OUCH ! ! !

[Daktari]

Hi there,

OK, we've had our first incident with our T-bird. Luckily it was a stupid slow speed happening so the damage is repairable but will cost around $2.500.00 to put it right. More importantly, no injuries, (apart from our poor car).

Here's what happened. Rachel was on her way to have her hair done. She was sat in the car, stationary in a long line of cars stopped at a red light. She was positioned in the inside lane partly over the driveway into a Chevy dealership. She noticed the guy in the car behind wave to a big white van waiting to pull out and he left a space for the van to pull in to.

Next thing...WHACK! The driver of the van instead of pulling into the space drove right into the rear wheel area of our car damaging the rear fender and the plastic rear bumper panel. I feel really bad for Rachel because it was obviously not her fault at all but she still had to make the phone call to me at work to let me know the car was damaged.

I was just so thankful that everyone was ok and there were no injuries involved. She was so upset about the car. I told her not to worry, it can be repaired - no problem and at least the van driver had insurance so we should not have to pay anything.

At one point I happened to say, "Well, I guess accidents happen".
The police officer who was making an accident report corrected me and said, "We are trying to get away from that frame of mind. Incidents like this can be avoided".

At this point he looked at the van guy and just said, "You were not paying attention and I just hope you were not on the phone to someone. If you were paying attention, this would not have happened".

He really told the guy off and I almost started to feel sorry for him.(Almost, that is - he did spoil our shiny black car).

Anyway, to sum up, nobody hurt, the car is fixable and the other guy's insurance should pay for it all. It means we won't have the car for about 2 weeks but I guess it could have been a lot worse.

Gordon.

[FritsB]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Wow Bummer Gordon. But like you said, glad everyone is ok and not hurt. Cars can be fixed easy.
It will look like new soon I am sure.

[EBird]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

I am sorry Gordon. That is a Bummer....

[BirdsAndBugs]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Nobody was injured and the car can be fixed...it's just a hassle you didn't need though.

[Hannah3]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

TWO WEEKS. ARE YOU SERIOUS? If this were in the DC area you would be extremely lucky to get it back within a month.

[CMCruisn]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Best thing is your wife is OK. Sounds like the car will be as good as new when it gets fixed. Good thing the other guy has insurance, too many don't have any.

[islandtime]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Personally, I'm glad to hear that the police told the guy off. Too many "incidents" happen when the one at fault isn't paying attention. Wish the cop that came to my "incident" in 1994 had that frame of mind. I had just bought a brand new Bronco...it was 2 weeks old when an F-350 rear-ended it. I was stopped at a red light. The cop acted as if it was my fault, and reamed me out for "holding up traffic" until he got there. My Bronco wasn't drivable...had to be towed away, and yes, it was totaled. The cop never even asked if I was injured. He simply said, "Lady, it's an accident - they happen all the time."

[Will]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

It's a bad break, Gordon, & I'm sorry to hear it happened. Give my regards to Rachel & tell her we're all glad she's okay. Um, do the English use "okay"?

[Mintgrn]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Gordon , I am glad no one was hurt and that your car is repairable. Be a bad memory in a month.

[Daktari]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Hi there,

Thanks everyone and the main thing is that there were no injuries. We will miss the car for a few weeks though. In contrast to what happened yesterday, I just got the results back from my regular 3 monthly C.T. scan and once again, it came back clear.

It was quite funny in a way yesterday, there was Rachel,the guy from the van, the policeman and me on the way to the clinic for my scan. They were all there discussing the 'car incident' and I was there drinking my banana flavour barium drink at the side of the road in preperation for the scan.

Like I said, the 'clear' result from yesterday's scan really keeps things in perspective and the fact that the car got damaged,(even though it is a Thunderbird), is not that important in comparison.

Will, 'okay' is used in Britain but what is the origin of 'OK', anyone know?

All the best, Gordon.

[Leroy]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Make sure they use brand new Ford parts and no Bondo. Best thing is to have a Ford dealer do it. Ford can get all new parts, other shops will hit the junk yards. The truck drivers Ins. Co. will try to get off as cheap as possible. Ford might take a little longer to fix it, but it will be done right and they'll stand behind it. Another thing is this will show up on your car-fax report, if you ever deside to sell the car and may lower it's resale value. Leroy

[Bradford]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

It's been my finding in the past, car dealerships are not the best at body work. Their focus is on selling and servicing cars. Body work is a skill, the better skilled body repairemen tend to work for a Body Shop. Body Shops will carry the latest and best in equipment, paint booths, etc. That's all the do and if they are not good at it, their business will suffer or be gone. You always have the right to request genuine Ford parts, most reputable body shops post that they ony use genuine parts.

Many car dealers don't even have their own repair facilities anymore and contract to strictly body shops, they simply can't get the craftsmen to match the body shops.

I learned the hard way with a 2002 Cadillac Eldorado ETC, was a beautiful, comfortable and powerful car. After body work at the local Cadillac dealer, who had actually been recommended, had been ibn business for decades, it went back numerous times to correct body work, car was never the same. Was totally disgusted with the car after that.Traded less than a year later. car was less than 2 years old when I traded it.

[Bradford]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

It's been my finding in the past, car dealerships are not the best at body work. Their focus is on selling and servicing cars. Body work os a skill, the better skilled body repairemen tend to work for a Body Shop. Body Shops will carry the latest and best in equipment, paint booths, etc. That's all the do and if they are not good at it, their business will suffer or be gone. You always have the right to request genuine Ford parts, most reputable body shops post that they ony use genuine parts.

Many car dealers don't even have their own repair facilities anymore and contract to strictly body shops, they simply can't get the craftsmen to match the body shops.

I learned the hard way with a 2002 Cadillac Eldorado ETC, was a beautiful, comfortable and powerful car. After body work at the local Cadillac dealer, who had actually been recommended, had been ibn business for decades, it went back numerous times to correct body work, car was never the same. Was totally disgusted with the car after that.Traded less than a year later. car was less than 2 years old when I traded it.

[SixPac]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

Insurance companies try to dictate where you go for body repairs. You can fight that policy too.

[bronzebird]

Re: OUCH ! ! !

I would agree that taking the car to a dealer for body repairs is a bad idea. In fact, most dealers in our area outsource their body work because it is such a specialized business anymore. Dealerships can handle mechanical repairs but good body work is beyond their ken. Would you let a general contractor repair your furnace/AC unit in your home or would you use an HVAC specialist?

You can specify to any reputable body shop that you only want Ford, OEM parts as replacements and you can even request they show you the invoice from the dealer just to be certain.

Your insurance adjuster can help you there. Even if the other guy is paying the total bill, I would still get my insurance carrier involved just to make certain that the estimating procedure is done correctly and that you have an advocate on your side in case something bad happens.