yep, thats right, i finally get to post in this section. it happend monday mourning, i was on the way to help a buddy out and drive his car back to his house, b/c it got impounded, and his license is suspended. But anywho, i was on the way to his house, and i was at a stop light, about to make a right turn. i was in a construction zone, and the car infront of me turned, and i went to pull up to make my turn, and then *CRACK*, the sound i wont forget for a long time. i went and helped my buddy out, and went to a store bought a camera, took pics of the manhole cover, and of my front bumper. i only have pics that i took with my cell phone, so there not great, but it gives you the idea of what my front bumper looks like. i tried to talk to the foreman on the scene, and he was nowhere to be found. so i took down the construction companies number, and called them. they turned me over to there insurance company, and there calling me at 9:00am monday to take a over the phone recorded interview. now, does anyone know if im going about this the right way?? the manhole was not marked as a DIP or anything like that, and i didnt see it until it after. there are two smaller holes on either side of the actual manhole cover which made it stick up even higher then the road way. now, i went after the construction companies insurance company, but i don't know how far im going to get with them. i can also go after the City of Chicago, but that will take about 6-8 months to get any kind of re-embursment back. and i cant wait that long b/c i finally got some sponsors and i cant afford to really redo the bumper, and i need to be in car shows this year, or i loose all of my sponsors. what do you guys think i should do, i have made a police report, and like i said i have pics of everything, including the manhole cover and the 2 holes around it. thanks guys!!!!
mike z
damn i forgot to post pics here they are!
thats on the drivers side of the bumper, it took a whole chunk out of the bumper and it has alot of other cracks in it where there are paint cracks
this is where the bumper actually caught the manhole cover. it cracked it there, tore a whole chunk out of the underside of it, and completly runined the paint.
now this is the worse crack of the whole thing, this crack is completely through, and now the bottom of the bumper is in 2 pieces being held up by the wire mesh. if the mesh was not there, it would be hanging. it completly cracked/ripped that whole side of it.
tell me what you guys think, i know its not bad, but i hate this. i just got the lambo doors on about a month ago, now both shocks are going bad, i literally just ordered my complete air ride from jason, and now this. then, about 2 days after i get the lambo doors on, some little bastard, while im watching mind you, busted my window out on my passenger side of the car, and when i went to chase them, here comes a whole bunch of there big brothers holding crap in there hands waving at me, so i took off. man, this month was not good at all!!! lol
mike z
did you file a police report? was the manhole cover marked off in pink or some other color?
BaggedCav98 wrote:did you file a police report? was the manhole cover marked off in pink or some other color?
You know, it's @!#$ amazing what reading could do for you...! He mentioned both of your questions in his post.
Best of luck Mike, sucks driving a lowered kitted car!
yeah, but the weird thing is my car is technically stock ride height, and i think its even higher with the 18's on there. but, i got a quote froma bodyshop the other day, and they want to replace the whole body kit, and repaint it all. so im hopeing it goes through like this, i think the quote was like 3700 for replacing the body kit, prep, install, and paint. i dont think they will give me that much, but even if i get like 2000 ill be happy. On a lighter note, i walk in today from work, and what do i see??? the first half of my air ride. all im waiting on now is the rear struts, and ill be good to go, i might start ripping apart the car, and getting everything ran, and just wait till the rears get here, so all i have to do it just throw those in, and boom, im done!! oh well, thanks guys for the help. yeah, i did file a police report, and no, the sewer cover was not marked with anything, no paint, or sign or anything. OH, the guy called my father, b/c he was with me, and asked my father, how did i hit the manhole cover, and no-one else did. my father told him b/c my car is kitted. and they guy was like, OOOHHH. LOL. i told the guy it was a damn show car, what was he expecting??? lol thanks again!!
mike z
i hit a pot hole/manhole cover the other day too here in ky all did was blew out a tire but still 118 dollar tire down the drain i know the feeling.... i am considering trying to file for reimbersment but i dont think they do that here in ky...
Update:
they sent this guy out to look at my car from a independent place to make a estimate of my car, so the insurence company gets it, and its for 2200.00 with a 1500.00 price tag for the parts, and stuff like that. so im like okay, thats good, but then they kick my i the nuts, and tell me there only paying half of it 50% to be exact, since there looking at it as helf my fault and half theres. so by now im pissed, right. i asked the guy how was it my fault, he said i coul dhave missed the manhole cover, i told him "first off, i didnt see it, the car in front of me was over it, so i did not even know it was there, secondly i do not have x-ray vision to see that, and thirdly if i would have swerved i would have either hit the other cars on my right side, or damage my car even worse by hitting the curb on my left side, so what was i suppose to do?" so basically they want to give me 1100 for everything, and im looking at it like this, i want to re-kit the car with a better kit from a better company, which would run me like 653.00 shipped to my door, and that leaves me with about 450 for paint, which is not even near enough. so im trying to talk to the company to give me 1500, and leave it at that, or ill be seuing (SP?) them for reimbursement. b/c ive already told them i have sponsers, and that ill have to pay them back for parts i have, if i dont attend some shows, which i cant do with a cracked from bumper. so i dont know what the hell to do right now. this is really starting to piss me off. damn insurance companies. lol. any help would be great. thanks guys!!!
mike z
Watch out once you tell them you are sueing they will more than likely not talk to you any more and tell you to have your lawyer call theres
Quote:
so basically they want to give me 1100 for everything, and im looking at it like this, i want to re-kit the car with a better kit from a better company, which would run me like 653.00 shipped to my door, and that leaves me with about 450 for paint, which is not even near enough.
Why should they pay for an entire kit, when all you need is the front bumper? Doesn't hardly seem fair. $1100 should be more than enough for a new front bumper and paint, which is what I think is all they owe you. Just because you want to rekit the car, doesn't mean they have to pay for it.
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well, the funny thing is, there own guy told them to give me 2200 for the repairs, which is what thr first body shop estimated for the car the first time. but i dont see it as fair that i should be only gettting half of the money, when i should be getting all of the money, when this was clearly not my fault. and if you dont believe it, then i just dont care. i hit a manhole cover that one of there companies were working on, but just to make me happy, they only want to give me half, and tell me to take half of the blame. THAT i dont see as fair. not to include that b/c of this im missing shows so now my sponsers are getting p/o'd, so now that i have to take time out of my day to call all my sponsers and explain to them whats going on, i do think i deserve some kind of compensation for that. dont you think shifted. and let me think, how is it fair for people in here to get into accidents, and piss and moan that they want to kit the there cars, but the insurence wont give them enough money, and everyones okay with it, but then, i come here, and say i dont see it right for me to get half of the money b/c THEY think its 50/50, and i start to get flamed?? i dont see that as right. and dont worry about anyones insurence rates going up b/c of this, this is a corperate insurence company, not like allstate or geico. so this wont affect anyone of us. and if you guys dont like what im wanting to do, then, dont read my posts. oh, and 1100 is not nearly enough for me. if there going to pay me for what THERE company did, then 1100 is not going to but it. so oh well, if it seems fair to you, then im happy for you, but its not fair for all the time ive spent @!#$ with this company, and waiting for them to give me some kind of answers. so i see it as fair that they at least give me some kind of compensation for the 3 @!#$ weeks i waited for them to do anything, thats not even including the time i spent waiting for them to send someone out to look at the damn car. so if you dont think its fair, then oh well, i guess were diffrent people.
No, I don't think its fair that they want to give you half, never said it was.
No, I don't think its fair that they are taking thier time, costing you shows, and ticking off your sponsors.
But, on the other hand, how do you quantify what this time is worth? If I left something in the road in front of my house that you hit, and cracked your front bumper on, and you came up to me and said that you wanted enough money to replace the entire kit plus money for down time, I'd tell you to eat my ass.
I don't know what body shop you go to, or what kind of complete custom job your front bumper is, but when I ripped my drift front in two pieces, bent both fenders, and misaligned my headlights, the shop estimate was $1400. So even if it costs $600 to get you a new front bumper, that leaves you with $500 for paint, which should be more than enough. I had my entire kit painted for $300.
But yes, they should pay you the entire shop cost. As was said before, have a lawyer draft a letter, and you'll get your money, but you'll need a shop estimate to replace the front bumper only. Because when the insurance company lawyers take a look at it, and see the damage to your car was only the front end, but you have included estimates to replace the entire kit, they would tell you exactly what I would have, and you'll wait even longer.
This is all part of driving a show car on the road. If you aren't expecting to have a damaged kit and downtime, then don't drive it on the road. Fiberglass kits will get damaged with use, no matter what you do. You can be the most careful driver in the world, but eventually somebody elses screw up will put your car in the shop.
Now I'm not saying that what the insurance company is doing is right. You should get whats owed to you for damages, but nothing more. Nobody else gets compensated for the "phone calls and time out of your day", because it can't be quantified. These people who get into accidents and want to kit thier car are a different situation. They get the money that it would cost to repair the vehicle in its stock condition, and buy aftermarket parts with it. I haven't heard or seen anybody complain about an insurance company not giving them enough money to fix the car back to stock, why should the insurance company pay to upgrade a car?
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i understand that. but, when there own guy estimated it at 2200, and another shop estimated it at 2200, then why are they only offering me half. there just trying to get out of it. but ya know what. im sorry about the way i acted, if you notice last night i posted yet another post in here about my wifes new cobalt that got side swiped, and the bitch took off. so i was pissed offa bout that, and i came in here, saw what you posted, and didnt quite agree with it. all im asking for is them to pay me what 2 seperate companies estimated the damages at. see, its not only the bumper, but the corner lights as well, and the headlights are now loose. but im not worried about those, just my bumper. ya know. i understand about the show car on the road thing. your 100% right about that. but you see, the cheapest place around here (chicago) to get any kind of kit painted (a good job) is 700.00, now i can go to the same guy that painted it before, and pay 500, but you get what you pay for ya know. so i dont want to take it to him again. i learned from my mistake. now my car does not even see construction zones. lol. again, shifted i apologise about the way i posted, i was pissed b/c now i have my cavi in need of a front bumper, and my wifes new 05 cobalt in need of a new pass. side front fender, and some paint. so you can kinda understand why i was a little testi last night, and for that im sorry. but thanks for not being a dick about it. take care man, and i hope the best works out!!
