JPTL

The drivers in the DC area are some of the worst in the world.
I truly believe that.
We all know that DC is a huge mixing bowl of people - many who have been in this country for only a short time, & many of them coming from countries where having a car and a driver's license isn't the norm.
What do they do when they get here? Get a driver's license and learn to drive on the second most congested streets in the nation.
You were merely another obstacle in this woman's driving 'learning curve'.
I could handle a vehicle, and had more experience behind the wheel when I was 16 than some of the 'mature' hazards navigating the highways around here. It's truly scary.
John, you couldn't have been more of an innocent bystander in this case.
Damn. Where's the justice?

Ron_H

I have driven in D.C. and must disagree. The worst drivers in the parts of the world to which I have been exposed are in..........Hawaii. I include in that group both Italy and Germany and european countries, Japan, Thailand, Taipei, etc, etc. I have not driven or been to Africa or New Zealand or Australia and thus would not judge them. Nor would I judge Scotland or Ireland. Take the bus in Hawaii and keep smiling. No offense intended. You will need to keep the windows up in Hawaii because a mynah bird is likely to perch on your middle finger since it will be displayed so often while driving there. You had better not be in a hurry there. No one is in a hurry there, except me.
And you might get to know all the court clerks by their first names if you spend much time there. Unless you drive a Mercedes or a rusty Jeep. Attorneys drive Mercedes and everyone else drives rusty Jeeps. ( of course that is a slight generalization.)

JE928Sx4.

Looks like they want me to take the car as salvage and about $6.5. I think I'll have them repair it.

JE928Sx4.

So they are dicking back and forth with me on if they are going to total the car. I used the word indemnify on them. The INS adjuster reacted with a rather funny nervous laugh when I said that.

The adjuster told the shop not to include the center muffler in the estimate even though tey believe it is bent. I can insist that they replace it right? I don't want to be breathing any CO in at stop lights.

heinrich

Sounds to me like they are playing ball. Key is to push harder.

sublimate

Good luck with this. Hey, what's the 3rd black in the tripple black? I've only ever heard that applied to convertables when the top is black.

heinrich

tyres

goliver

Insist that they restore you to the position you held prior to their insured running into you. Regardless of cost, they must do this as is reasonable given availabiltiy of factory parts etc. Have them compensate you with money for all this "pain" they are causing you now. It is a bitch to get well when you have to deal with all this stress.

JE928Sx4.

The trim. On a convertible, I imagine the top is considered part of the trim work.

JE928Sx4.

Problem is that the car was hit before and there is a salvage title. They are "factoring" in that. Not sure if it's been totaled onece or twice bfore. I have a car fax which say's it was totaled in 1990. She, the adjuster, has a record that it was totaled in 2000. One of those repairs was to the same area. I went by yesterday and you can see the new damage. The problem is that it looks like someone replaced the rear 1/4 panels and there are gaps that exist between the rear quarter panels and the rear verticle panel under the rear bumpercover (tool box wall). Whish I had taken pictures yesterday. I'll get some soon. I knew that the car wasn't repaired as it should have been. But it still looked good. No beading between the rear cover and the rear 1/4's. They filled it in with bondo. My position is, so what, the lady who hit me required that it be repaired. Shouldn't I demand it be done right? Don't think that I can demand the gaps be filled in, but I can sure demand that the car's rear is repaired to look as it came from the factory.

Any thoughts?

Regards,
JE

JE928Sx4.

As I see it, they have three options.

1. Repair car to a presentable drivable condition as I had before the accident.

2. Replace the car with an equivalent 928S4 5-spd, preferably tripple black, or a suitable color to my liking.

3. Release salvage title to me along with $$ equivalent to $11.5K which is the low end for a 928S4 5-spd (my only concession towards the existing salvage title).

Any other options you guys can think of?

JE

perrys4

The bad part about this is they have the edge. They hold the check book, they have all the time and resources to drag this out, they have attorneys to fight it. It can become a very long process. They try and wear you down. My ex G-friend just went through this and didnt fight back hard enough and got screwed. It was her main transportation and so she was in a bind. If you have the time and patience go for what you feel you deserve. I feel the same way. It should look the same as it did before their insured hit you. It should also be deemed safe incase you are ever hit again.

JE928Sx4.

I have time. This may blow my deal to get the BMW 325i convertible that I want to replace the 928S4 (yea, I know, not equivalent, but the idea of having a rag top again is quite strong with spring approaching), but I have three other 928 in the mean time. I wont settle and I'll keep driving the rental car.

goliver

If they can prove it wasn't fixed correctly in the past they probably won't have a duty to repair it to the factory condition. They should still repair it to the condition that it exsisted prior to the accident. I got totally screwed on my old 944 with salvage title by the insurance company. They said that it didn't have a value basically due to the title issue. It definatley had value to me. In any event, after much haggling I got what was fair. The medical made up the difference. Be prepared for a battle.

928FIXER

2 points here.1.They may want to take the center muffler off of the est. to get the vehicle out of the percentage range that would make it a total.They would find the part "bad" latter and do it as an additional work after the body work was finished.2.This is a prime example of why you need stated value insurance on these vehicles.