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Rearended!

N

NY2000SVT

CEG'er
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Messages
35
Location
Wappingers Falls, NY
So I got rear ended today going back to work from lunch. The girl couldn't have been going more than 15 miles an hour, and she punched right through my rear bumper cover like it was made of glass. Props to the folks at Chevy for building those Cavaliers tough, lol. Her front bumper was just scratched a little bit on the paint, grrr. Anyways, I'm gonna head to the body shop tonight on the way home and see if I can get an estimate. Was wondering if anybody knows where I can pick up a bumper cover on the cheap. Looked around and Bill Jenkins seemed to be the cheapest at $870.00 plus shipping. My thoughts are that if I can keep the repair costs down, perhaps she can write a check for it and I won't have to make a claim. If I make a claim, both her rates and mine go up. My car's a 2000 Contour SVT. Thanks for any hep guys.
 
todras said:
Ummm why would yours go up?
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I have a friend who was rearended the same way and because he made a claim through his insurance company, his rates went up. I think I have to pay a deductible too when I make a claim, but I'm not positive on that since this is my first accident. I was stopped, and she rear ended me, so from what I understand as far as traffic accidents go, she's at fault. Whether that matters to the insurance company I don't know.
I'm just glad it was only the bumper cover. I haven't had a chance to crawl under and make sure nothing underneath it was damaged, but judging by the way her car is fine, I think she hit the cover low enough that where it punched through there really isn't anything there, just the plastic of the cover.
 
jtour said:
Sorry to hear about your car. Good thing you and her are okay.
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Yes everybody is fine. I had a friend from work with me, and she had another girl as a passenger in her car. The accident happened exactly where I see them happen all the time. I should have been smarter and gone the other way back to work, but this way is quicker. It's basically a short merge onto a two lane high way, but the ramp is also an exit ramp. You have to make sure there are no cars coming before you can pull out by looking out the rear window. I started to roll when I thought I saw a break, but another car came over the hill so I stopped again. That's when I saw she wasn't watching me and had just accelerated hard to merge out behind me while she was looking backwards. Before I could get the car in gear or react it was too late.
 
Whats with all the SVT's getting rear ended lately? Glad you are ok though.

If you are not in a hurry, keep checking the classifieds. Otherwise, Bill J. is the way to go. Wow, have the rear bumpers gone up that much? IIRC, I paid less a few years ago.
 
PacificTourG said:
Originally Posted by mart_svt
Whats with all the SVT's getting rear ended lately?
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Not just rear ended, it's more like getting hit.
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I got hit... errr rear-ended... kinda....

I was in the McDonalds drive through and the car in front of me starts to pull up to the speaker. Before I could start to move, she (a girl that looked to be 16 at the oldest) stops and starts backing up because the vehicle in front of her cut the corner too much and had to back up to clear the curb. She backed into me, at a slight angle, with her older Chrysler New Yorker. I laid into the horn just before she hit me which made her hit the brakes, but one of the little rubber bumper nubs on her rear bumper hit my front license plate and put a dent in it. She said she looked behind her and didn't see me, but she must have only looked out her center rear-view mirror. If she had looked in her driver's side mirror she would have seen me plain as day (even though it was night time and raining) since the drive-through lane was curved to go behind the building.

This was probably the only scenario that would make me say thank goodness for front license plates!!
 
You got hit from behind.. she is at fault and if i'm not wrong i think that's suitable for a law suit.. not saying, oh its america and you need to by a new house with the money.. but... YOU were hit by her from behind.. your rates shouldn't go up. talk to your agent and find out.. (was the girl cute at least?)
 
she hit you man, you should be paying anything out of your pocket...there isn't even a need to file a claim through your insurance - atleast based on my experience.
 
Lawsuits just make everyone's rates go up. I might get away with not paying a dime, but in the end, it comes from someone's pocket. I couldn't do that. I could only justify a lawsuit if injuries were involved and even then, I'd have to be hurting for the money bad. People are too quick to shout lawsuit in this world.
She was a 20 something girl, goes to the college up the road from where I work(I went there too) and crying of course. I can identify with her because the same thing happened to me when I was in school. I rear ended a lady with my old Honda Accord and scratched up the bumper on her Volvo real nice. She was very nice about it and let me pay her out of pocket to get it repaired so no claims would be filed. 600 bucks, versus paying increased rates for the next 10 years was a no brainer. I'd like to try and give her the same opportunity, but if she can't afford it, then we'll have to do the insurance route. At least I'm not a broke college student anymore and I can afford the insurance.
 
TGO said:
she hit you man, you should be paying anything out of your pocket...there isn't even a need to file a claim through your insurance - atleast based on my experience.
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If the check thing doesn't work out (rarely does), I'd just work with her insurance company for now. Her insurance should take care of everything & you need not file a claim with your insurer. That's how it can work in Florida anyway. If they start to jerk you around then get your people involved.
 
I know with my insurance company if you get rear ended while your stopped at an intersection with functioning rear lights you at 0 fault. Some stupid insurance companies change your rates because your partially at fault for being there! My bro got rear ended in his truck 2 times in 3 month, in both cases the cars that rear ended him were totaled. (Lifted Chevy on 35's) Both times my bro's truck was totled, bought it back and replaced 1 rear axle for the 1 accident and 1 leaf spring for the other. His rates never changed and he recieved over 10K in insurance money. I rear ended a 2003 Mustang Cobra SVT and dented the rear bumper, claimed it and never heard anything about it. With my insurance if it's under like 5% of vechile cost it desn't affect my insurance! I'd definatly check into your insurance agent, some insurance is much better then other for this exact case. Sorry to hear about your SVT, hopefully it will be right as rain before you know it.
 
With all the svt's getting hit lately, just wait and see, maybe you will get lucky and someone else will have one available. Thats what i did with my se when i got rearended.
 
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