Accident advice need

   / Accident advice need #21  
Yes. It is an interesting predicament.

If you leave proper safety room between yourself and the car ahead of you, another vehicle will swoop in. And there goes your safety buffer.

Which, from what I see on thre road, is about 90% of all drivers out there. Very rarely do I see a vehicle following another at anywhere near the recommended space between therm.
 
   / Accident advice need
  • Thread Starter
#22  
Wow, some really good advice here. A little background... this is my business truck, I do write it off. I also trade my trucks in when I hit 25 to 30k in miles, this is the sweet spot for a nicely loaded truck. My dealer, who I have purchased around 12 trucks from, will help me out with a value. Also, I am trading this truck in the minute the new paint dries. I also have an advocate in my insurance agent, who is old school to the max, and he says he won't let me get screwed. Lastly, I guess I could write off the loss a business loss, as in Donald *****, but I'm not so rich that a couple thousand wouldn't hurt. Anyway, the truck is at the local Ford dealers collision shop, we'll know soon. Thanks, guys.
 
   / Accident advice need #23  
Which, from what I see on thre road, is about 90% of all drivers out there. Very rarely do I see a vehicle following another at anywhere near the recommended space between therm.
If you are in a car and a full-sized pickup pulls in front of you, you might as well retreat to the previous state, because they are so wide and tall you can't see a damned thing if you are behind them. And man do they like that left lane....
 
   / Accident advice need #24  
Here is the VA that appears to apply to your question: (it appears VA does recognize diminished value claims so you are set there - some states do not)

§ 46.2-1600

Definitions

The following words, terms, and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except where the context indicates otherwise:”Actual cash value,” as applied to a vehicle, means the retail cash value of the vehicle prior to damage as determined, using recognized evaluation sources, either (i) by an insurance company responsible for paying a claim or (ii) if no insurance company is responsible therefor, by the Department.”Auto recycler” means any person licensed by the Commonwealth to engage in business as a salvage dealer, rebuilder, demolisher, or scrap metal processor.”Cosmetic damage,” as applied to a vehicle, means damage to custom or performance aftermarket equipment, audio-visual accessories, nonfactory-sized tires and wheels, custom paint, and external hail damage. “Cosmetic damage” does not include (i) damage to original equipment and parts installed by the manufacturer or (ii) damage that requires any repair to enable a vehicle to pass a safety inspection pursuant to § 46.2-1157. The cost for cosmetic damage repair shall not be included in the cost to repair the vehicle when determining the calculation for a nonrepairable vehicle.”Current salvage value,” as applied to a vehicle, means (i) the salvage value of the vehicle, as determined by the insurer responsible for paying the claim, or (ii) if no insurance company is responsible therefor, 25 percent of the actual cash value.”Demolisher” means any person whose business is to crush, flatten, bale, shred, log, or otherwise reduce a vehicle to a state where it can no longer be considered a vehicle.”Diminished value compensation” means the amount of compensation that an insurance company pays to a third party vehicle owner, in addition to the cost of repairs, for the reduced value of a vehicle due to damage.”Independent appraisal firm” means any business providing cost estimates for the repair of damaged motor vehicles for insurance purposes and having all required business licenses and zoning approvals. This term shall not include insurance companies that provide the same service, nor shall any such entity be a rebuilder or affiliated with a rebuilder.”Late model vehicle” means the current-year model of a vehicle and the five preceding model years, or any vehicle whose actual cash value is determined to have been at least $ 10,000 prior to being damaged.”Licensee” means any person who is licensed or is required to be licensed under this chapter.”Major component” means any one of the following subassemblies of a motor vehicle: (i) front clip assembly, consisting of the fenders, grille, hood, bumper, and related parts; (ii) engine; (iii) transmission; (iv) rear clip assembly, consisting of the quarter panels, floor panels, trunk lid, bumper, and related parts; (v) frame; (vi) air bags; and (vii) any door that displays a vehicle identification number.”Nonrepairable certificate” means a document of ownership issued by the Department for any nonrepairable vehicle upon surrender or cancellation of the vehicle’s title and registration or salvage certificate.”Nonrepairable vehicle” means (i) any late model vehicle that has been damaged and whose estimated cost of repair, excluding the cost to repair cosmetic damages, exceeds 90 percent of its actual cash value prior to damage; (ii) any vehicle that has been determined to be nonrepairable by its insurer or owner, and for which a nonrepairable certificate has been issued or applied for; or (iii) any other vehicle that has been damaged, is inoperable, and has no value except for use as parts and scrap metal.”Rebuilder” means any person who acquires and repairs, for use on the public highways, two or more salvage vehicles within a 12-month period.”Rebuilt vehicle” means (i) any salvage vehicle that has been repaired for use on the public highways and the estimated cost of repair did not exceed 90 percent of its actual cash value or (ii) any late model vehicle that has been repaired and the estimated cost of repair exceeded 75 percent of its actual cash value, excluding the cost to repair damage to the engine, transmission, or drive axle assembly.”Repairable vehicle” means a late model vehicle that is not a rebuilt vehicle, but is repaired to its pre-loss condition by an insurance company and is not accepted by the owner of said vehicle immediately prior to its acquisition by said insurance company as part of the claims process.”Salvage certificate” means a document of ownership issued by the Department for any salvage vehicle upon surrender or cancellation of the vehicle’s title and registration.”Salvage dealer” means any person who acquires any vehicle for the purpose of reselling any parts thereof.”Salvage pool” means any person providing a storage service for salvage vehicles or nonrepairable vehicles who either displays the vehicles for resale or solicits bids for the sale of salvage vehicles or nonrepairable vehicles, but this definition shall not apply to an insurance company that stores and displays fewer than 100 salvage vehicles and nonrepairable vehicles in one location; however, any two or more insurance companies who display salvage and nonrepairable vehicles for resale, using the same facilities, shall be considered a salvage pool.”Salvage vehicle” means (i) any late model vehicle that has been (a) acquired by an insurance company as a part of the claims process other than a stolen vehicle or (b) damaged as a result of collision, fire, flood, accident, trespass, or any other occurrence to such an extent that its estimated cost of repair, excluding charges for towing, storage, and temporary replacement/rental vehicle or payment for diminished value compensation, would exceed its actual cash value less its current salvage value; (ii) any recovered stolen vehicle acquired by an insurance company as a part of the claims process, whose estimated cost of repair exceeds 75 percent of its actual cash value; or (iii) any other vehicle that is determined to be a salvage vehicle by its owner or an insurance company by applying for a salvage certificate for the vehicle, provided that such vehicle is not a nonrepairable vehicle.”Scrap metal processor” means any person who acquires one or more whole vehicles to process into scrap for remelting purposes who, from a fixed location, utilizes machinery and equipment for processing and manufacturing ferrous and nonferrous metallic scrap into prepared grades, and whose principal product is metallic scrap.”Vehicle” shall have the meaning ascribed to it in § 46.2-100. A vehicle that has been demolished or declared to be nonrepairable pursuant to this chapter shall no longer be considered a vehicle. For the purposes of this chapter, a major component shall not be considered a vehicle.”Vehicle removal operator” means any person who acquires a vehicle for the purpose of reselling it to a demolisher, scrap metal processor, or salvage dealer.
 
   / Accident advice need #25  
1. This is what gap Insurance is for.

2. Don't take the first offer.

3. The price of a used, but new demo truck, is your baseline. They never allow demos to go past 4k and usually the price off invoice is $1 per mile.

4. Hopefully you didn't pay license and registration yet...or that's a sunk cost.
 
   / Accident advice need #26  
Nice older woman from Indiana with a little white dog was tailgating.


If you cannot stop in time to avoid hitting the car in front of you, you are following too closely. Period.

Rethink the comment.
I was traveling on interstate highway and noticed about 1 mile ahead that tail lights on all vehicles were coming on . I also begin to slow down and then a little yellow dodge neon passed on left side and immediate lane changed in to my driving lane and he realized that traffic was almost stopped. so locked up his brakes
I did the same except my truck momentum pushed his neon into a old Cadillac design where the tail lights were in fins close to his read window. and the trunk space has disappeared.
State trooper gave the idiot the traffic ticket.

ken
 
   / Accident advice need #27  
No need to rethink at all. Obviously, if someone suddenly cuts in front of you (or pulls out in front of you), that's a different situation. You were not following that person.
 
   / Accident advice need #28  
I have repaired vehicles for several decades.

They can be repaired properly, and they can be "right".

Make sure your shop has been in business for a while, and has a good reputation.

The dealer may be a good choice. But, they put their pants on the same way as the guy at the independent shop does. And, the independent shop has to work harder for their customers, because they can't count on business automatically coming there, like the dealer does.

Using a shop the insurance company tries to steer you to, is often not in your best interest. And, that shop may not be as interested in taking care of you, as they are taking care of the insurance company, to keep them sending work there.

By law, the insurance company can't require you to go to a particular shop. And, generally, everything they say, if you tell them, you don't want to go to their shop, is not true.

Insurance companies are very skilled at getting you to play the game the way they want. And, very skilled at making you believe they took great care of you, while they may have done the opposite.

Take some time to educate yourself, before you make any decisions about having a repair done.

All true. Also I know a body repair guy and he once told about when he did bodywork at a dealership. At that dealership, the car was assigned to a person to repair and that person did all phases of the repair. From frame straightening to paint work. Many body shops will have specialists that focus on things like frame straitening and painting. Some people have a better eye and touch for painting.
 
   / Accident advice need #29  
All true. Also I know a body repair guy and he once told about when he did bodywork at a dealership. At that dealership, the car was assigned to a person to repair and that person did all phases of the repair. From frame straightening to paint work. Many body shops will have specialists that focus on things like frame straitening and painting. Some people have a better eye and touch for painting.

The bigger shops tend to split the repair up, and have people specialize in either paint, or body. It increases productivity.

I have worked both ways.

I take more pride in doing my work, than most people do. So, I would prefer to do the entire job myself.
 
   / Accident advice need #30  
I'm not advocating faking an injury or anything, but there is a good chance they will ask you to sign a something that says you were not hurt during the accident. You might make it clear you won't sign such a thing if they won't settle for a fair amount, make it clear you have been having a lot of neck pain lately. You might even bring up the fact you are thinking about weekly visits to the Chiropractor in the near future.
 
 
Top