Had an accident, but handled it differently (pic's included)
 

Coming back late at night from Placerville in my 2008 Subaru Outback wagon, after having dropped off some parts to a friend, on the last turn into Auburn I was going too fast and momentarily drifted across the double yellow, and heard a huge THUD as I lightly side swiped an oncoming car.

I immediately stopped, (horrified) and so did the other car. A 19 y o student was driving it. A nearby neighbor heard it, and called the Police, who responded immediately.

Miraculously ---- neither of us was hurt, and the other driver was in a 1996 Toyota Corolla and she was unhurt, though shocked completely and had never experienced anything like this, (nor had I).

But I IMMEDIATELY admitted to her it was 100% MY fault, and gave her all my information and STRESSED I would take care of EVERYTHING around this, and when the Police arrived there was nothing really for them to do, as we were well involved in exchanging contact information.


The woman's father contacted me finally, and I told him to get some collision repair estimates, then call me, and I would take care of it all.

He called back a week later and said some body shops thought the damage to fix it, was worth more than the value of the car. So I told him to obtain the value of the car, from NADA or Kelley, and I would pay him for it, either cash, money order, cashiers bank check, whatever he wanted.

He called me back and said he wanted what he paid for it, $2700, a year ago.

I told him I was about to call him, and asked him if he would accept $3,000, and a SIGNED RELEASE, like on the insurance company checks to claimants, and he agreed.

Few days later, I handed him $3,000 cash outsde of Starbucks in Auburn, and he gave me the keys and title to the car I hit. I have them here now.

Damage wasn't too bad:

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2522.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2521.jpg

The Outback is bigger and 12 years newer, it didn't do too bad at all; It looked like this the night I got it home; much of it I later touched up, all that were hit were rubber pieces, only the silver ones. This helped.


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2418.jpg

He told me he was impressed by my contrition and honesty.

When I gave him the money I also gave him a $100 Gift certificate for his daughter, at BIG 5 Sporting Goods, for the 19 y o driver, as I had overheard her tell a policeman at the scene of the accident, that she played volleyball at college, and to her father, a gift certificate for his (or daughters) next car service, too.


BUT: One foot more over the line and it would have been a horrible head-on wreck, each car going about 40, a closing speed of maybe 80!!! Don't want to even THINK about how lucky the girl, victim and I were, about that.


~~~~


For this $3,000, I got:

1. NO accident report made to the DMV


2. NO police report made


3. No report made to my, (or her) insurance company.


4. A valid signed release from the daughter, from any and all claims from arising from this accident.



5. A running 1996 Toyota Corolla 5-speed with 146k that I am trying to fix and sell.

6. NO salvage title on what would have been a total loss.

The dent and scrape is not that bad.

What is, was the filth and neglect I found. The interior looked like 10 junkies, EACH with a DIFFERENT habit, had lived in it for a week. Nasty, scummy filth everywhere, unspeakable; even dirt in the glovebox!!! Half removed window tint. Carpets beyond filthy... Circles of dirt on the windshield from when blower had been turned on, All door arm rests full of gum and candy wrappers..

Wrecked suspension (partly *my* fault); tires bald as eggs; Filthy oil down 2 and a half quarts -- on a 1.8 engine that holds only 4 quarts and filter - they almost let it go dry!!!

Coolant reservoir so bad, it looked to the tire guys that a head gasket blew , oil in water and water in the oil!

But in LA last weekend I went to some wrecking yards, and bought a hubcap for $5 and some owners manual supplements, and an overflow reseroir for $35 that was clean and refreshed the coolant. Aggressive vacuuming, cleaning over and over, lots of rubbng compound, and it looks decent inside and out, now.

2 new tires, an alignment, supension fully repaired, and have new pads and rotors, (car still judders when brakes applied). I bought new rotors and pads and spark plugs.

The CEL is lit, the OBD II diagnosed the codes it threw as a cam position sensor and a bad EGR ($216) so I am into it for $832 at the tire shop and $100 in parts.

It will have the CEL done today then that shop will do the smog test and pass it, then to the DMV to register it..

All in all I have about $4000 into the heap but it's cleaning up nice, I drove it to Folsom and back, 100 miles without a hitch.


And those Corollas are the best selling car in the world, and it should sell quick, even if I give it away for a grand.

I will have walked away CLEAN, acting as my own insurer this time, for just $3000 it's over and I will never look back.

They are happy and can set about to find a nice clean car to abuse neglect and make filthy again.

I feel happy relieved and VERY lucky, now its over. No hits on my insurance costs, or DMV driving record....


Except from now on I need to be a LOT more cautious driving.

Jim,
Great story. Sometimes it DOES all work out, in the end. If this were a work of fiction, then you would have found some "treasure" buried deep in the interior that far exceeded the out of pocket expenses, or it would sell for more than the investment.
Your savings in insurance, and legal fees would be far worse than what you have spent.

The cash is in the gas tank.

Hmmm...

accepting responsability for ones actions?

How unamerican.... ;)

All I can say is ....Well Done!

exactly.and in california to boot.

Nice job!

I had a similar situation years ago where a girl suddenly hit the brakes hard in front of me when traffic slowed for a traffic light. I tapped her in back and it put 2 tiny indentations in the plastic bumper from the license plate screws.

It was a really new car so her dad wanted the cover re-sprayed to the tune of $600 so I just payed it. At the time, this was about 2 weeks salary.

I did some checking and if the claim had gone back to insurance, it would have cost me over $3000 in increased rates. Paying out of pocket hurt but in the end, I saved quite a bit.

:D

I have two questions:

1) How was it possible to avoid a police report? Once the police appear at an accident, they are obligated to write a report. In NYS, it's mandatory to have a police report if the damage exceeds (IIRC) $400.

2) What's the reason to avoid using one's insurance? If you've got a clean record, and have one chargeable accident, the surcharge is relatively minor and will disappear after three years. It surely could not have cost an additional $4K............so, I'm not understanding the financial decision for this approach.

You handled it like a true gentleman.

Am I missing something? I cannot understand how you have a collision that is (apparently) investigated by law enforcement and you did not receive a citation.

On private property, maybe so. A public highway or city street should have had a citation issued.

I'm not sure I would go to the trouble and expense as the OP, but one will never be sure , despite whatever law may be on the books, that one's rates would ever go back down to what they were.

If you've got a mess of cars, you have to consider the real costs of letting your insurance company know you are mortal. My two cents.

Rick

As for the police report, I don't know. I got rearended in my Camaro on I-4 5 years ago and I am sure there was $3-4K in damage to 3 cars. The cops never wrote it (but I got $1300 from someone's insurance co and fixed the car for $100 myself)

well worth it in my book, good job. you will get 1500-2000 for the car and be out for 1500 or so. I just had an accident and the guy wouldnt let me pay, wanted to report ti insurance. SO Im waiting to see the hit, I insure 4 cars so its a 4X hit

1) Agreed. Verbal representations that "I'm responsible" at the accident scene are pretty much worthless down the road.

2) One might argue that this is the rainy day...........unless one is an ongoing careless driver.

Good to hear both parties worked things to resolution and walked away satisfied and uninjured.

Sorry for the accident but what a great solution! Pat yourself on the back for doing the right thing and not sniveling about it, or turning to the insurance company.
One of my cars was rear ended a couple of years ago. I had to stop quickly and the idiot behind me wasn’t paying attention. The damage was almost non existent. But for about ¼ second either way it could have been nothing or really serious. After that i increased my following distance by another second, when possible..

We all need reminders from time to time to shake us out of our complacency, but again, you did an honorable thing!
Heck, send the girl flowers and you might get a date or two out of the deal.

Yep thats how I see it, I would wany my new car fixed to. My record is clean, I pay for collision so I would damn well use it in this situation.

How much to fix the Outback? That looks like all of $1,500. The whole front bumper probably needs to be removed, sprayed, and remounted.

First and foremost, I am glad no one was hurt. Jim you handled that well. How come you strayed into the other lane?

From the "other side" . . . if you were the innocent driver in this situation . . . only sign a release document if it's exclusively for the property damage since that's all that's being settled by the payment.

Good thing you weren't driving the SEC. The Corolla would have exploded on impact.

I was the "guilty" one, and the release was a General one....for Everything, Bodilly Inju, want ry, Physical Property damage, all claims, forever.

The idea was for this to be the end of it forever, and I urged them to look it over first, talk to a lawsyer if they wanted, for a few days first, I too, wanted it to be done and over, but to give them a chance to be absolutely sure with it.


I got it signed. There was no coercion or distress. I wanted it to be like when the insurance company gives you the check. They too want it tobe over and done with when they pay out in a settlement.

Like I said, the advice I gave was if folks here were the injured party. The release you got was great, for you.

Seriously, if you were the innocent injured party . . . would you have signed that release without knowing 100% that there were no other potential damages or injuries?

As for insurance companies, they do settle property damage claims (PD) separately from bodily injury (BI) claims all the time.

Regarding the Toyota Transportation Appliance - I wonder if you would have come out financially better purchasing and selling it as-is, possibly for parts. There doesn't seem to be much payback on the time & effort spent resurrecting it.

This was how it looked the night of the accident;



http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2418.jpg



This is how it looked today, after vigorous applications of rubbing compound, and light repeated applications of touch-up paint.

I could tell the insurance company maybe I scraped a pole, parking I guess, but probably that would be a false claim, and since it looks like this now - not too bad from 5 feet away,
I will live with it till the car is totally paid off in April then see what to do.

The silver painted rubber bumper and wheel arch would have to be removed and re shot in Nautical Silver and remounted, as you have stated.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2523.jpg


I will try and get up to the shop this evening and take pictures of the Corolla, where it's waiting for the EGR valve to be delivered, to pass smog; I am informed also its exhaust has been patched over and over and has an illegal Cat on it, the whole mess needs to be replaced too to pass the hideously restrictive California smog test laws.

Apparently they have changed this year so that 1996 and up cars MUST have OEM cats on them BEFORE they can even be tested. (this place is a smog test shop also, where the car is, right now) :mad:

HAVE to get it smogged to get it titled in California before I can sell it.

#1.) Some cops are lazy. Good for Jim B..

#2.) You now have a "ding" on your insurance...save the rates now for that REALLY BIG *DING* later on...

Isn't Jim B. an attorney? :confused:

Glad it worked out well, and that you were not hurt.

By Randy:

Am I missing something? I cannot understand how you have a collision that is (apparently) investigated by law enforcement and you did not receive a citation.

On private property, maybe so. A public highway or city street should have had a citation issued.

Happens all the time in the cities Randy (HOU, DFW, SAN-AUS). We've got about 300 vehicles running around (and into things). Its a "work avoidance" maneuver by the individual officer - no report to make, no court appearances, etc.

Absent some serious injuries or obviuous signs of one of the parties being intoxicated, they move on...

Regards,
Kevin

Massive efforts and cleaning made the car I have acquired, look a LOT better,

(before)


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2522.jpg




and as soon as the seemingly insurmountable task of getting it through California emissions is done, I'll be ready to pass it on to an economy minded driver, who can forgive a scrape and a dent, in exchange for a cheap price to own it, once the title is issued to me, (after it FINALLY passes emissions (my chore for today!)...and no salvage title either!!!

(after)

This is how is looks now (these were taken yesterday outside the shop). Much better now; but who put those tail lights on there?:eek:

Left fender now a LOT straighter and door opens as it should, all of this accomplished WITHOUT any body putty or bondo, and virtually no paint on the body was broken! A few dabs of touch up paint here and ther helped a lot, cosmetically.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2530.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2528.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2527.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2526.jpg

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2525.jpg


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...1/IMG_2529.jpg

It runs good, and two days ago, I took it to the Folsom Lake area and back (150 miles or so). The smog test history showed it was a lifetime local little car. That would mean no rust.

The whole caper turned out not too bad for everyone, in the end.

Taillights? Obviously by someone much younger than us. This is one of many things I don't understand anymore. Why would you want to make the back end of your car less distinguishable from the front end of your car? Are you looking for trouble? Being cool is one thing, but why mess with a convention that has worked for 100 years...? At least those are somewhat reddish...

Looks good though. If you sold it out of state would you have had to go through all the smog check BS?

Rick

What is that thing on the driver side A pillar?

I would love to have a car like that for running around and to the city. You did a great job polishing that turd, the results are impressive.

My older brother taught me how to drive and maintain my car. Whenever I considered upgrading the sound system or similar he would always find something my car required that was less fun.

it might "appear" to disappear after three years, however computers have long memories which are never deleted. insurance records are similar to credit report records in that a collection account may "appear" to drop off a credit report. in reality it is a "soft" delete. the permanent record is never expunged as they want to keep a tally of your total lifetime indiscretions (TLI). they (credit reports, insurance companies, DMV, etc, etc) use these records to build a case against you. and, since they figure that YOU know this, they know that most people will choose to not file a claim so that insurance rates won't increase. the insurance guys WIN again!!! the system is working......