Had an Accident

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:44 pm

G'Day All,
Unfortunately, I have involved in a car accident last night.
I am OK, nobody injured.
I was at Flinders, had a beautiful dinner, then headed home.
When I reached Frankston, pulled in to a petrol station.
Then left the station and came to a roundabout around 50-75 mts away.
When I left from the petrol station, there was a car coming but long way away.
So, I was in the outside line on the roundabout, turned right.
The car behind me caught up in such a quick time, got in to the roundabout, turned right as well in the inside line, and lost it totaly. First started sliding towards the right, then the driver turned the wheel towards me, and walla, hit me from the front right quarter and pushed both of us out of the road.

Driver was an inexperienced female, driving way to fast, it was wet, and she kept pushing the gas when her car started to slide. If she have eased there wouldnt be any accident

It just happened so quickly, although I tried to get out and stop, it was too late.

It was scary to see a Commodore next to me sliding side ways going away from me first then turning towards me, all sideways sliding, coming straight at me.

I was lucky to realise what was happening little early, otherwise, she would have hit me straight from the driver door and th edamage would be so much more.

Damage is;
- Front right quarter panel is totaly gone,
- Front bumper is gone,
- Right headlight is gone
- Right inner guard is gone,
- Front right quarter panel has moved over the bonnet and bent it a bit.
- Narrowly scrathed my new rim.

I cant open the bonnet due to side panel has moved over it.
Car is running normal, however, front bumper is scraping the tyre slightly.
I dont think there is any frame damage.

Thats where she throw me, way out of the road, you can see her car's sliding mark over the grass

Thats her damage, almost none

She is guilty as charged, and copes has confirmed as well. I think she was playing with her mobile while driving as well.

Her insurance company to pay my damage.

I dont have an insurance.

I am assuming the best way to do is that I go get few quotes and give it to her, and insurance company will figure out what to do.

What do you guys reckon the damage bill?

dj_ules · Post by **dj_ules** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:27 am

hmmm ouch, ive had 3 hits in my car "not my fault" 2 refusing to pay, i also dont have insurance,
but price for the following unpainted 2nd hand

headlight = 700+ i got quoted .http://www.japimports.com.au/
guard. = 350
front bumper = 450 for an aftermarket.
original front bumper from mitsu. = 800 - 900 from northshore mitsubishi.

as for labour to fix it .. probably looking at. 600 - 1100max pending where u go and they dont take advantage of you.
but i recomend if the chicks insurance is payin. get the most expensive. quotes. keep the cheap ones for your self. and give the most expensive one to her insurance, and then a surveyor will come and inspect it. and they will adjust the quote. then youl get a cheque, 1- 2 weeks. then get it fixed at the cheapestone. and then u got some extra cash aswell. or goto a local panel beater, talk to somone about doing this job at home, painting and repairing. without replacing bumper just the panel. offer him cash so he dont get taxed. make sure he is old (expirienced.) and u can prob get the damages fixed for prob 400$ and all u have to buy is a headlight and panel. then u got extra cash to fix up anything else on your car. hehe

i got a pay out for 1700 for a hitup the back, and with that money, ive had my back bumper, the steel inside fixed, all fitted nicely, front bumper fixed chips and cracks, and my whole drivers side fixed where its been deeply keyed. and a dent near the driver side door, and the rust fixed on my roof for $1700, and to paint the back bumper whole drivers side and front bumper . costing me 600$

anyway hope my damage can guide u to how cheap u can get something done when u offer cash to a local panelbeater. but make sure u say a home job, they do it at their own house, but to paint it they hire their booths at work etc.

ahew · Post by **ahew** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:31 am

!!!!!!!!!!!!dude!!!!!!!! i can really feel the pain.

why?

because a guy just hit into my FTO today, exactly the same colour, exactly the same damage, this afternoon. he lives on my street and my sister's bf was driving my car at the time and the guy decided to turn right into his driveway without looking at oncoming traffic... my car! the bloke's insurance is going to pay for it all as well... through their nose if they have to for all i care.

it's scary how similar your damage looks to mine. luckily i could reverse my car back down the street in front of my house. i can't turn the wheels left or right though because the inner guard is pressed up against the wheel. however i'm scared about the frame (like everything has been moved to one side by a few mm's).

i was going to ask the same thing when i logged on here tonight but looks like this thread could be for the both of us (if you don't mind).

also another question, if anybody has been in this situation, what would be the best way to go about getting quotes? i don't even know where to start and what to do. how does it work with loan cars? coz i need a car for work.

can't get over those pictures.... exactly the same!

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:32 am

Sorry to hear that Max. Did you get a statement from her? Because if you didn't, the other party's insurance company will do everything they can to get out of it, i can assure you this, as it happen to everyone I know that don't have insurance.

If the other insurance company is going to pay, then you don't have to worry about the bill, but heres a break down for 2nd hand parts, base on my experience

Bumper $150-450 ( can be with or without reinforcement)
Headlights $195-$350
Front RH guard ($195-$250)

Edit:

Instead of me post twice, i just answer ahew question here too.

You just go to any panel beater & get a quote & then summit it to the other party insurance, that if you don't have insurance, if you got your own insurance then summit them to your own.

With loan car, i know all the "import" car insurance don't give out a loan car, so you might have to get one yourself. Unless the panel beater you going to have one, then you can arrange something from them.

fto617 · Post by **fto617** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:38 am

that is so sad to hear...and smashed by another commonwhore....
they jsut have a thing against FTOs...
to me the damage is really bad...
i reckon u need new fenders and fender brackets
new front left bumper brackets
i wuld say around 3k at least to fix it properly...

dj_ules · Post by **dj_ules** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:43 am

FTO338 wrote:Sorry to hear that Max. Did you get a statement from her? Because if you didn't, the other party's insurance company will do everything they can to get out of it, i can assure you this, as it happen to everyone I know that don't have insurance.

If the other insurance company is going to pay, then you don't have to worry about the bill, but heres a break down for 2nd hand parts, base on my experience

Bumper $150-450 ( can be with or without reinforcement)
Headlights $195-$350
Front RH guard ($195-$250)

Edit:

Instead of me post twice, i just answer ahew question here too.

You just go to any panel beater & get a quote & then summit it to the other party insurance, that if you don't have insurance, if you got your own insurance then summit them to your own.

With loan car, i know all the "import" car insurance don't give out a loan car, so you might have to get one yourself. Unless the panel beater you going to have one, then you can arrange something from them.

hey where did u get those price listings from ?
sounds like theres somone finaly really honest selling parts at the price what they should be at.

ahew · Post by **ahew** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:16 am

how do we know which panel beaters are the better ones to go to? i hope they don't use second hand parts...

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:19 am

dj_ules wrote: hey where did u get those price listings from ?
sounds like theres somone finaly really honest selling parts at the price what they should be at.

I price i posted are quote i got from importers & wreckers around Australia.

The cheapest parts i found so far are from these people

All Jap Parts SuperStore
1860 Saandgate Rd, Virgina QLD
(07) 3865 2221 (Brent)

Blanktown City Spares
52 Violet St, Revesby NSW
(02) 9772 2044 (Michael)

ahew wrote:how do we know which panel beaters are the better ones to go to? i hope they don't use second hand parts...

well not everything can be found brand new as it could take up to couple of months for it to arrive, so sometimes you just have to go for 2nd hand parts, if you want your car back on the road quickly.

ahew · Post by **ahew** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:41 am

you got a point there I guess FTO338.. dammit! i feel crap coz i only got the car 2 weeks ago and it's already been tarnished. dammit.

i might give Bankstown City Spares a call as they're pretty close to where I live.

ahew · Post by **ahew** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:07 am

peeps, here's some pics of my damage that I took this morning...

i also have one of my car before the accident....

thought i'd share the pain with mxysxy

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:50 am

You're right ahew, in certain angle, you would thought they both from the same car.

Man i feel the pain too...... it looks very hurt.

Btw if you guys going to get the underguard, let me know as i need a new pair as well. So hopefully we can get it cheaper by ordering 3 sets from one place.

Post by **Bennoz** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:55 am

Jeeze guys... what bad luck

And scarily similar damage

Ahew, I reckon you'd be right in thinking your's might need a front end re-jig to be pulled back straight...

Bugger. Well Kev's said pretty much everything i would say about repairs. If it aint your fault, just go to a reputable panel beater (NRMA or RACV approved is a good start) and get some quotes.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:24 am

Ahew, sorry to hear your damage as well.
Shocking to see exactly the same damage. Hhahahaa, we even have the same tyres, Eagle F1 GSD3' s
However, I think mine is slightly better then yours, that bumer and side panel didnt go in too much. I dont really think that I have a frame damage.

Well, the good part for me is that I have ordered a body kit already, which includes new front bumper, side skirts, and that thing you attached the back bumper both sides.

Also, my car needs full respray due to scrathed by local boys long time ago.

Hopefully, it comes down to the what you said dj_ules, I will try to use some of the money towards the full respray.

BTW, police has confirmed that it was her fault %100, so isnt this sufficient enough for her insurance company to payme?
What do I do, if she refuse to pay me?

Post by **Bennoz** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:30 am

mxysxy wrote: BTW, police has confirmed that it was her fault %100, so isnt this sufficient enough for her insurance company to payme?
What do I do, if she refuse to pay me?

Coppers would have put in a report for it - just direct the insurance company to them

Post by **kazbah** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:13 am

Sorry about the accident Max.... It sucks big ones...
Just to add something to all the good advice everyone has already given.
Make sure you ring the Cop shop and get the incident number, that way you're not chasing your tail. Just give the insurance company that number and they can follow through with the cops.

ahew · Post by **ahew** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 11:36 am

mxysxy - hahahaha i didn't realise you had the same tyres! that's freaky man. twins!

anyway, yeah i'm thinking about getting the T Type bodykit from UAS to replace the front bar, skirts and wing. hehehe.. but that's only if it's cheaper than fitting a genuine front bar and fender

kazbah - that's smart advice. i went to the police station yesterday to report it and got the incident number. the cop was laughing at how my accident happened too.

oh yeah.. the other guys' insurance company NRMA just called me so they told me to get a quote and send it to them. only need 1 quote apparently.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:04 pm

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Couple of things;

- I have called the police station to get a copy of the report. They pointed me to Accident Report Branch first. I called these guys, who reports all the accident in VIC, they said they dont have any workers there at the moment, and it will take couple of weeks to send me some forms.

TBH, I couldnt understand what the Indian guy was telling me due to strong accent. Since when VIC Police moved their call centre to India!!?

Anyways, called the cop station back again, and this time they said that I wouldnt receive any accident report. Apparently this is a private information!!? They said that insurance company will contact with Accident Report Branch and will access to all necessary details.

- Secondly, I went to a reputable and expensive repair shop. They couldnt quote because they couldnt open the bonnet. He said that I should leave the car for a day, and they will strip the side panel, etc to give an exact quote.

I dont want to work with these people cause, they are just stupedly expensive. However, I want them to give me a fat quote.

My confusion is that if I leave the car to these guys to get a quote, then if I say thank you mate, but I will use somebody else, they will probably charge me for the work done to estimate the damage.

How does this work, and what should I do?

Finally, I have received a sms from the girl hit me. She said she have called her insurance company and they will call me soon.

ahew · Post by **ahew** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:13 pm

hmm.. don't know why they wouldn't give it to you, but you shouldn't have to worry because if the police were on the scene they would definitely have the incident number and the insurance company (hers) would have access to this.

my advice is to just wait for the call from her insurance company to see what they say. you might not need to get 3 quotes either.

hey let's have a race to see who can get theirs on the road first and looking schmicker than before

at least make this crappy situation into something fun.

FTO338 · Post by **FTO338** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:20 pm

Well usually panal beater provide free quote reqardless how long they took, sounds like you want to get a mate to fix it. You don't have to justify anything to them, as at the end of the day, the insurance will only approve the cheapest quote, so if they are the most expensive, then i'm sure it won't get approve. And you can just take it to you mate to fix it after you get your cheque

Oh i better clarify this, some insurance pay you directly & some pay the panel beater.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:29 pm

FTO338 wrote:Well usually panal beater provide free quote reqardless how long they took, sounds like you want to get a mate to fix it. You don't have to justify anything to them, as at the end of the day, the insurance will only approve the cheapest quote, so if they are the most expensive, then i'm sure it won't get approve. And you can just take it to you mate to fix it after you get your cheque

Oh i better clarify this, some insurance pay you directly & some pay the panel beater.

No, I dont have a mate to fix this for me.
However, there are few great shops around which are slightly cheaper then the RACV repair place I went to.
For eg;
When the car was keyed about a year ago,
Same RACV place quoted $5000 - $5500 for a complete respray
Another great shop in Preston quoted $3500
Lee from SL quoted $2500

I would like to involve with the guy from Preston. They have a great big shop, with lots of Jap cars in it for resprays. I have seen their work, which was very high quality.

Currently I am waiting a call from Insurance company to see the next step.