GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So I had an interesting morning with an interesting crash. I was side swiped then rear ended by the same person in a newer Lincoln Continental. The person was stopped at a merge lane, no yield sign they had a lane to go into. They stopped in the lane of traffic so I honked my horn. The person raised their hand either to say "I'm in trouble" or "F-You!". So I went around them. As I am looking to my left to merge (50 feet away from where this person was stopped) all of the sudden this person is now going full speed and decides to hit the passenger side of my car. After dragging their car down the side of my car they slowed down as if to say "ooops!". I pulled in front of them to stop since we just had an accident and the person drives into my slowing car going at least 30 miles an hour. I then pulled into a parking lot 50 feet ahead of me to get out of traffic and called the police. When they arrived 5 minutes later they gathered my information and side of the story. They then went back to the main road to get the other drivers information. To their shock and mine the driver was nowhere to be found, they had left the scene. When I first looked at my car I saw only the scratches on the side of my car and some bumper damage. Later in the day I saw what looked like somebody had kicked in the rear 1/4 panel of my car. When I went to open the tailgate (hatch) it sprung open and would not close. The rear passenger door would not open either. So they did some good damage. When I got home I looked underneath and saw that the frame was "pinched" together in one spot and the metal was split in another. My question is am I going to be driving my car again or do you think it will be totalled? I always thought frame damage was a killer.

Just because the frame is pinched, doesn't mean they will total it. It's hard to say. Glad you aren't injured!

I think if your frame is pinched then that car will be totaled... it is dangerous to drive as the frame's integrity has been compromised.

Quote, originally posted by joholste »if your frame is pinched then that car will be totaled... it is dangerous to drive as the frame's integrity has been compromised.Not necessarily, it depends on where the pinch happened. I only know this after spending 2 years selling insurance.

Sounds like a case of road rage. Here you can be charged for that kind of behavior especially if you intentionally hit the other persons car. The charges can get serious. I hope the cops or you at least got his plate#.

The other driver got away clean. Didn't have time to get the plate and so far no witnesses have come forward. I'm assuming they live in the area so I will sit in the parking lot at that intersection for the next couple days at about the same time hoping to get the plate number. Car goes in on Thursday for the estimate so we will see.

Sorry to hear about this crash. You might also try contacting body shops in the area with the car description and what areas would be damaged.

just glad no one was injured. that's crap for anyone to pretty much ram the car and drive off. i wonder if it's one of the intersections that have a traffic camera...anyways, good luck with the estimate.my vibe also goes in thursday for repairs from an accident.just goes to show, no matter how much we take care of ourselves and our cars, there's others out there who have little regard for anything.

Quote, originally posted by piecuch1 » My question is am I going to be driving my car again or do you think it will be totalled? I always thought frame damage was a killer. To total out a car, the cost to repair the damage must be 80% of the value of the car.I must say though, you shouldn't have let this guy out of your sight.

Quote, originally posted by piecuch1 »...I will sit in the parking lot at that intersection for the next couple days at about the same time hoping to get the plate number...If you find them, make sure it's the same person/car. You don't want to lose credibility with police but reporting the wrong car.

I would have thought the airbags on the car that hit me would have popped. They hit me going at least 20mph. So I thought for sure they would still be sitting on the side of the road. If I don't happen to see them again I am a strong believer in Karma. If that doesn't work I will resort to Voodoo.

Wow hope you get everything resolvedand be glad nothing happened to you.hope you get your car back and freshly painted with new parts

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope it gets settled and fixed soon.

Got the estimate and it is going to cost $6300 to fix my car and almost 2 weeks to get it back.

80%???i think in va is only like 65% of what the insurance company would give you

Well they haven't actually called me yet. I went on the Progressive website and saw that my claim number was listed along with the estimate. So we will see. I think 80% of my car would be about $7500. I guess I will have to see what they say. I'm hoping they don't send my car to the scrap yard. I just put new tires and my first synthetic oil change into it.

Well it's been 3 weeks in the body shop and I was expecting to pick my car up today. The shop called me and it will be another week before it is completed. I guess $6k worth of damage takes a little while to fix.

yeah i hate waitin around for the body shop, they're never on time. but you'll get your baby back soon

Quote, originally posted by Raivis »80%???i think in va is only like 65% of what the insurance company would give youThat was the number I heard when my dad's Vette was totaled... although I don't believe the state is the one to decide the % that will total out a vehicle.Quote, originally posted by www.edmunds.com »However, given the sizable expense of fixing a damaged car, compensating you for lost resale value, rental car costs and so on, it's easy to understand why insurance companies often throw up their hands long before the repair bill exceeds the car's ACV. For example, some companies consider a wrecked vehicle a total loss when the total cost to repair it exceeds just 51 percent of the vehicle's ACV. Others don't give up until the repair bill hits the 80-percent mark.

A guy at work just told me about something called "Diminished Value". I guess the insurance will pay me for the diminished value of my car after it has been repaired. So I could get a check for 10-25% of blue book back as a check. That should help pay for the deductible at least. From what I have read you can file a diminished value claim up to 2 years after the vehicle has been repaired as long as it wasn't your fault. Might be worth looking into if you have ahd an accident that wasn't your fault.

Ok, I have to ask, you avatar, I use to go to that site, but I forget what it's called...

I pasted the link below. My avatar is from the book cover of "I'm a Lebowski, Your a Lebowski" I also put a picture of my Halloween costume.http://lebowskifest.com/default.asp

Attached files

man that sucks...a pinched frame can be fixed if im not mistaken, they stretch it then weld a gusset on both sides...im suprised to see that you dont live in dallas with a story like that although hand grenades arent part of the story...

My father in law is a estimate writer and said they actually make kits for fixing the frame damage. They cut out the bad part weld in the new one and then put it on some kind of "laser" rack that will tell the tech how to "bend" it back to factory specs. I'm assuming it will be ok. We will see if my right rear tire starts to wear out all of the sudden.

Holy cow, they can fix frames?!?! I usually have to take my car in two or three times to get tire balancing right, so how could anyone trust a repaired frame?!Did you get pictures of it?

We forgot to get pictures. They called this morning and said it should be ready tomorrow. The first place I am going to look is under the rear where that pinched rail was.

Hopefully they got it fixed right for you. Still, I'd never trust a car with a repaired frame. Did you go after them for diminished value? I would say that with an accident like that and repair of that kind on your car, you should definitely get them to compensate you for loss of value to the car itself.

I'm going to. I have to wait until the repairs are completed. Progressive indicates they will not pay for diminished value under the "Collision" section of the policy but I contacted a place that specializes in this type of claim and they said it will be covered under my Unisured Motorist/Property Damage section of my plicy since it was a hit and run and I was not at fault. So I should get something.

Got my car back yesterday and she looks good as new. The body shop "mis-placed" my tear down pool cue while it was being repaired so that sucks. When I went to clean the car out before taking it in I was unable to open the storage compartment and remove the cue. Everything else that was under there was in the back seat. The repair shop they sent the car to for repairs was the actual Pontiac dealership I bought the car from so I will assume it was done correctly. They gave me a copy of the report on how far out of whack the rear was and it wasn't too bad. All the seams (rear door, rear hatch, hatch glass) are evenly spaced. I'm still going to put her up for sale in March when the weather gets better.

Why are you selling? Don't think it will ever be completely right or is something they repaired not quite to spec? If the damage was serious enough, I guess I would be inclined to sell, too. If you sell it, are you planning to replace it with another Vibe?It really sucks to have someone damage you car, especially the situation you experienced. What a Major Pain!

No everything looks great. Me and the wife have been talking about getting a truck since last summer. We used to go camping and haven't been able to pack the 3 dogs and our gear into her Grand Vitara and the lowered Vibe wouldn't do too good off road. So we decided to sell the Vibe since her car is newer and she can't drive a manual.