Oh Intense Disgust

Just before noon today I had parked at our bank and was discussing our transactions with my wife. As I was about to get out of the car, the car is jolted just as if I had forgotten to put it in park and it had hit the retaining wall in front of it. The problem was that the car was in park and was not near the wall.

I got out and saw a suburban slowly moving back into a parking place across from me. As it turns out, the young lady in the Suburban had backed into my left rear corner, totally demolishing my tail light and doing some unauthorized remodeling of the fender. We exchanged insurance info and departed amiably. I have opened a memo report with my insurance company, USAA; and I just completed filing a claim with the lady's company.

What burns my rear is that the car was in showroom condition and I had only had it since the first of September. No, it couldn't have been our old 94 Buick, it had to be my new (toy) Mercedes Benz E320. Hence, Grrrrrrrrrr.

Ken Garlock said:

Just before noon today I had parked at our bank

What burns my rear is that the car was in showroom condition and I had only had it since the first of September. No, it couldn't have been our old 94 Buick, it had to be my new (toy) Mercedes Benz E320. Hence, Grrrrrrrrrr.

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I can certainly feel for you, Ken. A few years back I accidentally happened across a 3 yr old, under 20,000 miles "FULLY LOADED" Lincoln Town Car and I bought it on the spot for my wife. It absolutely looked like it had never been off the showroom floor. Well, we quickly discovered that although her Old Town Car AND my beat up. dent laden run-around-town minivan had never been dented or scratched in a parking lot, there were TWO places that it seemed "everyone" that went there had to leave their mark on that pretty Lincoln, Including hooking and pulling off half a bumper, bashing both front headlight assemblies and one rear tail light assembly plus other misc dents and scratches. Then to top it off, some kids "Keyed" the hood and one side of the car in her parking place at work. the TWO places that were Taboo for that Lincoln was Home Depot and Her Bank. The sad part was that we NEVER caught any of the culprits and had to pay for the damage ourselves because we carried a high deductable). We finally Traded the Lincoln in for a New Marquis, and thus far, (Knock on Wood), it hasn't been a target like that Lincoln was, but I still cringe when she comes in and says, Oh, I stopped by Home Depot and picked up................

I was cleaning out LOML's old Escape this morning and found the $6400 repair bill when SHE wrecked it when it was 3 months old. Nobody to blame it on but her, according to the PoPo. Still woulda been bad, but better if there was somebody else to blame.

Hi Norm. Now, I would be mad about your Lincoln. You had willful damage, I believe that my problem was an accident, and there is no reason to get really bend out of shape. As they say, stuff happens.

That does stink, Ken. I have 2 dents in my 02 Ford E250 extended van... from a cart someone let go at HD one day. No way to find out who it was.
A childhood friend of mine had a very wise brother. Randy got a new Cutlass as a Jr or Sr in highschool (he worked and paid for it) and his brother came home one weekend from college, walked in the back door and announced to Randy that he didn't have to worry about his new car any more. Randy was confused, and pressed Ronnie what he meant. Ronnie said, 'You know...that first dent' Randy was livid and yelled what did you do? and ran out to look at his car. Ronnie had taken a small hammer and put the smallest of little dents up underneath where the back fender curved under the car. It would never be seen. But he was right, Randy quit stessing about the car after that! Jim.

Sorry to hear about your new car getting bent, Ken. Even though it was accidental, it still hurts.

A couple years ago my dad accidentally backed his pickup into a new BMW in a parking lot. He was leaving LOML's and my wedding, and he didn't even know he'd hit it. The owners of the car are friends of ours (other wedding guests) and since it was our wedding day, they really, really didn't want to tell us who did it. (They didn't want to spoil "our day".) After we told them we'd be HIGHLY insulted if they didn't tell us who did it, they 'fessed up and said it was my dad. The next day I told my dad he'd hit a car, and true to form, he insisted on paying for all the damage. It took us another month or more of nudging our friends to get them to tell us what the repair bill cost. As soon as we got the final numbers from them, my dad cut them the $800 or so check to cover it.

That truly is a bummer Ken. I do feel for you, especially since it is kind of a dream car to own. Even though I am a motorhead, I have learned the hard way that my daily driver has to be no more of an attachment than a washing machine. It's just an appliance. If it were not, I would be serving some serious jail time! I still know every ding and scratch in the car, and can spot new damage easily.

Just make sure they fix it right - otherwise it will be the first thing you see every time you walk past the car.

Wes

PS Years ago, while in Northern NY state, my Grandfather backed into a nice new Chrysler owned by a very irate French Canadian. When a bilingual Trooper arrived, we found out he was spitting mad not only because the side of his brand new car was caved in, but also because Pop's old Maverick didn't have a scratch!

this is why i drive old stuff. if some one hits it's no big deal.

That and I have a curse. Every time I have been assigned new vehicle, somebody hits within the first month

I don't buy new, no one hits it, problem solved.

Sorry to hear about your car, sounds like our friend Murphy (Law) was along for the ride.

Ken Garlock said:

Hi Norm. Now, I would be mad about your Lincoln. You had willful damage, I believe that my problem was an accident, and there is no reason to get really bend out of shape. As they say, stuff happens.

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Naw...Ken, except for the kids "Keying" the car, the others weren't willful, it's just that we have too many IDIOTS around here anymore that cannot drive.

The people here have really changed too since the influx of so many people from other places during the oil boom of the late 70's, AND all the Illegal aliens we have here as well. It used to be that if someone hit your car in a parking lot, they would either find you or leave a note on your windshield to contact them, and if they didn't have insurance they would pay the bill themselves. Nowadays there are too many that either don't have insurance, OR just don't want it on their record so their premiums won't go up, so if they hit something, they just take a quick look around to see if anyone saw them, and then speed off. (Most don't even look around, but just drive off like nothing happened). It's just more of the "Nobody wants to take responsibility for their actions" syndrome that is prevalent today, I guess.

Anyhow, I hope they do a good job on the repair for you, and make it look like new.

I know how you feel Ken. Last month my wife hit a telephone pole on some of those slippery roads Maine has...funny how snow does that. She was fine, and the baby never even woke up, but she did 3800 dollars damage to her Toyota Highlander.

The local repair shop did it under the estimate they gave us, and two weeks ahead of schedule, and you can't even tell the darn thing was ever in an accident. They even put on a new front clip complete with fog lights so its actually better then new.

About the only bad thing is that it will show up on a Car Fax report nowand may drop down the value of the car some. Still I hope you have as good a luck as we had in the whole thing.

I feel for you, Ken. While it's no Benz, my new Silverado only had 700 miles on it this past summer when I was rear-ended by a beat up maintenance van. Only needed a new bumper, but still...

On the road to recovery

Well, I talked with the insurance company for the lady that hit me. About an hour later, I got a call from the 'Service King' people and took my car to their local repair shop for an estimate. It looks like it will cost a little less that $1800 to make it right.

All I need is an authorization from the insurance company to proceed.

Looks like it's getting handled quickly, Ken.

Billy Burt said:

I feel for you, Ken. While it's no Benz, my new Silverado only had 700 miles on it this past summer when I was rear-ended by a beat up maintenance van. Only needed a new bumper, but still...

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I dunno, a fully dressed Silverado can cost about as much as a Mercedes these days. Still not something you want to get bent up.

Ken Garlock said:

Well, I talked with the insurance company for the lady that hit me. About an hour later, I got a call from the 'Service King' people and took my car to their local repair shop for an estimate. It looks like it will cost a little less that $1800 to make it right.

All I need is an authorization from the insurance company to proceed.

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Hang on a minute...the other party was at fault and you're using the repair place their insurance people suggested?!? At least get an estimate from your company's adjustor and/or your local MB specialist before you agree to anything: that number sounds way low, especially if it's based on a superficial external examination.

.........annnnnnnd...... no matter WHICH shop you agree to have the repair made at, BE SURE to demand in writing BEFORE you sign anything that ALL replacement parts be OEM parts, because most body shops these days, use body parts made by other "knock off" suppliers and they are NOT made from the same thickness or quality metal as the OEM parts. (I have MUCH first hand knowledge of this fact, having been associated with the automotive business for a few years).

HI Lee and Norman.

Not to worry, gents.

My insurance company, USAA, recommends Service Master as does the other company, AIG. Both insurance companies guaranty the work. The company has been around since 1976 with shops in Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth. They have a clean shop, and professional people as office staff. I also have a recommendation from my son that the shop I will use does excellent work. His comments are based upon before condition, and after repair work done on a Honda Pilot Van.

This maybe be a local thing, but when I said I wanted OEM parts, the adjuster told me that any car of 2 years old, or less, must have manufacturer parts installed.

Also Norman, The damage looks worse than it is. There are 3 main items to replace, bumper cover that wraps around the back toward the rear wheel on each side, second the chrome strip the runs along the bumper cover, and the tail light assembly. Essentially it is all plastic in one form or another. In round numbers: parts 1100, body labor 190, paint labor 220, paint supplies 150, pay the governor 100. The labor rate is 38/hr.

The adjuster put the VIN in the computer and the computer listed all the required and optionally installed equipment on the car. I have a 4 page printed document that lists everything about the car and the work to be done, including the pictures the adjuster took to document the damage.

Ken, USAA will make sure your happy with your results. My daughter wrecked 3 cars in 4 years and they were FAST, friendly, and easy to work with. My rates did not even go up until her third wreck. Good Luck

Scott Donley said:

Ken, USAA will make sure your happy with your results. My daughter wrecked 3 cars in 4 years and they were FAST, friendly, and easy to work with. My rates did not even go up until her third wreck. Good Luck

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Yes Scott. I have been with USAA for 40 years and never had a complaint about their service. I have all my insurance with them.