2009 Camry, Standard Edition, Major Collision, Front End of Car Damage

[Stocktrader486]

OK - so here it is. I need advice... badly... I should have come here weeks ago... but I am here today.

I will give the brief as possible version.

I have a standard camry 2009 - Black Paint, Tinted Windows (20%).

I am 25 years old, never been in a car accident before... yet it happened to me... and it could happen to anyone. I have been driving almost 8 years... and all of a sudden a nice old (crabby old) woman in a Large Lexus LS 430 stopped short on me all of a sudden going around 45-50 mph...

I slammed into her. Breaks locked up... slid right into her... Only the breaks on a real sports car could have prevented this... but a standard camry... without any sports options... yep screwed.

Anyways - Several hours later... after the police settled with me, somehow miraculously I was able to turn on the car to move it off the street into a kmart shopping center... which the police offered me no help.. I got the car towed to A Toyota Shop here in Florida.

Moving along, I have all state insurance... I filed the claim almost immediately on the phone in the shopping center in the baking sun.

The car was brought in... adjuster got out there two days later (of course)... and checked out and wrote an initial estimate on the car. Initial was about $9000.00. At that rate I debated trying to get a total on the car... the adjusters from all state, notorious for not wanting to Total a car... didn't budge... I requested a supplemental inspection to take the car apart further and see what else is wrong... This increased the estimate to about $10,700.00... still not a total though... I also demaned more OEM parts on certain parts.

Notable parts that were on the estimate:

-Radiator
-Condenser
-Panel, Hood
-Front Bumper Cover
-Grille Front Bumper, Grille Assembly
-Headlamp assembly
-Fan assembly eng. cooling
Radiator Hose
-Battery
-Mount, Engine Cradle
-Airbag Steering Wheel, Module Airbag control, Cover Air Cleaner, Airbag Knee Bolster
-Air Inlet Assembly
-Lower trim panel bisque
-Paint

So that about sums up the repairs...

The accident happened over 3 weeks ago... repairs started approximately two weeks 2 days ago... Been driving a rental for about a week and a half... which I didn't have rental coverage on stupidly...

So I am going to eat 1K in Deductible and a couple hundred in Rental Charge.

More importantly - The car:

What do I look for now? The car is apparently going to be ready tomorrow... so What should I look for? This is a major repair job... All front end damage...

The car seemed repairable... and despite my desire to get a new car... I decided not to push for the Total Loss anymore... because with a 4k downpayment and almost 2 years of payments on the car... I would ultimately eat about 6.5-7.5K in loss of investment on this car...

As my friend put it... the car will be 90-95% of what it used to be but still redeemable... and overall better to repair it and make the most out of my car...


Please provide any advice on the following:
-What to look for when checking the car tomorrow?
-How to talk to the dealer/bodyshop (already told him i want to be taken care of in the future if any issues - he said... we warranty all our repairs etc)
-What to test for?
-Any other misc. advice to offer.

Please advise... this is my first accident and first situation like this.

I can provide a picture of the damage... so anyone that wants one, just post your e-mail and I'll shoot you a note or PM me it...


I can also provide further detail on my many arguings with the all state adjusters, and the accident etc.

Thank you in advance. You guys rock.

[profuse007]

Make sure you know the warranty or have it written down for the repair on individual tasks that was done.

Walk around the car and watch meticulously see if the new paint matches to existing.

Test your AC. It should be super cold at idle, no matter what.

Check your headlight alignment and its fastener if they're in place. It should be leveled if shot at wall. If not, the body is not squared.

Check the radiator support for new or repaired and look at your quote or work order.

Check if there were any leak to the tranny fluid and if they refill it.

DONT SIGN ANYTHING YET. Take it for a spin at go faster than 70MPH to see if your alignment is center.

Take bunch of pictures of it b4 your leave the repair shop lot.

[arabianobsession]

Don't sign anything until you go over it with a fine tooth comb. Get a 3rd party inspection as well. See what all is covered by the warranty on the repair job-make sure you can bring it back multiple times to get it fixed if necessary. Also, see if you can get a check from the insurance company to cover the loss of value of your car, since now that it's been in an accident it's not worth as much as before.

Another member here (a mod, actually), went through the same thing you are and pushed to get his truck totaled. They wouldn't total it, and he had to go back multiple times to get it fixed, but in the end it worked out okay.

[Stocktrader486]

How do I push for a LOSS value on the car- technically it was my fault... in Florida you are at fault if you hit someone from the rear-end pretty much all the time... there are degrees of Fault but still notable to mention.

I will prop up the car and have it running... Will test the A/C and will take it for a spin on the freeway before I sign anything.

You think I have a shot at a Loss value on Car check??


I am guessing the paint won't have any issues. I went in and looked at the car while itw as being painted... they are using the real deal black paint that the car comes standard with.... but I will still check it.



Positive notes: got them to fix a couple scratches rear bumper that would have been a few hundred bucks prior to accident... and an internal detail, carpet shampoo to some internal dirt that had happened as well... so that is beneficial at least.

The radiator is all NEW aftermarket parts... technically from what I hear toyota doesn't use OEM toyota parts even when the car is brand new for the radiator and condenser...

As far as the radiator support I will have them pinpoint the changes... and take a nice look at it.


LASTLY - the Alignment was NOT covered on this damage estimate... nor was it brought up because of the front end collision nature... and the body shop owner had mentioned that it was unnecssary in this type of collision. I am not sure if I necessarily agree with this but this is what the status is as of right now... So not sure about that one.

[arabianobsession]

1) As for the check for a loss of value, that's going to depend on your insurance company and state laws, etc.

2) Everything else sounds good so far except....

3) Push to AT MINIMUM get the alignment checked. It is necessary in ANY front-end collision! You'd be surprised how little of damage you can do and still royally mess up the alignment. Heck, it's not uncommon to hit a pothole and knock out your alignment. The body shop owner is steering you wrong and it definitely needs to get checked out.

[tekdemon]

I'd be pretty surprised if you had significant front end damage without the shop doing an alignment to double check-I've been in much less serious accidents and for front end damage they've always checked the alignment. I find it rather bizarre that the shop would be against doing an alignment.

That said, it doesn't matter if people in front of you stop short. I know it's your first accident but nonetheless, it's your job to keep sufficient following distance and pay enough attention that you can stop your car. I've been rear ended 3 times now and it's virtually always been because the person behind me wasn't paying attention-one guy didn't see my car or the stop sign I had stopped for, one guy admitted that he was looking in an entirely different direction while we were both making a left turn (and I had stopped for a pedestrian), and one guy plowed into my car doing 50mph because I plowed into the car in front of me that had plowed into the car in front of them. I should have kept myself out of that last accident by maintaining a lot longer following distances since you *never* know what might cause the car in front of you to come to a dead stop. A falling rock, a deer, them plowing into the car in front of them, etc. I mostly post this because your posts sound like you're trying to deflect the blame onto the old lady who "stopped short" but part of driving is dealing with people stopping rapidly in front of you. I just drove to Toronto the other week and had to slam on the brakes full force at least once because two cars 10-20 cars ahead had smashed into each other.

Anyways, once you get your car fixed expect a hike in your auto insurance. It sucks but in an accident like this where it's your fault your insurance company is going to ream you for it. Honestly I'd go take a defensive driving course if you haven't recently to get what discount you can and also honestly refresh your defensive driving techniques. No matter what you're also going to take a bit of a swim on the value of the car but honestly it's not too bad if you're willing to keep your Camry for the long term. If you make sure that the repair is perfect before taking it home the only real long term difference will be that the repainted panels are usually a lot less resistant to chips than the original factory paint, so I'd suggest being extra careful about checking for chips so you can touch them up with a tiny bit of paint before they rust and become more serious issues.

[profuse007]

The work has not been finished and you haven't sign anything yet. Call your adjuster and have him include the alignment service check and repair based on need. The alignment service should be an extensive one where technician will have to cross reference their body measurement provided by the FSM. This will be an hour of work + regular alignment.

If you find anything else, try to work it out w/ the adjuster b4 you sign your paper for the dealer to get payment. If you're not agreed to it, the dealer will not get paid.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Stocktrader486

...


LASTLY - the Alignment was NOT covered on this damage estimate... nor was it brought up because of the front end collision nature... and the body shop owner had mentioned that it was unnecssary in this type of collision. I am not sure if I necessarily agree with this but this is what the status is as of right now... So not sure about that one.

[bandit]

Its only considered a total loss if the damage is more than the value of the car. My father-in-law got rear ended on his old Mercedes E250 diesel or something like that. He got about $3,000 from the other parties car insurance but they considered it a loss. The car probably isnt worth $1,000.

You could of also simply talked to friends and family members for advice since they live in the same state and probably have experienced something similar and driven longer.

[Stocktrader486]

alignments going to be done, which is nice. Glad I got something out of these buggers.

Can you get a diminished value claim or loss in a situation when you are an at fault party? If so, how?

The adjuster says it would need to be done from THEIR insurance because I am at fault and you cannot sue your own policymaker, which through my research seems to be accurage.

Advice?

[profuse007]

No way, man. Absolutely not.

[bandit]

Originally Posted by Stocktrader486

alignments going to be done, which is nice. Glad I got something out of these buggers.

Can you get a diminished value claim or loss in a situation when you are an at fault party? If so, how?

The adjuster says it would need to be done from THEIR insurance because I am at fault and you cannot sue your own policymaker, which through my research seems to be accurage.

Advice?

Since you were at fault, your insurance company can not claim it a loss. It would have to be the other insurance company that would decide. But since you were the one that caused it, they can not say because they are not paying you to fix your damage. And as I stated before, loss of damage is ONLY considered if the damage is worth more than the value of the car. If the cars major components and structure such as engine, frame and what not was damaged, that would be considered a total loss. The repairs you listed are all fixable and replaceable

You're not going to get a total loss for you car so you can forget about pursuing it at all angles. You're wasting your time.

[Stocktrader486]

Yeah I understand the Total Loss Issue, however I think you can concede if I wanted a total loss... I probably could have pushed for it with a lawyer... if I wanted to play that game... but would be costly and time consuming...

The diminished value claim is the only thing worth at least giving a shot to IMHO... even though it is a long shot... doesn't mean that I cannot try.

The lady did stop short and I am the at fault party, but there is a chance of a degree of fault... that may not be 100% mine... if so, I can push for a diminished value claim due to decreased re-sell value...

It is worth a shot for sure... Could be a few grand we are talking about if I can receive it...

We'll see.

Anyways... the CAR is NOT ready today... Monday... even though was supposed to be ready on Friday... then after alignment and other issues... looks like I'll get the car tomorrow MOST likely... a LITTLE pissed off to say the least... but it is what it is... will need to make due with my POS rental the chevy HHR for another day. F that car... so uncomfortable lol.

Hopefully, everything will look great on the car... The reason for the delay is the body shop manager was not happy on the quality of the paint in a couple areas... so he wants it to be repainted in those areas.. which is holding me off until tomorrow.

So as far as anyone that wants to know about OEM/non-OEM... I found a major lawsuit against state farm in, Illinois I believe... that can be used to your advantage if you are ever in an argument against insurance company.

I received most things OEM except... a radiator hose, radiator and condender... all else considered... I am unsure if it is true, but apparently Toyota doesn't use those as OEM even when the car is stock out of the factory...

The fan assembly was a recycled OEM, and everything else done was OEM.

I hope that when I sell the car in a few years... that I won't get completely screwed with trade-in/resell because of the accident.

I am 2009 42k miles now black camry.

I will probably attempt to drive this until 130-140k especially due to circumstances...
Hopefully there are no degrading issues due to this situation.

Car will be fully payed for in 3 years from June... meaning I will try to drive this for 5 years from today... to get 2 years paid for...

Would be awesome if I am solid for the duration... and am not screwed by any issues that happened from accident down the line.

Who knows though...

[profuse007]

if you want to file suit against your insurance company for your car's value being diminished, point to the statues stated in your state. Provide a concrete basis to your argument, so do a research.

If you can sue your own ins company, you should email the site owner of that website I linked above and tell them that their info are wrong.

good luck.

[jbrnigan]

Just look the car over for the obvious as pointed out previously, then get in the car and go home. What's done is done. It's unlikely that you have any recourse against your insurance company or the the little "ole" lady YOU rear ended. Suck it up and enjoy your Camry for another 100k miles. Quit worrying about what was or will be with the car. If something is amiss after you take delivery, take it back until the collision center fixes it, if it's their fault. Make a list of the things that are truly important in life and if your accident makes the top ten, seek therapy. LOL