Some 180 year old man ran into my car!!!!! ***Updated with pics.***

[Greenman]

I know it would make you feel better that it wasn't, but it actually is. Sorry.

No, it wouldn't make me feel better. In fact, I'd feel bad for you if things weren't going well. I'm not a petty man, seeing others suffer doesn't please me at all. I also don't punish people because I'm upset.

 

[JackBurton]

No, it wouldn't make me feel better. In fact, I'd feel bad for you if things weren't going well. I'm not a petty man, seeing others suffer doesn't please me at all. I also don't punish people because I'm upset.

I punish incompetence. Except in this case. The old man got off easy because he was old.

But to put you at ease, I'm doing very well.... well besides an a**hole running into my car. But other than that, things are good. Thanks.

 

[JackBurton]

So take the insurance check and buy a new one if it's that important to you. New cars have that nice smell, and you get to pick out a whole new set of bells and whistles. It's a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Are you seriously that clueless? The insurance check will only cover the damage. They are not going to cover the depreciated value of the car. AGAIN, let me repeat myself since you obviously pick and choose what you read in this thread. If the old man or the insurance company said, "hey, we'll just give you $40K. Just go buy a new one", I'd be ok. But that's not the case. What I WILL have is a car that has an accident on its record which will be worth considerably less than before it was in an accident, even though it was repaired perfectly (which most likely won't be the case). Sooooo, in the end, the guy that ran into me basically took thousands of dollars out of my pocket. But that's ok, let's go easy on incompetence and personal responsibility. I just LOVE throwing out money to idiots.

 

[SearchMaster]

Some insurance companies offer "new car replacement", and you should demand diminished value reimbursement if it's not automatically sent (it usually is).

Car accidents suck, and especially so in a situation like this.

Another old man story - I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic a few years ago. An old man was merging onto the interstate in front of me, but because of the traffic it was about 2 feet at a time. To his left was a city bus, which he proceeded to merge into over the course of about 5 minutes. How the fuck he didn't see a fucking bus I'll never know but the funniest part was watching it all unfold in front of me in extremely slow motion. I was telling my wife, "that old man is going to hit that bus - eventually" and he did.

 

[JTsyo]

I agree, I think after 65 it should be required by law to have a test every year to determine if you are still capable of handling a vehicle.

Every year might be much. 5 years should be fine. many might not even bother to renew if they don't drive much,

 

[Zargon]

Some insurance companies offer "new car replacement", and you should demand diminished value reimbursement if it's not automatically sent (it usually is).

this. OP that sucks, but you should get better insurance if you are buying new cars in that price range, and they dont include that.

 

[ayabe]

Terrible news OP, hope it works out for you.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Feel for you OP - and you're completely in the right to be pissed about this. Hope it works out for you..

 

[xSkyDrAx]

I totally feel for you OP. It's truely a shame that car is not even a year old. I'm surprised some people still can't put themselves in your shoes when it was something that you worked hard and looked forward to owning being destroyed by such carelessness.

Just imagine if some old guy walked into your house and knocked over your brand new giant tv that you paid over 5k for or drove their car over your lawn that you recently landscaped. It's NOT just a car it was a reward for himself that he earned and that he planned to baby. It's not so much the object as it is the idea of someone ruining what you worked so hard for and when it is ruined so easily by someone being careless I would find it hard not to be mad.

 

[JackBurton]

Some insurance companies offer "new car replacement", and you should demand diminished value reimbursement if it's not automatically sent (it usually is).

Car accidents suck, and especially so in a situation like this.

Another old man story - I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic a few years ago. An old man was merging onto the interstate in front of me, but because of the traffic it was about 2 feet at a time. To his left was a city bus, which he proceeded to merge into over the course of about 5 minutes. How the fuck he didn't see a fucking bus I'll never know but the funniest part was watching it all unfold in front of me in extremely slow motion. I was telling my wife, "that old man is going to hit that bus - eventually" and he did.

I didn't even know such a thing existed. I actually thought I bought some pretty dang good coverage. That being said, I would think the "new car replacement" would only cover if your car is totaled. Am I correct? Mine was just damage to the rear of the car, and I don't think any insurance company would total it. If I would have known about "new car replacement" insurance, I probably would have bought it.

As for "diminished value," well, I'm following up on that. I'm going to go after it, but from the looks of it, they (insurance companies) don't make it easy. It's even unclear how the courts will decide.

As for my car, I dropped it off at the certified collision repair shop the insurance company provided today. I wanted to use my dealer initially, but it looks like they just outsource their repair center. F that. So I went to Progressive's certified shop and I actually got a good feeling about it. I'll reserve judgement until AFTER I see my car, but she said it will be just like new when I pick it up. She said since it has under 12,000 miles (more like a little over 10,000 miles ) they won't even let them fix it. It will be replaced with OEM parts, which is good but I just don't know how they are going to handle the quarter panel. She said they are going to completely replace the quarter panel, but to do that, they are going to have to cut a chunk out and weld it back in. I'm not too sure about that, but I think that is all they can do. We'll see how it looks when I pick it up. It should be about 5 days, but that is if they don't have to wait on parts. I'm nervous about how it is going to look, but I'm trying to stay positive.

 

[JackBurton]

I totally feel for you OP. It's truely a shame that car is not even a year old. I'm surprised some people still can't put themselves in your shoes when it was something that you worked hard and looked forward to owning being destroyed by such carelessness.

Just imagine if some old guy walked into your house and knocked over your brand new giant tv that you paid over 5k for or drove their car over your lawn that you recently landscaped. It's NOT just a car it was a reward for himself that he earned and that he planned to baby. It's not so much the object as it is the idea of someone ruining what you worked so hard for and when it is ruined so easily by someone being careless I would find it hard not to be mad.

I would hunt someone down if they damaged my TV.

 

[exdeath]

The quarter panel and bumper are nothing to worry about. It's the lock pillar/dog leg (B pillar/door jamb/rocker sill) that's going to need special care. That section is extremely difficult to work due to the thickness of the metal and the heavy creasing at that location (critical structural element). Likely the whole upright + quarter will need to be removed at the factory spot welds and replaced entirely.

Hate to give bad news, but that's about the worst place to take a hit. The wheel well or door would have been much better.

 

[JackBurton]

The quarter panel and bumper are nothing to worry about. It's the lock pillar/dog leg (B pillar/door jamb/rocker sill) that's going to need special care. That section is extremely difficult to work due to the thickness of the metal and the heavy creasing at that location (critical structural element). Likely the whole upright + quarter will need to be removed at the factory spot welds and replaced entirely.

Hate to give bad news, but that's about the worst place to take a hit.

Well F***! That's definitely not good news.

Is there anything you recommend me paying special attention to when it is repaired?

 

[exdeath]

Uhm...

<- not a body guy, just hang out with some body guys on occasion.

Make sure door operates smoothly, all the edges and creases line up with the door, uniform gap width, nothing rubbing or rattling against the lock pillar plate. Look for the plastic trim moulding to be straight and snug against the body, not wavy or with gaps, etc.

As for the metal, just have to look at the way the light reflects off it as you move and compare to the good side.

It's been turned outward and tightly pinched at the top and bottom. Replacing the upright at the factory spot welds is the only correct way to fix it perfectly in my not so expert opinion.

 

[JackBurton]

Uhm...

<- not a body guy, just hang out with some body guys on occasion.

Make sure door operates smoothly, all the edges and creases line up with the door, uniform gap width, nothing rubbing or rattling against the lock pillar plate. Look for the plastic trim moulding to be straight and snug against the body, not wavy or with gaps, etc.

It's been turned outward and tightly pinched at the top and bottom. Replacing the upright at the factory spot welds is the only correct way to fix it perfectly in my not so expert opinion.

I think they are replacing that whole piece with a factory piece so all the lines match up. I just don't know how big of a piece they are going to replace though.

 

[exdeath]

This is shitty repair job in a very critical, picky, and difficult area:

 

[exdeath]

I think they are replacing that whole piece with a factory piece so all the lines match up. I just don't know how big of a piece they are going to replace though.

Depends where the factory spot welds are. I would say floor to roof. The quarter panel and wheel well is just a skin, it's not as big a deal.

 

[exdeath]

PS what an asshole!

 

[JackBurton]

PS what an asshole!

Oh, he's a f**king a**hole alright.

 

[JackBurton]

Depends where the factory spot welds are. I would say floor to roof. The quarter panel and wheel well is just a skin, it's not as big a deal.

I think they are going to do floor to roof. At least that was my impression. They said they wouldn't even attempt to repair that part you pointed out. They were just going to replace it.

 

[exdeath]

Good. They should get the same piece in a crate that the robots do on the assembly line. Unfortuneately, nothing else in the world creates those little pressed circular instant spot welds like those robots do, so there will be normal weld beads instead. Even on the best and most perfect repair work with all new metal, those welds or lack thereof are the only thing that give it away.

 

[JackBurton]

Yeah, I'll be inspecting it very closely when I pick it up and hope everything looks perfect. But we'll see.

 

[Aikouka]

I wanted to preface everything with this:

As much as I may have been "against" your actions, I do hope that your car gets fixed in a way that you approve of.

With that said...

It's being human. People are emotional; some more so than others. Wouldn't you "rage" if something bad happened to something you truly care about, even if the rage is completely irrational?

I definitely agree that humans are emotional and to varying degrees. But I think I see where the difference is really coming in -- the phrase "to something you truly care about". This isn't to say that I don't care about my possessions, but I would care far more about the people involved in an accident versus the machinery. I can always replace machines, I cannot replace people.

e.g. If someone accidentally spilled a drink on my laptop and fried it, I would be raging.

Accidentally? No, I wouldn't rage over it. I'd probably be visibly annoyed/unhappy, but it's that key word that changes things for me: "accidentally." If someone purposely tried to ruin my laptop, I would definitely be more angry about it. But in that case, the #1 thing to do is to figure out how to resolve the situation.

Shit happens, Mermaidman. It's how we deal with it that signifies who we are.

I respect other people's property and expect the same in return.

I don't blame you for this in the least, and I'd say that I'm the same way (and beyond just property as well).

I also expect people to be responsible, but APPARENTLY that is too much to ask. AGAIN, the RESPONSIBLE thing would have been to realize you were losing control and just give up your license. And if you were too far gone to make that decision, your family should have done that for you.

I wonder if you might be assuming that there were issues that were noticeable to the person or his family. You even said that he was practically catatonic at the scene, so I wonder what he's even able to perceive in such a situation. He might have just been lucky in the past and never got into a bad situation, so his family could never rectify it (or perhaps he doesn't have anyone).

In a way, maybe you can look at it as your bad situation will make it so the guy's inability to drive doesn't potentially cause an even worse accident involving serious injury or fatalities.

 

[ShawnD1]

I definitely agree that humans are emotional and to varying degrees. But I think I see where the difference is really coming in -- the phrase "to something you truly care about". This isn't to say that I don't care about my possessions, but I would care far more about the people involved in an accident versus the machinery. I can always replace machines, I cannot replace people.

Not everyone is lucky enough to be super rich like you. If my car were written off today, I could replace it, but it would greatly decrease my quality of life for the next few months. No more eating out, no more booze, cigarettes, drugs, movies, video games. No more driving just for the sake of driving. Money would be tight.

 

[Aikouka]

Not everyone is lucky enough to be super rich like you. If my car were written off today, I could replace it, but it would greatly decrease my quality of life for the next few months. No more eating out, no more booze, cigarettes, drugs, movies, video games. No more driving just for the sake of driving. Money would be tight.

I think you may be taking that portion a bit too literally. It's really just meant to be considered that ultimately, a machine can be replaced. Whether or not it's something feasible at the moment is somewhat irrelevant.

To be clear, I'm also not super rich. I drive a V6 Nissan Altima for Pete's sake! ... have to make sure to specify the V6 part.

I actually just recalled a few good examples. Over the past couple months, I've been in numerous close calls when it comes to driving. I'm not one to ignore blame, but I'm fairly certain that none of them were as a result of my driving. For example, the last one was when I was leaving Kroger, and I saw a SUV coming down one of the side entrances. I just kind of ignored her because she has a stop sign, and I would be able to keep going. I should rephrase that... I ignored her until I saw her go right through the stop sign!

Nothing happened as I stopped my car quickly. Some people may have gotten angry over this situation as she made 2 driving errors:

1) Ran a stop sign.
2) Went straight (into the parking lot) when the only two options were a left turn or a right turn.

She seemed visibly flustered by being so close to having an accident, but I just waved her on. I could have raged on her for doing something so stupid, but it wouldn't have amounted to anything. Nothing was damaged, nothing was hurt, so I just went on my way.