Well,
I guess this was my welcoming to TX. After being here for about 1 month, I just got home carless My RX8 was totaled today! I was rear ended by a Jeep Durango that made me hit a Suburban that was in front of me.... Needless to say, I still see visions of the air bags deploying, exploded rear window fragments all over the cabin and smoke getting inside. A scary moment to say the least!

I am ok. A bit of neck and back pain and I hope this is not serious.

I am very very sad about my loss but at the same time I am thankful the RX8 protected me the way it did. It gave his life to protect me. The trunk is pretty much gone and the pillars are bent.

I guess it'll cost too much to fix it and I am sure it'll never be the same...especially the way I had it setup.

I don't know how to claim all the aftermarket stuff. The guy that hit me took all the responsibility and said that he'll pay for everything. Of course, I was rear ended so he knows this can get ugly.

This was even after I had attended the RX meeting last night and was excited about joining the RX community here. My blue will no longer be the same. I believe the car will be totaled especially since the frame seems to be bent, air bags deployed and glass all over the cabin.

Any advide when dealing with the ins company?

Carlos
ps. BTW. This was NOT the way I planned on leaving the RX8 community!

 

make sure you are firm on what you want. if you have receipts then it might be a good time to get them together. i have had two cars totalled, (not my fault) and both times i had a good adjuster and actually received more money than what i paid for the car. you plan on getting another 8?

 

Assuming it's a total:

• Make copies of all your receipts for all the aftermarket stuff and tell the insurance co you want to be reimbursed for it. Don't forget to include labor. I don't know if they will cover labor, but if you bought a new 8, you would have to pay labor to modify it again.
• I know guys who have bought their car back from the insurance co after a total, parted it out, and made some good $$. Also had some goodies to start over again.
• Other's have negotiated to pull uncrunched aftermarket stuff out of their car that the ins co are being jerks about.

I feel for you. I went through the same thing except worse. They didn't total my 8. It was hit after I had it for 1,800 miles by an uninsured, unlicensed, drunk, 40-something career Jack-in-the-box employee.

Insurance co said it would take $5,000 to fix. Well 2 years later, 4 months of shop time at two different shops multiple times, insurance escalations, tons of documentation and $15,000 it was still jacked, and I traded it in at a loss for a 2006 GTO.

 

=(

Airbags? Glass over the cabin? He must of not even put on the brakes.

I hope you can get another 8.

 

1 - Hope your feeling well.
2 - I would contribute on how to deal with the insurance to get full payout, and even for mods... i went through this a few years back with my previous car, but the information above is pretty thorough. Do what the guys above me said, and you will hopefully be ok.

-hS

 

Damn .....I think I see your neck being in a brace ...and money rolling into your pockets for disability

 

shitty!!! sorry to hear but I'm glad you're okay, I went through a pretty bad deal in April and came out ok, I'm sure you will do the same. If there's anything us locals can do feel free to pm me, the club has hook ups with several different vendors

 

Pololo: Many of us have been through this before. If you have any trouble, post details and we'll keep giving suggestions.

What insurance co did the guy have?
Have they contacted you yet?

Get checked out by your Primary care physician. If you have trouble later, you'll regret not going for the jugular in the settlement.

 

Dang, sorry to hear this. Well, I know you don't want it to be but it's probably better off totalled. Getting pinched is usually bent frame time. At least you are OK. Even if you end up replacing the 8 with a non-8 car please still visit the forum.

 

Guys,
Thanks for your words. Indeed now that I am not in shock I can better understand how this happened and what the consequences will be.

I already went to the ER on Friday. I have a neck brace and taken X-RAYs and MRI to make sure everything is ok. It seems that I will be ok but they want to monitor me every 2-3 days since I have a dull pain in my neck, shoulders and back. Also my hands are like "burned" due to the air bags.

I haven't had time to go and look at my "baby"... but oh well I will post pics later this week. The front was not that bad, but the rear took the major hit. The rear left pillar where the body is is bent and I believe this will involve frame repair. The tow truck guy told me that this could cost $15K to get it fixed... I will be better off if they total it.

I have never had an accident so I don't know what the next steps are.

The guy's insurance is Farmers Insurance and they called me on Friday to give my version of the crash while the record it. I was at the hospital so I couldn't do it. I will do this on Monday.

What next? The NADA Edmunds value of my car in excllent condition is $21.6K plus all the aftermarket goodies (~$4K) will make a total of ~ $25.6K

I already missed work on Friday and this week I need to be in bed the whole week...

What should I expect? Can I refuse to take the car back since I know for sure the car will not be the same, will have an accident report in carfax, the air bags deployed and of course the overall price will go to half of it if that? What are my rights?

On top of this I don't even have a rental car yet.

If any of you want to PM with answers I am OK but if you prefer to write it here that's OK too.

TIA,
Carlos

 

Farmers- Depending on your local office, you may be screwed. I had a TERRIBLE time in 98.
Don't volunteer information that you don't have to.
DO NOT get the car repaired, and don't accept their first offer.
Farmer's job is to put you back where you were before or better.
If they give you the run around, depending on how good YOUR insurance is, your insurance could settle and subrogate, but this may not be possible.

It took me 3 days short of two years to settle my injury and loss claims with them.

 

Hi guys,
I just took these 2 pics the day of the accident. Too bad I didn't take one with the left rear showing the pillar bent. I am sure this is a frame damage after looking carefully at the RX8 body structure. I will take more pics later.

Carlos

 

Wow. I'm physically ill now, as i have a WB as well.

 

That SUCKS! Sorry. Glad you are ok though.

 

If theres one thing i dont like about austin its the damned freeways, whats up with those merging lanes?? and U-turns where the hell are the u turns? I've seen more crashes in austin than anywere else... I'm really sorry to hear about this, looks like you had a nice 8. If it helps you feel any better i bought my rx8 from an auction yard in houston after some1 rolled it over...If your car is totaled you might help make some1 else have the pleasure of owning and rx8. Hope everything works out, hook 'em

 

am sorry to hear about the accident, and it's good to know that u'r ok... the rear end damage does look pretty bad, but the front end doesn't look that bad. but, ultimately i think the determing factor will be the ratio between "repair cost" vs. "residual value." if your car's residual value (not-counting mods & if it were in perfect condition) is less than or equal to the total estimated cost of repairing the car, the insurance co will likely opt to just buy you out- ie give u residual value and claim a total loss. but, if the residual value of the car is still higher, they'll pay to get it fixed. w/ the blue book value of 8's so low nowadays, it's hard to say. based on my past experience, the front end damage looks around $5k and the rear about $10k+ -IF- the repairs are done from a reputable, by-the-book shop that doesn't cut corners.

regardless, i hope that u can reach a satisfactory settlement and either get your car fixed the way u want or alternatively, get a new 8.

 

yikes...I second everyone else in glad to hear that you walked away from it. I have a blue one too. Hopefully they'll just total it for you. Like it's been said, even if they try to fix it, it won't be the same :\ Good luck my friend, and keep us posted.

 

i hate suv's

 

Whenever I hear about an suv plowing into cars it makes me pissed. I always see suburbans and larger suv's going way too fast for their own good. They can't slow down fast enough, and when they DO hit someone it its all over. It's like mini-van speeding syndrome. Car full of kids going 100, idiots.

I hope you choose to get another RX-8 man, and that sucks that your first month here had to go like this. But, I guess be grateful you arent crippled from the wreck and just keep your spirits up everything will work out for the best.

 

An insured driver hit your car from behind, maybe totalled it, caused damage to the car in front, further damage to yours & undetermined injury to you. There is no defense for rear ending in Texas; you should not have to negotiate w/them about their liability. They will manuver to minimize "their loss" over your damages if you let them by settling for less without demanding full recovery.

As the injured party, you are entitled to have your situation put back to where it was with your vehicle, financially or medically by the insured driver at fault and/or
their & your insur.co. Remember, that's exactly what insurance is supposed to do by contract & everyone pays high premiums for it.

DO NOT talk to them until you consult (free) w/a real nasty, maybe personal injury lawyer, to advise you on what can be negotiated w/the offender's insurance company as well as yours to get what settlement you can asap. Give a damn what insurance companies are involved, a good/mean atty. may be your only equilizer against those who will bluff, stall or stonewall an individual w/o representation w/extended delays in negotiation/settlement.
They must supply a rental car until settlement; take it now w/o comment. If they
mess w/you time-wise on repairs or settling, just keep on driving it at their expense with painful recurring headaches/back pain. They may get the idea that a fair settlement is going to be cheaper than opposing an innocent, injured, vehicleless victim & his atty.(made necessary by insur. co. tactics).

Do not sign off on any medical claims immediately either; many who do have later lifelong medical problems w/neck/back damage which is hard to pinpoint anyway.

You have the leverage w/atty. as rear end victim, injured, w/o transportation, etc. Use it if possible or lose it. Don't let them wear you down.

****I have a vacant seat this Sun. Ride w/me if you can do topdown.
LD

 

Thanks LD...

I just posted in the RX8 discussion. Pretty much everything is summarized there.

As far as the drive, I might take your offer. At this point however the only way for recovery, according to my doc, is to drive a convertible 2nd Gen RX7.

Once again thanks,
Carlos