Viper Totaled Today , PICs

[Brad_Milde]

Sorry to hear about this whole experience man. I've been reading this forum for several years, and unfortunately, I've heard of some similar experiences on here. I did a quick search, and came up with this article......

http://vca2.viperclub.org/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB14&Number=245703&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

Might want to contact that owner and see how the "incident" was resolved. Also, I remember--but couldn't find the thread via search--another owner who had his Viper being worked on by a Dodge dealer. Again, a young guy working in the shop took the car out for a joyride and totaled his GTS. The dealer told him originally that he(the dealer) wasn't liable for anything in the situation--it was a big mess. Anybody remember that story, or how it ended? It's buried within this forum somewhere....

 

[Jay Herbert]

The employee says he is fully insured but I'm concerned that his insurance will not cover the mods.

Think positive and work with the shop. Before jumping on the legal bandwagon, you should verify the insurance coverage of the driver and the shop. Reputable Viper shops have proper insurance coverage which will cover the physical loss, including mods.

Someone stated that you should look in the classifieds to get values of pristine '96/'97 GTS's, that is a good place to start. '96 GTS's One of our clubs members just bought a BRAND NEW '96 GTS still on MSO with a three year warranty, so pristine NEVER MODDED '96 GTS's are still out there. Also, receipts for mods and installation costs will be a must for an insurance adjuster.

 

[Shelby3]

This is a shot of the death scene of my 97 GTS. You can see the start of the skid marks in the front of the picture. The red dot depicts the location when the car impacted a telephone pole. If you look close you can see a friend standing by the ditch where the pole is. The car was traveling fast enough when it hit the pole to deploy both air bags, compress the front enough to split the roof and flip the car on it's lid. I haven't seen the police report yet. Anyone wanna guess how fast they think he was going?

You must be registered for see images

 

[Go Fast For Life]

I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon changing my own oil (and cleaning the suspension and brakes) just because I am afraid something like this would happen if I took my car to the shop.

Sorry for your loss. I agree with GaryC.

 

[Stiffler]

Sorry about your loss, that ***** bigtime!!! Get an attorney!

 

[Doc.]

Man, I don't even know what to say. I feel for you and I hope it all works out in the end. I too would have my lawyer on speed dial at the first hint that the perpetrator was not going to make good for the damage.

Doc

 

[FE 065]

Man that's tough.

I've only had a Viper in the shop once, for minor collision repair.

I noted on the work order that the car was not to leave company property w/o my consent and had the body shop owner initial it. He looked a bit insulted, but these kind of accidents happen way too often.

If I have to take one in again, I'd be sure the same notation and odo reading is on the work order, and in the passenger compartment.

 

[Wing King]

My condolences here, and on behalf of all the other North Texas region members. We have several local owners, and especially one very EXCEPTIONAL lawyer, who have experience dealing with these kinds of insurance matters. Feel free to send me a PM and I'll get you hooked up if desired. AND...... please keep us other local members updated on how this unfolds. So sorry for your loss.

 

[RX VIPER]

Ouch. Very sorry to see that. It looks worse than my 1st '96 b/w that ended up in a ditch. See what the shop owner offers first. They will obviously turn this over to their insurance co. who will try to give you the least amount possible. I hope they work with you on a fair value. Don't let them go by a "blue book" and 50% on aftermarket parts. They need to give you the full value to replace the car as it was. Use previous b/w sales off this board to show true reflection of value. Show original receipts on aftermarket parts. Good luck.

 

[Casey]

Damn, that *****!
What in the Heck was that guy thinking?!

Good luck with everything. I would have a lawyer involved from the start as some others have said.

 

[treynor]

That is terrible! I'm really sorry to hear this happened.

Having dealt with modified cars before, make sure you itemize both the replacement value of the initial car as well as ALL modifications, labor to install & tune them, loss of use of the car during modification, and so on. Do let us all know how it turns out

 

[pdmracing]

Be very careful in how you handle this, One of our members had the same thing happen to him BUT HE ENDED UP PAYING! E mail me & I will put you in touch with him.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Sorry to hear about this. I hope all goes in your favor. Good Luck!

 

[garolittle]

Dang! This is the second time I have reviewed this post and I am even madder than the first time. That guilty SOB should sit in jail for a few nights so the inmates can wreck his @ss is more ways than one! Rant over.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

That is awful! I like Wing Kings suggestions.

 

[CHAD]

Like pdm said, be very careful in how you handle this. In our society, you could easily end up owing this dip$hit money for wrecking your car. Consult a good and experienced attorney on this one and he will make sure you are taken care of from both a liability and collectibility standpoint.

Seriously, do your homework and be careful.

Chad

 

[plumcrazy]

definetely get a good lawyer....

do things by the book and make sure ya do your homework.

I like the idea mentioned about the rental price of a viper and Id go out and rent one tonite.....I cant imgaine a reason why id have to drive any other car than what was wrecked. obviously keep all reciepts..

but talk to the lawyer first...dont trust me...lol

 

[Cudaman]

Skid marks look VERY short considering the damage to your Viper......

I have told my dealer not to drive my Viper off the dealership unless I am present. After seeing this I will put this in writing when ever I sign the slip for work done to my Viper and ask for a copy before leaving the dealership. That way there is no question of what I said .....I will the proof in my hand before leaving my car behind.

Cudaman

 

[ChoiceViper]

I was thinking the same thing Cuda. There must have been a corner before that pic..... Hmmm....

 

[Jerry Dobson]

This upsets me. No...I AM PISSED

Summer is here. How can you be compensated for "Loss of Use"? I would want a rental Viper until payment is made.

We all know that a Blue and White Viper in perfect condition is not cheap. NADA and KBB low ball the figures. They will be off by $20k.

I sure hope they treat you right. I am curious who did this to your car?

 

[Cobra4B]

I'm an adjuster for GEICO... you're a claimant in this situation so they owe you exact pre-accident condition. This means they owe you the fair-market value of your car and full cost of all mods.

Most insurance companies use an independant appriasial company. @ GEICO we use CCC to get the market values of cars. With a Viper they'll have to do a special search or get a specific asjuster.

You won't get MSPR on the car, but you should get close to $60,000 or whatever GTS's go for + the costs of all your mods. BTW are any of the mods like the blower fine?

This happened to a guy over of the corvetteforum. He had a modded black FRC Corvette. The shop took it for a spin and flipped it into a pole. The roof was crushed and the car was a gonner. Now he's got a brand new Z06 and and cash to spare. The impact negative advertising and word of mouth would have on the shops reputation and bottom line is way way more than the cost of a Viper.

Good luck!

 

[BillS]

After you settle with the insurance company, It may be in your best interest to buy back your wrecked car. Some insurance companies (such as State Farm) allow you to buy your car back at a percentage of the settlement value. (Your s/b about 19-21% of the settlement) You can then transfer surviving after market parts to your new car, and sell the rest of the car for more than you paid for it… I did. Send me a PM with your phone # and I’ll call you, if you want names of people who’ll buy your car, or for more info.

Don't give up... You will win.

 

[joe117]

You probably won't have much trouble getting what your car is actually worth, including mods.

I don't believe you will get as much as you think it was worth.

If you got a lawyer for a case like this, how would his fee be determined?

 

[Mike 01 GTS]

When the insurance company starts looking at replacement value be sure to insist that they look at replaceing Blue/White cars. The values in the books will just list 97 Vipers. A Blue/White car as we all know will sell for much more than the same mile 97 solid red car. I sell many vipers so if you need some help with the value have the insurance company call me. I can back it up with real numbers from the sale of Blue/White cars. Hope it all works out!

 

[TFAST4U]

Shelby3,

Sorry for your loss. I have not posted here in over 2 months. But after reading your post I had to let you ALL know what happedned to my ( Sold ) 97GTS Viper @ a South FL 5 star Dealership.

I took the Viper in for an oil change. Left the Viper over night because I was unable to get to the dealer as I was ******* working. Anyway when I went to the the 5 Star Dodge dealership to get the Viper the next day the Viper tech said that one of the SALES REPS WENT TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND GAVE MY VIN # TO THE THEM AND TO HAVE A KEY MADE ( he said the keys were lost and had to get a key made to move the car )SO HE COULD GO OUT AND BEAT ON MY VIPER ALL NIGHT! Needles to say the alarm went off when he went through the trunk and could not turn off the alarm because the the viper tech locked my keys in his tool box. So now the security guard had to call in the viper tech @ 11pm along with the owner and manager after the dealership was closed so thay could turn off the alarm. This was not the techs falt. But can you beleave the gaul of the sales rep. He was fired the next day buy the owner of the dealership.

When I heard this about my Viper. I felt violated.

Shelby3. Do not take this lightly. Do all you can. I think there was only 1900 B/W 97 GTS made. How many are left? So when it comes down to getting your $, tell them that your Viper is super rare and only a few were made. Man this Fu55ing ****** me off.

Chris

 

[Supra]

Shelby that truly ***** I always do all my maintenance because I fear something like this

As fas as getting your $$$. A friend of mine totalled his Supra (he was driving it himself). The insurance company wanted to give him the blue book value of the car (~$23K). Unfortunately (fortunately for Supra owners) Supras sell for more than blue book value (clean low mileage ones well above blue book). So after he fought them for a bit they agreed to pay him what a Supras like his (95 6speed TT) were selling on traderonline on average. When they searched online at what 95 TT Supras were going for the average was $32k! The # was made this high due to some of the more expensive highly modded Supras online (his was only BPU).

So getting selling prices of Vipers like yours will help!

Good luck and again sorry to hear about this

 

[Viablo]

I think this was mentioned already but if he had no business taking the car out when he did. He can face criminal charges. Could you imagine if he had hit someone else. WHat the heck was he doing?

The insurance company will pay you and then they will recover from them, so they may be a little more lenient in the settlement.

I personally would have lost it.

Good luck hope it works out for you.

 

[Shelby3]

I think as one of the other members explained it, it was a moth that couldn't stay away from the light, got too close and got burned. My insurance company told me today that they will go after the shop if they don't give me full value including the mods. I'm heading out to get the police report right now. It's gonna be interesting how fast they estimate he was going.

 

[pdmracing]

Unfortunately, thats not how it works. The offending party insurance company will probably want YOUR insurance to pay first before/if they will pay the rest. This will not be an easy transaction.

 

[joe117]

If I was the dumba$$ that wrecked the car, I'd claim that something in the steering came apart, or that the throttle came on by itself and stuck open.

I doubt that this would change what you will get out of the insurance but if I were the guy who did this, I could come up with a story so that I could cloud the issue as to why I went off roading in someone elses car.

Of course, I might be a little smarter than this guy.
Really guys, I might be...Well there's a chance I might be.