[WanderingBob]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I tried searching for a similar thread, but came up empty. Yesterday someone backed into my exige at a gas station. It was ~5mph and it left a couple of tiny scuff marks in the star shield below the driver's side turn signal. The door panel gap also looks slightly different between the L/R sides (or maybe lotus build issue?) If this were my other car, I would have ignored it. However knowing that the lotus is made of eggshells and the potential cost of clamshell problems, I asked the other driver to exchange insurance info as required by law. He repeatedly refused and I had to call the police (who "persuaded" him to comply). No report was filed as there were no injuries or visible property damage.

I will have the dealer look at it when its in for an oil change next week. Hopefully they will give it a clean bill of health.

So the question is what other steps should I take to make sure I have all my bases covered? Should I report this to my insurance company now in case problems show up later? Or should I wait until the dealer has found a problem? What if the dealer doesn't find a problem now, but something shows up months later (like how it took weeks for cracks to form on the chin spoiler after scraping it on my driveway)?

Any input would be appreciated.

- bob

 

[rsamani]

I had a similar incident happens. Initial inspection was good but that gash on the clear bra is always a sore to my eyes

At the minimum, push for a star shield replacement if the clam checks out to be good.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Report it to your insurance. You don't have to make a claim yet. This gets it on record. The other person didn't want to give you their info? Wow.

 

[WanderingBob]

I had a similar incident happens. Initial inspection was good but that gash on the clear bra is always a sore to my eyes

Ouch sorry to hear about your experience.

Report it to your insurance. You don't have to make a claim yet. This gets it on record. The other person didn't want to give you their info? Wow.

I was unsure if I had anything claim worthy yet, but its good to know I can report it first. I'll get that taken care of tomorrow.
Yeah crazy. The other driver tried offering a number of lame excuses, all of which were contrary to CA law or common sense. Eventually he just clammed up and said he wasn't going to cooperate. When the police arrived he tried the same arguments with the officer. That did not go too well for him either...

Im hoping the dealer doesn't find anything wrong since it would turn into another headache that I don't have time to deal with. But now its left me second guessing whether if I should have obtained the contact info for some of people in the adjacent pumps in case this degenerates into a he said she said type of incident.

- bob

 

[Noelsmith]

Front crash structure

See if you can get a read on the condition of the crash structure when you take it in.

Noel

 

[WanderingBob]

See if you can get a read on the condition of the crash structure when you take it in.
Noel

Thanks for the tip Noel.


I tried reporting the incident to my insurance company today, but they indicated they need a damage amount before they could input it into the system. Guess its a waiting game for the dealer to inspect the car.

-bob

 

[derrek1280]

I'm not sure why the driver of the other vehicle was so resistant. If I backed into someone's Lotus I'd be happy to still be alive

 

[mkzhang]

I had situations where the other person refuses to give their insurance info. I tell them that's fine, they can drive away if they would like because I will be calling the cops on them for hit and run.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

With nothing but the license plate number, an insurance agent can find out just about anything you would want to about the driver and anyone else in the family. My wife was once hit and the arrogant woman refused to give her any info. With just the plate number the agent found out everything. Name, age, address, tel number, insurance company.

 

[road racer]

sounds like it's totaled. I'll give you $20k.

 

[WanderingBob]

I'm not sure why the driver of the other vehicle was so resistant. If I backed into someone's Lotus I'd be happy to still be alive

So true. So true.

sounds like it's totaled. I'll give you $20k.

LOL



Update - I finally received a call back from the dealer on pricing for an inspection. They said a simple inspection would be 2 hours of labor and a thorough one (removing the clam) would be 6. I was more than willing to pay for a simple inspection out of pocket if it was ~$100, but 2 hours @ shop rate is 300+ for someone else's mistake.

I ended up starting a claim with the other party's insurance carrier since my insurance would not cover diagnostic fees unless there was a determination that work needed to be done. Otherwise it would have come out of my deductible anyway. Things would have been so much simpler if (a) he looked in his mirror before backing up or (b) the impact had been a few mph faster or slower. Then it would have been obvious that there was either no chance of damage or there would be an obvious gaping crack somewhere. Still waiting for a call back from the insurance agent in charge of the claim.

- bob

 

[Noelsmith]

Bob,

After I curbed my front end, I took it to my insurance co"s adjuster and got an estimate for the repair. No cost for the estimate (Allstate in RI). If it turns out the cost of the repair is more than the estimate, I get the additional difference minus the deductible of course.

Obviously, this doen't work that way with your coverage, but it does seem strange that you would need to be out of pocket for just the estimate.

Good luck.

Noel

 

[sturgeongeneral]

Sorry that it happened. Hopefully things will work out. I watched someone pull into a parking lot and hit my brand new truck. His tags on his pos van had expired 3 years earlier, his licence was 5 years expired and he parked two aisles over and tried walking into the store without saying anything. I approached him and he denied it happened. Luckily two people jumped out of thier cars who saw it happen. With no tags, no licence, and no insurance the cops refused to show up even though it was hit and run! Get a copy of the stations recorder tape before it gets deleted! Best of luck!

 

[invictusmaneo]

I just got hit in a parking lot on my left rear last week. Although they admitted fault and USAA is taking care of anything, the minor-ish paint damage and broken side marker initial estimate is 2500, not including the diminished value I am going to go after.

It is massively frustrating when you get hit. Particularly when you do everything right (in my case park 50 feet away from everyone, at the end of the lot, under a bright street light...) Luckily in my case I won't be paying my deductible, but it is still a load of asspain

 

[WanderingBob]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. After spending much of the day on the phone with the other party's insurance company, they accepted responsibility for the incident. However after talking to 3 insurance agents from different parts of the claim process, I get the impression that they wouldn't pay for the dealer inspection either unless the inspection finds damage of some sort. As I said earlier, things would have been so much simpler if the impact was either a few mph faster or slower.

Obviously, this doen't work that way with your coverage, but it does seem strange that you would need to be out of pocket for just the estimate.

Yeah the whole thing seems weird. I suspect the difference is they want me to take it to a bodyshop, which normally would give out a free estimate after a crappy 5 minute walkaround. The dealer on the other hand wanted to charge labor to pull the fender wells and look at it from the bottom.

Sorry that it happened. Hopefully things will work out. I watched someone pull into a parking lot and hit my brand new truck. His tags on his pos van had expired 3 years earlier, his licence was 5 years expired and he parked two aisles over and tried walking into the store without saying anything. I approached him and he denied it happened. Luckily two people jumped out of thier cars who saw it happen. With no tags, no licence, and no insurance the cops refused to show up even though it was hit and run! Get a copy of the stations recorder tape before it gets deleted! Best of luck!

Wow that's so wrong. I hope your truck got repaired on that scumbag's dime. Or did it go under un-insured motorist coverage? Its amazing how irresponsible people can be. Im surprised the cops did not want to get involved though since driving without a license usually carries a pretty stiff fine, plus you had property damage?

I just got hit in a parking lot on my left rear last week. Although they admitted fault and USAA is taking care of anything, the minor-ish paint damage and broken side marker initial estimate is 2500, not including the diminished value I am going to go after.

It is massively frustrating when you get hit. Particularly when you do everything right (in my case park 50 feet away from everyone, at the end of the lot, under a bright street light...) Luckily in my case I won't be paying my deductible, but it is still a load of asspain

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. I hope everything gets resolved to your satisfaction. I totally agree with you on the frustration part. Getting your car damaged is bad enough, but then you get penalized again by having to spend days wading through the claim and repair process.


- bob

 

[WanderingBob]

Dealer inspection of inside of clam came back OK.

Now comes the fun of getting the other party's insurance to reimburse. I expect an uphill battle even though they admitted fault...

- bob

 

[komiko]

tell them clam comes off for best Star Shield replacement. Maybe not.