Tow truck dropped my car off a flatbed
 

Hey everyone need some advice here,

I have a 2009 touring w/nav.

About a week and a half ago I got a flat tire and had my car towed. The tow truck driver did not secure the vehicle and the car fell off the back of the flat bed from about four feet up. First onto the rear and then the front dropped down.

The body shop I took it too said the total damages are between $11k - 12k.

I'm going to go down to the shop and go through the damages in a few hours. I should be able to provide a list of the damages and some pics afterward. I do know they said the rims, suspension and frame were fine... which I am questioning.

Is there anything that I should I look out for? Should this car have been totaled out? Do I have any options with this?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

One last thing is the flat tire was due to the uneven amount of wear on the inside of both my rear tires. The outside of the tire still had plenty of tread and the inside was bold. My car had an alignment before the wheels were put on and they are saying that the 370z should be aligned like that. I also find that questionable.

fek... gl man.

tow company is liable regardless of the situation, you needed the tow they offered a service and then caused more issues.

i would call the company and advise them of the situation and that you will be filing a claim.

The tow company will be paying for the damages. I am pretty uneasy with fixing the car instead of totaling it out. Im not sure what my options are...

Dude that freaking blows , hope you get it all sorted out

The rear. You can see how the trunk line gets wider as it goes from front to back.

Damn.. Hope everything works out for you

The rear tires have negative camber from the factory, so yes the wear pattern you described is normal

OP, the you took it to. Do they have a frame jig to see if the frame is bent.

:eek:

Where are you at and what tow company was this? That way I know NOT to call them if I have a flat on my car.....

da f- mang. did he previously work for USPS? :mad:

Jeezus...

Unfortunately the tow truck company doesn't have skin in the game, so they won't total it like your insurance company would... They'll repair it at any cost

As mentioned above, the frame needs to be checked. A lot of the suspension will probably need to be replaced. Lots of body work to be done. Anything that sits low on the car (eg, engine, transmission, exhaust) will need to be thoroughly inspected for damage.

Unless you REALLY trust the shop that will do the work, I suggest pushing to total it. I trust the shop I use to give me an honest assessment of damages and whether or not it can be fixed right - a lot of shops aren't quite so honest. :(

Yes they do. They said the frame wasn't bent but something with the rear was bent. I will know the exact thing soon.

For real though.. A lot of places are doing a lot of unethical things.

I would talk to your insurance agent. I'm not suggesting the tow company gets away with this but instead your insurance company fixes/totals the car and the insurance company's lawyers can go after the tow company. Might be a better avenue for getting the car totaled and not having to deal with the tow company directly. Also the insurance company's lawyers are probably better than most lawyers you would hire yourself.

It amazes me how any incident that happens to a vehicle, people want the car totaled...some insurance companies will go to 70% be warned...just an observation

If you have seen any of the cost to repair estimates that have shown up here, it's easy to see why the push to total a car. Let's see.. OP has a 2009 car, KBB generous value is about 16k (minus deductions for mileage over 65k), cost to repair about 12k, yep, I'd say it's probably almost a total loss.

Call your insurance company and get them involved. While this is a 'non-moving' incident, the sooner they get involved, the better off the OP will be. Plus, it opens the door for a civil lawsuit for negligence.

That totally blows man, I'm sorry that this happened to you.

I would NOT accept my Z all repaired up like that. You will ALWAYS question if the repairs were done right and you will not enjoy the Z. Tell the Tow company that you need market value of your car on a check and they can keep the car.

I Agree
 

You (nor a buyer later) is ever going to be happy with the car. Unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover the full value of the car, unless you have replacement insurance. Get your insurance co involved, and MAKE the towing company give you full value. The towing company has insurance also.
This is a tough situation. It's doubtful you will come out even.
Best of Luck!

I had 6 week old, $16,000 car (Integra) that the insurance co. spent $22,000 on to repair when all was said & done (repaints, fixes, adjustments and a rental for 6 months).

And the back hatch board STILL NEVER FIT RIGHT! LOL!

Market value of the car is precariously close to the total damages, might wanna just try and get it totaled outright. With that much damage, from my experience, it'll never be the same, or probably right like others have said. GL man, sh1tty situation.

That's insane..... Insurance company will not total the car unless the repair cost is close to about 50% of the car value. Ask the body shop to put the car on the JIG and that would ensure the frame is straight. I imagine quite a bit of the suspension would need to be replaced.

It would be difficult to ask the insurance co. to total the car, but do work with the body shop to replace as many parts as possible even if they weren't damaged.

Good luck.

That's wrong, it will be consider a total loss if the damages goes over 80% of the car value.

depends on many factors... but usually repairs need to total >50% of the 'market value' of the car. and also the assement of being totalled and repairs need to be confirmed by the insurance appraisal assuming that the shop isn't on their 'reccomended' list.

This thread needs more pics! :worthless:

Oh an sorry for your loss btw.

:wtf:

That sucks, OP. Hope you get made whole again :driving:

This thread is making me sick to my stomach. UGH. So sorry you have to deal with this.

damn dude i hope that if you fix your car looks like new again and work like new too!

GL

I would definitely get your insurance involved.

And I question whether a car that was dropped from 4 feet doesn't need any suspension replaced?

Guess I'll go jump my Z over some washed-out bridges. YEEEEE-HAAAAAW. :shakes head:

yah, when the 09's were starting to come in with the steering lock problems stranding drivers back 4-5yrs ago, this is about when i studied about the same issue happening to GT-R's due to same exact part :ugh2: and bought a spare steering lock and screws to keep in my trunk cause i didnt want to deal with tow trucks. :ugh: to this day my steering lock is working fine. :icon17:

then fritz figured out a way to disable it by cutting the brown wire, then baer and daisuke came in with the fuse pull which is basically cutting off the brown wire in a cleaner way.

thought we all safe... but then the csc plague :ugh:

at least this is something one can detect before complete failure.

like not taking right turns so f-king fast while half full..

go through your insurance!
A friend of mine had a 350z show car that got hit in the front and then fell off the rear off the two truck on the way to the body shop. Of course, he was totalled, but he had two accidents. Also, he had supplemental insurance for 60k, and was paid the entire amount

Kill them all

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I usually am very good about this except when it is raining...the temptation is too often! Thankfully I keep traction on.

There is no way that that's not a total loss. That car will never be repaired 100%.

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At least with paranoia it'll never feel 100%. If they don't want to total it or buy it from you than get your insurance involved and also tell them you will file a claim.

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I know this is an old thread but if the OP is still around I'd be interested in what the out come was?

I'd like to know as well. Sucks that all of this could have been avoided by being able to change a flat. Let it be a lesson to those that can't.

i changed my flat in a parking garage in low light in a suit.

it was a PITA... but i was glad i was in a parking garage than on a highway.