505Guy

Hi guys,

I hope everyone is doing well. This morning, walking to my car, I had a bit of a surprise. Some girl that lives in my building hit the car. She left her info (phone number, insurance policy etc with the parking attendant).

I texted her letting her know that I'm going to have to file a claim with her insurance and she said go for it, it's all good and she apologized.

I called Allstate (her insurance), filed the claim etc but I'm not sure what to do since I've never been involved in any kind of accidents.

Here are my questions and sorry for bothering you guys with this:

1) How can I make sure that the appraiser is not going to low-ball me?
2) The DRL of the impact side is not working but the headlights, high-beams etc are working fine. 3) Can I still ask for a replacement headlight?
4) How can I make sure I get a rental car as good as my IS-350?
5) Do you think my bumper needs replacement? I can still fix it?
6) Is it possible for me to file a claim for diminished value, if yes, what's the process? Can anyone recommend a lawyer in NYC area? What are my chances?
7) Any recommendation of a body shop in NYC area who can help me out with this?

I'm trying to get the most of it because my GF scratched the passenger side few weeks ago and I didn't want to file a claim with my insurance. If I can manage to get a headlight replacement cost but fix the headlight and/or get some money for the diminished value claim, maybe I can fix the passenger side as well.

My car is 5 months old and has about 3000 miles if that helps. I paid full MSRP so I feel a little bit like an idiot after reading what people paid for their cars. This made me a little bit cheap.

Any help/suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot everyone!!

Here is a pic of the damage:

shreddog

Sorry to hear about your car. I couldn't see the pic (for some reason my work computer is blocking it). While I have nothing to offer for the other items, I can recommend a body shop in Long Island. It's in Mineola, not far from Queens (not sure where in NYC you are). The place is called B&R Auto Body and it's on Herricks Road. They do excellent work there and are reasonable on the price. If you are in Manhattan or Brooklyn, they can take you to the LIRR station that's not far from them.

Good luck.

JDR76

First off, sorry this happened, but you are lucky that she left you her information.

1) How can I make sure that the appraiser is not going to low-ball me?

You can only work with them. Take it to your preferred auto shop for an estimate. Push back if the insurer doesn't want to pay enough for full repairs. Your car needs to be put back into its pre-incident condition.

2) The DRL of the impact side is not working but the headlights, high-beams etc are working fine.

If this is a result of the accident, it should be included in the estimate, so it is returned to you fully functional.

3) Can I still ask for a replacement headlight?

If there is damage to the headlight, yes, though I don't see any in the picture. They'll only replace what has been damaged.

4) How can I make sure I get a rental car as good as my IS-350?

Guaranteed, 100%, you will NOT get a rental as good as your IS. When my last auto body repair was done, I got an Altima, and I paid extra out of my own pocket to upgrade to that.

5) Do you think my bumper needs replacement? I can still fix it?

Hard to say from the pics. The auto body shop will tell you if it can be fixed.

6) Is it possible for me to file a claim for diminished value, if yes, what's the process? Can anyone recommend a lawyer in NYC area? What are my chances?

I have no experience with this so I won't even try. Though I have a hard time thinking you'll be successful, for such a small accident. It may seem like a lot to you, but in the grand scheme of accidents, it's small.

7) Any recommendation of a body shop in NYC area who can help me out with this?

I cannot help you with this, unless you want to bring it to Seattle for repairs.

MrJeager

I saw this and i was like...whaaaat...no way. This looks like my car from a couple weeks ago (yours is a lot worst...im sorry to see this even happen). I nailed the other BMW driver with a Police report and then an at-fault insurance claim (at-fault for them). The parking garage had video footage. Total cost of repair: CA$2000 (they took off the bumper).

Here's a pic of mine:

DexRox512

iTrader: (5)

Sorry this happened to you...although it could always be worse, check out my thread regarding my accident. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...yesterday.html

I still don't have the car back over 3 months later. Long story, but I can shed some light on this for you. You WON'T get a rental anywhere close to your IS, I have been in an Altima for 3 months. It is probably cheaper in the grand scheme to get a new bumper cover rather then have the body shop prep and respray the old one. Anything that's broken will be replaced...don't worry about that. As far as your diminished value, it probably won't be much if any at all being that there is no major frame work that should need to be done. If everything is repaired flawlessly and replaced with OEM parts, it wouldn't be something I'd worry about. "Milking" the situation isn't always good karma, if you believe in that sort of thing. Just get what you need to be made whole again and call it a day. Be thankful the person who hit you was honorable enough to leave their info...i'd give them the same courtesy regarding the claim.

keyframe13

Hate when this is happen few months after you got the car. Same thing happen to me.
Work with the adjuster and make sure you point to him everytihng what you see. He will include more than you see for sure.
Get at least 3 quotes from different shops. I went to Lexus dealer and since they don;t do collision work they gave me a paper with the shops approved by them to match the paint perfectly. I got 3 quotes from those.
After you get the check and put your car in service..if the expenses are more the shop will fill a paper for your insurance and the insurance will pay the shop directly.
Ask her insurance about all this process.

You will not get a fancy car and you don;t need one. Chances are it's a few days job.

505Guy

Alright guys, sounds good. But the diminished value claim is more for the Carfax that's gonna show an accident than anything. It doesn't matter how small is the accident, it will always be a problem when trying to get rid of the car.

Happened to me with my previous car, accident got reported after I bought the car, it was just a bumper replacement and knew about it during the PPI. When I tried to trade-in the car, I got offered everywhere between 5-7k less than it's real value because of the "accident".

As far as the girl who dis this, she lives in my building and the valet people saw what happened and there is also cameras everywhere. I appreciate her leaving her info but I doubt she had much of a choice

Edit: And yes the DRL stopped working because of the incident.

Bass Mech

First off I've been doing insurance for 11 years so I know a few things about this.

Your to be made whole again. This means the damage will be repaired to pre accident condition. I think you mentioned there was a scratch on the bumper previously. You need to understand and I need to be clear about something...
You cannot MILK as you call it the claim. A good adjuster should note other damage existing on the bumper not related to this incident. If this is true they will pro rate the repair, meaning the bumper probably has to be reprinted and clear coated again which will fix the previous scratch. But that was existing damage. The person who backed into your car insurance company sounds like Allstate will only pay for damage they caused. So if it costs 500 for a new bumper and it was previously damaged they might pay 400 and you pay the difference.
If the DRL was damaged in the incident it will be replaced along with anything else damaged.
You should also seek diminished value for the car of you pan to trade it in or sell it with a dirty car fax.
However I think your finished value in this case is minimal
Good luck with Allstate they are number 1 of the top ten worst insurance companies in the US! If your curious do a google search for that phrase, "top ten worst insurance companies" there is a very complete article in PDF format you should read as to who made the list and why.

505Guy

No, the scratch is not on the bumper. My bumper was flawless. It was a scratch on the passenger door that has nothing to do with the bumper. Just wanted to get it done while the car is at the shop.

Thanks for the info

toyotatom

Don't feel so bad about the MSRP you paid, a majority of the great deals mentioned here are on the West coast and not the East coast. Hope your car turns out OK