Kev04C320

I was going back to school after dinner and was driving on US20. The road is clear and open. I came up to a gas station and a liquor store. There were 3 cars ahead of me. The first one was waiting to make a left turn on to the Exxon gas station. I stopped on time and was waiting for the traffic to move again. Then, all of a sudden I saw a Mazda 6 coming up from behind and the next thing I know is BAM...... She hit me in the left rear side. I didn't recall hearing brake squeal so I assume that she didn't brake at all and was either falling asleep or day dreaming. She was very apologetic and has insurance (Liberty Mutual). So, basically I was hit while I was stopped stationary (100% not at fault probably).

For the damage, my rear bumper cover was blown into pisses. Both rear shocks are sitting alot higher than they should be. Left tail light is totally annihilated. Left muffler was pushed in and up abutting the wheel well. I think the wheels are out of alignment as well (by visual inspection only). The car is towed away at a local body shop so I'm going back out there today to have them tow the car to my dealership and have them take a look at the damage. I'll take pics today and post them later for all to share. I just hope that they'll total my car coz I don't want to be driving a car with that type of damage.

The good thing out of this is that no one got injured. Cars are replaceable, but human lives aren't.

So, to my all fellow beast owners, drive safe and be careful of idiotic driver.

eugeneC55

Sorry to hear what happened to your Beast and glad you are OK! I got rearended 2 weeks ago by a minivan on what seemed to be the only snowless day at Chicago! The damage is minor but enough for 2 weeks in the shop and a lot of inconvenience. Hope everything works out for you!

sdsilverm3

Sorry to hear Kevin. At least you got out relatively unscathed considering she didn't slow down.

StephenK

I feel your pain, a similiar thing happened to my 05 SL600, while parked at a light, I heard what sounded like an explosion, looked into my rearview mirror to see a lady's head fly forward in her seat behind me, a car hit her from behind and she hit me. I looked at my damage and thought it was only a hole in the center of the rear bumper and some scrapes on the rear panel of the trunk lid, but then I saw the trunk lid was not lined up with the rear panels, basically the gaps were to wide. Took it into the dealer and body shop they work with and the damage underneath was extensive. It took multiple attempts to get it close to right, but a black car is so unforgiving. I sold it a couple of months later and bought an 06.

Good luck on your repairs.

C43AMG

+ 1

Kev04C320

Thanks guys. At this point I just hope that they would total my car and that would be end of the story......

dsc

Very glad everyone is OK and my sympathies. All these accidents suck! Makes you want to leave a car stock in case it happens. It doesn't sound like enough damage to total the car. Let us know what they say. Good Luck!

stevebez

Real sorry to hear this --- I scraped a rim and I was gutted ... this is just

I would look to have them total the car and try and buy the wreck off them ...? Might be worthwhile and you will in all liklihood have a drivetrain that is 100% - including all the expensive ECU bits etc and you could go into mod heaven !!!!

Hopefully there is a silver lining for you though if you can claim the wreck for peanuts ....

WayneE

Sorry to hear about the car. I hope it all works out. As you said, the car is replaceable, glad to hear nobody was hurt!

BenzoBoi

So sorry to hear...but like you said, better being machine then human lives...best of luck gettin the beast back up and running!!!

ChicagoX

That's exactly how I feel....Good luck on getting it back to 100%

Rudyrono

So sorry to hear that. From the damage you describe, it's highly unlikely that your vehicle will be a total loss. I have some expertise in these issues so if you get into a jam with the insurance company, feel free to PM me and we'll chat.

Carl Lassiter

That's bad news. People think they're on a go-cart track. Good luck getting the situation resolved in a satisfactory manner.

Kev04C320

Well, I have a pretty good relationship with the delaership's bodyshop's manager, so he'll take good care of me and the car (need to get the guys some good stuff in reward when I get the car back).

I just went to the shop and chatted with him. We walked through the car and it didn't look like it was totalable. There was no damage to the frame or any metal pieces as far as we can see (rear quarter panels, trunk, etc). No airbags were deployed. Looks like what needs to be replace would include --> rear mufflers on both sides, rear bumper (the metal cross member was still intact, parktronic sensors, driver tail light, left rear wheel and tire. Also the front bumper and CF lip needs to be replaced. Estimated time of repair is 2 weeks.

Kev04C320

One thing that I felt is very lucky is that my female passenger was wearing her seat belt. About 5 mins before the crash, she took off her seat belt to take off her jacket. I couldn't imagine what would happen if we got hit at that time. I would feel guilty and blame myself if she was injured.

Kev04C320

Pictures of the damage:

Taken by my dinner companion at the scene of accident:



These are taken today at the body shop:

kaze81

So sad to see the beast be like that but glad no one is hurt. Btw, I am wondering what's the red/pink stuff on the tire/wheel (see pic)??

newton22

Damn man, that looks fairly bad. I'm sorry to hear.

jangy

Dude!! I feel for ya. You got a nice ride and you enjoy it and now it gets tainted. Hope it is back up and running before long. Be glad that it wasn't more metal and yet not totalled, as that would suck even worse.

Kev04C320

Hey guys, thanks for your kind words. I'm actually not feeling too bad. I would be without the beast for a while but it would come back in no time. However, the Ford Taurus POS rental really sucks and I'm dumping it tomorrow and gettin' into a C280 on the lady's insurance tab.

Kev04C320

The pink stuff is the marker that the body shop manager used to mark the cut on the tire and show how the rim is kinda messed up.

Kev04C320

One more comment are about claims process:

Two-thumbs up for the Premier / Travelers Insurance Worcester Office and Ms. Ebony Oswell. Called them this morning and they actually pushed me to get the car towed to the body shop asap to get the appraisal process started

Ms. Oswell actually called me in the afternoon twice to setup to have the appraiser come out tomorrow to the body shop to take a look at the damage. Of course, they would be going after the other party's insurance for the cost of the repairs as well as my rental reimbursement.

One question for all you legal experts, should I consider suing the lady for diminished value of my vehicle? Is that possible in MA?

jangy

First off, just glad you and your passenger are okay.
As for diminished value, you need to check with a local attorney and or an insurance agent you trust.
I vaguely remember my uncle using the argument of diminished value to force an insurance company into totalling a car that they preferred to fix. I can't remember if he used it to raise the repair estimates or to lower the comparison book value.
Good luck to ya. I definitely feel you. I miss my car so much and it suchs having your life in another person's hands.

xraymd

Uggh! When I saw the pics with the left muffler hanging down, I got sick. Hope your neck isn't too stiff. And I hope you can get something for diminished value in MA.

As an aside - with the engine and transaxle in back, I wonder if a P-car is more likely to be totaled by a rear-ender like that.

Kev04C320

Doc, AFAIK, it was tilted UP towards the wheel well last night. I don't know what happened in between that caused it to be looking like that. However, they said that both mufflers will have to be replaced to look perfect.

My neck is fine. I saw it coming but I only felt a little joult. I was surprised to see that much damage when I walked out of the car. My female passenger had a little bit of neck pain last night, but she woke up fine today. I'm totally symptom free right now.

I would think that a Porsche is more susceptible to a rear-ender. I hope I will never get to find out though.