Garbage Truck F'd me up

[hyunelan2]

Well *sigh* I was just about ready to put my car in a show for the first time until this morning...

I was driving Northbound on a road that runs by a landfill. A truck turned out of the landfill in front of me. It wasn't close enough for me to hit the brakes, but as it past me (coming head on) all this crap fell off the back of the truck and bounced right off my hood. I just thought it was dirt and kept heading to work (first day back from vacation and I was running late, of course). Well, after work I had to go pick up my new cell phone and as I was getting home my phone rang. I wandered around my driveway talking to my friend about his weekend escapades, and as I turned I almost dropped the phone. I've got large pings (golf ball sized) and scratches down to the metal. I've already called the insurace company and filed a claim, I have to wait for them to call me back tomorrow. They said I should call the landfill and try to find the driver of the truck that was leaving the dump at 6:40 this morning.

I can already imagine that conversation:
me: "one of your trucks f'd up my car yesterday when debris fell off it"
them: "haha, that's funny, we don't have garbage trucks here"
me: "what!?!"
them: "yea, we're just a landfill"
me: "..." angrily loading .357 to take out some garbage trucks.

Anyways, I already know what's gonna happen... I'll have to pay the deductible ($250) have the hood bondo'd and repainted, be without the car for a while, and miss the show I've been waiting so long to put the car in.

This sucks.

[2004ElantraGLS]

Damn man, sorry to hear that. I've been lucky so far, I guess. But when I had my '99 Accent, it had a LOT of little dents and dings from parking lots. I didn't care much, though...it wasn't modded in any way, but still. If something were to happen to my Elantra, I'd sh*t a brick.

Anyway, hope everything works out for you, and that the next car show comes quickly.

Axel

[vsolo]

It should be covered under "comprensive" ie act of god. hopefully you dont have any deductable on comprensive. If you do look at going with zero (0) deductible, it is not that much more (I have State Farm), I belive it was only $10 more per 6 months. Comprensive is different from collision, which I keep 250 deductable. Years ago I had a bag of cement fall of a truck in front of me, I told my agent, they did not care that I had the number of the truck & I got my hood & roof repainted with no deductable since it was considered an act of god. Like hail storms, deer running into you ext

[hyunelan2]

I'm pretty sure it'll be covered under comprehensive ($250 deductible). My collision is $500, god I hope they don't consider it a collision that'll make the premiums jump. I had to file a comprehensive claim when I got keyed about a year and a half ago and it didn't affect my rates any, so this shouldn't either. I just hope the insurance doesn't start thinking of me as a risk, since it'll be my second claim on the car.

UPDATE:

I just talked with the insurace company. It falls under comprehensive coverage ($250 I'll have to pay) and will not affect my rates. An appraiser will be calling me shortly to set up an inspection. I have to hurry up and get it to the shop first, so I can know if the insurance company is going to try and undercut me. I like to have a written estimate in hand if at all possible, that way I have some evidence to use against the insurance appraiser.

[slvrsleeper]

Jesus Mike! You scared the hell out of me with that header! I thought you had totalled the car or something. Look on the bright side, hoods can be painted. Angelbaby's car is in the scrapyard. Things could be ALOT worse. I'd still ****bomb the office of that trash truck company though....LOL

[XTRAWLD]

Yikes....well, I guess it coulda been worse.

[Gman]

get the insur to cut U the check and go for a CF hood, more show points then a stock hood.

[Jlivan]

Sorry to hear about your car. I know what you mean on the parking lot, people are so inconsiderate of others. Just the other day I came out of the store and there was a cart right on my car, luckly there wasn't a dent but damn people!

I agree w/slvrsleeper, sh*t bomb the whole office. I don't think they would really notice it that much since they have to deal w/trash everyday....they probably are immune to the sh*t.

[hyunelan2]

Well, I just go the estimate from my bodyshop... $762! They're going to do it the right way though, Painting the hood, and front fenders back into the front doors so it blends properly. That's the ***** of having a metallic paint job.

Gman, already considered that hood option, but CF just doesn't go with anything else on the car. Maybe though, haven't completely ruled that out.

Now I just have to wait for the appraiser to get here today or tomorrow and see exactly how much they think it should cost to repair. I'm sure that's where the battle will be. It shouldn't be too bad though, when I got keyed the insurace was almost exactly what the shop quoted me.

[slvrsleeper]

:diablo: Now Mike you did remeber to tell the adjuster about the custom turbo setup that was "damaged" in the accident right? He-he insurance fraud for fun and profit

[Jlivan]

:diablo: Now Mike you did remeber to tell the adjuster about the custom turbo setup that was "damaged" in the accident right? He-he insurance fraud for fun and profit
You are sneaky.....out to get everyone! LOL J/K

[hyunelan2]

Well, I don't think the dinged up hood would have damaged my turbo setup, but it might be a cause for my eyelids to be repainted and blended at the same time as the hood... some nice new REAL paint on them would be perfect. Hey, I need to get something out of the hassle this is going to be.

So at this point, I'll have had the trunk, rear bumper, rear passenger fender, and passenger doors repainted (1yr ago from keying), now I'll have the hood, and front fenders repainted. That leaves the drivers side, the roof, and the front bumper and the whole car will have been repainted. And the car's not even 2 years old yet (will have had it 2 yrs. on July 31)

[Gman]

I think CF would be a nice compliment to your black lip kit. plus later if you want you can always paint it if you don't want the CF look.

[hyunelan2]

Well the insurance appraiser just stopped by. He looked like Ben Stein, but I hate this guy and Ben Stien is cool. Anyway, he disagreed with the estimate the body shop gave me. He says since the damage is in the center of the hood, they don't need to blend into the fenders. They should just blend into the 'center panel' of the hood (the part between the V body lines on the hood). We were arguing back and forth in the parkinglot of my work (which gives me the advantage since cops are all around and on my side). The deals still up in the air. He said he'd send me a fax later of what he thinks it should cost. I said "your car's blocking traffic" and turned and walked away.

Now I wait - yet again- for them to fax me stuff... sigh.

UPDATE:

Just got the fax. @$$holes. The other time I had a claim, everything worked out perfect. The appraiser was a nice guy, they agreed with the bodyshop - and gave me a check on the spot.

Here's the numbers

Bodyshop Estimate: 762.51
Insurance Estimate: 480.98
-deductible of $250.00
I get 230.98 from the Insurance Company.

[slvrsleeper]

And that would be one ****bomb for the trash company and one ****bomb for the insurance company. What you should do Mike is take the car out on the highway and flip it over, that way you can get the whole thing painted at once!

[2GTS]

Get another estimate or two and then call your agent and start *****ing. If your current estimate is reasonable the others will support it and you will just need to make your agent work for the $$ they steal from us every month. That's pretty far off, almost a $300 difference, that just doesn't seem right.

[Steve]

Definitely get a few more body shop estimates, just to help prove that the professionals advise that the paint needs to be blended in right to the doors, not just the centre of the hood like the asspraiser thinks.

[hyunelan2]

I went to the body-shop with my estimate from the insurace company. They looked at it and said they would do it for the price the ins. company said. The added, however, they'll blend into the fenders anyway. I asked if they would charge me more, the guy said no, insurance will cover it. I looked confused, but was re-assured that they have their 'ways' of getting their money back from the insurance companies, and not to worry I won't be charged more. So now knowing this, I asked about getting my eyelids painted and blended to match... THAT'S GETTING DONE TOO! So actually, I'll be getting something out of this, still only paying my deductible, and letting thos a-holes at the insurance company take the bills.

(for those of you who didn't put it together, they'll make up that extra money they have to spend by overcharging the ins. company on the next car that comes in -at least that's my perception).

[2GTS]

Or they conveintly have a hard time getting the headlights out and charge the ins co 3/4 hour labor instead of 1/4 hour. As long as they are taking care of you that's all that matters, the less you know about how they fudge their bills the better.

[slvrsleeper]

Is it too late to tell them about the turbo?

[04 elantra cvvt]

They all have their ways. In fact, there is a body shop here that claims 300-600 dollars cash in hand when they fix your car. And this advertisement is on the radio!

[hyunelan2]

Well, I got my car back. They painted the entire hood and eyelids, and cleared into the surrounding panels... however I'm noticing that the hood is a very very small shade darker than the surrounding panels. The metallics are really standing out in it, I think this might just be the difference between fresh paint and 2 yr. old paint. I don't even know if it's noticible, could just be my eyes refusing to believe it's the same. I think for the most part you can tell where the hood meets the front bumper. I'm hoping a few car washes and some sunshine will bring it back to looking more like the rest of the car...

The good news is there's a lifetime warrenty on the paint (haha, no Hyundai hood peel for me in the future) and a satisfaction gaurantee. I'll take the car by some of my 'honest' friends, and if they notice anything it's going right back to the shop.

[04 elantra cvvt]

I am glad to hear that you finally got the car back!. When do we get some pics of the newly manacured girl? If you have any doubt about the color match, take it right back to them. I ran into this with one of my old cars, but I waited too long, and the body shop came up with excuses. Don't waste any time on getting it done if it needs it.

[felixr]

i LOVE that body shop! shake his hand for me will ya?