My baby... (update on page 2)
 

My speed at the time? 0 miles per hour.

There was long stop-and-go traffic on 208N this afternoon. I was already in right lane and my lane was ending. I snugged into an opening and waited for traffic to pick up again so I could get the ass end of the car into the lane.

...Mr. Truck didn't want me to come in, I guess, because he tried to force me back into the right lane--this doesn't make sense to me, since I was already 3/4 of the way in the lane and AT A DEAD STOP.




http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/8209/0616091625.jpg



The cop told me that I have to yield, but also said that "It looks like all the damage is to the rear of the car, so if I was the insurance person, I'd say that he hit you." ...so, I dont know what to make of the situation.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6817/0616091800.jpg
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/92/0616091801.jpg
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1) the insurance companies will find it his fault and I won't have to dish out any money
2) the insurance companies will find it my fault and I will have to pay to repair the T/A out of my pocket (liability only).

ooof that sucks bro, hopefully she gets fixed up soon

i wonder if they would consider that totalled? that is some significant damage to the rear quarter... is there any damage to the door?

I hope it's not a total!
Rear quarter needs to be replaced and the drivers door needs to be repainted... No other damage.

hmm... i think rear quarter panel's are very expensive to fix being that they are welded on and i would think a good amount of the body parts aroudn it would have to come off... don't quote me though... maybe someone who does body work would know better than i would... its just i got $1250 for a small cracked maybe two inches long in my bumper, so i can only imagine what they will say for you

thats gonna be close to a 3k dollar estimate.

i would almost go ahead and say more than that... but again im no guru lol

it wouldve been but he got lucky and the rocker looks untouched

yeah ... the pictures are kinda awkwardly angled

^ sorry, all i have is a camera phone and the low quality mixed with the lighting, doesn't show the scuffs on the driver's door, so I had to angle the camera to capture some of that.


................................

are these estimates assuming replacing with a new or a used 1/4 panel?

that sucks bro.! was that a dump truck that hit you. imo dump truck drivers are the worse truckers on the road. especially the ones that get paid per load. their always in a friggin hurry.

Sorry to hear that :(

Here's some advice....if his company does accept liability make sure you don't just take any offer. Once the shop takes the 1/4 panel off they're going to see the wheelhouse and inner-1/4 are going to be damaged...so basically if his insurance company tries to cut you a check let it be known there will be additional damage found after the preliminary estimate is done.

Yeah, at a $3k estimate I'm willing to bet they'll total it.

well... either way... i am sorry to see this happen! but let us know what the outcome is

$3K won't total that car out...though I don't know how much that estimate would be...I don't have access to my estimating software anymore :(

that may be the best news i've heard so far.
Does anyone have any insurance background and could give me an idea of what I'm looking at, in terms of the outcome of whose insurance is going to have to pay?

Well it's going to be up to their insurance company really. You can call yours and see if they'll negotiate for you but since you only have liability they might tell you to pound sand.

I didn't do accident recreation but looking at the pics he was in the wrong unless you pulled out in front of him. I have a feeling that the way the police report is worded is going to play a HUGE part in who pays what.

well he did stop then...

your cars real market value should be somewhere between 5500-6500. they wont total for 3k. if you get the body shop guy to push it a bit you can get it close to total. it all depends on how the insurance plays out....tis a waiting game



sucks to see though. :-x

That cop is wrong. You actually had the right of way based on the positions of the vehicles. In situations like that basically each lane is supposed to alternate yielding. Car on the left lane goes, then car on the right, then left then right so forth and so forth. Since you're car was obviously ahead of his truck, he was supposed to yield to you... This info btw was told to me by my uncle... He's a lawyer in Florida that was a cop in Newark for over 20 years. I don't know what insurance company you have but I had progressive when my iroc got hit by a truck at a gas station. At first his insurance company didnt want to take responsibility. Progressive faught it and faught it hard for a good 4 months and finally i got a check for 1700 8-) So hopefully everything works out for you too!!

If he was merging onto the road, he has to yield, it dont matter how much you inch out... Yield means YIELD not inch out to where you have to alter traffic. Coming from a current Police Officer thats sitting next to me.

The whole thing of who is going to pay for it is solely determined by the police report. Your insurance company will want you to submit what happened but the deciding factor lies in the police report. I went through this last september in my car crash..

where are you located tho? i know of a great body shop by me in north jersey (in Chatham)

yea that's not totaled i'll show you pics of my accident which makes this thing look like a scratch it needs to be 80% of the value and most likely they will just pull the quarter out and bondo it which isn't that bad if the do a good job. personally i would rather have the bondo bc you are effecting the strength and structure of the car. but good luck with it and it should be fine but will be an easy 3 to 5k job.

that sucks. good luck.

wen they call u for ur statement, explain exactly wat u did up top, u were completely stopped while attempting to merge as your lane was ending, wen the truck hit you... the placement of the damage also works in your favor, as its to the rear of ur TA, and his damage(if any) is on the front of the vehicle... as me how i know lol

also send em these pics

edit again.... it did the !side molding mod for ya

^^ hahah someone noticed the side molding delete. Yeah, his wheel must have ripped that bad boy off