Young_Gun

Well, I was stopping as a light was about 1 second from turning red. Stopped - heard screeching - then boom -hit.

The car next to me didn't make the light either.

He was my age - and ironically had been parked next to me at school.

I've got his info, insurance, license info, pics of his license plate, pics of the damage, and the police report filed.

Car runs fine. I think I just need a new rear bumper - but I'm getting the car picked over with a fine toothed comb.

I feel fine - but I can still feel where I hit the back of my head and my lower back hurts a bit. No airbag deployment.

Derf00

Oh that sucks!

Word of advice, Open the trunk and check the gap between the rear bumper and the trunk of the car. I've been hit like that before and it not only messed up the bumper, but the trunk body.The bumper will usualy rebound (plastic) the trunk (metal) will not.

Even if it looks ok, make sure the shop takes the bumper off and checks for hidden damage.

Also look at the sides of the car where the bumper meets the quarter panel. See if you see an rippling which indicates the mounting holes on the bumper ripped and let the bumper shift.

Young_Gun

Will do! Thanks, man

In an almost psychic twist, exactly one week ago I decided to put my Ford Escape on my school parking pass just in case something like this happened.

siggyfreud

Bummer about the damage. Hopefully it all goes smooth with the fix. Not surprising about airbags though. Not sure they'd do you much good getting hit in the rear .

daredevil95

That su*ks, that accident will show up on future car fax reports and lower the value. Make sure you go after the "diminished car value" claim.....if available. No matter how minor the accident is, it will lower the value and you might as well get that paid from the insurance company.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/ins...20031201a1.asp

Young_Gun

I'm not too concerned about the value. Since I need to buy a Piper Saratoga or Beechcraft Bonanza, and those run about $250,000, it'll be a LONG time before I buy another vehicle.

What exactly is "diminished car value"? I've never had any sort of collision resulting in an insurance claim being filed.

Thanks!

moosestang

You need to buy an airplane? Really?

siggyfreud

It's essentially to account for you not being able to sell the car for the same price as you would the same vehicle, minus the accident. When a check comes back showing it was involved in an accident, a person is going to offer you less money than they perhaps would if it had never been hit (even if it was only minor). Therefore, your potential to make money back by selling the car has been diminished due to the accident. Because of that, you seek money beyond the repair to make up for the diminished value you car now has.

Young_Gun

Well, I'm in school to be a commercial pilot... My friend wants to use start up money from his parent's aviation supply company to start a full service flight center, and the Bonanza and Saratoga are very practical aircraft to do that with.

And, @siggy, thanks - that makes sense

Young_Gun

They're trying to make me have it done at his insurance company's body shop. I'm not happy.

There are only 2 shops that I want doing work on my car - people I already know and trust - not some company shop that'll treat me like a bum off the street, you know what I mean?