today. It was snowing like crazy out and I was headed to the opposite side of town to take a friend home from a hockey game, and I ended up off the road when I was changing from highway to another. I was supposed to switch to a lane to my left, but I kept going straight and ended up in the grass, hiting a sign pointing out that we have flowers near our offramps. I was goin around 40-45, but I didn't press down on the brake enough for the abs to engage. Guess I'll chalk it up to experience. Anyways, there's a gash in front of the drivers side door, and neither the driver's door or the one in back of it opens. Still drives fine. Luckily no one was hurt, all four of us in the car had seatbelts on. Damn sign's still standing too, albeit a liitle bent. Does anyone know approximately how much it would cost to repair the car, or how much I'll get reamed by the insurance company for this (17/m)? I'll try and get pics of the car up in the morning. I felt a little better though when an SUV did the exact same thing I did 5 minutes after I went off.



Here's a pic of how it happened, red is where I went, blue is where I wanted to go. It's not to scale, and the shaded area is the grass I ran off in.
Click to expand...

Accidents sucks 🙁

By the way, you should report the sign you damaged to department of transportion. Nobody likes it when they can't see the sign right because it's bent up.

 
The value of the car is only ~$3000. I seriously doubt your insurance company is going to replace two doors. It would probably be best if you did not report this incident to them.
 
if you report it, insurance will ream you. They did to me...of course, I had a bunch of a$$holes. Now we switch to triple A and im back to where I was when I first started driving.🙂
 
Why submit a claim to your insurance company at all for a 95?
Like they said, check junk yards for doors and do it yourself. It's a great way to start learning to do your own repairs.
So what if it looks funky... as long as the car drives straight and there's no frame damage, who cares? 😉
I know it's your ride and you want it looking as sharp as possible. But save the bucks for your next car and gloat over it.

BTW, If you can handle the car being down for a while maybe a local high school can use it as a repair project (auto body class). They usually do a good job and don't cost a ton of cash. That's IF you can get a spot.
 
For those of you that wanted pics, they are in the original post. I took it to a collision shop today, but didn't get an estimate because supposedly their parts database was down for upgrades. He said he'd try and find a used car to take parts of off. Any model from 92-99 should work (bless GM for their stale designs). So, take a look.
 
if that door is the only damaged area, you can find someone to fix it halfassed for around $1000 and if you use salvage parts they should be able do it for under $2000

Domestic cars aren't as expensive for body repairs as imports, $5,000 for that small damage area is a rediculous quote, the car is barely worth that.
 
Well, I'm definately going to have to replace the front drivers side door and the panel right in front of it. I'm going to eat it myself, it's not worth the rise in insurance. The back door probably will be spared as it is just jammed by the broken front door. $5,000 was just what someone guessed before the pics were up, I haven't got an estimate yet.
 
That looks more like bad driving than slippery conditions? It would make more sense that you tried to turn right and kept going forward... did you spin it right around or what?
 
Originally posted by: Dudd
Well, I'm definately going to have to replace the front drivers side door and the panel right in front of it.
Click to expand...

drivers side front quarter panel.

 
Looks to me like all you need is a new front fender and a new (used) driver's door. I'll bet that once the driver's door is fixed the door behind it will work again. The driver's door is probably just jamming the back door. Just my guess though.

ZV
 
Originally posted by: notfred
I can't really tell you how much it's going to cost to fix the car without seeing pictures, but if neither door on the driver's side opens, it'll probably be at least $5,000.

Yes, I'm serious.
Click to expand...

It won't take $5000 to fix that. I work for a business that buys cars from insurance auctions, and rebuilds them. I locate parts for the body shops in our area. You are looking at $300-400 for a door and fender, MAYBE $500 at the most. My advice is it see if you can find a door the same color = less shop time at the body shop = less money out of your pocket. Probably looking at $1200-1500 to fix it, total. Might be cheaper to go with a new door, because you don't need the "guts", window regulator, trim, etc., so all they would have to do is buy a bare door. Looks like your mirror might even be ok, but can't tell for sure.

Wait to get the estimate, then go from there.
 
glad you are ok and didn't hit anything alive.

Originally posted by: Evadman

For the record, people with SUV's are probably the worst drivers in the snow. They think, " I have an SUV, I am invincable" and end up hitting everything and everyone. I usually stand up for SUV drivers, but not when it is snowing. Most have the wrong mindset.
Click to expand...

they think cause they have four wheel drive, they're good to go, but four wheel drive only helps you to move forward, not turn or brake. i love sitting at sloped intersections and watching the explorers go down the hill sideways. 🙂

 
We found used parts, the estimate for parts and labor is around $1400. Going to have a second opinion, but it seems reasonable.
 
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