OneBitchinRide

I own a 2004 Mustang GT Convertible which I paid $27,000 (husband corrected me $32,200 was sticker price) in Jan 2004. I had it built from the factory to get exactly what I wanted. On Thursday a car in front of me slammed on brakes and I did the same and didn't hit them but the 1993 4 door Saturn that was behind me never slowed down. She went under my car and it barely even jolted us. She hit the right passenger tire and bounced off, her car was totaled and of course she had no insurance. At the scene it looked like I had very little damage "just a new bumper and new tail pipe and it'll be good as new" the cop said. When I drove it home I knew that it was in bad shape. (Keep in mind I know nothing about the mechanics of the car.) There was no shocks at all and the steering was stiff and a hissing noise was coming from the engine. When I looked at it at home I saw the tail pipe was shoved (I had dual exhaust) back under it to the tire. The gas tank had deep scratches in it. The tow truck come to get it and when he put it up on the truck you could see that the right back tire was shoved up further than the left and it looked like the door was not shut but it was. It just looked sideways sorta. He said the hissing noise from the engine is the tail pipe shoved into the engine and it broke the manifold. We are waiting for the ford dealership to give us and estimate. Tonight, we went by the Ford Dealership and found the car out in the back lot unlocked and in a place where there is no security and couple had been sitting in it and were just getting out. I am 40 years old and this is my first car other than the family van. It is the car that I have always wanted. This is a car that has never been outside overnight! Do any of you have any idea what the repairs may cost, could it be totaled and what should I do? I would appreciate any advice, Thanks.

Dan04COBRA

We can't really pass any judgement unless you get pictures. It's like asking us to diagnose you with cancer or something?

And man, you paid sticker price for that car? $32,000 could have gotten you a brand new Convertible 04 Cobra with 390hp supercharged DOHC 4.6 engine.....

vfast

my ins company will pay me full price if the car is total or not in the first year..ask if yours will do the same....get a lawyer for the person that hit you to recoup....me I would just est...10+k..I doubt the car will ever be the same...some advise...never pay sticker...good luck

AtlanticBlue99

your situation sucks. make sure you got a police report. keep in contact by phone, and in person, with everyone involved.. the other car, police station, dealership... etc. i cant tell you if your car is totaled, but someone was sitting in your car?! wtf. it seems like you are already being taken advantage of. i hope things turn out good for you though.

xRockThePonyx

I agree with someone sitting in your car, that's kinda screwed up. I wonder what the hell the couple thought they were doing in your ride... it's not like they can buy it or anything.

Anyways, why not take this bitch to court and sue her for the repairs. Hell, if I couldn't afford it and that happened to me, I would. That's what she gets for not having any insurance.

roundman

man that sure does suck big time. hope you carried uninsured coverage on your car as it may be impossible to collect anything from the woman that hit you since she didn't have any insurance herself. that means she probably couldn't pay any kind of judgement even if you took her to court and won the case, so I don't know if I would bother with that. besides, your insurance company should be suing her to recoup the cost they will incurr for fixing your car, so talk to your insurance agent about this before you go looking for a lawyer. and I would tell that dealership where your car is being fixed to keep the damn thing locked up too to keep the riff raft out of it! and if they give you a hard time about this, tell your insurance you want the car repaired somewhere else and get it towed to someplace with more security.

Leadfoot

My first impulse would be to get a lawyer and sue the person who hit my car because I was so angry. But, because I had a similar accident but not at the level that you are experiencing now I would think long and hard about it.

Those who don't have insurance probably don't have money to pay for it so why go to the trouble of suing unless you do some type of background check on them to see if it is worthwhile. Some people figure why pay for it, I'm a good driver. If that driver that hit you lived in some fancy expensive house, I would go for it. If not, it's not worth the effort and thank the Man upstairs that you have insurance and move on. But, my insurance company did say to go to small claims court and try to get the deductible back. I lost my case because the girl who hit me worked for an insurance company and knew all the ins and outs of insurance. She said she was hit from behind by a hit and run driver which propelled her into my truck even though she had NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER. The hit and run clause in insurance saved her butt.

I would definitely be at the Ford Dealership the next day and talking to whoever is in charge of that place and asking why the place was not secure. You would be doing everybody a favor!
When customers leave their cars over night in the care of the dealership, we are assuming our vehicles are protected. My gosh, at least behind a locked fence. At least that's how I feel. Now, I wonder about the place that I use.

Good luck with your situation. I hope you get another dream car.

03Muskrat

is it legal to not have insurance? i think in new jersey if that happened your insurance would cover you.... when i wrecked mine i did it real real bad, the insurance guy didnt want to total it cuz it was in excellent condition so the ins company paid 14 grand to fix it.... and to be honest it drives fine.... i did a good enough job so i got a 90% new suspension, full paint job, cobra body and new steering system.... my car feels good as new, so dont knock the quality till ya get it back usually the insurance company will guarantee the work the body shop did, so anything that breaks they have to fix

99saleen351r

Sounds to me like your car is totaled if the door doesnt look closed its because the quater panel is pushed forward and that is not good.... my advice to you is get a public adjuster to help you they work for you and fight with your insurance or the other peoples insurance(which ever there is) and get a percentage of what you get.check it out it wont hurt

blueangelfightr

Where are you cause I would like a cobra convertable for that price. They run for about 40,000 around here. I do agree you over paid though. You are looking at alot of money to fix it. I would call the police get her info and then go after her for the repair costs. If you screwed up engine parts it must have been bad. Get some pics if you can. Sry man, that sucks!