whitak24

so, it was a bad day today. i had just merged onto the freeway, headed to work, and was in the far right lane. i was speeding up to the speed of traffic, checking my mirrors and blind spot because i wanted to move to the left. i looked back to the road in front of me, and the car i was following was braking, hard. i was about 2 car-lengths back, going 60-65mph. i slammed on my brakes and cranked the steering wheel to the right as fast as i could, hoping to avoid the car. i almost did.....just barely nicked the back corner of her bumper (she was driving a 97 pontiac sunfire, i was driving a 94 geo prizm). i slid sideways off the shoulder and into the ditch.
fortunately, no one was hurt. the girl i hit was really nice....i wouldn't have blamed her for screaming at me, but she was really calm and didn't really say much. i had hardly affected her car, but my car is messed up pretty badly. called the cops....got a ticket (failure to stop in allowed distance, $80 and 2 points). tow truck hauled my car to a bodyshop. i know the front bumper, grill, driver's side headlight assembly and front quarter panel will all need to be replaced. the guy thought they could fix the hood. i think the radiator's blown out, but i'm hoping there isn't any engine/suspension/frame damage.
got enterprise to pick me up so i could rent a car. i won't even start going off about how stupid and incompetent they are.
so anyway, i am about to be putting out some major $$$. towing was $80, ticket was $80, and i'm paying $25/day for the rental. the bodyshop hasn't called w/ an estimate yet, but i figure that it'll be AT LEAST $500, maybe as much as $1000. so i'm just pretty bummed....especially since the accident was my own stupid fault. at least no one got hurt (yes, i know it could have been worse), but still....

Kim

Oh no....I hope the estimate is LOW, and I'm glad you are ok. Good luck!

__________________
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you'll be a mile from them, and you'll have their shoes.
--Jack Handey Deep Thoughts

Memo

Sorry to hear that man. At least you're alive and well to come post on the forums about it

DoPeY5007

glade to see you ok...


but you got a ticket for getting into an accedent???...

johnnymk

A guy hit me about a year ago---Right front fender slightly crushed and a small 2" crease on the passenger door. I figured that it would only be a couple of hundred dollars. Turns out that the cheapest estimate I got was $1050. I couldn't believe it!!
If you can get that fixed for under $2500, I would be amazed. Prices on autobody work is outrageous nowadays.

OC

First and foremost, I'm glad you're ok. Second, at 60mph you're traveling 88 feet per second - so you travel 2 car lengths (call it 28 feet for arguments sake) every 2/3 of a second. You just learned a lesson in "reaction time".

Again, I'm glad you're ok and I hope the repair estimate is low.

-OC

__________________
But what is adulthood except a delayed end-run around our parents' better judgment?
-- Peter Egan

*cough*

Nanotech9

i had a 96 geo, and sold it for $2900 just rescently. You're 94 is prolly worth less than $2000, fixed. You might think about selling the car messed up and finding something else. It might not be worth fixing. Aslo, those cars are pretty common - you should be able to use a bumper/fender/hoot from a Toyota Corolla or Geo Prism. (i think you can use toyota parts on that old of one).

Should be able to pick thos items up at a junkyard pretty cheap and fix most of it yourself.

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Ladogaboy

Well, it is good that no one got hurt. I know I've had my share of close calls, but luckily, nothing has ever happened. Just be glad that it was only your car.

Also, the bodyshop bill might be significantly more than $1,000.




Oh, and I KNOW how incompetent they can be.

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It is not enough to merely touch the face of god; you also must open your eyes so that you may see your palm.

xsiled2

its that the anti-stink stuff?

attgig

good to hear that you're ok...

but yeah..how bout insurance?
what's your deductible?
will the cover the rental?
also, try lookin around for deals for rentals...25 bucks for a normal car is decent...but....
for example...if you have any use for a pickup: http://www.budget.com/partners/rcc_18.html

anyways...
good luck with getting that thang fixed.

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Luxykin007

Dang man, glad to hear you're ok... sorry about the car.

__________________
Acts 2:21 "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved"

DoPeY5007

ok we all know my typing and spelling is off, and well @ work I have a stupis split key-board so it is even worse

Ladogaboy

Some of my friends swear by those keyboards, but I could never work them properly.

g222leav

ummmm, stupid question here...

you mentioned the ticked was two points?

what this all about? i hear about people talking points and stuff, but never paid attention. and since we're on the subject, is there any way you can check your driving record, i mean we can check or credit rating online, maybe we can check or driving record...i'm just curious, i haven't had a speeding ticket in years, a few parking tickets some where though..

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"it's more fun than it looks" - Red Foreman
"trying is the first step in failing" - Homer J. Simpson
"the world needs more dumb people...dumb people can't start wars" - mike lam

irwin

At least your dad doesn't wake up at 2:45am just to yell at you and get mad at you for making 9 individual orders for 4 cent screws.

Ladogaboy

Now why would he be mad at that?

Pinkgirl36

well then genius, you should be working then and nothing else

__________________
"No one stands as tall as when
they stoop down to help a child" - Abraham Lincoln

Those who can do, and those who care teach.



Auntie Em, Hate you, hate Kansas, taking the dog. Dorothy

DoPeY5007

that's no fun

Paladin

Ahh you get so many points for each offense. So my ticket was worth 4 points,after I go into negative numbers I have no license. If I had 20 points and got 5 tickets anything I did would get my license revoked.

__________________
--Keep it real--

whitak24

well, i got the estimate from the bodyshop last week. it looks like it's time for a new car. the price was $2300, and that was doing a poor job (the guy said if he was writing it for an insurance company, it would be between $4000 and $4300). he was cutting me every break he could (giving me cheaper labor, less mark-up on the parts, etc).
in addition to the body damage, he said there's three bent wheels on it, which also indicates there is probably suspension or steering damage of some sort. so i really do not think it's worth it for me to put at least $3000 (with body work, mechanical work, paying for a rental for 3 weeks while it's fixed, etc) into a car with 130k miles on it that's only worth $3500-$4000.
so i'm looking for something else.....yet another treat. we'll see how it goes.

styleee

in my experience, every time i had a car totalled, the next one i got was 10x better, so maybe this is a good thing?

and good luck! i know what a pain it is shopping for an inexpensive used car, but there are tons of great deals out there just begging to be found!