Go figure, not even first oil change and someone hits me.

[foxxxtman]

I was driving home from work in the rain on a 4 lane road separated by a median. Traffic in front of the guy next to me slammed on their brakes and he wasn't paying attention, he seen he didn't have time to stop and quickly jerked his car into my lane right into me. Hit me so hard that it felt like it lifted the front end of my car up and forced me off the road into the grass. Any guesses as to how much damage is done?

A light came on for a fault in the power steering and the steering wheel moves back and forth a good 6 inches each way before it catches anything. The drivers side front wheel is bent over a good 6 or 8 inches up top I would say at least. I wanted to punch the tow truck driver too because he didn't have a rollback bed and kept trying to get his jack under the car hitting the painted plastic below the fender. Then he had to turn the car on and put it in neutral to tow it, I would have rather not done that until the car had been diagnosed to ensure there were no leaks or anything. To top it all off he towed it an hour in the opposite direction of where it was supposed to and put it in storage for the weekend vice just towing it to the dealership it was supposed to go to 15 minutes away.

Lots more to the story, it was a trying day to say the least. My lower back is a little stiff and a rib or 2 a little sore but other than that I'm fine. Just hoping that nothing too bad is done to the car to hurt the value. Need a beer.

 

[skwerl]

I'm reading through the manual of my new 2014 Mustang this evening and it states in the towing section that these cars should be towed on a rollback or on dollies. Transmission damage will occur if towed with the rear wheels on the ground. Sounds like your tow truck driver just cost his company a boat load of money. I'd consider consulting an attorney since this looks like a real mess developing.

 

[foxxxtman]

This just keeps getting worse and worse. I'll see if I can find that in the manual, would it matter at all if he left the car started with the key in and it in neutral? I was pissed to start with because they showed up with one that only gets the front tires off the ground and he kept trying to ram a jack underneath of it hitting the paint (albeit not super hard), I went to the back and got my jack out to get it up far enough for his jack. I also could see where he was jacking it up but it appear to not be on the lip, he put it further underneath the car.

I also learned a valuable lesson.... I had already talked with my insurance to select the dealership for repair and told him where it was going but he had me sign a blank form to take possession. He told me he had the information and I told him the dealership. I went to the dealership to get stuff out of the car later in the day and it wasn't there, the idiot towed it a full hour in the opposite direction vice just taking it 15 minutes to the dealership and stored it in an uncovered lot for the weekend. It still has to make it to the dealership tomorrow. I guess I better call in the morning to ensure it goes on rollback.

Looking for guidance here if anyone has been through this and has some good tips. I'm so irritated right now... time to grab another beer

 

[skwerl]

Tow truck drivers are mostly scum, almost as bad as tree guys. I've been through several bad towing situations and now keep my favorite tow company's 24 hour dispatch number stored in my phone. When I wrecked my car in April I ran off the first idiot who spent 45 minutes trying to figure out how to drag my car away from the brick wall. When my guy showed up he had my car loaded in 12 minutes.

 

[foxxxtman]

I will be calling my insurance company first thing in the morning since I went through them to get the tow truck dispatched. I'm quite sure that they will be interested to hear that the tow truck driver hauled the car improperly an hour in the wrong direction to store it in a lot over the weekend and had me sign a blank form assuring me that he had the information and was about to fill it in. Guess I learned a valuable lesson but had already been there a few hours and enterprise rent-a-car was there with a vehicle to haul me back. I guess I could talk to our legal guys as well to get advice if USAA doesn't take charge. I'm so irritated at the whole situation.

 

[skwerl]

Best of luck, man. I've had my new baby 2 days and I would be devastated if it got hit.

 

[DOFORLIFE]

That sucks man. I hope things get better and all gets resolved.

 

[Riptide]

That sucks. Mine got hit with less than 1000 miles on it. Damage wasn't as bad as yours though so I guess I was "lucky". People need to pay attention ffs.

Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatwat

 

[LAStang1234]

Fuck me! Sorry to hear brother, hope things get better.

 

[quiksilver15]

Brand new car with that few miles, I wouldn't want the car back honestly. Better get the guys insurance to cut you a check for depreciated value. There is a thread around here that explains all of it. The process seems like a pain in the ass, but it would be something to look into. Basically they are paying you for the price drop of having a wreck on your vehicle history report.

Good luck bud, remember cooler heads prevail. Also do not ever take a check/ get your car back until it is perfect in your eyes, once you take possession if either, you're stuck. Also go see a doctor ASAP, so that is documented for any future discomfort/pain.

 

[foxxxtman]

^^ Thanks for the info quiksilver05, i appreciate it. I'm very picky with the car, it's garage kept (although daily driver) and didn't have a scratch on it. I will not accept it back unless it looks new. Thanks for mentioning the depreciated value thread, I'm going to have to look for that and was wondering if there was anything like that for it. I'll be going to medical this morning to get it documented, had already planned that. Lower back is a little stiff and my ribs along that side. I kept a cool head and never raised my voice or was rude but now it's time to work and make sure all this stuff is straight!

I'm kind of in the same boat with you about almost not wanting it back. Only had 4500 miles on it and you always hear of "cars never being the same" after an accident. Would prefer to have a new one unless they can get it perfect. I don't know with all that damage, it's not like it was just a little fender bender, you can clearly see in the pic the tire is laid over pretty good and there is significant damage.

 

[claudermilk]

That sucks. The main thing is you are ok--though have you gone to see a doctor yet?

My wife had an accident in our other car (Fusion) in the same location. Not a high-speed one--just a dumb bitch racing out of dropping her kid at school in a neighborhood & clipped the car. Similar damage; while her wheel wasn't laid over like that, the tire rod snapped & got ripped out of the spindle. Fender & bumper got replaced, wheel repaired, pretty much the entire suspension on that corner replaced. The car is like new. My initial guess is you are looking at the same. Have them check that the steering rack is ok, too. The Fusion's motor failed on a trip a couple of months later; I cannot say whether it was fallout from the accident or a defective part, but Ford replaced it under warranty and it's been fine since. I would guess no frame damage.

 

[foxxxtman]

Went to see the doctor this morning. He done an adjustment on my back, there were a couple places out of alignment. He also worked on the muscles a bit and said that my left side was noticeably inflamed and larger, also said I likely had a couple of bruised ribs. They gave me some muscle relaxers and told me to come back if I don't feel better. I don't feel awful, just my lower back has been stiff/tight and a few of my ribs a bit tender and felt like I needed my back aligned (which he tried).

It would be nice if they could repair it as new and it not effect the resale value of the car, that would be my preference. The steering column is likely jacked since I could move the wheel a good 6 inches either way before it caught any tension or anything and the power steering pump failure light came on. We will see I guess, it should make it to the dealership today so they can start the appraisal.

 

[07TGGT]

No car is going to not lose value after an accident that is reported to insurance.

 

[claudermilk]

Went to see the doctor this morning. He done an adjustment on my back, there were a couple places out of alignment. He also worked on the muscles a bit and said that my left side was noticeably inflamed and larger, also said I likely had a couple of bruised ribs. They gave me some muscle relaxers and told me to come back if I don't feel better. I don't feel awful, just my lower back has been stiff/tight and a few of my ribs a bit tender and felt like I needed my back aligned (which he tried).

It would be nice if they could repair it as new and it not effect the resale value of the car, that would be my preference. The steering column is likely jacked since I could move the wheel a good 6 inches either way before it caught any tension or anything and the power steering pump failure light came on. We will see I guess, it should make it to the dealership today so they can start the appraisal.

There's no power steering pump in these cars. It's electric, and that sounds like the impact killed your motor if not the whole rack.

Now there will be an accident on the car's record, so nothing to be done about that. Just make sure they get it like new & enjoy the car. Like I said with my Fusion: you can't tell anything happened to the car.

 

[foxxxtman]

There's no power steering pump in these cars. It's electric, and that sounds like the impact killed your motor if not the whole rack.

Now there will be an accident on the car's record, so nothing to be done about that. Just make sure they get it like new & enjoy the car. Like I said with my Fusion: you can't tell anything happened to the car.

Sorry, my ignorance on that one, I saw an error message come up stating something about power steering failure and I figured it was pump driven. Regardless, the power steering is jacked up as well as the visible damage. As long as the car is good as new I plan on keeping it for a while so a slight loss in value wouldn't kill me but if we're talking thousands I won't stand for that. My brother runs a used car dealership and he told me that they always pull a carfax and if the airbags have deployed or if there is frame/subframe damage that it definitely hurts the value but they don't pay too much attention to just a general fender bender. I'm going to ask some very pointed questions and gather some info on this.

 

[Wes06]

so he actually started the car, and just had it idle as he towed it away, the wrong direction

the fuck?

 

[Scott]

I get sick to my stomach when I read of situations like this. I hope you get everything settled to your satisfaction quickly!

 

[foxxxtman]

so he actually started the car, and just had it idle as he towed it away, the wrong direction

the fuck?

Wasn't really the wrong direction as much as improperly. The car was facing forwards behind the truck, he just neglected to put dollies underneath the rear tires as the manual states. He did start it and let it idle in neutral the whole way there. The manual says that you either have to put it on a rollbed to get all the wheels off the ground or to use dollies under the rear tires, you SHOULD NOT put the car in neutral and pull it with the rear tires on the ground or you may cause transmission damage. He did tow it that way for an hour too...... I called USAA this morning and had them contact the towing company to ensure that it's towed properly the other hour back to the dealership and notified them of what had happened. They told me to ensure I let the dealership conducting the work know and if something is wrong I can submit a claim against the towing company or submit a seperate comprehensive claim through my insurance since claims against towing companies generall take quite a while. I just don't want anything to raise my insurance premiums (they are very cheap and I want to keep it that way) unless it's me being an idiot and doing the damage. Whole thing has been a PITA.

 

[fdjizm]

Why would you let some asshole tow your car away while it's running?
if the first red flag wasn't that he's towing it wrong, the leaving the car on shit was the icing on the cake.