amf1932

Last week I was out to a Long Island mall shopping, and when I came back to the parking area, there was my car pushed back into the traffic lane. I noticed that before I left to shop there was an SUV parked with the tail of his/her car in front of me. It looked like the driver of this SUV inadvertently put their car in reverse and crashed into me with such force that it made a hole in my bumper, drove the whole assembly back, so the hood was kinked, plus on first inspection did other internal damages. I drove the ES home without noticing any ill effects from this trauma. On Monday morning I went to my Lexus dealer to get an idea of how much this repair was going to cost, and I was told about $2000.....but he could give me a more accurate price after the bumper was removed. The original estimate was incorrect, because on further inspection both the left & right headlamp assemblies were cracked, and they had to be replaced also...at about $1000 per side. The final total for this repair was $4045.53, plus my comprehensive deductible of $500. The hood, hid light assemblies, bumper, plus many more bent brackets had to be replaced. I won't get my car back until sometime next week, but I was told that after this repair was done, that this fairly massive job would be undetectable. I've seen some other jobs that this Lexus body shop has done in the past.....so I believe what they told me.
Upset is really not strong enough to describe how I'm feeling, as you can understand, but it's really bothering me tremendously, since this SUV owner took off without leaving me any kind of note.....hit & run!
Remember: If at all possible, DON'T PARK BEHIND AN SUV!! The main reason my car had so much damage was because of the unequal bumper heights.
I'll report back after I get my sweet 'lil car back, and tell you the final results.

CaBlonde

I am so sorry Amf1932. That is heartbreaking and totally sucks. I try to be so careful with creative parking but there is only so much you can do. Even though I park all by myself and have to walk across the parking lot to the store or at my office I park in the rarely used side lot so I can take up two spots, there are still times I have to park among others. You just have to hope that that person has the common courtesy not to hit your car. I know it is a matter of time before someone puts a nick or worse on "Alexus".

<VENOM>

Did you say it pushed your car back into the traffic lane, thats a lot of force, surprised noone saw or heard that, did you check with mall security they may have it on camera

e-man

This absolutely enrages me. Sometimes when I park next to someone and the spaces are a little tight, or if I'm parallel parking and there isn't a lot of room, I'll write down the make, model and license plate of the car just in case. The thing is, though, that here you would have had no reason to do that because the SUV was in front of you facing out. All he/she had to do was put the car in drive and leave. You must feel so violated. I'm really sorry to hear this.

e

cocopops

iTrader: (1)

geez. i feel for you, amf. I hope the SUV will one day taste the bitterness of a hit and run as well. (Ok.. Hold on to me.. I am fuming...()

LexBob2

AMF, was there any damage to your transmission? If the car was in Park, and the force pushed it back that far, it might be worth having the dealer check it out while they're making the other repairs. Unbelievable!

Swobro

Holy krikee and WTF? The STUPID PEOPLE are all around us.....we must be vigilant. That is an unbelievable story and we can only hope that the driver of the SUV gets his or her just desserts.

Nextourer

ouch. Tell me about it. My dad was stopped behind an Jeep Grand Cherokee driver as he waited in line to refuel at a station. When the Jeep owner was done, he hopped into his SUV, started yapping on the phone, selected reverse and rather than slowly back out, he just plowed out and into our one month old car!

Ingram4868

Depending on your State that much damage can make fleeing the scene a felony. Perhaps you can check with mall security to see if any of it was caught on tape. If you can see the person in the parking lot getting into the SUV then ask to see the interior tapes to see if you can spot the person exiting shops with shopping bags. That would suggest a purchase which could lead to a credit card purchase and ID.

Celibon

Just curious... I thought of the same thing too, writing down the license plate of vehicles that may dent my car when I park. However I don't know if this memo would have any weight when it's presented to the police. Anyone knows?

Amf I'm really sorry to hear about this incident. I hope you can catch the guy and make him pay, and more.

twister

Alan, I'm sorry to hear about your car. This is totally unfair. You were probably one of the first people on East Coast to get this car, and also probably one of the first one to have such a dramatic damage Being an optimist myself, at least you weren't in a car and didn't get hurt. This is the most important thing, everything else is just a car that can be fixed.

Please keep us updated, and can't wait to see new shiny pictures of your Amber Lexus!!!

On a lighter side, are you sure this SUV wasn't from our Jersey side? We got tons of red neck SUV-drivers like that!!!

e-man

You're probably right, but I figure it can't hurt. And, in a case like this where there's serious damage, if amf had the make, model and license plate, it's possible that the police could investigate and see whether the other car/suv had matching damage. Again, amf had no reason to write down the make, model and plates, so it's kind of a moot point.

steviej

iTrader: (1)

Alan, I feel your pain.
Don't worry, it will be fixed, good as new. The SUV will get his in the end.

steviej

amf1932

Thanks all for your kind sentiments.......it made me feel somewhat better.
To answer some of your ideas in tracking down this culprit:
1- Couldn't find any witnesses.
2- No security cameras that captured this incident.
3- No police in the area that I could make a report.
4- When I returned home I immediately called my insurance company to report this incident.(Sunday)
5- An insurance adjuster was sent down the following Tuesday to assess the damage.
6- The estimate for the original damage was upped because the HID headlight assemblies were cracked and they're going to be replaced
7- Friday, the check from my insurance company was sent out.
8- I expect to pick up the car sometime this coming week.
So far this whole transaction was handled in an extremely professional manner. and couldn't be any better, from my insurance company, to the Lexus Body Shop. The smallest details, such as the labels that are placed on the new hood are replaced with the exact same labels.
I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of the damage.....but I will after getting
the car back. The odometer read, 1449 miles. Oh well....nuff said.

efini_kid

my neighbor backed her suburban into my es300 and she is tryin to say its my fault. haha, she hit a stationary object.