My unlucky day...my X5 was hit...

[Stevev]

Man, what a sad and horrible freaking day for me and my X5. I was parking at the parking lot this morning and all the sudden the big truck hit the freaking Nissan Sentra caused the guy to lose control, then he hit the side-curd and his car was airborned and slammed right into the front of the car. I was not inside the car at the time of impact occurred.

After the other truck hit this freaking Nissan, he ran away. While I was on the phone with the 911 operator, the driver of this car and his wife also fled by foot from the scene as well. I was able to provide the description of the driver and he was caught about half later. This Latino driver did not have a valid driver license and not insured. WTF...

The car looked pretty bad and it was not drivable. There was a broken metal rod not sure what the hell that is. You can see some of the pictures that I took from my iphone.

[soldmystang]

sorry to see that Bro. that is a tie rod you have snapped off there.

make sure you take it somewhere highly qualified. your entire front suspension / AWD system could have been damaged.

[LedZep]

Damned sorry to see it. Do your best to stay chin up, and here's hoping for a good fast repair!! Be sure to go to an authorized BMW repair shop.

[Jeg Norge]

wow that sux. hope it will get fixed or replaced asap. how will the insurance work in this case? since the latino guy clearly dont have the $ to pay you for the repairs.

[Stevev]

My first main concerned was the front suspension after I saw that broken rod. Man, what a freaking bad day and I felt so sad for my X5 . I could not concentrate at work for the whole afternoon.

I was refered by the BMW Dealer to go to this one auto body shop in my area where this body shop specialized in German car. So hopefully, they will do a good job when I get my car back. It would take about 3 weeks to get my car back.

Is there anything else that I would concern about. So far, what I have noticed that the gaps from the front hood is off aligment, the front driver door and the front driver fender gap was off alignment obviously caused by an strong impact. Nothing show on the dash board yet when the engine is running.

If the AWD suspension is damaged, repaired by the auto body shop and still not functionational properly, will BMW voided the warranty if I bring my car to the dealer for repair in this case?

Thanks,
Steve

[newmanium]

Originally Posted by Jeg Norge

wow that sux. hope it will get fixed or replaced asap. how will the insurance work in this case? since the latino guy clearly dont have the $ to pay you for the repairs.

Uninsured motorist coverage kicks in - happened to me, was a 500 deductible. My insurance went after the other guy for the deductible, got it after 2 years.

Bummer, hope the repairs go well.

[blown383]

phuking bummer!!!!!!

[Stevev]

I have a full coverage. In my case, the uninsured motorist policy kicked in to cover the property damaged since, that bastard did not have a valid California Driver License, no auto insurance, and fled scene after an accident. Luckily he was caught and booked to jail.

I contacted my insurance Claim Adjuster and asking about the $500.00 deductible fee. It will be waived onced he get a police accident report. So that is a good news right there.

This is one of the bad memory days that I will remember for quite sometimes. Totally sucks!!!

[ard]

Originally Posted by Stevev

My first main concerned was the front suspension after I saw that broken rod. Man, what a freaking bad day and I felt so sad for my X5 . I could not concentrate at work for the whole afternoon.

I was refered by the BMW Dealer to go to this one auto body shop in my area where this body shop specialized in German car. So hopefully, they will do a good job when I get my car back. It would take about 3 weeks to get my car back.

Is there anything else that I would concern about. So far, what I have noticed that the gaps from the front hood is off aligment, the front driver door and the front driver fender gap was off alignment obviously caused by an strong impact. Nothing show on the dash board yet when the engine is running.

If the AWD suspension is damaged, repaired by the auto body shop and still not functionational properly, will BMW voided the warranty if I bring my car to the dealer for repair in this case?

Thanks,
Steve

Sorry to hear this.

Have you had a lot of experience dealing with insurance/repairs?

Do you own it or is it a leases?

First, DO NOT assume the BMW dealer has a special relationship with a body shop or that the body shop they recommend is the very best. You should make a post asking for references. One problem is that most consumers are clueless when it comes to paint/repair quality. Many people accept work I'd reject... so the shops really need to know what YOUR criteria will be. They'll 'decode' what you say to figure out what level of quality they need to meet your standards...sad but true.

I am horrified when I disassemble a car that was repaired- wrong fasteners, missing stuff, etc. Paint is shiny, but that's it!

On your repair I am concerned with structural issues (A pillar), ability to get the alignment right, then just 'quality of the job' (replacing every tweaked part, no missing fasteners, proper prep, proper color blending, matching orange peel, etc)


Keep in mind that there are repairs that would render a car "not CPO worthy"...these will have DRAMATIC inpact on you car's value once repaired- even if done perfectly. This is called "Diminished Value". Do a google search.

Unfortunately, your contract with your insurance company will not cover this- HOWEVER, the other two drivers ARE responsible for the diminished value loss you will suffer. (Ignore this if a lease). If they have assets or the first guy turns up and has insurance, you can go after him. This can be $5000-10000 for a serious damage.

Once you get an estimate as to the extent of the damage, you can post up and we'll give more input.

Hope this is some help... probably more of a bummer, but wanted to mention it.

A

PS You could go after the bastard, sue him for DV, even if he has no insurance if he does have property, etc.... although probably a scumbag anyway

[Stevev]

My car was purchased and still have 3 than three years to pay off.

I do aware and agree with you on the DV issue. The resale value will diminish more on any cars with an accident history.

Here is a information that I got from the auto body shop.

1-Customer dropped off vehicle to have the front bumper damaged to repair.
2-Front end repaired to pre-loss condition.
3-The auto body shop will disassemble all bolds and bolts and neccessary.
4-Trim and mechanic to access all damages
5-Once teardown has been completed, the shop will prepare
6-Estimate and notify the customer of the required repairs
7-The estimate repair cost is $5850

I would expected that the cost is more because of the extent of the damaged.

Thank you for your inputs and advice Ard.

Steve

Originally Posted by ard

Sorry to hear this.

Have you had a lot of experience dealing with insurance/repairs?

Do you own it or is it a leases?

First, DO NOT assume the BMW dealer has a special relationship with a body shop or that the body shop they recommend is the very best. You should make a post asking for references. One problem is that most consumers are clueless when it comes to paint/repair quality. Many people accept work I'd reject... so the shops really need to know what YOUR criteria will be. They'll 'decode' what you say to figure out what level of quality they need to meet your standards...sad but true.

I am horrified when I disassemble a car that was repaired- wrong fasteners, missing stuff, etc. Paint is shiny, but that's it!

On your repair I am concerned with structural issues (A pillar), ability to get the alignment right, then just 'quality of the job' (replacing every tweaked part, no missing fasteners, proper prep, proper color blending, matching orange peel, etc)


Keep in mind that there are repairs that would render a car "not CPO worthy"...these will have DRAMATIC inpact on you car's value once repaired- even if done perfectly. This is called "Diminished Value". Do a google search.

Unfortunately, your contract with your insurance company will not cover this- HOWEVER, the other two drivers ARE responsible for the diminished value loss you will suffer. (Ignore this if a lease). If they have assets or the first guy turns up and has insurance, you can go after him. This can be $5000-10000 for a serious damage.

Once you get an estimate as to the extent of the damage, you can post up and we'll give more input.

Hope this is some help... probably more of a bummer, but wanted to mention it.

A

PS You could go after the bastard, sue him for DV, even if he has no insurance if he does have property, etc.... although probably a scumbag anyway