....and then I heard that horrible "crunch" noise

[TonyHzNV]

Night before last I was driving my daughter-in-law to Costco to pick up some movie tickets on our way to dinner. It's only about a mile north of the house and pretty much a straight shot up a divided main street with three lanes in each direction. Just north of the 215 (East - West) beltway that we cross over, the road widens even more to provide left and right turn lanes into large shopping centers on either side. There are two left turn lanes turning into the Costco center on the left. I was in the rightmost left turn lane coasting up to the (red) traffic light ahead preparing to stop when out of virtually nowhere comes this POS 1999 Nissan Sentra across 3 lanes of traffic from the shopping center on the right of us and hits us right on the left rear wheel with her left front bumper. My daughter-in-law barely had time to yell out "watch out!" when I felt the impact and heard the crunch. My car had just under 5000 miles on it and got hit by an idiot not paying attention to what she was doing. So, yesterday I took to the body shop for an estimate and it was estimated at about $2200.00 with the possibility of it being more if they have to replace the small panel behind the rear passenger door. That would cause more paint "blending" as well as the extra cost to replace the panel. I am posting some pics of the damage. You can see from the pics of the other car what wonderful shape it was in before hitting me. I know my car doesn't look all that bad and the best part is that no one was injured, but I still have that sinking feeling that you get when something like this happens to you and now I have to face the fact that the car is going to be worth less because of the accident even it it looks perfect after repairs. It wasn't my fault and it just makes me so angry that other people don't watch what they're doing and then act like it's no big deal when they damage your property. Anyway, just thought I would share and try to get it off my chest. Frustrating!

 

 

Daylight photo of damage the next day at the body shop waiting on an estimate for repair.

 

 

Closeup of the worst damage in the daylight the day after at the body shop.

 

 

The slightly damaged wheel (at the scene) that saved us from even more damage. Good thing the other car pretty much impacted right on the wheel itself

 

 

The beautiful 1999 Nissan Sentra that hit us on 1/18/15 - At the scene of the accident

 

[corncobs]

That hurts to read and see! Sorry about your story and damage to a almost brand new car.

 

There aren't any positive things but at least your FFH didn't fall apart like the green POS. :)

 

Good luck with the repair.

 

As long they know what they are doing you won't be able to tell.

[darrelld]

I see Morons driving like you describe every day, sorry to hear about your Fusion.

[TonyHzNV]

Good luck with the repair. As long they know what they are doing you won't be able to tell.

Honestly, I'm not worried about the repair. I'm sure it will look perfect. I used this body shop once before back in Jan 2008 after a taxi doing 45 ran up under the back of my brand new, 3 week old 2007 F150 while I was stopped. I bought it on Dec 6 and this occurred the day after Xmas coming out of work. He was driving a Dodge minivan with a low front end and the top of his windshield ended up at the rear edge of my bumper. He was totalled. Anyway, since my frame was bent in the rear, they replaced the frame and repaired/replaced everything else and you could never see or tell that anything had ever happened. It drove perfectly and I kept it for about 6 years. It turned out to be almost $19K in damage on a $30K truck. So, I'm sure I won't be able to tell, but I will always know, and so will CarFax

[hybridbear]

So sorry to see! I hope the Nissan owner's insurance will cover everything.

[acdii]

Sorry to see that. I know how you feel, felt the same way when I hit a deer with my Flex, and also when I got rear ended in the Fusion. Since my long term goal is to drive the fusion until it fusucates(falls apart), not concerned over resale value, but dangit someone damaged my car! Did give me a chance to get some dings worked out from careless buttheads in parking lots.

[TonyHzNV]

Thank you all for your kind and understanding words. I really appreciate it. I just had to share my feelings with others. I'm sure all will go well with the repair. Thanks again!

[corncobs]

You seem to have a pattern with new cars. ;)

 

Not quite as bad as the previous/first owner of our new Explorer.

They bought the car went on a trip to VA and got in an accident. The accident was dated even before the cars loan was reported.

 

My guess would be the accident happened with about 600-700 miles in the odometer with the result of front and rear damage.

[djminfll]

Sorry to hear about your little mishap, glad nobody was hurt. If it makes you feel better, I ran a CarFax on my old car when I was getting ready to trade it in, and that car, which was hit twice and got repaired showed up with NO ACCIDENTS. Don't ask me how, but that's what the report showed. So, with any luck, maybe yours won't show up either.

[corncobs]

Sorry to hear about your little mishap, glad nobody was hurt. If it makes you feel better, I ran a CarFax on my old car when I was getting ready to trade it in, and that car, which was hit twice and got repaired showed up with NO ACCIDENTS. Don't ask me how, but that's what the report showed. So, with any luck, maybe yours won't show up either.

Was police involved? I also think there's a certain level of damage before its reported.

[TonyHzNV]

Was police involved? I also think there's a certain level of damage before its reported.

No police. A little over a year ago, the Clark County Sheriff, who is the head of Las Vegas Metro Police Dept. decided that he didn't have enough officers to respond to non-injury accidents any more, so they don't come even if you call them. We just elected a new Sheriff who says he is going to look into changing it back to how it was. We'll see. So, no, there is no police report. I just went on google maps and changed it to satellite view big enough to see the entire scene, then drew in the cars as large arrows in red and green and added a little text and saved the whole thing as a PDF and emailed it to my Insurance Co. (USAA) along with the photos. I still had to give them a verbal recorded statement over the phone, but all went smooth.

 

djm: I can only hope that I get that lucky! Thanks for caring!

Edited January 22, 2015 by TonyHzNV

[nv rick]

No police. A little over a year ago, the Clark County Sheriff, who is the head of Las Vegas Metro Police Dept. decided that he didn't have enough officers to respond to non-injury accidents any more, so they don't come even if you call them. We just elected a new Sheriff who says he is going to look into changing it back to how it was. We'll see. So, no, there is no police report. I just went on google maps and changed it to satellite view big enough to see the entire scene, then drew in the cars as large arrows in red and green and added a little text and saved the whole thing as a PDF and emailed it to my Insurance Co. (USAA) along with the photos. I still had to give them a verbal recorded statement over the phone, but all went smooth.

 

djm: I can only hope that I get that lucky! Thanks for caring!

Odd. Last week my daughter was in an accident with a cab and the police did respond and filed a report. She told us she wasn't injured but she didn't say if the cab driver claimed injury. Her car was blocking an intersection, so that is probably why they responded.

[TonyHzNV]

Odd. Last week my daughter was in an accident with a cab and the police did respond and filed a report. She told us she wasn't injured but she didn't say if the cab driver claimed injury. Her car was blocking an intersection, so that is probably why they responded.

Was she within Metro's jurisdiction? You didn't say.

[hybridbear]

Minneapolis police also only respond to injury accidents. They're to busy chasing down drug dealers and murderers to have time for car accidents.

[djminfll]

Was police involved? I also think there's a certain level of damage before its reported.

Police were involved - it was an unlicensed/uninsured woman driving a beatup old minivan who hit the guy behind me, who hit me, who hit the car in front of me. And she had no insurance to cover any of it. She was arrested at the scene, my damage was approximately $5000, front and rear damage on my 2007 Volvo S60. And NOTHING on car fax.

[corncobs]

Police were involved - it was an unlicensed/uninsured woman driving a beatup old minivan who hit the guy behind me, who hit me, who hit the car in front of me. And she had no insurance to cover any of it. She was arrested at the scene, my damage was approximately $5000, front and rear damage on my 2007 Volvo S60. And NOTHING on car fax.

Interesting I really wonder what the "rules" are in cases like this.

[nv rick]

Was she within Metro's jurisdiction? You didn't say.

I believe so. Tropicana and Santo.

[TonyHzNV]

Odd. Last week my daughter was in an accident with a cab and the police did respond and filed a report. She told us she wasn't injured but she didn't say if the cab driver claimed injury. Her car was blocking an intersection, so that is probably why they responded.

 

Was she within Metro's jurisdiction? You didn't say.

 

I believe so. Tropicana and Santo.

Hmmm, I dunno Rick. All I know is that it's been all over the news on TV and Radio that Metro will not respond to non-injury accidents, so I didn't even bother calling them.

[nv rick]

 

 

Hmmm, I dunno Rick. All I know is that it's been all over the news on TV and Radio that Metro will not respond to non-injury accidents, so I didn't even bother calling them.

Funny, but if it's on local news, I'm not gonna hear about it. I only watch what I record on DirecTv, and if it isn't on FOX news, I won't see it.

This policy began in Milwaukee before I retired in 1999. Only PI (personal injury) accidents or those obstructing traffic got response. Reports could be done at district police stations, but you would have to wait until an officer was available.

Edited January 24, 2015 by nv rick

[TonyHzNV]

Funny, but if it's on local news, I'm not gonna hear about it. I only watch what I record on DirecTv, and if it isn't on FOX news, I won't see it.

This policy began in Milwaukee before I retired in 1999. Only PI (personal injury) accidents or those obstructing traffic got response. Reports could be done at district police stations, but you would have to wait until an officer was available.

Rick, since you probably haven't heard of it then, here's a link to the LVMPD website talking about their accident response policy.... http://www.lvmpd.com/Sections/Traffic/PropertyDamageOnlyAccidents/tabid/546/Default.aspx

[nv rick]

Rick, since you probably haven't heard of it then, here's a link to the LVMPD website talking about their accident response policy.... http://www.lvmpd.com/Sections/Traffic/PropertyDamageOnlyAccidents/tabid/546/Default.aspx

This explains why they responded to my daughter's accident:

 

"A vehicle disabled on the roadway as a result of an accident"

[TonyHzNV]

Well, I dropped the car off at the body shop this morning. They said they would have it for up to 7 business days, but hopefully have it done a little sooner. I don't care how long they keep it as long as it looks just like new when it's done and I still have my truck to drive. I will post an "after" pic once it's repaired. As I mentioned before, I've dealt with this body shop before, so I'm sure it's going to look perfect.

[acdii]

The Count? Now there is a wacked bunch of guys, but man do they do nice work.

[TonyHzNV]

Yeah, I'm having them put a split rear window in while it's in the shop. NOT! No it's at a place called Ultimate Collision Repair. They do really good work and it's guaranteed for as long as I own the car.

[hybridbear]

They do really good work and it's guaranteed for as long as I own the car.

I think every body shop does this now. When we were rear-ended and chose to use a body shop that wasn't recommended by the insurance company they informed us that they would not guarantee the work then for the entire time we own the car. However, the body shop does guarantee the work for the entire time we own the car.