Got into an accident due to drunk drivers
 

I was driving down a two lane road with each going opposite ways. The on coming car was a Lincoln Aviator and he was drunk. He didn't have his headlights on and he came into my lane head on. It was too late to see him coming to swerve away.
These are the pictures of the accident. No was was hurt, however, the other guy ran away by foot and left his car there. They found beer bottles in his car.

Pic 1
Pic 2

How much you think it would cost to fix this?

You want your insurance to total it... Pics are poor, but looks like a lot of damage, probably bent frame etc...

Airbags? Car is totaled. Which is ABSOLUTELY what you want....

Main thing is that no one was hurt. and +1 on insurance to total it.

A car is never the same after damage like that. I hope they catch the guy!

:iagree: Car will never be the same again. Have the insurance total it and get a new one.

Both airbags deployed. I'll try to get the insurance to do that.
I hope they they catch him too cause it's scary to have people like that on the road. Lucky his whole driver wheel fell off or else he would have drove away.

You had better be prepared for the insurance... you will probably be shocked at what they say the car is worth.

I'd not say anything to them yet- but DO prepare a detailed market analysis of RETAIL prices for your exact car, every single option....

:iagree: and if airbags deployed then it should be automatically totaled. Did the other car hit and run?

Did you read what the OP said? Dude's driver front wheel fell off and he took off on foot.

Sorry to see that, OP. Good luck with everything and glad everyone is alright.

Well, technically he DID hit and run. On foot that is.
Glad the OP is ok.

Unlucky, good that no-one was hurt! Hopefully you get what the car is REALLY worth... not what they claim its worth.

Thank you, guys. He hit and literally ran away.

Let's us know if you need help with valuation.


Please be aware that BOTH insurers are most definitely NOT your friends... The both have a vested interest in settling quickly and for as little as possible. It is a rare insurer that will fight the other guys to max you settlement.

GL

A

Depends on year/model/mileage/etc...but it doesn't look totaled to me. The front fender is plastic, so it looks dramatic to have it torn off - but makes it cheap to replace.

I would say the damage is less than $10k.

1. Look at the wheel. It is bent over. That means major suspension damage, if not frame tweaks.

2. Airbags deployed. Have you priced airbags? Probably more than 10k in airbags alone. Just the one in the steering wheel is $900.

I think some states say that if airbags are deployed, especially front ones, the vehicle is automatically totaled from an insurance perspective. Could be wrong on that though....I'd recommend looking up the laws in your state, OP.

Just went threw this with the insurance company..... I was hit 7 months ago.. They tried to repair all this time spending 20k in repairs..... after that totaled it and paid 41,000 for my 2007 4.8 .... So they paid total over 65k on my 2007. Also Ard is correct! the insurance companies are not your friend!

dang that sucks, that's enough to really piss a person off.


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Did they ever catch the person that hit you? The Aviator wasn't a stolen car was it? Where was the work attempted to be done? Was it a BMW body shop? That sux man. I'm sorry that happened but glad no one was hurt.

Agreed. The superficial body work alone will come closer to $10k than some may think. By the time you replace the damaged items you can actually see with your eyes such as the fender, headlight, foglight, wheel, tire, repair/replace the drivers door, trim, paint, etc. You are looking at the better part of $10k. Now consider all of the structural issues, hidden issues and airbag issues and you are well above $10k. Hell, I had a front bumper refinished, a fender repaired/resprayed and a few trim pieces replaced and it came to about $2,500 on my e53. And that was a scratch compared to this.

The detective are still looking for him. It doesn't help that the car had maryland plates and register to someone in maryland. He told me that the driver was not the owner of the car and it wasn't stolen. But for me to press charges, I would need to find the driver. The car is still at the pound waiting for an adjustor to come take a look. I need a good BMW shop around NYC if anyone knows any. I'll keep you guys updated.

But the other car's insurance is covering the damage, no? As long as it is not stolen I would think it is covered under their insurance. (If they dont have insurnace, your Uninsured motorist coverage should apply.)

You need to understand the law in your state and not get caught up in what the detective or the insurance agent tells you.

International 2000 Auto Repair Incorporated. (212) 234-9770. 2315 12th Ave, New York, NY 10027

try that ..look for MIKE ...hes the owner's son there....we both drive e53s..and im sure he'll help you with the fixing....what ever you want to do with your ride ..goodluck

It will be total loss !

So it's confirmed, it's a total loss. The adjustor valued my X5 at 34k, I guess those BMW packages I've bought don't count towards the car. They still haven't found the guy, but I hope one day they do. Thank you all for reading this post!

And you are going to just lie down and take it???

OK, thanks, bye....

What year , mileage, and trim is the car? I don't think it was discussed. 34K Seems too low..

2008 X5 3.0si with 54k miles. Super clean body and interior.
Premium package, Tech package, 4 zone climate, Sat radio, Cold weather, Running boards.

Retail is 36k.

^really? Dealer valued my X (full spec btw) at £35k (around $50k) for trade-in value, that seams way too low... But in the UK there are only around 100 registered 3.0si', and only 7 m sports. My dealer has only ever seen one 3.0si, and thats mine. they never really kicked off in the UK, diesels are extremely popular (95% of all X5s in the UK are diesels) and the rest are 4.8s. 3.0si' were only available for a year or so anyway. taken off the UK market due to the fact that there was not enough sales.

Here is Aus they dont care what features or additional options have been added when it comes to an evaluation...only that it is either:

Sport or non sport...anything else is not included in the evaluation..

for our market it is only of interest when selling the car second hand.

You are lucky, I called them and they decide to give me another 1k, making it 35k.
I did managed to take the all season front floor mat, weather tech rear mat and that rear cargo cover. Planning to sell them to recoup some of the losses. PM me if interested.

I've tried taking the Grills and the space saver spare but the guy at the autoshop didn't let me, I've already signed the settlement papers.

I think you settled too low, but am glad to hear that you're okay. Good luck.

I'd thought so too until I did the NADA guide, KBB and edmunds. They came up 34k for a Clean retail, that's why I took the settlement. It was 36k last week but it went down this week.

Those guides are really for trade-in and re-sale value. Your insurance is for full replacement value minus deductible. You're probably only a couple thousand off, so no big deal. Enjoy your new ride and once again, so glad that you're okay.

Thank you, Cravin!
I'm 1-2k off but I'd had it for 1.5 years, I don't want to wait any longer since they take forever to get this resolved.

This is, of course, the essence of their strategy- low ball you, grind you...you give up. They have nothing but time to wait...and owners are anxious for money to buy a replacement.

Even if you really need the money, the trick is to ACT like you have plenty of time and dont need the settlement right away.

Wow this stinks! Last Friday my wife and I were hit on a highway ramp in our 2012 X5 by someone that I think was on meth. Their lights were off and went to pass us on the shoulder. I hit my brakes to let them go and luckily I did. At the same time he cut his wheel hard to the right to slam into us. Luckily he only hit the front bumper.

I followed him and called 911. He tried to loose us on back streets in Minneapolis but the roads were so empty that we could easily stay very far back and see where he was going. 20 minutes later the State Troopers caught up to him. They did a field sobriety test which passed but never did anything to check for other drugs. He was extremely agressive with the police and I was suprised they didn't do anything else but site him for an illegal lane change and put him at fault for the accident.

Now I have to wait on his insurance company, the fun begins...

No, you don't.

Start driving the bus- take control, establish who is in charge.

Nothing that THEY want to do is binding on you. You dont need to wait for them to send an adjuster, you dont need to see if he has rental car coverage, you don't need to use their body shops, etc, etc.

Find the very best two shops, get two estimates- make sure they are within a few hundred. Tell them you'll take the lower of the two, AND you will need a rental of an SUV for the time the car is being repaired.

GL

A

+100000000000 to what he just said.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll head into two shops after work tomorrow to get the estimates.