Oh NO, not again....

[Mark]

Stealth this time. Was on my way in to work just before 6am when Stealth took a big one.

Traffic lights on the one-way street I was on flash yellow until 6am, and flash red for the cross streets. I was crossing one such cross street, also one-way, when all of a sudden there was a black Bronco there. Some guy had blown through the flashing red lights and I hit his front driver side wheel. Speed limit on these streets is only 20mph so it wasn't too big of an impact, but a lot of body damage to Stealth. There doesn't appear to be any frame or engine damage, although the contents of my radiator left a big red puddle on the street. The other guy will probably need a front wheel alignment but was able to drive away, with a ticket for failure to yield.

Gotta wait for the claims adjuster, won't be surprised if they total it. If that's the case I'll very likely buy it back and get it fixed, assuming I can find the body parts.






Hood, bumper, fender, radiator and several braces are toast, but that appears to be the extent of the damages. The air bags did not deploy, but I don't know if that was because of the lower speed or faulty actuators.



Bummer. Having it towed to my house, if I can't fix it I'll part it out.

[Mark]

Since the accident happened just a block away from my office I just walked in. Then I walked to the hospital emergency room to get checked out and got a script for some muscle relaxers, and had a coworker give me a ride home from work. We stopped at a grocery store to fill the prescription and parked beside a first gen Vibe. When we came out I was going to leave a note to see if they were interested in selling but the owner was sitting in it having lunch. It's an 03 base with ~130k and she might be interested in selling. Told her if it checked out clean I would pay book value plus, depending on condition.

[vibrologist]

What a bummer. First Frosty takes it left and right, now Stealth got smacked. The important thing is that you are o.k.
It seems you are wasting no time getting a replacement Vibe.

[tpollauf]

Wow .. that totally s u c k s !!! Hope the other guy had insurance OR is Wyoming a "no fault" state. Definitely fix it if at all possible. Thanks for the news even though it was not good news.

[trb]

Ouch! That does not look good. Sorry to hear about it, for sure. Based on the cars I've seen on the insurance websites, that might be a total. Depends on the value though, and being an 08 it does have a higher value. My son's car is "worth" about $9K NADA and his is an 06 with 72K, so it was a no brainer to fix his with a $3K estimate, but I've seen others with just barely more damage be totaled.

Good luck on it!

[Mark]

Wow .. that totally s u c k s !!! Hope the other guy had insurance OR is Wyoming a "no fault" state. Definitely fix it if at all possible. Thanks for the news even though it was not good news.

The other guy also has State Farm, so I don't have to fight some other insurance company anyway.

[Mark]

Ouch! That does not look good. Sorry to hear about it, for sure. Based on the cars I've seen on the insurance websites, that might be a total. Depends on the value though, and being an 08 it does have a higher value. My son's car is "worth" about $9K NADA and his is an 06 with 72K, so it was a no brainer to fix his with a $3K estimate, but I've seen others with just barely more damage be totaled.

Good luck on it!

I kind of expect it to be a total, but with no air bag deployment or frame damage I think I can get it repaired. We'll see how thing shake out.

[Salsa Guy]

That's fugly. Have them total it and buy it back do the repairs and put $$$ in your pocket.

[Mark]

That's fugly. Have them total it and buy it back do the repairs and put $$$ in your pocket.

That's my plan. Even if they don't total it my body guy usually does the work for the estimated cost minus deductible, so I'm not out any cash.

[trb]

Wow .. that totally s u c k s !!! Hope the other guy had insurance OR is Wyoming a "no fault" state. Definitely fix it if at all possible. Thanks for the news even though it was not good news.

The other guy also has State Farm, so I don't have to fight some other insurance company anyway.

Oh, well that's good. The lady that hit my 10 GT also had State Farm and they took very good care of the claim, except it took them a while to get the car from the storage lot to their lot before they could determine the settlement. But I got a rental for that whole time plus 10 days after the settlement! No reason to loose a 30+ yr customer with only about $4k in prior claims over it!

[runningslow]

That's an ugly hit. Glad you're fine, if not a little sore.

[Mark]

I had it moved from the recovery yard out to my house today. The adjuster came by this afternoon and said it didn't look too good, but we'll see.

State Farm hasn't been able to contact the other driver, and the accident report won't be available for a week to 10 days. So we're on hold on the claim until either they contact him and he admits fault or I can get a copy of the police report.

[Mark]

Got the numbers today, so I want to run them by you all and see what you'd do.

Insurance Co values it at $7,900, and I can probably replace it for around that amount, but maybe not with as low mileage. Salvage value is $1,470. So I can keep the car and pocket about $5,900 diff. I'm still waiting for my body repair guy to take a look and let me know what he thinks. I have $480 worth of new tires as well. Hate to let it go, but dealing with a part-out might not be a bag of chuckles either. And I'm sure the neighbors would be happier if it wasn't sitting around for a few months.

I could also buy a high mileage 03 or 04 and drop this engine and tranny in it. Not sure how much that would cost me. If the body on my 2000 Corolla was worthy I'd think about dropping them in it.

Any suggestions? What would you do?

[vibrologist]

I think it would make your life easier if you would take the money and buy another Vibe. Since Vibes that are taken care of last very long as long as basic care has been taken you could go with an older model and higher mileage.
I did a quick search on cars.com and if you are willing to buy some distance from Cheyenne you could be in a new to you Vibe really quick.
I understand an emotional connection to your car, but think it through: I would always be thinking about that crash whenever sit in it. A clean cut may get you over the trauma quicker. You would stop thinking back and start thinking forward. I would buy the new one at a price low enough to have some cash left for new tires or brakes. Or you could look for an AWD.

Of course, if your man says he can fix it for 3 grand to your satisfaction, I would do that.

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresu ... f2Dir=DESC" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[trb]

Is that $7,900 including the new tires? If not and they are really new, like a few months old, they should give you more towards them. Say $8,200. Then add sales tax and license fees which you have to pay to buy a replacement car, what does that run for you? I would get about $8,800 from my insurance, so less $1,470 salvage leaves $7,330.

[Mark]

Is that $7,900 including the new tires? If not and they are really new, like a few months old, they should give you more towards them. Say $8,200. Then add sales tax and license fees which you have to pay to buy a replacement car, what does that run for you? I would get about $8,800 from my insurance, so less $1,470 salvage leaves $7,330.

The $7900 includes $460 for taxes & title. I asked about the tires but haven't heard back yet. They're right at two months old, and probably have about 1,200 to 1,500 miles on them at most.

[vibenvy]

Ouch, poor Stealth ! Hope you get this whole situation dealt with in a fair and timely manner. Keep us updated...

[Mark]

State Farm finally reached the other driver and he acknowledged liability, so we can move forward.

The adjuster's repair estimate was almost $9k, my body guy came by this morning and thinks it's more in the $3-3.5k range. He's going to take it to his shop and get a better idea, but if he can do it for that I probably will go ahead with the salvage/repair. It will depend in large part on the availability of junk yard parts, maybe we'll get lucky.

[vibolista]

Totally unfortunate, but no one hurt. So many drivers out there on the roads not quite paying enough attention to what they're doing. How do you ignore a flashing red light? Could have turned out much worse.

Good clean low mileage '08s are getting harder to find. Hope you can get Stealth fixed right.

[vibrologist]

Mark, look here: http://www.car-part.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mark]

Went to look at it last night, he got the hood, fender and bumper off and is sure that it's a clean repair. Sticking to his $3500 original estimate, although it could be a couple hundred more if he can't buy used parts and has to go new. The strut is slightly bent, but there doesn't appear to be any damage to the tie rod ends or ball joints or anything else.

I'm calling State Farm this morning to let them know I'm going with the salvage. He's already started locating parts and thinks 1-2 weeks for it to be back on the road.

[vibrologist]

That is what I would have done too.

All the best.

[tpollauf]

Awesome !!!! Take lots of pics, start a separate "repair/restore" post so we can all see the progress. Good luck!

[vibenvy]

Yay! Glad to hear Stealth will ride again! As tpollauf said, definitely keep us updated with lots of pictures along the way .