My Parked Car Was Hit, Probably Totaled, Now What?!

I was making coffee at about 7:30 this morning when I heard the tell tale sound of a car accident impact out front of my house! I went to the front window to check it out, only to discover is it was MY parked car that got hit!!

I ran outside in my bare feet to see a car with engine smoking, lights on and wipers going facing my house and my car pushed up onto the curb with extensive damage! The woman behind the wheel of the other car was bleeding pretty good from her forehead and chin, all her air bags deployed and in complete hysterics! She was crying and screaming over and over; "I'm sooo sorry, I must have fell asleep, I'm sooo sorry, I just closed my eyes for a minute!" My husband and I were the 2nd and 3rd people on the scene (small town, big event! Brought all the neighbors out), the 1st person was already holding her head straight in case of neck injury and I just kept telling her to calm down, breath deeply, cars are only things! I honestly wasn't even thinking about my car, especially seeing how hurt she was!! And hoenstly, no matter how much I need my car, it is afterall only a "thing" when considering human lives! Speaking of which, if I had not been parked in that very spot, she would have run right into the front of my house, which happens to be a bedroom and where my 9 yr old son was sleeping at the time!!

Only after the medics removed her from her car and put her in the ambulance (neck brace, inflatable leg cast and all) did I really take inventory of my car! There it sat, pushed up onto the curb, driver's side rear wheel laying in on the axel and front end suspension a crumpled mess!! Now I refer to my car as a P.O.S. deluxe edition lol and it needed work as it was! My husband kept saying it was a blessing in disguise because we couldn't afford to have the work done on it until tax return. However, here I sit with no car at all and on a Sunday no less. So waiting to hear from anyone's insurance is at least a day away! I have no idea what's going to happen or what to expect over the next few days!

Here's the car details: my car is a '95 Dodge Intrepid with just over 165,000 miles on it and a pre existing front
end suspension isssue! Her car is a newer 2005-2010 PT Cruiser (no other infor at the moment)! I called my insurance company and at the moment, all her info is with the investigating police officer who is writing up the accident report! What do I do from here? I have to get to work tomorrow and I don't know anything about what her insurance covers as far as a rental or anything!!

What do I do from here? I want to see this in the most positive light, but I can't help feeling this is just another "bad" thing that's happening in a chain of "bad" things lately? Any help, insight and/or info would be very appreciated!

Her insurance company will be buying you a new car. Not a 'NEW' car but they will be replacing that one at fair market value. Her insurance covers that, no question. if she has valid insurance, which obviously she does...you're out a car for a short time but I'd be surprised if her company isn't on your phone tomorrow morning and well before mid day, too.

I hope she's okay an glad you only heard it..weren't in it. I wouldn't worry though. Your days without a vehicle should be compensated too, as a matter of fact. Separately.

I've had a couple wrecks now where people badly damaged for totaled my cars by testing the laws of physics to run through my car from behind. lol...... The insurance companies don't just pay for it, they pay QUICK if I like their offer and don't call attorneys into it. Usually within a few days, actually.

reply to post by IrishCream


Well, this seems to be a no-win situation in this case.

Your car is totaled. There is no dodging that.

Here is your car's value from Kelly Blue Book:

Your Car

$1,661 in excellent condition with leather interior.

The repair costs more than you car by thousands...

The worst case scenario, would be you having to pay a huge deductible for a $1,600 car. You will have to talk to your insurance company to find out what your policy encompasses.

I feel so sorry for your situation. My wife was just rear-ended on the interstate two days ago. Completely different situation though, as we have a lawyer handling everything for us.

Thank god it's tax season I guess...

I just totaled my car a month ago. Went deer hunting at 65 mph lol. I have full coverage. The insurance company didn't give me blue book value for my car, they actually shopped local dealers for my specific make and mileage and gave me dealership sticker value. They paid me within days of declaring it totaled.

Thanks for the replies so far, I need as much advise as I can get right now haha!

The issue is that my car is not in excellent condition and already needed work done (pre~accident condition), so it is no where near excellent condition, unfortunately ! I am so afraid that I'm still going to have to shell out money on top of the insurance check and right now, that is literally impossible, hence the car still needing repair lol! I'm soooo bummed out right now!

After my own "research", I'm expecting about $900 towards a replacement and $0 cash to put into a "new" car!

Originally posted by bigbeefy
I just totaled my car a month ago. Went deer hunting at 65 mph lol. I have full coverage. The insurance company didn't give me blue book value for my car, they actually shopped local dealers for my specific make and mileage and gave me dealership sticker value. They paid me within days of declaring it totaled.

True! And you can make money out of insurance companies with stuff like that!

reply to post by IrishCream

I'll tell you this for comparison. Until recently I owned a 1995 Cadillac. It was a family inheritance thing so it had meaning for me. Quite a lot of it, actually. It was hit once about 3 years ago in a rear end my wife was driving. I got $3,500 in a check for repairs and she got a few thousand for medical and discomfort for the impact issues.

The same car....not fully repaired from the first impact (so tell me about real market value..lol) was hit 2 years ago and this one was the capper. 45Mph and she freely admitted she hit the gas instead of the brake approaching our stopped car in traffic. I was in that one and it was one hell of a hit. This one tweaked the frame.

$4,500 for car repair/replacement ... $10,500 for her medical and ongoing issues ..which this impact just compounded previous problems and made a heck of a mess ... and that all came after medical itself was paid for.

So... Don't take pennies on the dollar for an offer on that car because they tell you it's not worth much. That's not the point. What is repair or replacement cost to have another one parked there and in roughly the same condition and function as THAT one was (And it was a nice car.. really.. It WAS a nice car... REALLY... )

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by IrishCream

 

I'll tell you this for comparison. Until recently I owned a 1995 Cadillac. It was a family inheritance thing so it had meaning for me. Quite a lot of it, actually. It was hit once about 3 years ago in a rear end my wife was driving. I got $3,500 in a check for repairs and she got a few thousand for medical and discomfort for the impact issues.

The same car....not fully repaired from the first impact (so tell me about real market value..lol) was hit 2 years ago and this one was the capper. 45Mph and she freely admitted she hit the gas instead of the brake approaching our stopped car in traffic. I was in that one and it was one hell of a hit. This one tweaked the frame.

$4,500 for car repair/replacement ... $10,500 for her medical and ongoing issues ..which this impact just compounded previous problems and made a heck of a mess ... and that all came after medical itself was paid for.

So... Don't take pennies on the dollar for an offer on that car because they tell you it's not worth much. That's not the point. What is repair or replacement cost to have another one parked there and in roughly the same condition and function as THAT one was (And it was a nice car.. really.. It WAS a nice car... REALLY...

)

Thank you Wrabbit!! Lol!!

I guess it's just been soooo much $*/t lately that I can't seem to pull myself up by the boot straps on this one! I want tto be positive, I will do my best to be positive and I know there is going to have to be haggling on this (which I'm not so good at)! My husband says I have to be tough as nails and NOT back down, however that's hard for me! Seriously, look I ran to the driver of the other car and was trying to make sure she was ok and as calm as possible lol! I didn't even really think about my car untill all the smoke cleared.... literally!! I'm just a sappy, empathetic broad, what can I say?!

My accident was animal related and I dealt with my insurance directly, so I am not positive about this, but... From what I have heard from friends, your insurance company should help you handle the work with/for you. Get ahold of them and see what they say. I was really bummed when I found out my car was totaled. I was expecting blue book value, actually less because my car wasn't in excellent condition either. When I got a phone call telling me that they are going to pay me several thousand dollars more than I expected, I literally said "WOW! REALLY!??". They coulda low balled me, but I guess this is why we have insurance.

Basically as Wrabbit said, you should expect to get the value of what was desroyed. Oh, the insurance company didn't ask me a thing about if anything was wrong with my car before the wreck. I hope this sets your mind at ease a little.

reply to post by IrishCream

Oh heck, I wouldn't call that sappy. I'd call that being a decent human being. I'd worry about ya if your own parked car was more concern at the time it happened than the occupied car with injuries. I wouldn't make fun of your reaction. I wish more reacted that way!

Of course, that was then and now is now, right? Time to get ready for the insurance company (hers) to call and start playing 'lets make a deal'. I'd have your Husband there with you, personally. Perhaps a family friend if nothing else.

Insurance adjusters are professional manipulators and con-men. By literal title and job description ....it's a job where those things aren't negative by meaning but just part of what they have to do....so don't figure it's weak to ask for someone to help just by being there. Numbers can make you feel better when haggling with someone who haggles and wins for a living, IMO.