3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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Well, we had a wonderful day yesterday when a transport decided he was going to try to cut me off with only a car length in front fo me. Ripped off my mirror, front fender is all dented, windshield is more cracked than it already was, and now the car is all dented/scraped from front to back. Somehow my depo's made it unscathed. G/f was screaming as he drove into us. Got really abusive when he asked if I called the police and I said I did. Now my car has to be fixed. Luckily my wheel didn't get toasted, but the center cap is gone. What a pita. LED side signal lights were totally sheared off, but somenow the ones I put into my side mirror is the only part of the mirror that survived! Had to pull on the back of the fender to be able to open/close my front door as it was binding pretty bad. 2 1/2hrs later finally was able to leave. Other driver is deemed at fault is is being charged. Now my passenger side of the camry looks like a pos. Have to wait to hear from the insurance adjustor now to get it fixed and see if I get a rental. Guess it could hav been worse. Alignment as well seems to be fine.
All this on the heals of finding my basement has a crack in the foundation and is now being fixed. What's next? ARGH!
That seriously sucks, but at least you're alive dude! Check out this video of a transport hitting a car. I know it's a different situation, but still, think of the possibilities...
Guy was a real douche. I had to walk up to get his plate #'s off the trailer and truck [he stopped at least 100' down the road or more] Was on the phone with the dispatcher giving her the number's, and he's checking out his trucks' tires, more concerned about them than what he did to us and my vehicle. For all he knew we could have been seriously injured, and the bastard only cared about his tires.
He asked me if I called the police, which I replied of course I did. He then got pissed and was verbally abusive, so much that the dispatcher could hear him, and told me to not confront him and walk away. Of course I wasn't about to talk to him or deal with him anyways. He mouthed off how I don't know how to drive and should have a license, every other word being an F word. Strange how I was totally in my lane when I slammed on my brakes.
My biggest fear was the trailer. Sideswiping can only do so muchdamage, but he kept coming into the lane even after he hit us, my fear being the trailer would catch the car and we'd go underneath, especially since my g/f was on the passenger side being hit. Even so, the trailer tires hit the car as well. Almost wanted to laugh in his face as he was charged. Might still have to go to court if he fights it or doesn't plead. Most likely he will plead it down, but as I was told, if he's got priors on his record, they won't let him. I should know in about 6months or so if I have to go to court. Now to get my car fixed.
Took a better look at it yesterday. Fender is pushed in and buckled near the top, mirror, metal, plastic and all is totally sheared off, my windshield is cracked more than it was so hopefully that will get replaced, the front door is pushed in and had a crease in it, the front rim is all scraped up and is black from the truck tire, as is all down the side of the car,with various scrapes etc. Even has the colour of his cab on both doors as well. Lost my blindspot mirror as well, which pisses me off, as I got that in the US as I've not seen the particular style here at all. The LED side turn signal is still attached, but all the LED's have been sheared right off, so that will have to be replaced as well. What bites is the car is in really good shape except for the back drivers side door, which has a dent/scrape when I got it. Have a replacement door for it, which I've been waiting for spring to put it on.
As for the video, it's an unfortunate occurance. You can see how the transport goes into the emergency lane and just nails the car. Some drivers instead of watching where they're going, and where their lane is, just blinding follow the car infront. There is a law here now to prevent this kinda of thing, and people do get charged frequently. It endangers both the stopped car and emergency vehicle, and it's basically to prevent these kinds of collisions.
Luckily it's nothing strucural or such. Car still drives the same etc, although I will have my mechanic look at it just to be sure. Basically it's all body that got nailed, with the exception of the rim that got scraped up. Make them refinish them as well! If I hadn't hit my brakes when I did, it could have been a whole lot worse. Will need new mirror, fender, possibly front door, strips along doors will have to be replaced as both have been cracked, and will have to be painted the entire side. Back bumper is pushed in a bit where it attachs to the body. The rim seems fine, but the finish is toast, as well as the center cap is busted. Luckily I have the factory rims right now instead of my aftermarket ones.
coulda been WAY worse. At least transports are low by design. I lost an uncle when a regular big-rig changed lanes into him... he was in a porsche 914, and the trailer tires went over him. trucker never stopped. got away with murder.
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The trailer tires are what I was most worried about if I got turned sideways at all. Made sure the car stayed straight in my lane. Few months back same thing happened to my g/f only he just took off her mirror, and never stopped. She got his plates, but unfortunately he got away with it. His excuse was that she wouldn't let him in. Hard to do when it's bumper to bumper and he comes flying up and forces himself over.
This is what this a-hole did, only didn't take out just my mirror, but the scraped/dented up the length of the car. Guess he felt it was ok to hit me as long as he didn't hit the concrete barrier that was on the other side of him.
Personally I think a lot of them use the excuse of not being able to see a car to get away with it. I was right beside his cab, no blind spot or anything, and he definitely knew he hit me and I was there. Didn't stop him any from forcing himself into my lane and hitting me.
So here's some pics. Any one have any idea what cost of fixing may be?
Did pick up a new side mirrror as finding it just plain dangerous without it on the highway. Strange thing is I haven't figured out is that it came as well from a '92, BUT the mirror is a bit longer, and is angled up a bit where as my driver side, and the one that got snapped off was more level with the ground.
new repo fender is under 100
the doors can be reskinned or replaced with junk yards pretty cheap
the 2 problems i see is the rear fender appears to have damage, thats either cutting it out and welding in a new one or alot of pin and puller work. and it appears as the bottom of the 'floor pan' (under the doors) is bent as well if thats true again its alot of work to straighten, or else cut and weld...
Thanks for the response. Still waiting to hear from my insurance so can go from there. I really don't want to have them try to write it off on me when it's only the body that got banged up a bit, and mechanically the car was unscathed luckily. Could have just as easily taken the front of if out.
From the date of the accident [feb.14], the OPP here have 8days to file their report, then my insurance has to get a copy. That can take like 4weeks to do, sometimes a bit longer. I did get the trucks driver's name and insurance info from them. From what my aduster told me, they didn't even know he was in an accident as he never notified them. Hewas charged and deemed at fault. Just not sure what the exact charge is as they wouldn't tell me so have to wait to find what it is. Bottom line, I just want my car fixed to back how it was.
Never thought of the floor pan being bent. Will take a closer look at it. Thought it was just the fender. [knowing how the fender on my jeep went on]. Hopefully it's stopped snowing out. Going to see how much of the rear is actually damaged compared to rubber from his tire.
The rear looks a bit worse than it is. It may be a bit flattened but hard to tell. Most of it is the rubber from the trailer tire. The one problem I see is where the fender attaches to the wheel well. It seems to be pushed in a bit of the corner.
Most of the damage is the mirror [which I put one in already $30], and the front fender,which took the worst of it. I can get a replacement fender and door for about $100 from the wreckers I go to. [just getting one in perfect condition and same colour is all, but they have four my car colour there right now. It's just a waiting game right now] Then it would just be the body shop having to do the rest. The door is pushed in a bit, but I'm concerned because it's not a simple dent which can be pushed out, but there's the beginning of an actual crease in it. The back of the front door is just scraped up and has paint from the trucks' cab on it. Grabbed a new center cap at another wreckers I know. While I was there found a set of inside arm rests same colour as my interior with the speakers so grabbed them while I was there. Interestingly I've found that there's actually three different arm rests for the front doors available. There's the typical one with the red light in it. There's the exact same thing but with the speaker in it. [which I originally got one of but not the same colour as my interior] and then there's another version of the speaker one that is a bit wider at the back end of it, but doesn't have the red light in it. All incidently were taken out of V6 LE models.
Just the waiting is a pita. There's a few scrapes on the back door, but mainly the front door as initial impact was the front part of it and the fender. It sheared the LED's on the fender right off, so I was able to get another set of those as well.
Just afraid how much they are going to say it will cost to fix it. It'll be a place recommended by my insurance company doing the work, as well as the work is warrantied for as long as I own the car. Just hope they're willing to work with me on this. Just want to know where I stand right now. Waiting is always the worst part.
If it's a high end body shop that does fantastic body alignment and paint work at least $3k - they will paint the entire side from edge to edge, and add the proper amount of clearcoat. Most of them charge at least $80-90 an hour now.
If it's a Toyota dealer with factory parts $2500-3500 ballpark minimum assuming $100 an hour labor.
It's mostly labor, the parts and paint will be under $1000.
There could be damage you don't see for years in the very small cracks, fissures, etc - either way your resale is going to get hit if you trade in and they do a VIN check.
You might get lucky and get a low ball estimate- but you not be happy with the work down the line, so choose the best shop if the other insurance is paying.
I'll know more once they get the accident report. It pisses me off because other than a couple of minor things the car runs great and is in really good shape not to mention the things I've done to it this past summer. The things that need to be dealt with I've been doing, the last of it supposed to happen this spring. [drivers side rear door has a rust issue in the bottom corner and at some point it was hit in a parking lot so has a small scrape/dent like someone's bumper glanced off of it. The bumper that was badly pitted I've already replaced this past fall, and about a month ago my rear lateral control arms were replaced due to my near collision in december due to another drivers stupidity [came at me 90* across 4lanes of highway, but missed him and spun out wrecking the bushings] The car drives and handles great, and it drives the exact same as it did before the truck it. The big thing is new springs and struts I've been planning for the spring, as my rear springs are sagged, and my one front strut is starting to go thanks to the potholes on the highway.
I was worried about alignment as I just had it done, but find no difference, and don't see any issues. It glanced off the side of my front rim, but it's all tire rubber it left on it. Only real impact areas is the door and fender. Thinking if I can get a replacement door/fender myself for it, and they reinburse me for the parts, as I can get them cheaper than they probably will, and have them just paint the side, fix the scratches and put the parts on should be good to go. As for painting, it'll be warrantied for as long as I own the car. We'll see. I've no problem working with my insurance company to get my car fixed rather than giving it up. I"ve already put the mirror in as I didn't feel comfortable on the highway without it. You really don't notice how much you use a mirror until it's not there. I'm not going to get another one for the price I got it in the good condition I did. As for resale, that I'm not worried about. Knowing me, I'll keep it until it can't be driven anymore. I will always be a jeep person, but falling into owning my camry due to rolling my jeep, I can say nothing but good things about the car. I've been nothing short of impressed and happy with it.
Considering the age and the fact it was a truck that hit you, if the insurance company lawyers are smart they will write it off (so you don't sue them for further damage or future injury claims).
Call a personal injury lawyer - this is a dream case for them: 18 wheeler hits camry.
Unfortunately not the same up here, and no one was injured at all except the car. I reacted quickly and in the right way, or it could have been worse. Up her in Ontario they have 'no fault' insurance. Basically my insurance takes care of me, and I've heard two conflicting things. One adjuster told me they take care of me and I'm not affected $ wise with my premiums as I'm not deemed at fault, but they have to pay it out, but I've been told by my insurance adjuster signed to me, and a couple other sources that what they do is take care of me and they they go after the other guys insurance company for the money they had to pay out, which to me would make more sense. She told me is they contact his insurance company and if the stories match, then I'm covered. If they conflict and can't be resolved, then it's deemed 50/50. As it is I don't have collision but it's covered as I'm considered 'no fault' as it was the truck drivers fault for the accident and I'll have no deductible. BUT since charges were laid against him, I'll be covered no matter what he says, which is why they need the accident report. I'll have to most likely go to court end of the year as well.
Here if the damage is under $5000 you're supposed to go to a reporting center. With the situation, I immediately called 911 and then transfered to OPP dispatch. They way I look at it is this. With the officer there, they see the situation and can see what happened. Thusly our statements were taken and told charges were being laid and I had to say who the driver was and looked like as I'll be subpeoned to go to court to testify. If you go to a reporting center, you just fill out the forms, write what happened, so it's nothing for someone to lie about a situation or such. Then I would be screwed. Because I called, that's not possible. Doesn't help him that when I was talking to dispatch he got extremely abusive as well, which of course would be recorded, as all calls to dispatch as far as I've been told, like 911 calls, are recorded.
The one advantage though is going to a place my insurance company deals with, they hopefully won't make things more expensive than they really are, plus the warranty if it's a shitty job done. I'm just getting really impatient in the waiting game of this.
Oh, and my g/f works for a lawyer. To him, something like this he'd find fun as a diversion. Worse case I'll talk to her and see if he can help. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care if it costs $10k to fix me car. Fix it and make the guy pay for it out of his own pocket!
The trailer tires are what I was most worried about if I got turned sideways at all. Made sure the car stayed straight in my lane. Few months back same thing happened to my g/f only he just took off her mirror, and never stopped. She got his plates, but unfortunately he got away with it. His excuse was that she wouldn't let him in. Hard to do when it's bumper to bumper and he comes flying up and forces himself over.
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With the g/f's situation, sounds like it falls under a hit and run? The driver should not have got away with it.
He went to a reporting station later, and basically accused her of purposely not letting him in. Thing is that that particular exit is always slow and busy. It was the exact same situation too as me. He had no where to go so he sped up trying to force himself infront of her [dump trunk with one of the gravel trailers so almost as long as a transport]. The guy was contacted by her lawyer, and he just bullshitted. You could even see how the mirror bounced off the pillar of the windshield. She got off lucky though. Could have been the side of her jeep as well. Only reason he got away with it is because there wasn't more damage, and he took off from the scene, plus she was in the car alone so it's a he said/she said type deal. With me, she was in the car, and I have another witness as well. I think he shold have been charged myself, but what can ya do. It will be on his license though, so if he ever does the same thing again to someone, it'll go very badly for him.
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Damn transports
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