Well I made it almost home tonight from work in the Atl when I got slammed from behind. I couldn't even see my own hood due to a sudden complete fogged windshield and pouring rain. I slowed to about 15mph due to the poor visability and just as I began to clear my fogged ws this Merc. 300SD hit me on the left side rear bumper. It was raining so hard, the guy slowed and then just drove off slowly. I tried to follow but could't go over 15 for the heavy rain. The max speed is 35 on this county rd.

I pulled into the next gas sta. and there he was waiting. I was very releaved . He was very apologetic and we phoned the police for a report. Trooper shows up and says he has a 928 and writes up a report and doesn't ticket the other drivr due to the weather condition.

Well the bumper is pushed to rear quarters, both sides. Worst thing is the muffler apparently fell out of the exh. pipe from cat convert. and is extremly loud now. The tail pipe is also very bent on the inboud side of the muffler.

What's the best approach to coming out of this with new paint on rear quarters and muffler?

 

The rear frame is definitely bent if both quarter panels are pushed in. Look from underneath the car and it will be more than apparent. The car is totaled unfortunately.

 

Hi Dean, I am no expert but I don't think it is good that the other driver was not cited. Do you have the contact info for his insurance company? I would follow up on this right away. Also might be handy to have the contact info on the officer and whatever district he was from. It could be that because no one was cited that each of you would be relying on your own insurance to do the fixes in which case it sounds like you would be out of luck.

Were the rear quarters damaged at all? Can you post pics?

 

The bumper just slightly hit the rear quarters enough to chip the paint on both sides. No major damage at all. Im not sure about the "no tic issued" problem.
The guy admitted fault to the officer and the officer cheked my light to verify fuctionality. No doubt it was his fault. I hate it happened though. I just couldn't see didly and had to almost come to a dead stop. He obviously wasn't paying attention. I hope I don't get stuck with the bill.

My car sounds like a ratted out V8 now. I guess I'll have to tow it in to the body shop for repair due to the exhaust hanging down.

I'll post pics tomorrow.
good night to all

 

sorry to hear about your mishap Dean. Don't be afraid to be a bit of an a**hole if you need to be, he hit you, it was his responsibility to drive with additional care due to deteriorating weather conditions. Not your fault and you are entitled to get your car back 100% fixed at no cost to you. Good luck.

 

That is terrible luck.
If you want to know whether it is totalled or not, lift up the hatch carpet. If the hatch floor has buckled, you're in for a big bill. Otherwise this is fixable.

Best of luck with the repairs, and follow up on it as soon as possible.

 

Sorry to see that. Just a lesson the be learned though. If you are moving 3-5mph in 0 visability, pull to the side and EXPECT someone to be moving faster coming up behind.
Sorry to see that happen to you, its a shame. Good luck with keeping it un salvaged.

 

Yeah Eyal, you better have edited that post.

 

Ironic, thats the same kind of car that hit me. The fact that you were driving 5mph on a 35mph road might hurt you, but if its just like my accident there was no hatch buckling, no frame damage. $5000 settlement and I threw on a new bumper then had dent wizard hammer out the quarter panel where the end cap impacted the quarter panel.

 

Josh:
No one has to be cited for a party to be found at fault. For example, I was hit by a girl who was following too closely and playing with her cell phone while driving mommys new Mercedes. She nailed me when I stopped at a light and tried implying to the police that it was somehow my fault. While she should have gotten a ticket for at least following too closely, or reckless driving for being an idiot driver, she got nothing but admitted fault.

When it does come down to the blame game, you are partially at fault (maybe) for being almost stopped in the middle of the road. But if your lights were on... its hard to hit someone.

 

Well I guess Eyal slammed me again but in my defense I'll add the shoulder where I was at, has a very steep slope down and away from highway. There are a few driveways here and I would'nt have known where the mailboxes were. I felt they only thing I could do was slow down and hand wipe my windshield. It was too late though, this all happened in about 10 sec or so. I don't usually drive this car in rain. It was dry on the way in to work, but storms moved in durring the day.

Should I bend the muffler pipe back enough to reattach and get a few estimates and demand a check? Then repair at a friends body shop.

Or tow it to my friends body shop and let him handle it all.

What's the more likely senerio of me coming out with the better end of the deal?

 

Technically, you can go as slow as you want in very bad weather conditions or wherever a slower speed is "safe" for the condition. Only an idiot will drive fast enough to not be able to stop in time when heavy rain warrants only 15mph.

 

I had no intention to "slam you"
I edited my origional post becuase it came off as to much of criticism. The intent of the post was to highlight a lesson to be learned here for all of us. I'm not saying your dumb, or did the wrong thing, but in the future, if anyone reading this encounters the same situation, it is wise to pull to the side, because every other driver on the road is an idiot, and you can expect them to be chuggining along.
I geuss What I would have done Is pull to the side as much as possible with emergency flashers and headlights on. I probably would have moved at a quicker pace then 3-5... maybe 10-15, or pulled off and waited for the fog to thin a bit. Hindsight is 20/20, but you didn't really do anything stupid, you just didn't account for the stupidity of other drivers.
Again, I apologize if you feel I slammed you, I really didnt intend to upset anyone.
Eyal

 

No prob. Eyal , I didn't even read it in time. I just got the drift from 9fitty's post.

Defenitly a 20/20 thing here. It was way past dark, all lights were on. The problem I see with the early 944 is the hazard switch is not visable since it's hidden to the right of the steering column. There are two switches there, hazard and rear defrst. I guess it would be better to just turn them both on quickly in this case since you don't really want to take your eyes off the road. Especially when visability is already poor.

I bet (not sure though) the late mods have the hazard light in a more visable location for quicker response. This may be just another reason to move up to a more modern 944 and get out of this early 944 before it kills me. I have had more close calls in this car then ever on street bikes of all types. I thought the 944 would be a safer way to play around on the weekend. I may have been wrong as usuall. Maybe the dark color I choose is part of the problem. I just like black. I think stone grey would be my next choice.

Eyal

 

Yea, the emergency switch is a large one that lights up red, though its kinda a reach to get to it.
Maybe you could settle on the insurance, for 4-5K part the carof for another 3-4K, and find yourself in a turbo.... Myabe cruising through the fog at 100mph would have been funner!