Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General 2G Sport is probably no more...(long)

Yep, first owner, first accident. My wife and I are very sore today, went to emergency room this morning to get checked out...we had some x-rays and they said we were fine. Still haven't heard from the adjuster yet. Called lawyer for guidance, still waiting for them to call me back. I am going today to pull out the Pioneers in the front doors and maybe the sideskirts. I'm taking my digital camera for better pics. Couple of questions:

How do they figure out how much the car is worth? Obviously I have a million pictures that are dated by the digital camera, no mechanical problems at the time either. Are they going to try and low ball me? Can I tell them where I want it to be fixed(if it is fixable)?

Should I complain to Ford about the seats and my wife's seat belt? Is it even worth it?

The $500 alarm/remote start is still on the car. I have the receipt and all. What can I do about that?

Is tint claimable? I have the receipt for it as well.
How about year old tires?

Thanks for the support and advice. It all happened so fast! Everyone is still surprised I didn't:

1. Cry
2. Ring the drivers neck

I still plan on attending meets, even if I get a tricked out yellow Paseo...LOL

Nick, you should get a Ford Aspire...that way you can give the tours some serious competition at Carlisle next year!

In all seriousness, it looks fixable, you can get it fixed anywhere you want...don't let their insurance tell you where to go!!! Take the highest estimate that doesn't total it!

KBB.com says the average retail of your car is like $9,995, so I'd bet they're not gonna total it.

OMG Nick!! Are you guys ok?? It could have been a lot worse and you 2 could have suffered from a severe whiplash. What a [censored] weekend man. First no power in some places and now this how much worse can this [censored] get man. I hope you can get your car fixed man. The car probably only worth about $6500-$7000 so the damage will probably be about $3000-$4000 or maybe a little less. If it is not totaled and it starts giving you problems trade it in for the Escape becuase you might be having problems left to right man. My Dad bought a a brand new 94 Ranger 4x4 and about a year and a half after he had it he got into a bad accident in November 1995.

Here's the story. He stopped at a 4 way intersection and it wasn't a 4 way and east of the intersection there is a hill so he looks both ways and he proceeds and he kinda took his time going through it and all of a sudden BAM!! A car came outta no where and hit him on the right side at about 40-45 mph and it spun him around about 3-4 times and by the way the rear right tire also flew off. of course he got a ticket for failure to yield. The rear right side of the bed was pushed in so for that it was almost close to bending the frame and it was close to being totalled but it got fixed. About a week and a half after he got it back he traded it in on February 1996 on a brand new 97 F-150 extended cab/long bed and it was fully loaded. His truck was not the same after that. So like I said if you do have a lot of problems with it trade it in when you get the chance after you get it back and I hope this advice helps you

Hey man by the way if the car turns out to be totaled which I hope it isn't can I please have your sideskirts??

I think your car is totaled since year 2000 Contour's value has dropped a lot.

I had to get mine fixed since in Oct the car was supposed Blue Book worth 10,500. I had $4400 damage. Now cars only $7-7500. I sure wish mine was totaled out.

The seats and belts are NOT supposed to break in that kind of crash! I'd get a lawyer and look up seat belt safety standards and laws.

Did you call the police? Were they on the scene? Did you get the traffic report yet? These are deffinite questions you are gonna need answered. If you didn't get the reports, it is "his word against your word" and this is not too good.

Try to get that info and see what they say was the cause. Even though everyone can clearly see it, they will want documentation and all that mess. Screw the "oh we faxed the info to our claim adjusters" crap! Get names and numbers and see who they do business with...as far as insurance. I would wanna know everything. You involve me in an accident where it is not my fault, and I will be in every little thing you do because it involves me now. I would also get your insurance company involved. Let them handle it. Most of the time, if you can get them to do the dirty work, they can get it resolved becuz you are their money too. And if an insurance company decides to sue, it is a big deal.

Get that info, get the insurance info, and stay in their side till something comes of it.

L8R
Rich

Update:

Haven't heard from adjuster yet. I now have his name and number and have left a message. No rental car yet either.

It was clearly the van driver's fault. When he got out he apologized, said he wasn't paying attention, and he was the only one cited by the officer. Columbus has accident reports online, mine hasn't showed up yet. I am curious what it says because the officer never asked me what happened. Maybe it was obvious?

My neck is still stiff, my wife is complaining that her neck, lower back, and abdomen are sore. She went to work today as usual, I stayed home to try and sort this mess out.

Called lawyer for guidance. He is only worried about the PI part of it. Right now I am more concerned about getting the car fixed or totaled, and having all medical bills that were the result of this accident paid for(and any future bills related to this accident). I wish this had never happened, but I am glad we are OK. Again, than you for all the kind words and advice.

I have ruled out the Escape at this time because of all the plastic trim. Yuk!

Man that sucks, but it's good to hear all of you (including the baby).
Airbags might not have deployed because of the placement of the sensors....but those seats, someone at Ford needs to be made aware of, and if you are up to it make a complaint with NHTSA or something to that extent.......because if it has happened to you it's happened to someone else, and is bound to happen again.

Good Luck!! Glad to see you guys are in one piece still.