TougeHorseman

Today on 101 north at around 3:15PM, I was rear ended by a 2008 C-Class Mercedes. It was stop and go traffic and I was at a complete stop. The Mercedes hit me at probably 15-30mph and punted my car forward into the car in front of me. My car doesn't seem totaled or anything close to that, but there is a resaonable amount of damage. The person that hit me was insured through Farmer's insurance. My car is a 2004 theft-salvage title with 163,000 miles. No airbags went off in any of the cars.

Here's the list of damage I can notice so far.

1. OEM Front bumper needs replacement (badly cracked/deformed)
2. OEM Rear bumper need replacement (badly cracked/deformed)
3. OEM Trunk needs replacement (substantial dent and deformation)
4. Comptech exhaust probably needs replacement (hanging much looser than before, and a rattling internal sound is present)
5. Both custom "DR BROD" license places need replacement (badly bent)
6. GoPro case needs replacement (scratched up)
7. Modifry front tow hook camera mount needs replacement (badly scratched and carved up)
8. Rick's front license plate holder needs replacement (is punched into the front bumper)
9. Recaro racing seat needs attention (seems to be loosely attached to the Buddy Club rails)
10. My fan seems to be making a funny noise when its on level-1 strength
11. Assess for alignment being off.
12. Assess for frame damage.

My question to the community is how to go about representing my view of the damages to the insurance adjuster (things to point out, things to advocate for). I've got a little kink in my neck and have an appointment with a doctor Tuesday to get checked out. I'll also probably need a rental car during whatever period of repairs there are.

It's sort of funny that my GoPro was mounted onto the Modifry front tow-hook mount during the crash. I was not recording at the time. My car was punted forwards by the Mercedes into the back of an Accord. My gopro punctured the rear bumper of the Accord, and the picture below shows the hole it made. Amazingly, aside from some scratches on the GoPro case, the GoPro is fine!



Some poor pics because it wasn't an ideal environment for a photo shoot, but here's the front of my car.




Again, not the best pic, but here's a shot of my trunk open to show the dent present in the rear-facing section. The trunk edge where it meets the rear bumper is curled in, and there's general deformation all around. It didn't seem to press into anything except the rear bumper, and the hinges and springs and lock/release seem functional.



Here's a shot of the rear of my car. Hard to tell from the angle, but the license plate seems to have bent around a support beam behind the bumper, causing it to curl. There's general carnage on the rear bumper, including paint blown off and scratched.



And here's the evil car that hit my baby!

Sylvan

That sucks! Damn inattentive asshole (him, not you). What was his excuse? Hope he wasn't texting.

TougeHorseman

She didn't speak English too well and seemed generally shocked about the whole event. I didn't ask any questions other than "do you have insurance" and "do you have a license" (her's was expired in 10/2013, but she claimed she was waiting for a new one in the mail). I just grabbed her info, inspected my car, then got on the road and on the phone with her insurance to file the claim.

I'm expecting a call from Farmer's adjuster in 2 business days.

Sylvan

At least she stuck around to swap information

darkfalcon

Wow this sucks. Sorry to see this, Casey. From the looks at it...you might have to start looking into getting another S, judging from the list of damages. There can always be hidden damages from such an impact, and to repair everything is going to cost a pretty penny. Hopefully everything works out in the end. Glad you guys are ok.

TougeHorseman

Fingers crossed this is just some cosmetic stuff that needs to get fixed!!

darkfalcon

If its just cosmetic, perhaps its time for some new options, such as a new AP2 bumper w/ CR lip, Amuse, ASM, etc....

TougeHorseman

If its just cosmetic, perhaps its time for some new options, such as a new AP2 bumper w/ CR lip, Amuse, ASM, etc....
[/quote]
That's what I'm hoping for. Some change of pace.

taifei

I don't have too much experience but I dealt with a nightmare when my truck was hit. IDK what your relationship with your own agent is but my agent has been with our family for probably 10 years so I went to her office before I called the other party's insurance. We actually called the other insurance together (I was talking but had it on speaker) and it was almost like talking with a lawyer. The other adjuster was trying to get me to say things to downplay the incident. I was reporting a minor injury as well but the adjuster asked me if the police arrived on scene. I said I called the non-emergency line and they refused to dispatch an agent. The adjuster tried to use that against me and quickly said "there was no injury so the police did not come right?" She said the first part really fast and emphasized the part "the police did not come." I was about to answer "yes, the police did not come" but my agent stopped me. I don't know what the legalities of it would have been if I answered "yes" to that question but I'd assume it would been used against me when it came down to it. It might be a non-factor (I really don't know much of the laws) but it was nice having my agent oversee the conversation. In the end, we were given the run around for a few months but once we threatened with a lawyer (literally sitting in the lawyers office about to sign the papers to hire him) we finally got through to a supervisor who pushed our case along and got my truck repaired. FYI this was dealing with a private insurance firm that insured company vehicles-a commercial dump truck backed into me-so they might have been more cut-throat than a large firm.

GL with your situation and watch what you say especially about prior conditions of your vehicle. I might have my tin foil hat on, but they might try to screw you out of some money using your own words.

TougeHorseman

Thank you for the advice. I'm going to play my cards very carefully and very honestly. That's how I try to operate in this world. I'll contact my own agent tomorrow during business hours to get some support from that end. Most of the damage on my car is obvious and seemingly non debatable but I realize in this world of adjusters it's all relative. I'm going to get documentation of the outcome of my doctors appointment. My for own sake I'm hoping this pain in my neck goes away soon (literally and metaphorically).