At 7pm (EST) tonight I was sitting at a red light and got hit from behind in my 1st Gen, Sherman Tank, LS400... Luckily I had about three car lengths between me and the car in front of me, otherwise I would have gotten it from both ends... After the accident, I pulled into a gas station that was right at the lights and waited for the car that hit me to pull in. Low and behold, they sped away in a plume of smoke and dust!! Hit and Run!!

As I'm dialing 911 on my cell phone, I run the red light at the next set of lights and went in pursuit. They ducked down a side street before I could catch up to them. I knew how the side streets ran, so I took the next street since the street they took goes around to the left and comes back out towards the main drag... As I'm driving down, they're driving towards me! All the lights were smashed out of the front, the front hood crumpled up into the air and the car was smoking like crazy. When they saw me, they bolted, and by the time I turned around to go after them again, I had lost them. I drove another 4-5 miles looking for them but to no avail... All during this time, I had the State Police on the phone, they transferred me over to my local police and they immediately contacted three surrounding town's. They figured if they new enough to take that side street to try and lose me, that they must be local.

I finally headed down to my local police station to file a police report and let them take a look at the LS. Up till this point, I hadn't had the chance to get out of the car and take a look myself... I figured my trunk would be destroyed as well as the bumper and the quarter panels. Considering how hard I was hit and the amount of damage I briefly saw done to the other car, I knew it couldn't be good. It ended up not being as bad as I thought, but I certainly didn't come out of it unscathed (pictures below).

So, an hour and a half later, I got a call from the local police telling me that they found the other car and driver. A local woman, 24 yrs old, who had had a "few drinks"... They gave her a sobriety test on the spot but didn't arrest her. She's going to be charged though. The police officer told me that her car was totaled and he had tracked her down across town by following the traces of antifreeze and oil that her car was leaking all over the ground!

To summarize, I called my insurance company and when I told them that the bumper, right rear quarter panel and a portion of the exhaust was damaged, she stated that they would probably call it a total loss because of its age. Then I told her that this was my project car for the last two years and I have at least $8k in receipts over the last two years to support it. She said that would certainly make a difference.

So pictures are below. Is it fixable? Rear bumper, right rear quarter panel (buckled and slightly down), some exhaust damage (haven't gotten under the car yet). The trunk wasn't even touched. The front end of the red Honda Accord that hit me went under the rear of the LS to a good degree. The pic's are from my cell phone (sorry about the quality)...

Jim

 

oh no...that qtr panel damage may sway the decision to go either way..

 

I think it's going to get totaled.

 

aaaahhhhh

 

not too bad. mine took a hard hit on the quarter panel as well. if i were you, get it totaled, buy back and start modding it. pulling the fenders to fit some wider wheels would fix that damage. and a respray may be in your favor as well.

 

wow i see alot of threads about people crashing on here, sucks man hope everything turns out ok

 

yeah that check would be nice if it got totaled and then you bought it back you would have money to do everything you want to do to it anyways and also who cares if it has a rebuilt title if you dont plan on selling it ? i have yet to meet a girl that looks at a nice car and says does it have a salvage or clean title?

 

Brutal!

Good luck bro.

 

If you can develop a good rapport with a body shop, the rear quarter can be pull out on a frame rig. A couple of careful soft blows from the inside at maximum traction might make things align enough that you can avoid the heavy expenses. The bumper and paint will come up to $2,000.00 pretty quickly, ask me how I know and how sorry that logging truck company is . . .
Colin

 

I have had an accident with my mom's JDM Mitsubishi Galant/Legnum a few years ago, It looked horrible:





Car was totaled. But I have some connections. And had it fixed for about $1200,- way better than the estimate of $4500
It still has it's original quarter:



I thought showing you this would encourage you a little, but you're going to need someone who has some experience with metal.

Good luck on fixing your LS, It's worth it! I have a rear bumper laying around in exact the same colour. too bad I'm a million miles away from you.

 

I'm proud of you for chasing down those bastards. I would have done the same thing.

Buy it back salvage and you can get the repair done way cheaper than if the insurance had to pony up directly. Be sure to start with the neck injuries and get a good lawyer. And a rental car. And a vacation in the Bahamas.

Body shops charge the high rates to insurance companies because insurance companies are rich, blood-sucking, pieces of ****.

 

Looks like the car took a good hit but with that rear quarted buckled like that, most likely insurance is gonna total it. Does look like it can be fixed and pulled straight again, but as others have said, research in a EXPERIENCED bodyshop is gonna be key here. Glad that you are OK, and remember that although we do get attatched to our cars, they can be replaced.

 

Thanks for all the responses and kind words guys! Unless there's some really bad unseen damage that I won't see till I get it up on a lift, I plan to get it fixed even if its totaled. I've come way too far with the car at this point to turn back now. The car drove fine after the accident, so I don't think there's too much damage to the under carriage other than a bent exhaust. I was just getting the car dialed in nicely after 2 years. It's been running really well. I know its a 91, but it still only has 94k miles on it. Just getting broken in.

I've known two brothers in the auto body business for over 30 years that I know will treat me fairly. They have all the right equipment and do excellent work.

Avalon42, you cracked me up! I think I'll skip the lawyer but maybe the Bahamas is still in the cards!

Jim

 

im glad you went after that sorry pathetic driver. its unfortunate that you could not find him, but it did make him think of what he did. its too bad there wasnt any street congestion or else you couldve snapped a pic of the plate. best of luck!

 

The cops found the other car and driver about 1 1/2 hours after the accident...