Waaah! My Viper got hit!

[Warfang]

now that just plain *****!

you gotta be pissed.

I would be

You know... I think I should be a lot more pissed than I am as well, but I'm not. I'd hate to think I "matured" without realizing it. Maybe it's because the guy and his wife are filthy rich, that I'm not stressed about it getting fixed. If it was MY wife that did this......

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Chad: I wanted your ****** girls... NOT your bad luck.

Karma's a b****, huh?

 

[Tusc]

Does Wayne Brady have to smack a *****!?

Client? Drop 'em and sue them both for deep emotional damage!

=)

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

p.s.--go buy a lottery ticket.

(It didnt work for me when you suggested I buy one, but maybe you'll have better luck)

 

[harley56]

Warfang, Sorry to hear/see the news. You're taking it well! My '96 1500 mile b/w coupe got hit and hood needed to be replaced. Many in Northern California club recommended Lakeville Auto Body in Petaluma. Owner Mike is a car guy and he did alot of the work on the repair himself. You might want to look them up. Would also be more than happy to show you my car. Good luck regardless.

 

[Warfang]

p.s.--go buy a lottery ticket.

(It didnt work for me when you suggested I buy one, but maybe you'll have better luck)

I stopped buying lotto tickets when I realized all the money went to kids and schools. I give them enough as it is for nothing in return. (My Chuck impersonation)

 

[VENOMAHOLIC]

Sorry about your misfortune. You are taking it better than most would. I would file full claim with insurance just in case whole hood is cracked or other things are busted. Did you get a police report? Hood hinges may be bent and check radiator overflow reservoir for cracks or puncture. Best of luck to you to get back on road asap!

 

[Warfang]

Sorry about your misfortune. You are taking it better than most would. I would file full claim with insurance just in case whole hood is cracked or other things are busted. Did you get a police report? Hood hinges may be bent and check radiator overflow reservoir for cracks or puncture. Best of luck to you to get back on road asap!

Now you're making me nervous... It'll get looked at tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed!

 

[starcity]

D&D Auto Body and Detail Club in San Mateo does great work! They have worked on several Vipers, Corvettes, etc. and do terrific work. Very reasonable too. Call Jose Torres, the Owner. Tell him Chris @ Star City Motors sent you. You will be very impressed overall. (650) 348-6600 main, (650) 307-7667 cell. Good luck and hope your Viper will be back on the road looking better than ever...soon.

 

[Warfang]

Almost 3 months later...

After the guy and his wife assured me that they have the money (they do) to make my car "right", they balk at the number to fix the hood and facia, and repaint the entire car. They now want to go through their insurance, after stalling for 2 months. Now their insurance only wants to pay me for fix and repaint of the fascia and hood only.

Short term, I FINALLY get my snake back, so I'm happy about that. But long term, I will see the paint wear unevenly between front and back over the years, and now I have an accident on my carfax.

Already left a note with JonB and waiting to hear what he has to say.

Oh yeah, I'm officially dropping the f#@ker as a client.

 

[big-n-italian]

<< After the guy and his wife assured me that they have the money (they do) to make my car "right", they balk at the number to fix the hood and facia, and repaint the entire car. >>

no suprise there. most people have NO CLUE what viper parts cost or how much it costs to repair these things.

 

[ViperJoe]

Well then you should get a check for the diminished value.
Jon and / or Bill Pemberton should be able to help you out as they have done for several folks here.

 

[Warfang]

<< After the guy and his wife assured me that they have the money (they do) to make my car "right", they balk at the number to fix the hood and facia, and repaint the entire car. >>

no suprise there. most people have NO CLUE what viper parts cost or how much it costs to repair these things.

That I understand, but stalling for 2 months is unbelieveable!

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Have you talked to your own insurance people? Mine have proved to be invaluable in going after the other guy. And as long as you have dropped the client, go for it.

 

[kcobean]

People are just unbelievable. I'm with Lee on this one. Insurance companies have great lawyers and deep pockets, sick yours on them.

 

[malcoll]

As nice as your GTS is.... the paint should not wear unevenly. Should not be any issue with matching the hood and fascia... replace the stripes.. it should look as perfect as it did before.

Personally, I would not want the entire vehicle repainted.. that brings out a whole other list of potential issues.....

 

[Kaya]

That *****! I often think about the fact that 99% of drivers where I live have 10/20/10 policies. This is minimum alowed by law in my state. So, if someone hits my car, they probably wouldn't have enough coverage to cover a damaged body panel.

I had a hit and run on one of my Vettes and they tried to repair the body panel....no deal, they had to go back and replace the whole panel. Vette panels are a lot cheaper than Viper panels.

I feel for your loss. Hope something good happens to make you feel better!

 

[Warfang]

As nice as your GTS is.... the paint should not wear unevenly. Should not be any issue with matching the hood and fascia... replace the stripes.. it should look as perfect as it did before.

Personally, I would not want the entire vehicle repainted.. that brings out a whole other list of potential issues.....

So over 10-20 years, the paint should be the same? If that's the case, I'd be fine with it. Anyone else know enough to chime in on this? My snake is no garage queen, but there's a difference between a few rock chips here and there and a whole half a car being different. If the difference won't be noticeable, I guess all I have to eat now is the carfax ding.

 

[big-n-italian]

So over 10-20 years, the paint should be the same? If that's the case, I'd be fine with it. Anyone else know enough to chime in on this?

a good body shop can compensate for slight color changes in the paint due to the sun, etc. if they are willing to take the time.

I guess all I have to eat now is the carfax ding.

car fax may or may not ding you. remember, they are not perfect and they do not catch everything. i have seen car fax miss "things" quite a few times.

 

[ArlyDude]

If they are filthy rich, you should make them pay out of pocket then carfax wouldn't see anything? It's probably too late for this, I'm sure this matter is taken care of already.

 

[Leslie]

If they are filthy rich, you should make them pay out of pocket then carfax wouldn't see anything? It's probably too late for this, I'm sure this matter is taken care of already.

I agree.

I wouldn't let this one go.

You did absolutely NOTHING wrong, they hit an expensive vehicle to repair. They need to correct their mistake.

 

[Warfang]

If they are filthy rich, you should make them pay out of pocket then carfax wouldn't see anything? It's probably too late for this, I'm sure this matter is taken care of already.

They ARE filthy rich... that's why I'm p1$$ed that they played it this way. Let's just say they live up to their religious stereotype.

It went from, "You know we're good for the money," to, "I'll have my insurance call you ." The latter was said about 6 times over the course of 5 weeks. The only reason it was even processed was because I called THEIR insurance.

 

[Mopar Steve]

Paint should match no problem. They can also "blend" adjacent pannels.
If you are worried how it will match 10-20 years from now, why are you worried about carfax/diminished value? If you are keeping the car value doesnt matter, if you are selling the car then 10 years paint match wont matter.

 

[Warfang]

Paint should match no problem. They can also "blend" adjacent pannels.
If you are worried how it will match 10-20 years from now, why are you worried about carfax/diminished value? If you are keeping the car value doesnt matter, if you are selling the car then 10 years paint match wont matter.

I plan on keeping it for a while, but my crystal ball is currently in the shop.

I just don't want to be affected by it negatively in any way, considering it's not my fault. At this point, I've been Viper-less for so long, I'm just happy to get it back! With all of the effort I had to go through just to hold them accountable, I already feel affected negatively. I don't think anybody here would stall a friend/colleague almost 3 months after hitting their parked car. Because it's not my daily driver, I'm not even asking for a rental that I'm entitled to.

The one thing that irks me is that State Farm tells me that the reason they came to their settlement amount is that just by driving my car off my property, I've taken some risk of losing some value in my car, so it's tough luck for me, even if I have to eat any diminished value... Their job is only to make my car "appear" how it was before the accident.

Anyways... I just want my car back, and lock it up forever.

 

[slaughterj]

So over 10-20 years, the paint should be the same? If that's the case, I'd be fine with it. Anyone else know enough to chime in on this?

a good body shop can compensate for slight color changes in the paint due to the sun, etc. if they are willing to take the time.

I guess all I have to eat now is the carfax ding.

car fax may or may not ding you. remember, they are not perfect and they do not catch everything. i have seen car fax miss "things" quite a few times.

Car fax didn't catch my 98 RT/10's accident repairs, though I was forthcoming to the buyer when I sold it.

 

[slaughterj]

Have you talked to your own insurance people? Mine have proved to be invaluable in going after the other guy. And as long as you have dropped the client, go for it.

Be careful on that. When we had a car totalled a little while back (rear-ended by a semi), I called my insurance and they suggested that if I didn't need to use them, then it would be better not to in order to avoid the blemish and potential effect on future coverage (even though it was no fault on our part). I appreciated the warning and handled everything myself with the other driver's insurance, avoiding the blemish.