Nismo hit and run
 

3am leaving work and a drunk (I know because she got out of the car) girl rear ended me at a red light. I called the cops as soon as I realized what happened, and before I could even finish saying the address there was one patrolling that happened to turn on the same street. He flips his lights on and she bails but he couldn't catch her. Long story short I thought I recognized her face and after searching online the police and I were able to verify her identity/ownership of the vehicle in the accident.


I'll include pictures in here
Both rear quarter panels have huge dents, the rear bumper surprisingly only has paint scuffs and a few broken tabs. Passenger tail light is done, driver side has broken tab, the trunk latch/lock mechanism thing is bent out of place to the point the trunk doesn't close anymore.

edit: Sorry I don't know how to resize the pics to make them smaller



This is the first accident I've ever been in and would like to hear your opinions on the subject. One particular thing on my mind is the value of my car after this. For me personally I would never buy a car that's been in an accident, especially not if it's a numbered car like my 14 nismo. In all honestly it's so heartbreaking that I'd rather them just buy me out of the loan and keep the car but I'm assuming that's wishful thinking. Another thing that worries me is that I fear whoever does the rear bumper, whether replacement or new, won't use 3 separate colors for the red trim, gray part by the exhaust and black. Almost all of the repaints I've seen just paint the bumper one solid color.

I have 4 years left on my loan and a lot could change between now and then (starting a family or change of business) and I don't want to suffer with a lower offer for a trade in or private sale because of this. Basically I either want out of the car, or a check on top of repairs.
Have any of you in your experience been compensated for diminished value after an accident that wasn't your fault? If so I'm curious to know how difficult it was to attain and how much it was. Also, will insurance cover mechanical damage? driving my car off the street into a nearby parking lot the car now has a weird shimmy/lobsided wobble.

Diminished value claim depends upon your insurance company and state laws. As for the value it can diminish I believe is a percentage. My guess is 2k-5k in value drop once fixed.

After going through something like this I will say your car will be totaled. Replacing both rear quarters is very expensive and you have some major damage if both sides are buckled/dented where the trunk will not close. Make sure you get yourself checked out within 10 days of the accident, you took a hard lick. Neck injuries are brutal. I am too familiar with those also.

Didn't realize there are actual photos to see, they are not showing for me.

no pictures for me either...but from the description (rear quarters trashed) it could be a candidate for total loss.

this should work better for the pictures now. I don't think the damage is bad enough to total it out even though I almost hope that's what they do. I probably made the damage sound worse than it looks. Thanks for the input so far guys.

Wow. Rear quarters... Glad you’re ok. Other driver had to going pretty fast. Thinking totaled

Yeah I'd bet on totalled.

if it doesn't get totalled, don't let the other persons insurance to fix your car, find a repair shop that you are comfortable with (ie dealer collision center). I just recently dealt with an accident and got some money for diminished value (progressive). This is quite painful, they have a "formula" that they will use which is based on extends of the damage on the car, i had a small scrape and i got $500 but this took 2-3 months of calling and arguing (aka negotiating) When you talk to them about diminished value you need to first do some homework on what you think that value maybe be, easiest way would be to get a used dealer to give you a value on the car before and after the accident, they usually dont like to have their time wasted on stuff like that so that is why i'd suggest dealer collision center since they have a used car department and you can used the fact that they're fixing your car to get them to give you that estimate. you can also look for cars for sale adds with accidents and without to get an idea, also there are formulas online you can use. just to give you an idea, i asked for $1500, they offered $200-$300 and we settled on $500. A lot of insurance companies now, will ask you to take pics of the damage and they will give you a quote over email/phone conversation for the damage, do NOT agree to any amount they give your without a shop taking your car apart to get complete extends of the damage figured out, if you do agree to anything over the phone you're screwed.

Glad you’re okay. Id be really surprised if it doesn’t get written off


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For anyone curious to know, the car was written off for a $27k payout with no fighting on my end.

So what happened to the girl?

glad you are ok. As far as diminished value, you can go to any Carmax and they will gladly give you an estimate. Also, any Nissan dealer will write one up for you by used car manager. Present both to the insurance co for their review and settle for amount you are comfortable with. Some insurance companies will not mention diminished value, you have to ask for it and they will send the claim to another adjuster for handling.

Ian B

It’s a total loss...

I figured. When we get hit in the rear just right it is a done deal.