What a crap start to the day...

Was driving along this morning and was about to enter the on ramp to the freeway (was going about 60km an hour) when the car in front me me slammed his brakes on cos he thought a cyclist on the footpath was going to ride on the the road with out look for cars first (even tho he was facing a red man and we had a green light)...I slammed on my brakes too and ABS kicked in but it wasnt enough and i slid into him (it was raining), i turned my wheel at the last second to go off onto the footpath and ended up just clipping the back corner of his car. i know the crash is legally my fault, even though he apologised etc

My question is, my excess is $1500 plus $400 cos im under 25, makeing it $1900 and I am wondering if it could be repaired for under this (eg. anyone got a good idea on cost of repair? - i know this is hard based off just photos)

His car was just scratched:

http://i.imgur.com/SsaYS.jpg

But my right front qrt panel is F**ked and i also damaged my enkei rim and tyre on opposite side when i hit the kerb and bounced up on it (however i was lucky i did this as i reckon i would of totalled my car had i hit him full on). My steering wheel now also rotates to the left when i begin to turn left if i hold it loosely (to the right is fine), do you think ive done some more severe damage to steering rack etc?

http://i.imgur.com/aDo9r.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zW2Uj.jpg


Thoughts?

There's only one way to find out for sure, and that's to get quotes.

The panel damage doesn't look bad - from the photos it looks like no panels need beating on his car, which is a good start. However, it looks like you clipped his tail light in the first pic, and a replacement tail light could be quite expensive (eg a TJ Magna tail light is $250!). I can't tell exactly what happened to your car - if your bumper is just a little twisted, it might be fixable, it may not.

You really need to take the car to a suspension specialist. It could just be that you need a wheel alignment, which isn't overly expensive (and should be part of your routine maintenance anyway). But if you've damaged something... then yeah, not good.

I would also take the tyre off the damaged Enkei to make sure that the rim is still structurally sound, and that the tyre isn't damaged. Even if the tyre still holds air, it could be damaged from the impact.

The other thing to consider is your insurance premiums. If you make an at-fault claim and lose your insurance rating, you could easily be paying hundreds - even thousands - more for insurance in the coming years.

if you can get out of claiming try your best to pay for his repairs. otherwise you wont get cheap insurence for a LONG TIME. been there done that. it still bites me in the ass, (stays with you for 5 ys)

I have felt sick and depressed all day about this....

The lady on the phone from insurance company said i had rating one for life, so im guessing its probably best to just get it all fixed under insurance, even though its $1900?

I just realised that, although i was very unlucky in terms of how the crash happened, im very lucky that no one was walkin on the side of the road i mounted and no one else was hurt, i would never forgive myself if i hit a pedestrian....

Thanks for the detailed response Red Valez, i should swap wheels over with the spare when i get home, cos there is a chunk of rubber that got ripped off (even tho the Tyre still holds air, im sure this inst good). Also my bumper looks fine apart from a little scratch, its not distorted or popped out anywhere, its only that panel above the wheel thats 'dented/pushed in'

My advice find out what the other guy you hit wants my opinion can do for less than 1900 in repairs using s hand parts if you take toget quotes as a insurance job they always say they use new parts which a lot dont would quote over 1900
its a pitty your not in qld id be able to fix with a new side panel repaint gaurd and bumper paint other guys panel for under a grand

The damage to his car looks very superficial. I would've thought that it could be fixed fairly inexpensively, which you could pay for out of pocket if he's agreeable. I'd be inclined to try to sort it out w/out involving the insurance co to avoid the crazy excess. You may be happy to get your wheel sorted out (fixed or replaced) & then get the panel damage to the Magna fixed as you can afford it.

Mmmmm....i think my steering is a bit ****ed.....the left wheel now rubs against the inside wall (wall behind the wheel) when i turn the wheel sharply - i stuck my fingers in and there is no gap at all between wall and tyre when wheel is turned, not to mention the wheel pulls hard to the left once i start turning left... Id say i have damaged the steering (dunno if its just a simple alignment or something more severe)

Im gettin a quote on my car soon. Also do you guys know if insurance companies/repairers generally replace tyres and rims that are damaged?

Claim.. Rating One.. Good news!

$1900 ... Your car will probably hit that figure on repairs, let alone the other vehicle (Plus HC charges etc.)

Who's your insurer..?

Regarding the Tyre & Rim..

If the rim is damaged and repairing it does not affect the structural integrity of the wheel including loads etc. Then it will be repaired.

If the wheel is no longer available.. The wheel will be cash settled on - Insurance companies will not replace undamaged parts, if they're part of a set that is partly damaged eg. Mag Wheels.

If the wheel is available and is SAFER to be replaced.. You can talk to the assessor and see if you can have the wheel replaced.

SuFz :ninja:

That sounds like a real bugger of an accident. You've more than likely bent something underneath if your wheel isn't clearing on full lock any more, so I wouldn't even be considering taking the "pay for it myself" option. That sort of damage can easily exceed $1900 especially when you need to factor in the car you hit, be it minor damage or not, it'll still set you back a few hundred just to paint.

Other benefit you get from just letting insurance do it is you can bitch and moan until its exactly right, if you try to fix it yourself, the end result is well, the end result, unless you want to keep throwing money at it.

Alternatively cut your losses and part the car out, I'll take the leather interior. kthxbai :P

@gone

Yeh i dunno, im happy with cash, repair all replacement (after all, i have a spare enkei in the boot). And do you know about the tyre? For some reason i think i may have heard that insurance companies dont replace tyres, but maybe my mind is just making that up?

@Lugo

yeh i was bloody unlucky....yeh im defs gonna go down the insurance route now i know about the steering problem. Oh, and keep dreaming about my seats :P

How much is your car insured for??

Yeh i dunno, im happy with cash, repair all replacement (after all, i have a spare enkei in the boot). And do you know about the tyre? For some reason i think i may have heard that insurance companies dont replace tyres, but maybe my mind is just making that up?
They will generally cover the tyre if it's damaged as a result of the accident. Varies on insurance company though I think.

How much is your car insured for??

Not sure, id have to check, maybe 9-10k?

id say i have damaged the steering (dunno if its just a simple alignment or something more severe)
If something rubs when you turn, then I'd say it's much more serious than an alignment.

Insurance companies will replace tyres if they're damaged, but I think they'll only replace the damaged one - they won't replace the other tyre on the same axle.

i have two things to add to this conversation.
i made a claim like this when i was 17 on my red P's it gave me a special excess of 2000$ Extra so i had to pay the basic 400-600 plus the age excess of 600 plus a special excesss as i had had that prior accident. they also uped my premium to a rediculous amount. be wary of claiming when on your provisional license and under 21-25.
(if i had an accident after the claim i had a total excess of over 3K)
it still haunts me to this day as it was under 5 yrs ago and my premium has only just gone down. and that was 4 yrs ago,

as for the wheel damage. in my magna i snaped a front wheel off, pulled the drive shaft out of the gearbox everything had to be replaced. it cost me around 1300$
that was to fix the front quarter, patch frontbar, new break setup, replace suspension on that side, new drive shaft etc (not all new gear most second hands)

goodluck mate.

RE the tyre, if it is damaged and requires replacement, the insurance company will request the repairer get a wear report on the tyre prior to replacing it.
from that wear report - a contribution can decided upon.

IE - if the tyre is 50% worn, they will request you pay 50% of the new value.
Why should the insurance company pay for the portion of the tyre that has been used.

It depends on the assessor - we have had at fault vehicles in requiring new tyres that where 70% worn, but no contribution required by the customer... yet another assessor requeste a wear report on a friggin INTERCOOLER?! how can you 'use' an intercooler?!

just a bit of added info re the tyre and replacement

EDIT - I think that mag will require replacement - that tyre looks a bit sad in the photos too. Hard to tell from the photos though.

You have probably bent the lower wishbone, tie rod and strut. Its unlikely that the steering rack or anything else is damaged. Check your engine mounts as well, I had an accident it caused the rubber to crack on the top drivers side mount.