The '94 325i is wrecked -Score: BMW-1 Hyundai-0

[Kirby]

Yes, sad but true. My 19 yo daughter was driving home from college. She's totally fine physically, just a little shook up mentally. It happened only about 10 minutes from home, so I got there just as the tow truck showed up.

It was a low speed accident (about 25 - 30 mph) on a city street. An 18 year old girl driving a Hyundai Excel pulled out of a gas station RIGHT in front of my daughter. She had no time to brake, and hit the front end of the Excel. Ripped the entire front bumper/headlight/grille assembly off the Hyundai, opened both fenders like a can opener. The front subframe of the Excel was visible in the front, and looked like it was bent about 2" to the car's right - really a mess, and the impact spun the Excel 180 degrees.

The 325i's front wheel was destroyed, it literally shattered - it clearly took the hard hit and ripped open the Excel. It's shifted back about 4". I am HOPEFUL that the trailing arm broke, accounting for the shift, and that it's not frame damage.

Thank God, everyone is OK which is obviously the most important thing, and clearly the BMW contributed to my daughter's safety. Comparing the damage, the BMW is minor, the Excel just disintegrated, BMW safety shines through. The BMW Angels were with her.

Legal Angels were also watching over my daughter. There was a police officer IN THE GAS STATION PARKING LOT and he SAW THE WHOLE THING as it occurred!!!!!!! He said it was clearly the other girl's fault, and he was writing his report with her 100% at fault, but not charging her with an offense, since she had been through enough that day. I understand, that's fine with me.

The bummer is - this is our Autocross car. Last year I put Konis, other suspension upgrades and a cat back on the car. The P Zero Neros on the car have less than 500 miles on them. We were going to go to run in an event in a couple of weeks.

If there is no frame damage, I don't think the damage is enough to total it. But will I have to fight if it needs a new front strut? It's a Koni, not a stock part. And the wheels are no longer available, and I don't have a spare. If they do want to total it, I may buy it back and fix it anyway. We love this car, it's our racing baby.

 

[canada5]

Glad to here your daughter is safe. Best of luck with the car repairs!

 

[Big Daddy]

Wow, yes very happy your daughter is safe, glad the officer saw it, and hopefully you and the insurance company can work it out. I had the receipts for the "add-ons" for my first roadster the daughter totaled and my insurance company at the time paid them!

 

[selavia]

Kirby, glad to hear everyone is okay and that a police officer was right there; makes matters much easier. At least you want have the other person's insurance company trying to shift liability.

As far as add-ons go, I think most insurance companies have procedures for collecting for those. I beleive the general requirements are purchase (and install) dates and average depreciation of the parts. I know that this is what geico requires.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that once bmws (or any car that has superb handling) get front end damage affecting the struts/mounts, no matter what you do they never drive right again. Of course these lean more toward opinion than fact, so I don't know. But it would lead me to hope the car would get totaled.

Did the pass. air bag go off?

Glad to hear everyone is okay.

Sean

 

[MyHarley]

Glad she is okay and the other girl too.......when my car was stolen, I turned in every little receipt even for the window tint.....

 

[Kirby]

Thanks for the comments. I'm going to pull out my receipts for the mods I did, and have them ready when I talk to the insurance company.

Front end damage can certainly affect handling, it just depends on whether any structural elements were damaged, or if the "bolt on" parts absorbed the impact and broke. None of the airbags deployed, I assume because the car was going only 25 mph or so. I think there is a minimum speed that is required before they deploy.

 

[selavia]

Kirby, include your labor, tell them how long it took you to install and what a mechanic would have charged and how long it would have taken a mechanic. They should reimburse for labor as well.

 

[Detrich]

sorry to hear about the accident, but thankfully everyone was ok. hope u get the car fixed soon.

 

[///M SPEED]

BMW for the win! Good to hear both parties were OK in this unfortunate situation. Good luck getting your "track buddy" back on the road....

 

[CosmosBlack]

Bummer, glad everyone's safe though.

 

[Kirby]

Update:
Still waiting for the other person's adjustor (AllState) to look at the car. I reported it to my company in case there were any issues, and they sent an adjuster to look at it as well. Bad news - he said the right apron (inner fender) is buckled behind the strut tower which obviously means major structural problems. He said that entire piece would need replacing. In the end, he came up with close to $7000 parts and labor for a $5700 NADA book value car = TOTALED.

Since the police wrote the other person at 100%, AllState is actually responsible for the repair, so I have to wait until they see it and make their decison.

But Allstate is trying to screw us. The Allstate claims investigator called me and said that they were assigning 15% responsibility to my daughter and would deduct 15% of the settlement. WHAT!?!?!? I reminded Allstate that the police report showed 100% responsibility on the other person. Allstate said that my daughter's "statement on tape" stated she was doing 35 mph, the accident zone was a 25 mph zone so she was partially responsible. After talking to my daughter, she said that she told them 3 times prior to the actual taped interview "I don't know", and they told her to just take a guess when they asked her on tape. She didn't anticipate what they were trying to do. In retrospect she realizes she physically could not have been doing 35, due to the arrangement of the stop signs and intersection - the accident was about 75 feet from a stop sign she stopped at.

I should have anticipated this and coached her ahead of time.

I talked to my agent, and he said that my company would pay the difference and fight Allstate based on the police report, it would not affect my rates, and that this crap happens all the time. He even said that in a case involving his own sister, she rear-ended someone, and the other company tried to put partial additional responsibility on a PASSENGER in her car, stating that the PASSENGER had negligent responsibility for not trying to avoid the accident!!!!!!!!!!!

Any tips would be appreciated!!

 

[selavia]

Honestly Kirby, don't waste your time, patience, and energy fighting with Allstate. I would let your insurance company go after Allstate for the 15%; but make sure before you TAKE any checks from Allstate that you put them (and the world) on notice that you are NOT admitting to 15% of liability. I'm sure they'll try and sneak it somewhere on the check or on something you'll have to sign. Just make sure your agent takes care of everything and I'm sure s/he won't let you take the money if it means 15% liability.

The reason I say let your insurance company handle it is because of resources. Your insurance company has much better leverage and ability to put pressure on these jokers. I mean, you have a police report which states 100% liability; I think what Allstate is doing is 'bullying' and it will NOT stand up in court. Allstate's attempt is a 'last ditch' effort to reduce their liability. I wouldn't talk to them at all; let your insurance company handle it.

Good luck and sorry to hear about this!

Sean

 

[Kirby]

Thanks for the tips Sean. That's what I am gonig to do - let my company go after Allstate.

The story gets better. I drove back to the accident site, the posted speed limit is 30 MPH, not 25 as Allstate claimed. There is a sign about 50 feet just before the accident site. Furthermore, the speed limit before this 30 mph sign is 35 mph. In Pennsylvania, you have 600 feet AFTER a speed limit CHANGE to slow down to the new speed. It's actually part of the Motor Vehicle Code. So from a legal speeding viewpoint, she legally was allowed to be doing 35 mph. And after visiting the scene again, she thinks she was probably doing about 30 mph.

I am presenting all of this information to my insurance company, and they said they will go after Allstate.

What's really depressing is I just pulled out all of my receipts for upgrade parts just in the past 12 months. I have close to $2500 worth of receipts.

 

[selavia]

Dude... file a complaint against Allstate. Find the board that regulates insurance agent's conduct for PA and REPORT Allstate and the agent. There conduct is unethical and it is NOT tolerated anymore.
I find Allstate's conduct appalling, insulting, and infuriating. Collect all the evidence (e.g., take picture of the signs, get a copy of Allstate's statement saying the speed limit is 25mph, etc) and submit it to the board and get the state to conduct an investigation. Good hands... please.

Also, talk to your agent about your receipts, etc. I know that in the state of MD if the upgrade was less than 6months old, no depreciation (i.e. you get the full amount). Check with your agent, not Allstate. I don't know if that is MD auto insurer's policy or if auto insurer's do that in every state.

 

[Kirby]

I let my insurance company take care of the claim - the other driver's company (Allstate) was screwing me. Here's the short version:

1. I submitted my receipts for everything. My company's adjuster said he came up with $4900 settlement, I told him NO WAY - NADA average value is $5700 and that my car was EASILY average, if not above average with all my upgrades. After a bit of slightly heated discussion and forceful persuasion, he agreed that it probably was low, and he needed to talk to his supervisor. They came back with $5751, which is probably the best I can get so I am accepting that. Moral of the story is save your receipts and stand your ground.

2. I am buying the car for $600 - the salvage bid my insurance company received. No brainer - I can take a second look at fixing it using my own parts and labor for the bolt ons, with the heavy work being done by a body shop. I am going to strip the damaged bolt ons and have a body shop take a look at the frame damage to see what my options might be.

3. I can pull the brand new P Zeros (less than 500 miles on them), 3 are undamaged, and put them on the 330 which needs new tires anyway. I recover $400 right there. I put a new Alpine stereo in 8 months ago worth $200, so right there is my break even point - $600.

4. That still leaves $600 Konis, $240 H&R springs, and a $550 UUC Cat Back on the car (all about 1 year old and in like new condition), as well as a strong engine and transmission. I can try to sell the "carcass" for $1000 - $1500 or so IF the right buyer is out there.

5. If I have no takers, I part it out, should be able to get at least $500 for the above mods, plus pulling other good stock parts and selling them on Ebay.

Just trying to make the best of a crappy situation...... and thanks to Sean (Selavia) for steering me in the right direction!!!!

 

[Kirby]

Dude... file a complaint against Allstate. Find the board that regulates insurance agent's conduct for PA and REPORT Allstate and the agent. There conduct is unethical and it is NOT tolerated anymore.
I find Allstate's conduct appalling, insulting, and infuriating. Collect all the evidence (e.g., take picture of the signs, get a copy of Allstate's statement saying the speed limit is 25mph, etc) and submit it to the board and get the state to conduct an investigation. Good hands... please.

Regarding Allstate, I plan to file a complaint as you suggested. When I was at the auto body shop (locally owned, respected place with 30+ years under the same owner), they had a magazine article taped to the counter that rated the top 10 largest insurance companies. It was a survey of 290 auto body shops, and they rated them on:

1. Working for the customer's best interest (the insured person)
2. Working with the Auto body shop efficiently & amicably
3. Providing quality parts
4. Speed and accuracy of settlement

Guess who was at the bottom in ALL categories? Allstate and Progressive. Metropolitan and State Farm were in the middle, and Erie (my company) was #1 or #2 in all categories.

The guy at the body shop said they refer to Allstate as "AllRape"...... Your comments about Allstate are dead on.

 

[codex57]

Have you submitted the info on the "speeding" issue yet? Any updates?

 

[Kirby]

No more updates. All of the info was submitted to the insurance company and a complaint was filed with the state. My insurance company said they are subrogating (sp?) the claim to Allstate, and if necessary, it will go to arbitration, but they feel they have a solid argument for 100% liability on Allstate. They said it could be months until it is resolved.

 

[Average Jae]

geesh, sorry to hear all that. as usual, i'm glad everyone's ok. hope your daughter's over the experience.

sucks about your car, but shoot, you win some you lose some. things balance out right?

as for "allrape" i thought they were a good company way back. now i know better.

good luck with getting all the mess resolved. keep at it and stick it to the bastards! how freakin annoying to see them trying to screw someone that just went through an accident.