i hate stupid people who can't drive...

yesterday, my dad was taking the ES and he was on his way to my school to pick me up. he sits at an intersection behind another car at a red light. and out of nowhere a midnight blue ford explorer slams into the rear of the ES. i wasn't on the car. that's just what my dad told me. and well there was quite a lot of damage done. the entire frame on the rear end had been bent in, the tail lights were probably cracked on the inside, the tail lights aren't straight anymore, the bumper is all scratched up, and the trunk paint is scratched.

the total damage after an estimate was $1586.10 with labor included.

this shows just how dumb some people can be. at least i'm not paying for the damage. on an added note, the lady that hit the car tried to say that the peeling paint on the rear bumper wasn't her fault, and that it was there in the first place. argh i can't believe these people.

sorry i just had to vent. i'll post some pics of the damage done tonight, or whenever my dad gets home with the car. the car is still drivable, but dang... people these days...

on another point, i noticed my right rear shock was worn out, and it needs replacement. what type of shocks would y`all suggest?

oh yeah...
NEEDLE NOTE!!!

i talked to the people that i had mentioned earlier. Davenport Lexus Service in Plano, TX, and yes they have designed a new needle set.

the needles use cathode lights which are told to last over 100,000 hours, and are very bright. the set they had designed and installed on an actual cluster cost them around $1200, but they were planning to talk to Lexus, and hopefully lower the price to around $600. i would personally rather take these needles than get a new cluster, since the new cluster needles are liable to die again. i have seen these in person. they're great. they come in 5 colors. the ones i saw were red and white. they are very bright, and the $600 includes labor. they will release these by early february. i'll keep you guys posted. i'm hoping we can work out a group buy on this when they come out. i'll have to talk to them about it. just FYI to those still wondering about the needles.

 

so sorry to hear Zeta. If you are going to keep the car, make sure you try and find a quality body shop. My ES was rear ended a day before thanksgiving about 4 years ago. (what a coincidence). they used a refurbished bumper. thats not the problem, but now, i can never get the back bumper to be as shiny as the rest of the car and the paint is very bumpy and there are tiny air bubbles in the paint as well as lines in the paint (kinda when you paint with a brush...the hairs leave lines). dad is going to have to have lotsa massages.
and thank you for the needle update.

take care everyone

 

thanks mezoom. the same "cheap" stuff was put on my front end. my hood never matches and is nowhere near shiny, and my grille isn't even... Lexus... some knock-off... i'm hoping they don't do this to me this time. the people i took the car to this time were pretty cool. RX's go there quite often, and there was a red IS300 that i think one of the shop guys owned.

 

sorry to hear that man...

If the frame is really bent, your best bet is NOT to get the car fixed. The best solution for a seriously bent frame is to junk the car.

Fixing a frame is VERY difficult and very rarely can a shop put it back into original condition. You make experience other problems too from a skewed frame:

such as incorrect fitments of parts, gaps between parts, windows/doors/trunk not properly closing...etc

 

Sorry to hear that dude, that sucks. I'll second what Xenon said about frame damage. It is very difficult to repair. $1586 seems rather low to repair w/ frame damage included. I'm assuming the insurance is paying, so try to take it to the best-quailty shop around. Good Luck man, I hope everything works out OK for you.

 

I don't know what input you have with the ins. adjuster but frame damage is a major consideration as stated previously.
Personal experience: my dad's Ram 1500 was in a front end collison, the adjustor missed the skewed frame, the body shop couldn't get it back to specs. A new frame had to be put in. This was after the car was deemed repairable. The ins. company already committed to repair and not total. When a frame is replaced, every last screw, wiring harness, brake line, fuel line, bed, cab, strut, (you get the picture), has to be moved onto the new frame. You have to wonder if the car will be the "same".
The truck comes back tomorrow (5 months later and an $11,000 bill to the ins. company).

See if you can work the rear shocks into the damage or repair.

Most of all, no one was hurt.


Good Luck.