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NEVER THE SAME!!! Drunk driver rant....

3K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Desert_Flyer 
#1 · (Edited)
So...some of you might have seen my thread from a few months ago about how I was hit by a drunk driver (his 3rd DUI in 4 years!). So this is just a update/rant.

The car (2010 300C SRT8 with 35k mi.) sustained $15,000.00 + in damages. And my insurance company will not total it out. I made a BIG fuss about not wanting the car back because it will NEVER be the same and the diminished value it will now have when I go to sell/trade it in.

The wreck happened on April 23....and I still do not have my car back!

I had to turn in my rental car 2 weeks ago because the rental fees were cutting into my repair budget!?!?! That was according to my insurance company.
So I am driving a borrowed vehicle and need to return it. With still no firm date on when I will get my car back.

Well I went to check in my car yesterday, just to see where they are at. It was just getting back from having the window retinted because they broke the window reinstalling it.
Next the paint has buffer swirls all over it! I told them NO WAY! My car has never seen a buffer....I always hand was and wax my cars...and I will not accept it with swirls.
They tell me they will....wait for it....buff out swirls with a buffer!?!?! Oh...so your going to cut more if the clear coat...great.

Next...all the bolts where they disassembled the car are now galled and not paint matched like the other bolts on the car. Someone with a keen eye is bound to ask why the bolts where taken out when I sell the car.

Then I discover that there is a good size rip in the door panel...looks like it was dropped when reinstalling it. And a hand size white stain on the drivers seat...rubbing compound???

The car is covered inside and in the engine compartment with "sanding dust" looks like I drove across a dessert with all the windows down.
The headliner has hand stains all over it.

Let's see...the gas filler door is not flush with the panel and the front clip does not line up with the hood.

And these are just the things I noticed giving it a quick once over.

Oh...and the CARB sticker for the Mopar CAI is absent because they had to replace the radiator cross member where the original sticker was.

I have had some many people tell me, "they are a great body shop and it will be as good as new and you won't be able to tell"... LOL....yeah....good as new.

That's it....just needed to vent a bit. I really feel I have no options but to accept my car back knowing it will NEVER be the same. And that sucks.
 
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#4 ·
Thanks. I did let them know how I feel. They are now talking about giving me another rental car. Still no date on when the car will be finished. I am sooooo frustrated by the whole thing. I wish they would have just totaled it out and I would have went and got a new car. <sigh>
 
#8 ·
The other parties issuance is playing games. Claiming they do not know what the at fault drivers limits are, etc.!?!?! So my insurance is covering it for now.

The whole thing is just one big game. And the folks like us who carry insurance for years and years are left not made whole.
 
#9 ·
You're right about one thing, it seems like the "honest" people always get screwed over in the end by insurance companies. My father, and myself, have gone through similar issues. He had to fight the insurance company for 2 months before they finally repaired his 1 year old truck with new parts, not salvage yard or aftermarket parts. I've been hit twice by drunk drivers, neither one having insurance, and both totally out my vehicle. I lost money in both of the deals, decided it wasn't worth the further expense (if I could have even afforded it) to go after them in court.
 
#11 · (Edited)
... I lost money in both of the deals, decided it wasn't worth the further expense (if I could have even afforded it) to go after them in court.
Isn't that the Insurance company's responsibility to do that?

I've had 3 accidents, and different experiences with 2 different insurance companies. My first accident was totaled when I was rear-ended while sitting at a stop light (the road was an expressway which ended at this intersection, and the driver was a firefighter coming off a long hard shift who hadn't been paying attention). Totalled his car, my car, the car sitting in front of me, and the car sitting in front of them. I was in an '84 Crown Victoria with a steel bumper, which was pretty much compressed to the rear axle. I was with Allstate, and unfortunately so was the driver who hit me, so they had no incentive to pay out or fight for me. I got pretty much screwed. They even dropped me right after that, even though I had been with them for 10-15 years without any incidents.

My current company is much better. My next car I got was totaled also ('97 Crown Victoria), and I was expecting to get screwed again. The car was old, and not in the best condition, but the adjuster who came out to look at the car was commenting on how nice the car was. I got much more than I expected I would (and probably more than I would have been able to sell the car for prior to the accident).

I replaced that car with an '05 300C which I loved, and I was rear ended again at another intersection a few years after I got it. Not much damage, only a dented rear quarter panel, and a few very minor abrasions on the bumper. I expected much worse feeling the impact. The driver wasn't insured (I believe he was borrowing his mother's car), and my insurance sent me a check quickly to cover the damage. They also took the owner and driver of the other car to task to get me back my deductible, which they did a few months later. I had to appear once with their lawyer before a judge, but that was just a quick formality, and I didn't have to say anything. I didn't have to do anything after that, they took care of everything.
 
#10 ·
You can also try the state insurance commissioner. I got the runaround from a health insurance company and after I got a call from a collection agency, I wrote up my tale of woe and sent it off to the commissioner and (I kid you not) three days later got several telephone calls from representatives gushing their apologies and calling off the collection dogs. Problem solved.

Dimes to doughnuts if you take what you've written here, add some more details and send it to the commissioner, you'll get prompt satisfaction.

Squeaky wheels do indeed get the grease.

Power to the people.
 
#12 ·
The value the insurance company put on the vehicles wasn't a good market value assessment. I was paid what the book said the car was worth, but not what it would cost me to replace it with a comparable vehicle.
 
#13 ·
Thank you all for the comments. I was/am just frustrated with this whole mess and some days it just bothers me more then others. I try not to think about it knowing it is out of my hands, but when I walk out into the garage and not see my car sitting there....well...it sucks.

Another big thing for me is knowing that the car will just never be the same....ever. Some folks seem to be able to just shrug it off and forget about it. I am not "rich" and save up for years to buy my vehicles (I try my best to not finance cars) and count on my current car for trade in value. So now I have taken a big loss when it comes to trading it in and will now have to save even longer for my next car.

And I was planning on driving my SRT8 for at least 100,000 miles. But now I just don't even want it anymore. :disappoin

Anyways....
 
#14 ·
When you finally get your car back, see how it drives. If not good, then sell it right away. Document your loss and sue the drunk for loss in value. Insurance is a separate issue.


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