Time is luck, and now that luck has run out...

[RECHRGD]

Sorry about that Myk!  That's everyone's nightmare on this board.  I'm almost scared to drive my car anymore.  I've had too many close calls in recent years caused by texting or otherwise distracted drivers......

[Brass]

That sucks.  Make sure the rear quarter sheet metal isn't bowed on either side from the impact too.  That can be very subtle and hard to notice.  Also, like others have said, basic liability insurance should include damage to another vehicle.  Collision insurance covers your own.  If they do not have insurance, you likely have uninsured motorist coverage through Hagerty.  Hagerty should fix your car and go after them for reimbursement.  You should not have to deal with that yourself.  Nor should your rate go up because this wasn't your fault.  But sometimes that happens anyway after a claim.  Finally, if you're inclined to for any reason, consider letting Hagerty know other policy holders insured through them are watching to see how this plays out.  Good luck!

[DAY CLONA]

Should I file one now?

You shouldn't even have to ask, the longer you wait, the sorrier you might be, most States require that it be filed within 10 days of the accident, you might find the kid/dad concocting their own version of the accident? trying to weasel out of responsibility....DAMHIK

You were more restrained than I would have been, there would have been a beat down for some texting kid rear ending my car, sorry about your car I know it hurts, but cover your ass with a police report, make sure the kid has Insurance, license, registration, if not press charges esp if your State has driving/texting laws and he "cops" to texting while hitting you, hang that on him as well....

I'm the same driving, I always watch 360 degrees for texting fools, drunks, just plain idiots on the road, esp when driving one of my toys,there's always some kid wanting to hang on my ass and video my car not paying attention to what he's doing, that's what he may have been doing to you, he might even be stupid enough to upload a video of the accident as it happened!

Good luck getting your ride repaired, Hagerty is usually very good in paying out claims, you just need to find a good shop...

Mike

[moparjohn]

So sad to see, but it might have been worse. glad you are ok. I have a tail light for  you if you need it. Free, just pay shipping

[Ponch ®]

Should I file one now?

You shouldn't even have to ask, the longer you wait, the sorrier you might be, most States require that it be filed within 10 days of the accident, you might find the kid/dad concocting their own version of the accident? trying to weasel out of responsibility....DAMHIK


Mike

Actually in CA you have to report it to the DMV (not the police) if the damages exceed $1,000...but the insurance company usually does it once you report the accident to them- though I suppose you could double check to feel better about it.  

As far as the kid/dad concocting their own version, they can do that anyway and merely say you lied when you made the report, that's why its useless as "evidence".

[BrianShaughnessy]

Driver was a 20 year old kid, whose father is now saying that they do not have collision coverage on their Toyota and that they will have to pay out of their own pockets.  Is this true?  I don't know how insurance policies work in situations like this...

A 2014 with no collision?   Doubtful... unless the people are really really stupid and also got enough $ to pay off a newerish car.   If it has payments, it has collision...    dad's trying to sucker you.        Anyway,  your damage is paid by their liability...   but Hagerty will take care of you and then fight it out with their company for reimbursement.  


Sorry about the crash...  sucks when it's not your fault... sigh   

[green69rt]

Driver was a 20 year old kid, whose father is now saying that they do not have collision coverage on their Toyota and that they will have to pay out of their own pockets.  Is this true?  I don't know how insurance policies work in situations like this...

A 2014 with no collision?   Doubtful... unless the people are really really stupid and also got enough $ to pay off a newerish car.   If it has payments, it has collision...    dad's trying to sucker you.        Anyway,  your damage is paid by their liability...   but Hagerty will take care of you and then fight it out with their company for reimbursement.  


Sorry about the crash...  sucks when it's not your fault... sigh   

Yes, collision pays for his car, liability pays for yours.

[Kern Dog]

Hey, Myk...Glad to see that you are okay but the way that you returned to the forum could have been better!
My understanding is that a police report would pretty much guarantee fault on the other driver due to the circumstances you described. He would have likely been cited for the texting, following too close and if it is true, carrying inadequate insurance.
Your car will be fine. I'd rather repair crash damage than to cut off quarter panels and cowls to get rid of rust. I'd suggest a shop that has experience in custom work rather than a "cookie cutter" collision shop that repairs minivans and pickup trucks.

I look forward to reading more from you. You were a positive member here and I miss your viewpoints.

[myk]

Just a quick update: the Camry's insurance company left a message for me, stating they have declared that they are officially at fault and are waiting for me to tell them if I am continuing the claim process through insurance or just dealing with the owners myself.  Obviously I'm sticking with insurance as it's the only proper way to handle this situation.

For those who are wondering, Hagerty's treatment of me has been first class so far.  As soon as I get the official estimate then it is my responsibility to find the shop to do the work, which is easier said than done IMO.  Hagerty has "recommended" shops; they claim that if I use them the repair work is guaranteed.  If I elect to go with someone else the work is not guaranteed.  

What do you guys think about that?

[RallyeMike]

Turn it in to Hagerty and let them fight it out. Main stream insurers don't know how to properly handle classic car claims usually./quote]

This is the real value of being insured beyond being covered. They have the professionals on staff to deal with the other insurance companies and manage through the processes instead of your valuable time being taken up.

Don't cry for the other folks just because they have to pay out of pocket to fix their car. That is the risk they knowingly chose. Having saved modest premiums all these years, now they catch up and perhaps learn a lesson from it.

[Ponch ®]

My understanding is that a police report would pretty much guarantee fault on the other driver due to the circumstances you described. He would have likely been cited for the texting, following too close and if it is true, carrying inadequate insurance.

Nope. It's literally in the vehicle code. However, if the officers cited him independently based on their own observation (ie. if they actually saw him texting and following close at the time of the accident), they could serve as witnesses. And being cited for inadequate insurance only proves that he is inadequately insured, not that he was at fault.  Even then, he would actually have to be convicted of the offenses. But again, going to the police station a day or three later and making a report is not sufficient by any means to establish liability. If that were the case, that's all anyone would need to do every time they got into an accident to pin it on the other guy. Thats not to say that his insuramce company couldnt look at it and say "well...looks like we're f-ed...lets try to settle"...but in court? No.

But really we're just splitting hairs here, because thankfully the damage to the car doesn't appear to be catastrophic and no one was seriously injured, so we're not talking about a million dollar case that either insurance company is going to spend a small fortune to litigate. From what myk says, its going to get handled...and that's all that matters.

[HeavyFuel]

I'm glad it's not worse, Myk.   Sounds like things are working out.


Damn.   The pic of your car.....then his.......I gotta admit, I audibly chuckled at the difference in the damage sustained by each vehicle.



Panzer vs. pop can.

[Kern Dog]

 Hagerty has "recommended" shops; they claim that if I use them the repair work is guaranteed.  If I elect to go with someone else the work is not guaranteed.  

What do you guys think about that?

State Farm also does that. I'm fine with it. I had to have the Challenger repaired twice in 3 years and I went with two of their approved shops and the car looks as if nothing ever happened.

[stripedelete]

Very sorry about the car.  I would be sick over It.  On the other hand,  I am relieved you didn't come back to tell us you had six months to live.  I was a little concerned when I saw the title of the thread.

I am a Nervouse Nelly watching every idiot on the road instead of enjoying the ride.  The exponential increase in morons, morons texting and driving, and deer, has kind of sucked the fun out of driving my Charger.   

I also have Hagerty.  It's good to hear they are treating you right. 

[garner7555]

Good to hear from you MYK.        I have worked in and been around collision repair my entire life.   (My brother still owns a shop).  Don't worry too much about the lifetime warranty from the insurance company, because any good, reputable shop will also offer a lifetime warranty.   However, the only drawback to the shop's warranty is that if they go out of business, then so does your warranty.  

If the other party's insurance is wanting to fix it in a way that seems inferior to you then don't hesitate to get your insurance (Hagerty) involved.  Hagerty will handle the claim, then go after the other insurance company for reimbursement.  


On another note, it might be a good time to add these to make it easier for idiots to see that you aren't moving.        
https://www.ebay.com/i/152890461791?chn=ps
I didn't tell you this, but you might can get the shop to put in the estimate that the bulbs need replacing and put these in the estimate as the replacements.


Another thing to note, when the accident isn't your fault then the insurance company should pay you "diminished value" to make up for the fact that your car has now been wrecked.  It usually isn't much $$$$ but make sure you ask about it.    

[bakerhillpins]

Glad no one was hurt and Hagerty is taking care of you. I had a young woman at a gas station jump into her car at the pump in front of me and proceed to lay into the gas pedal with it in reverse. The only thing that saved my front end was she had set the parking brake. You could see the car stand up. Man my heart stopped that day.

My understanding is that a police report would pretty much guarantee fault on the other driver due to the circumstances you described. He would have likely been cited for the texting, following too close and if it is true, carrying inadequate insurance.

Nope. It's literally in the vehicle code. [....snip.....]

Just for the sake of clarity... EVERY STATE is different.  I've gone through this several times in NH and from direct experience in NH (again state dependent) - I always have the police come to the scene and write a report. I had a woman run a stop sign and clip my front end. She tried to talk me out of the officer visit, and then proceeded to feed the officer and me invalid/expired insurance info and an old address.  The only way I got a payment from the ins company BEFORE the litigation completed (8 moths later on their dime) was because of the Police Report. 

[Ponch ®]

Glad no one was hurt and Hagerty is taking care of you. I had a young woman at a gas station jump into her car at the pump in front of me and proceed to lay into the gas pedal with it in reverse. The only thing that saved my front end was she had set the parking brake. You could see the car stand up. Man my heart stopped that day.

My understanding is that a police report would pretty much guarantee fault on the other driver due to the circumstances you described. He would have likely been cited for the texting, following too close and if it is true, carrying inadequate insurance.

Nope. It's literally in the vehicle code. [....snip.....]

Just for the sake of clarity... EVERY STATE is different.  I've gone through this several times in NH and from direct experience in NH (again state dependent) - I always have the police come to the scene and write a report. I had a woman run a stop sign and clip my front end. She tried to talk me out of the officer visit, and then proceeded to feed the officer and me invalid/expired insurance info and an old address.  The only way I got a payment from the ins company BEFORE the litigation completed (8 moths later on their dime) was because of the Police Report.  

Absolutely, every state is different. As I did mention, some times the insurance companies will look at the accident report and decide that their insured will lose if what is in it is eventually proven to be true at trial/litigation, they will settle rather than spend more money fighting it than it's worth. Admittedly I'm only familiar with California law (where myk's unfortunate incident took place), but I'd be surprised if evidentiary rules are that much different in other states. Hearsay is hearsay, after all. So I'm not saying that having a police report made at the scene is a bad idea (they do have their uses, although they're still not  dispositive of what actually happened/whose fault it was), but doing it days later based on your version of the events is pointless.

[myk]

Just a quick update folks, I received the estimate from Hagerty.  I have to say I'm suprised to see that the estimate isn't calling for replacement of the tail and lower valance panels, like they had originally mentioned and I had predicted; it lists "repair" for the work order. Am I wrong for not being 100% OK with that?  Or am I just too used to modern cars where you just replace components all of the time instead of actually repairing things?  I'm getting a new (?) pair of tail lights and reverse lights AND a bumper, which I'm puzzled by because the bumper looks straight to me; it's just scratched up from the impact.  And then of course there's a fuel tank.  I'm still thinking I'll have to replace the Hotchkiss shock that's being impacted by the passenger side exhaust; but none of that will become relevant until the car is on the lift.  

Also Hagerty cut a check and is fed-ex'ing it to me, for a grand total of $3500?  Again I was predicting a much more costly repair, but Hagerty is telling me that this is just the preliminary amount, and that more might be needed during the process.  Hagerty was also quick to point out that if that is the case then the car is covered.  

Because there are so many body shops in San Diego and I can't distinguish them from one another, I'm taking Kern's recommendation that I go with a body shop that has a relationship with Hagerty.  Hagerty also mentioned that the work is "guaranteed" with these Hagerty associated shops, but I want to dig in deeper to what the guarantee actually does.  The Charger will be picked up and sent to the body shop this afternoon; I know it's very sudden but the broken status of this car is not good with me.  

Again, I can't thank you guys enough for your support through all of this.  It took this unfortunate incident to bring me back here, but I'm glad I did so.  I've said it before: I don't know what I'd do without DC.com, and that is still relevant today.  I'll keep you guys updated...

[comet_666]

Sounds like your in good hands there.
Personally I would call around or drive around to some body shops and see who has maybe worked on cars like that somewhat regularly, maybe ask guys at some car shows where they go.

[Ponch ®]

I'm taking Kern's recommendation that I go with a body shop that has a relationship with Hagerty.  

Given the circumstances, that's seems the way to go. You don't want to deal with taking it to a non-approved shop and then later having to argue w Hagerty about how [insert repair/work recommended by said shop] is or isn't needed, covered, overpriced, etc. In my experience w insurance approved shops, if the shop says it needs it, it gets done.

[myk]

Well, the car is at the shop.  I asked about an estimate for turnaround, but these guys are insisting on trying to source OEM parts, even though I politely reminded them this is not a Mustang or a Camaro it's a Mopar, and finding OEM is right up there with Raiders of the Lost Ark sort of things.  Well, looks like I'm in body shop hell AGAIN...

tow by

[Charger-Bodie]

I have an nos tail panel and valance.

[myk]

I have an nos tail panel and valance.

Oh wow, thanks for the heads up.  So...is the AMD/aftermarket stuff just not up to par?  These guys are REALLY insistent on OEM...

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Well that's a bummer! At least you didn't get hurt and sounds like the insurance will make everything right. You'll be back to cruising in no time.

[Kern Dog]

Wow, that is a BRIGHT orange color. I forgot how shiny the car was too.   
Maybe I'll see you at the Van Nuys Fall Fling in October? Spring Fling next year? If I'm motivated enough to get off of my ass, I'll have my car there.