Not paying attention at the wheel!

[ZEEROLLA]

:( Today coming home from Sydney at abt 8pm in the very busy traffic my gf offered me a bite of an apple.. i looked away and when i turned back i noticed the Accord Euro in front of me had disappeared and there was a stationary Commodore approx 15m away from my Stivo.. I was travelling at approx 40km/h. I jammed hard on the brake pedal.. the car didn't stop in tme and i ploughed into the Commodore's rear-end, i heard a loud crack ..

Damage from what i can see is a cracked bumper, passeneger side bumper popped out and TRD pod is visible now. The metal bar behind the bumper is bent badly and 1mm away from piercing the radiator. The passenger headlight has been slightly moved. The driver's side looks better. Panels look ok to me, but don't know if there were any structural damage (car drove fine and still as hard), i hope not or the Stivo will go.

The Commodore only has a bent tow bar and some scratches on the bumper.

Anyone knows how much it would cost me to fix and how long it will take to fix? I have to come up with $850 excess, i'm 23. I am going to ask for all NEW parts and try to claim loss of use, for rental car or something.

Z

Edited July 30, 2005 by ZEEROLLA

[Buddha]

Sorry to hear that, Zeerolla ... as long as all people involved are OK, that's all that matters ... ah, who am I kidding? The poor Stivo! :)

Seriously, though, if the damage is just to the outer bumper and the panel behind, then it won't be a major job, shouldn't be off the road for too long, as long as you're able to get a claim happening and they can have a repairer working on it asap.

Do you have some sort of hire car cover in your insurance policy? If not, you might find it difficult to get the insurance company to provide a car for you, unless you need the car for business use. This is just based on my previous life as an insurance claims officer (call centre, not damage assessment).

I've spoken to many people, both from my company and many others, who've been massively disappointed because they thought a hire car was a given. Have a read of your policy and check with the person who helps you with your claim.

Oh, and remember that helpful person will be as far removed from the decision makers as you can get. If they say "no" when you really want a "yes", please remember they didn't make the rules, they're just following protocol. Ask kindly to speak to someone higher, or write to the company if you have an issue, but don't abuse the pleb, because its quite distressing for them ... hmm, now why did I leave that job again? :P

Edited July 30, 2005 by Buddha

[MR22ZZ]

Good to know it was only a low speed incident and all parties are OK... but bugger mate... :(

shoud be about $3000-$5000 worth of repairs I think, definately more then the $850 excess if that is your concern. Hope you have it fixed soon. With no internal damage (only facial damage to the front bar and crossbeam I can' imaging it will take too ling to fix, just depends on how long your Insurace company take to act.

[ZEEROLLA]

Sorry to hear that, Zeerolla ... as long as all people involved are OK, that's all that matters ... ah, who am I kidding?  The poor Stivo!   :)

Seriously, though, if the damage is just to the outer bumper and the panel behind, then it won't be a major job, shouldn't be off the road for too long, as long as you're able to get a claim happening and they can have a repairer working on it asap.

Do you have some sort of hire car cover in your insurance policy?  If not, you might find it difficult to get the insurance company to provide a car for you, unless you need the car for business use.  This is just based on my previous life as an insurance claims officer (call centre, not damage assessment).

I've spoken to many people, both from my company and many others, who've been massively disappointed because they thought a hire car was a given.  Have a read of your policy and check with the person who helps you with your claim.

Oh, and remember that helpful person will be as far removed from the decision makers as you can get.  If they say "no" when you really want a "yes", please remember they didn't make the rules, they're just following protocol.  Ask kindly to speak to someone higher, or write to the company if you have an issue, but don't abuse the pleb, because its quite distressing for them ... hmm, now why did I leave that job again?   :P

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Thanks Buddha/Dylan, i do have hire car cover but only for theft. I also don't have a choice of repairer. And my excess is $900! Man, its getting expensive.. could have got new shocks or brakes with that money.. :( But if the costs is $3000 and above i can't complain.. might also need them to straighten up a few metal bits near the radiator.

Z

Edited July 30, 2005 by ZEEROLLA

[coladuna]

Sorry to hear about the accident. IMO $3000-5000 for reparing that sort of damage is WAY exaggerated. I'm not sure how bad it is from what you are saying but I'd say it will cost less that $2000.

[Nino_Leb]

sorry to hear it also, i just got my car back from my accident with 7 thousand dollars of damage. You have to remember that insurance doesnt want to spend alot of repairing your car so they will try to vut cost down,find a cheap garage, and also avoid buying new parts if possible and repair existing ones. take this from my expiernce. Of course you can always complain and get it doen to your standard. From what your saying about your car ill say 2 gran damage. all the best

[xoom]

it all depends on what was damaged..... I ran into the back of a camry straight on a few months ago at no more than 30km/h.

On face value it appeared just like urs in that it was only external damage and on the original quote was less than $1000. n this is when i was tossing between privately settling vs insurance....

Anyway the other driver wanted insurance as it was a company car so we did... Lucky for me we did this cauz once the front bar came off a whole bunch of the metal panels which sit behind the bar were bent n pretty damaged... All up it was a tad on or over $2G's so considering ur impact was faster and ran into metal i ran into a new camry no metal only bumper on bumper then damage could be pretty bad....

I dont think comments can be made regarding repairs until all the panels are off and u can see exactly what the damage is.

[ck [03.14]]

can anyone reccomend a trust worthy smash repair in sydney? western sydney wud be good also. cheers

[Northy]

my only concern zee is that the bar accross the front being bent in that far has it also bent the rails that its attached too?

[ZEEROLLA]

my only concern zee is that the bar accross the front being bent in that far has it also bent the rails that its attached too?

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Will try to get some pics soon, don't know exactly but if that's the case what happens?

[Buddha]

my only concern zee is that the bar accross the front being bent in that far has it also bent the rails that its attached too?

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Will try to get some pics soon, don't know exactly but if that's the case what happens?

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Hopefully that's not the case, but if it is, then the damage goes from being cosmetic to being structural, therefore more $$$ and potentially greater effect on the vehicle's dynamics if not fixed correctly.

Xoom's absolutely correct ... you won't really know what's damaged until they start pulling it all apart. Hopefully its just cosmetic!

[MR22ZZ]

my only concern zee is that the bar accross the front being bent in that far has it also bent the rails that its attached too?

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This is exactly the reason why I said $3000-$5000... I've seen it before on my mums '93 Subaru Liberty (almost exactly the same though it did move the radiator) and that cost the insurace company ~$8000 to fix...

[Buddha]

my only concern zee is that the bar accross the front being bent in that far has it also bent the rails that its attached too?

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This is exactly the reason why I said $3000-$5000... I've seen it before on my mums '93 Subaru Liberty (almost exactly the same though it did move the radiator) and that cost the insurace company ~$8000 to fix...

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My father had a similar incident to Zeerolla around Easter in his Mazda 6, most of the damage was cosmetic, apart from a split radiator and the deployment of both airbags (even though Dad was the only occupant) ... the airbags blew the damage bill out to just on $20G, the whole airbag system, steering wheel hub and passenger airbag compartment and the entire wiring loom had to be replaced.

Thankfully, though, no damage to chassis rails or any other structural parts. Mazda couldn't explain why the passenger airbag went off, but the wiring loom is taken out of the equation to prevent the possibilities of sparks that might set off a fire. I'd want to know why any airbags went off, I thought they were supposed to be set outside the seatbelt threshold.

Edited July 31, 2005 by Buddha

[kelvin33]

is it a frontal damage or the impact came in from the side, if it is scenerio 1 and assumingly at the speed you say, the reinforcement bar below will definitely be able to withstand small impact like that, just that your front bumper need replacement, however if the impact came from the side :(

let them access it first, if it is just cosmetic then check with them the price 1st if you are with racq, gosh!! it will be ex...

[ZEEROLLA]

my only concern zee is that the bar accross the front being bent in that far has it also bent the rails that its attached too?

←

Will try to get some pics soon, don't know exactly but if that's the case what happens?

←

Hopefully that's not the case, but if it is, then the damage goes from being cosmetic to being structural, therefore more $$$ and potentially greater effect on the vehicle's dynamics if not fixed correctly.

Xoom's absolutely correct ... you won't really know what's damaged until they start pulling it all apart. Hopefully its just cosmetic!

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Damn it the bonnet didn't seem to be affected at all, not a scratch.. i was hoping for a new bonnet or a respray.. not even the side panels look damaged but the front bumper cross beam is totally stuffed and snapped off a bit of the joint with the rails.

But even if there is structural damage panel beaters have this car-o-liner system that can allign the chassis. However i'm afraid the car will never be the same :( I have found myself a very thorough panel beater though, he works alone and in his own business and assured me he will use new/genuine parts for everything. He is NOT a recommended NRMA repairer. Looks like i have a new bumper and grill as a minimum. Metal bits in the engine bay i don't know, hopefully all goes smoothly and well and i don't have to sell/trade my car .

Edited August 1, 2005 by ZEEROLLA

[kelvin33]

dont get stressed up....everything will go on well and smooth ...

[ZEEROLLA]

$2500 worth of damage. Aparently mostly cosmetic, the cross beam and a few little meatal bits here and there. The rails look fine, only the part where it joins with the crossbeam needs fixing and the aircon condenser needs fixing. Need new bumper, and grille, front skirt miraculously undamaged! Car will be fixed in 3 working days i was told.

[Buddha]

That's an excellent outcome, really ... that must make you feel a bit better.

[ZEEROLLA]

That's an excellent outcome, really ... that must make you feel a bit better.

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Yeh Buddha, i feel much better now that's why i am still driving it to the meetup tomorrow ;) :D