Wrecked my Vibe

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Tue May 24, 2005 12:37 am

I'm sad to say that last wednesday, 5/18/05, I wrecked my Vibe. I have type 1 diabetes, and to make a long story short, had a reaction to the insulin I had taken that day. I ended up losing conciousness behind the wheel and hit a concrete divider on an overpass, head on. The Vibe to the impact rather well. I had my seat belt on and the airbag deployed. Still, as cars aren't made to withstand a head on with concrete, Progressive insurance says there is $14,000.00 worth of damage. Has anybody had a claim with Progressive insurance for a total loss? I was wondering how much they will pay because we are actually thinking of getting a GT at this point. I had financing through GMAC and I have heard from several sources that Progressive will pay off so much and then get GMAC to finance another vehicle and add the balance to that loan.

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Tue May 24, 2005 12:44 am

Sorry to hear of your accident. I know that when I bought my '05, GMAC offered gap protection. Basically, in the event of a total loss it pays for the difference between what the insurance company pays and the balance left on the loan. I think it was like $300-$400. Might be something you would want to look into due to your condition. Hopefully you are OK?

ProVibe · Post by **ProVibe** » Tue May 24, 2005 12:53 am

Wow. Sad to hear. Hope you are ok. Hoep everything turns out good for ya.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Tue May 24, 2005 12:54 am

man that is bad news, and I hope you are ok. I haven't ever totalled a car that had repair insurance on it. I guess it depends on what they think the car was worth, what your deductible is, and what you still owe GMAC. If you buy another car and finance it through GMAC, then you could probably fold the unpaid balance into the new loan, but if you don't then I guess you're on the hook for the difference between what you owe and what the insurance company pays. if you fold the old loan balance into a loan on a new car, gap insurance might be a good thing.the rubbernecker in me has to ask, any pictures of the wrecked vibe?

Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:03 am

Ouch, sorry to hear that. I'll echo the comments that we all hope you are OK.

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:04 am

Yeah. I'm okay. I have two broken ribs. The paramedics said that was probably a result of being slouched over the wheel when I passed out. I have pics at home that I will attach tonight when I get there. (I'm back at work today.) My dad was trying to keep the monthly payment lower so he told GMAC that "he would be my gap coverage....." We'll see about that. I know that whatever I get in the future I am getting the gap coverage. How does the saying go, "Hindsight is 20/20"....

Pick · Post by **Pick** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:07 am

Gap is Always worth the price. I had a 5 month old 2003 Toyota Tacoma stolen and gap paid the 6k difference for me. I'll never buy a new car without it.

ArcsVibe · Post by **ArcsVibe** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:36 am

Sorry about your accident, glad you are ok!!!

Jahntassa · Post by **Jahntassa** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:39 am

Yeah, I got Gap and thankfully haven't had to use it. Glad you could 'walk away' from that with as little injury as you did.. I would think with 14k worth of damage it'd be a total loss. That's probably the value of the car, or more, at this point..

Pablo1669 · Post by **Pablo1669** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:04 am

sorry to hear about your accident. I was rear ended a few weeks ago.The worst part about my accident was that the next day I got a phone call from a guy who wanted to come look at my car because it was for sale.(me) "Um, yeah, about the car, I got rear ended yesterday, so it's pretty banged up right now"(caller) "Oh ok, um, (long pause), I'll give you a call back this weekend and we'll see what's going on"

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Tue May 24, 2005 5:05 am

When I leased a car I declined the GAP insurace on the lease as it was pricey but then got GAP insurance with my regular auto insurance and it was less than $20 a year.

Ponyota · Post by **Ponyota** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:48 am

Boy you sure are lucky, it could have been alot worse. Thank God that it wasn't. Sorry to hear that you were hurt and we wish you a speedy recovery. Hopefully everything will work out with your insurance and you'll get a fair price. Good luck and watch that diabetes closely, I know it can really mess with you as both my brothers and mom have it.

AzFusionGT · Post by **AzFusionGT** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:09 am

A local Vibe owner?!?! I'm so glad to see that, but sad about the circumstances. I am truly sorry about your accident. Glad you are okay, as a car can be replaced. If you are looking to get a GT, I had good luck buying mine at Showcase Pontiac on Camelback. The other day I was cruising cars.com (autotrader.com?) and saw a 2003 GT at Honda Cars of Mesa. It's blue, but I don't remember the mileage.

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:45 pm

Here is the picture I promised today. We got a call from our insurance today. All I have to pay is the $1000.00 deductible + $120.00. That we are told could be rolled into a new loan from GMAC. So we went down to Midway Pontiac, (where we bought the first) to get the ball rolling on another.

Attached files

ArcsVibe · Post by **ArcsVibe** » Tue May 24, 2005 8:22 pm

Ouch!!!

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Tue May 24, 2005 8:28 pm

glad you're ok and that you will be Vibing again soon.It looks like the Vibe sacrificed itself to protect you. That makes for expensive repairs, but who cares about money when health/life is at stake. Seeing that picture makes me feel safer driving my vibe.What's with the X's on the hood and all the marks on the windshield?

coratz · Post by **coratz** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:00 pm

glad your ok!!!!!!! i had a siezure at work due to epilepsy, emergency room docs in canada automaticly have to report to licence office and you get your licence suspended till you are sezure free for one year. takes a long time to get your licence back, how does it work with diabetetes?

ToolGuy · Post by **ToolGuy** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:48 pm

How horible!!! Glad you are OK and no one else was hurt... Cars are replaceable of course...

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Wed May 25, 2005 12:19 am

Well, In the United States, (at least in Arizona) there are no restrictions that I know of for diabetics operating a motor vehicle. I am told I will be given a citation from the city that it happened in, but I haven't received that yet. I know that in the U.S., diabetics are not permitted by the FAA to have a pilots license. Yes, I thought too, that the Vibe protected me. It crumpled in all the right places. All the marks on it were put there by insurance adjusters, but I don't know why. I think it marks where damage starts and ends, etc. Hopefully, within the next couple of days, I'll be back in the Vibe saddle.

Charlievibe · Post by **Charlievibe** » Wed May 25, 2005 3:23 am

Like everyone else, I am so sorry to hear about what happened but am so glad that you made it out alive. Has your insurance company told you what this will do to your premiums? Or will they be nice to you and not do anything since this was not your fault?

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Wed May 25, 2005 3:48 am

holy crap! how did i not see this one?? i'm so glad you are ok, no one got hurt except the vibe. as everyone and you have already said, the car is replaceable. whatever you end up getting next, i highly recommend GAP insurance. working in the loans/credit/collections field for over 7 yrs now, i've seen what kind of credit damage a loss like this will give. hopefully Progressive will give you a fair deal and the dealership a good deal too. Try and find something with decent resale value and/or good rebates to help offset your negative balance. if you have any money to put down, that will certainly help as well. i was under $4600 on my vibe when i traded it in last month, but put down a sizeable enough downpayment to cover that and also bring the car loan down to something manageable. GAP insurance is a must! but yes, hindsight is always 20/20. a hard lesson learned, but now you know. and perhaps others will learn from this too. good luck in your new adventure.

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Wed May 25, 2005 3:57 am

I haven't heard from the insurance company on my premiums going up yet, but I know it will happen. I have heard all kinds of horror stories about Progressive, but they are paying it off and I only have to come up with $1120.00. I have no doubt that it was because the car was so new. The only thing that sucks is, Progressive told us that since we agreed to the payoff and they have sent the check to GMAC, they won't cover our rental after friday, (3 days). Meanwhile, Midway Pontiac says they can't do anything about a new Vibe until GMAC says they have been paid. So we are going to be hurtin' for a week there. Will probably just have to plunk down the standard rental money for a car.

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Wed May 25, 2005 4:11 am

hmm... are you members of like AAA or any air mileage programs? i know that with mine, they have some specials w/ the rental companies for renting a car for a week or for certain number of days. i get a discount and miles!and generally GMAC is pretty quick letting them know it's been paid off. if they've sent the check, they should get it by the end of this week.

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Wed May 25, 2005 4:39 am

Progressive said we would get a "discounted" rental rate. Don't know what that is yet.

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:13 am

I'm actually starting to get a really creepy feeling about the dealership. The sales guy that ran up to us when we got there, kept telling us that we really needed to call and have GMAC cancel the extended warranty, to get that money back. The fleet sales guy that we went through before, no longer works there, So we got someone else that immediately ran our credit last night. He said that it didn't look good, knowing that we told him to wait until we told him GMAC had received the payoff. Then, we talk to GMAC today and they tell us that last night, the dealership requested cancellation of the extended warranty and payment sent to them.....I know that the extended warranty refund cannot be cashed unless signed by us, but it's really freaking me out.

ramenboy... · Post by **ramenboy...** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:22 am

hey dudesorry to hear about the accident. glad you're ok

Jahntassa · Post by **Jahntassa** » Wed May 25, 2005 6:00 am

Wow..that dealership sounds really scary. Try talking to a manager maybe? Or at least your insurance guys, and let them know the dealership is screwing with you.

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Wed May 25, 2005 6:12 am

yes, that extended warranty refund should go to YOU and NOT them! in fact, that reminds me that i need to call and see about getting my refund on the GAP insurance for the vibe.

jmf2 · Post by **jmf2** » Thu May 26, 2005 4:06 am

Sorry to hear about your accident, at least you were driving the right car! Gap insurance really saved our butts when my son totalled our first vibe, it paid out 8,000 big ones (we were real upside down on our trade in). Geico did'nt raise our rates (but they doubled my sons!).So you can guess we're big fans of gap insurance and Geico.Good luck with the dealer!

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:20 am

Well, we are getting the rental, (an 04 Jeep Loredo, which my wife hates) for 30 bones a day after friday. I don't know how much of a discount that is, as it's been a long time since I rented a car. I found out today from Progressives website that my balance due to GMAC at this point is $121.00. The check was sent on 5/25/05. One other question I had went along with one of my last posts, concrening things said by the salesman in the quest for the new Vibe. He said that our credit score had dropped dramatically since the purchase of our last vehicle. I knew I had some late payments on some credit cards but didn't figure it mattered much. Could the $19,000.00 I owed on the Vibe affect this? Does anybody know exactly what the payoff to GMAC will do for my credit score? Will it affect it at all? I would think GMAC would be all good with us since we never missed a payment or was late with them. They (the dealership) sound like there shouldn't be a problem, but they "felt the need to point that out to us", when they ran our credit before GMAC got any money.

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:13 am

Just to let everyone know what happened.....After messing with a very questionable salesman at the dealership that we bought the Vibe from, we were really down hearted. We were told that our credit score had dropped and that we were not going to be able to get into a Vibe unless we put down some serious cash, got a co-signer, etc., and then, it would probably have to be a used 2004. Just for giggles, I found the salesman that originally sold us the 2005 Vibe, working for another dealership 25 miles away. I faxed him the application and within minutes, I got a call from him telling me to come over and pick out a car. It was an Autonation type place so he had everything, including Vibes. I thought I wanted a Vibe because I really loved the car and still do. But I was shown a 2005 Nissan Altima SE-R that I just had to have. By the end of the night, I was driving home in it......funny considering I put nothing down, had no co-signer, and I'm now paying about $15 a month LESS than I was with the Vibe. If anyone out there is in hoenix Arizona and you are looking for any new car, be it Vibe, Altima, ferrari, whatever,.....give Phil Heiner a call at Power Nissan. He's a real good guy. so i am no longer a Vibe owner, but I take with me the times and service I got from a good car. I also take with me the wealth of knowledge gained by this forum. You guys always had the answer to my questions, (most of the time, answered because someone had asked before me), and are a really tight group. Thanks always,Mike Gamblin

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:31 am

It's good that you found a car you like and the deal was sweet. just cuz you don't have a vibe anymore doesn't mean you have to go away, where are the pics of the new Altima?

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 11:39 pm

I'll post some as soon as I take them.

AzFusionGT · Post by **AzFusionGT** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:50 am

Congrats on your new Altima...

utahindie · Post by **utahindie** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 2:08 pm

i dunno. i think the car can be salvaged. a little duct-tape. some ingenuity. right as rain.well.... ok.... some superglue might be involved.Those SE-R's are nice cars. Good pick.

robodoc · Post by **robodoc** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 4:52 pm

Wow, that is awful. Glad to hear you are ok. When they total it, before they haul it off, if you have access to it, be sure to scavange parts that people on here are looking for. Like the crossbars, center consol with cig adapter if it has one. Radio. Things like that. I always try to scavange before they haul it off since more than likely they will demo it.

remusrm · Post by **remusrm** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 4:17 pm

Quote, originally posted by gundabad Â»Just to let everyone know what happened.....After messing with a very questionable salesman at the dealership that we bought the Vibe from, we were really down hearted. We were told that our credit score had dropped and that we were not going to be able to get into a Vibe unless we put down some serious cash, got a co-signer, etc., and then, it would probably have to be a used 2004. Just for giggles, I found the salesman that originally sold us the 2005 Vibe, working for another dealership 25 miles away. I faxed him the application and within minutes, I got a call from him telling me to come over and pick out a car. It was an Autonation type place so he had everything, including Vibes. I thought I wanted a Vibe because I really loved the car and still do. But I was shown a 2005 Nissan Altima SE-R that I just had to have. By the end of the night, I was driving home in it......funny considering I put nothing down, had no co-signer, and I'm now paying about $15 a month LESS than I was with the Vibe. If anyone out there is in hoenix Arizona and you are looking for any new car, be it Vibe, Altima, ferrari, whatever,.....give Phil Heiner a call at Power Nissan. He's a real good guy. so i am no longer a Vibe owner, but I take with me the times and service I got from a good car. I also take with me the wealth of knowledge gained by this forum. You guys always had the answer to my questions, (most of the time, answered because someone had asked before me), and are a really tight group. Thanks always,Mike Gamblinso is less per moth, but for the same amount of month. also, ser is way more then the vibe. way more. are you sure they did not put you in 72 or 84 month buy, or even lease? here in cali they ask you what is your payment, but never go by that. i just have a feeling something is bad... also, what is the intrest rate. also credit does not drop that much if you have another loan.

jwalcik · Post by **jwalcik** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 4:28 pm

be careful with the scavenging. in texas, a car isn't considered to be a car unless it's got four wheels and an am/fm radio. when my mom totalled my sister's car, i was able to get into the wrecking yard to pull her aftermarket head unit (which was only two months old), but in order for the insurance company to honor the settlement, i had to replace it w/ something else (fortunately, she still had the factory unit, which i left just laying in the passenger side floorboard).cross bars, floormats, center console, etc are all probably fair game though.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 4:55 pm

Check with the insurance company.Good chance they'll renig on the check if anything is seen missing. They'll use any excuse not to pay out.My advice: don't take anything from the car that wasn't yours to begin with...

gundabad · Post by **gundabad** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:11 am

The interest rate was the same but, yes, I have more payments. The last time I saw the car was at the insurance lot, and taking things off it did run through my mind. I just wanted them to hurry up and settle my claim, (which they did). Unbelievably, considering the wreck and new car, my insurance rates only went up $7.00 a month.....****shrugs****

Wrecked my Vibe

Wrecked my Vibe

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (joatmon)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (silverawd26)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (Ponyota)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (AzFusionGT)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (joatmon)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: (gundabad)

Re: (gundabad)

Re: (AzFusionGT)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (gundabad)

Re: (gundabad)

Re: Wrecked my Vibe (robodoc)