So I am sitting at a red light in The Woodlands today and I get rear-ended at 35 mph. My trunk is smashed in and my bumper is messed up too. The lights on one side arre shattered. I called my insurance and the girl's insurance and let them know what happened. So a couple of questions... 1) Will they total my car for a smashed trunk and a messed-up bumper (I drive a 2003 Lexus GS300)? 2) If they don't total the car, then does my car officially become an "accident vehicle"? If it does, then that stinks because it'll knock quite a bit of value off of the car in the event I want to sell it or trade it in. I'm really mad that this happened to my Lexus. I took great care of this car and now I fear that it was all for not. I have an accident car on my hands that no dealer will want as a trade-in and no one will want to buy because it has been in a wreck. Oh well..at least I'm okay.
Probably not. Total loss threshold for your car is about $17,500 (i.e. the repairs will have to approach that amount before most carriers will consider totaling it. The insurance company should consider a "loss of value" claim depending on the severity of damage. Wrecked/repaired vehicles are repaired all the time and are easily resold depending on the quality of repairs. I recommend Westside Lexus for your repairs. They are hands down, IMO, the best body shop in the Houston area.
I usually use Sterling McCall for my maintenance/repairs, but since you recommended it, I'll take it to Westside. Actually, aren't Westside and Northside owned by the same people? With that trunk flapping around all over the place, I don't want to drive any further than I have to.
Sterling Mccall's body shop is on Wilcrest @ Bissonnett. IMO, they are a notch below Westside. Northside is a branch of Westside. Northside has an excellent body shop also. If you go there, ask for Danny Brown. If you go to Westside, see Steve Conrad.
Hey Jackfruit, while I hope your car turns out okay, if you were rear-ended be very watchful for any neck or back pain. Whiplash is real. It happened to my sister after she was rear-ended. It might take a day or two to feel it, but go to the doctor if you wake up in pain.
Thanks for the advice. I think I'll go to Northside because it's much closer to the Woodlands. I'll definitely ask for Danny when I go. The adjuster should meet with me early next week (I hope). Once he/she sees the damage, I'll go. Thanks again.
I certainly will. I know that the pain of whiplash comes on a day or two after the fact. If it's to come, I hope it comes tomorrow. That way, I can see the doctor without having to miss more time from work than needed. My mom was in a wreck a few years back and I think it took 3 days for the pain to hit. And when it did, it was awful. Thanks for the concern.
35 mph is damn fast to run into someone at a stop light. Was this person intoxicated or anything? I can understand hitting someone at that speed on the highway, but when everyone is stopped it makes little sense, unless they were impaired.
I've just been really bogged with work and stuff. Plus this crap with the accident doesn't help. Hope you're doing well man. We'll have to catch up over dinner sometime.
I guess I left out the other part of the story. There was a group of anti-war protestors protesting and holding up signs on a walkway over the street. The girl that hit me was watching the protestors and reading the signs. She had no idea that there was a light in front of her and that I was sitting at the light.
One more question guys...since my car is RWD and it got smashed in the back, does that mean that I could have had mechanical damage as well?
So am I correct in assuming then that most if not all of the damage will be cosmetic? The reason I ask is I am trying to decide whether I want to keep the car after it's repaired, or if I should trade it in and get another one. I figure that Lexus will give me the best trade value for it right after I repair it with them. However, if the damage is cosmetic, then maybe I'm best served just keeping the car and not worrying about potential mechanical issues down the road. On a different note, I think my Lexus Certified Pre Owned Warranty got voided yesterday because of the accident. I don't think Lexus will stand behind the car anymore.
