New Car - Now Not So Pretty

[Kijona]

As some of you may know I recently purchased a like-new 2012 Toyota Corolla S. It's my first car that I've financed and my first "new" car. I've driven essentially beater cars my entire life and was ready for something nice.

Well as my HORRIBLE luck would have it, some IMBECILE in a taxi-cab minivan ran into it yesterday morning.

I'll first provide an illustration to help you visualize the scene:



I'm the green/black arrow. He's the RED for WRONG and black arrow. The grey area represents a business area.

So the f%$king MORON was trying to exit from that business area onto the highway (3 lanes each way) where the speed limit is 55mph. I'd also like to point out that the lane that runs in front of the business is a right turn only lane and has very little traffic.

I'd also like to point out that at the bottom of the picture is the top of a long bridge. So going the direction I was going, I was actually coming downhill. Distance from the top of the bridge to the light is about 3/4 of a mile. Distance from where he was exiting the business to the traffic light is about 1/12 of a mile. So essentially he HAD to have seen me FREAKING coming. Almost a MILE of very clear visibility. On top of that, I drive with my headlights on during the day, including fog lights, AND it has yellow running lights. Even better STILL I was one of only a couple of cars on the road.

So anyway, a quick rundown of what happened is this: He was attempting to exit the business and enter/merge onto the highway by crossing over the turn lane. I was close enough to him that I had to brake rather abruptly when he started to roll forward. I held down the horn on my car and slowed down to about 15-20mph (was going about 40 or 45). He stopped about halfway into the turn-only lane. I had ALMOST passed him when he decided to continue forward and his front bumper scraped up against the rear bumper/quarter panel of my car.

There is so much stupidity surrounding this that I feel slightly less intelligence writing it. First of all, what the f%$k was he doing trying to get onto the highway like that? Not only are you NOT supposed to do that, on top of it, he didn't even have his wheels turned AT ALL in order to merge correctly. He was crossing over the turn lane at a perfect 90° angle to my car/lane. Uh, WHAT? WHY??

On f%$king TOP of that, he dodged the FIRST bullet by stopping. But then he proceeded to HAVE THE ACCIDENT ANYFUCKINGWAY...SERIOUSLY!!!??? I don't know if you guys understand how f%$king STUPID it is. It was ALMOST over with but the stupid f%$k decided to roll forward before I could pass. Had he waited another HALF a SECOND, nothing would've happened.

So anyway. He pulls over and gets out. It's some decrepit old f%$k with a cane that barely spoke English and teeth that looked like pieces of corn. First things he says is "WHAT YOU DOING? I HAVE BAD NECK!" Yeah okay. So he keeps trying to talk to him and I ignore him because I'm in the middle of calling the police. He comes over and starts looking at my car and after I get off the phone he goes "Oh no, we don't have call police. You buff that. You can buff that!" Uh, NO I'm not buffing shaZam!.

Of course, I didn't say that, though I wish I had. I just said "Oh no. Not happening. Your insurance is going to pay for this."

Cops showed up. Deemed it his fault. Issued him a citation for failing to yield. I got all of his insurance information (or so I THOUGHT, read more).

I get home, try to figure out what kind of bullshit insurance he has, because I can BARELY read his horrible handwriting. Come to find out it's some small place here in Atlanta that insures the taxis (which, by the way, the drivers themselves own). I call them up and give them the policy number and tell them it was his fault. They tell me he cancelled the policy back in May. Funny, considering police officer says he's insured currently. So I go back and forth between the insurance company and the cab company. Nothing gets done. Cab company tries to tell me he's not supposed to be driving that taxi. Bullshit. It's REGISTERED TO HIM!

So now I have no idea where I stand as far as his insurance. I've gone ahead and gotten my insurance company (Nationwide) working on it. Really nice lady is helping me with it and is pressuring them for information as I write this.

And last but not least, here's some pictures of the damage:

(Click for bigger)





I would consider it "minor" damage. It's still damaged, and the bumper is off-kilter now. I'm not buffing shaZam!. I'm gonna go after the company first and if that doesn't work I'm going after him on a personal level and taking him to court. And if he really was driving without insurance I'll be SURE to get his ass for that, too. Providing false documentation is no joke, especially here in GA. GA doesn't like people driving without insurance. And if you try to fake it, I hear it makes it EVEN worse.

So if I have to spend my time and effort to go after this stupid old man JUST to get him to pay for the car HE f%&ked up, I'll be sure to make his life as difficult as possible. It wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit if he had to sit in jail for a few months. He deserves it. He knew what he was doing, and he was purposely trying to get out of it.

I overheard him lying to the cops about what happened too. Saying I was driving really fast in my "sports car" (ROFL...because a 1.8L japanese economy car is a 'sports car') and he was trying to merge. The cop knew what was up, though. He complimented me on my car and was sympathetic. He said his first car was a Corolla.

f%$k all of this, collectively. I had enough stress before today. Now I have even more. Sigh.

[BockinBboy]

OMG, dude.  What luck!?!  You JUST got it! 

Yeah, don't bother trying to contact him or his insurance or taxi company or anything at this point... You have a correct police report and have turned it in to your insurance.  Get an estimate and have it approved via insurance.  Let insurance do their work.  Don't waste anymore of your time on it.  Your insurance WILL go after somebody to get their money... and you will get it fixed on someone else's dime... it 'might' cost you something now if he is underinsured (maybe a deductible? not sure how it works in particular cases and states), but you will get that money back... eventually... first bit of money your insurance company sees back will go to you if it cost you anything. 

Also, a note on the damage... with body work... its ALWAYS more than you think it is... I can't tell how many panels/pieces are affected in the pics, but if its more than one piece, you can count on the cost sky rocketing quickly... you add list price of the pieces affected, labor on removal, cost of paint, labor of paint, labor on reassembly... expensive work when labor $55+ per hour.  I just had someone back into my truck last week.  Only affected the grill and header panel... VERY minimal damage, but why should I have to live with another ding on my truck because someone else is careless?  got two estimates over $700...

- Bboy

[yamahonkawazuki]

like when my 85 c10 chevy was hit by a toyota sienna. demolished the toy. ( at night her lights were off btw IN THE RAIN lol) was trying to sell truck for 800 , nationwide gave me 1200 so i was happy lol. but i agree. may see only scratches, but youve got those foam pieces underneath, and mounting hardware, paint, and shop supplies and ;labor

[john]

It's called subrogation.  Your insurance company will take care of it all.

Remember every contact by your insurance company or theirs will be recorded.  If the other party's insurance company contacts you, tell them you need to have an agent from your insurance company on the line with you.  Put them on hold and call your insurance co, or give their person the phone number and ask them to get a rep on the line.  Then do a party call.  Do not talk to the other insurer alone.

At this point you only need to say the report is accurate and it speaks for yourself.  Anything you say can only sink you.

[yamahonkawazuki]

It's called subrogation.  Your insurance company will take care of it all.
At this point you only need to say the report is accurate and it speaks for yourself.  Anything you say can only sink you.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[codajastal]

Bugger,
Do not volunteer information to the insurance company. Only state the facts and answer with as short sentences as possible

[yamahonkawazuki]

Their ( unofficial job) is to spend as little as possible. if you want, get 3 estimates for repair. many of the companies ask this anyways.

[john]

Their ( unofficial job) is to spend as little as possible. if you want, get 3 estimates for repair. many of the companies ask this anyways.

That is separate from keeping his mouth shut.  Though I have found that if it is a clear case of no fault they are less frugal than if they are eating the expense.

[Gs500fmrex]

Bugger,
Do not volunteer information to the insurance company. Only state the facts and answer with as short sentences as possible

[Kijona]

Well the only thing I told THEIR insurance was that there was an accident involving one of their drivers. And that it was his fault.

It makes very little difference in my opinion, though. Cut and dry case as far as I'm concerned. My insurance company is working on figuring out what's what. If nothing else the cab company is first and they'll have to come out of pocket for it. If not, then the driver will not only be at fault for driving without insurance (if that's truly the case), but also for endangering passengers AND for causing an accident.

Looks pretty good for me, looks very bad for him and/or the cab company.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Well the only thing I told THEIR insurance was that there was an accident involving one of their drivers. And that it was his fault.

It makes very little difference in my opinion, though. Cut and dry case as far as I'm concerned. My insurance company is working on figuring out what's what. If nothing else the cab company is first and they'll have to come out of pocket for it. If not, then the driver will not only be at fault for driving without insurance (if that's truly the case), but also for endangering passengers AND for causing an accident.

Looks pretty good for me, looks very bad for him and/or the cab company.

indeed. afaic, youre in the clear on this. just a matter of time. more than likely very little time

[Kijona]

Well the only thing I told THEIR insurance was that there was an accident involving one of their drivers. And that it was his fault.

It makes very little difference in my opinion, though. Cut and dry case as far as I'm concerned. My insurance company is working on figuring out what's what. If nothing else the cab company is first and they'll have to come out of pocket for it. If not, then the driver will not only be at fault for driving without insurance (if that's truly the case), but also for endangering passengers AND for causing an accident.

Looks pretty good for me, looks very bad for him and/or the cab company.

indeed. afaic, youre in the clear on this. just a matter of time. more than likely very little time

Indeed. Still waiting to hear back from my person with the insurance company about what's going on.

I got the estimate... just shy of $700 worth of damage. If it ends up that they're (the other insurance company and/or cab company) wanting to be dicks about it, then I might tell them that they can either come out of pocket the $700 plus another $300 for my anguish and time lost trying to sort it out, or they'll be hearing from my attorney. I'm not letting this slide. Then when they're found to be at fault, which they WILL be, it's gonna cost them what I had to pay for the lawyer, and court time/cost. Anybody with sense doesn't want to spend time in court, especially when it looks so bad on them. All the evidence is stacked against them. Especially the part where they supposedly had someone driving a cab without insurance. Or, falsifying information while representing their company.

I've documented everything including times called and what was said. They're f%&ked no matter which way you slice it, it's just up to them if they want to fight me in court or not.

[yamahonkawazuki]

there you go. costs add up. sooner they pay up, better off they are. ( or he is)

[Kijona]

Still no word from my insurance. I'm not sure how long this sort of thing takes but it's been a week. Hopefully I'll hear something soon. I called the agent handling it and left a message asking her to call me. That was Monday.

I know I'm not the only person she's helping...but I really want to know what's going on.

[yamahonkawazuki]

i noticed how close this is to the wheel, is there any sort of a wobble or scratches on the wheel?

[Kijona]

i noticed how close this is to the wheel, is there any sort of a wobble or scratches on the wheel?

None. Now I need some advice. See my new thread.

[yamahonkawazuki]

if it were me, id wait. and take em to court.