Accident

[loudandheard]

So I was on my way to meet up with my cousin and I'm getting in yield lane to turn left. So I see th eguy in front of me look as if he was going to take off, I turn to the left to see a guy running the light. While turning left sligtly I hear a shattering sound, I look forward and my hood is bent from hitting the guy in front of me. I ended up rear ending some guy in a jeep. So happens his jeep is high enough to hit my car right in between the grill and the passenger head light. the guy had a suspended license and was using his aunt's car. I get all his info and he tells me he'll help me out and get his aunt to claim it under her insurance. He calls me later on that night and trys to get my insurance info and siad it was my fault and he was going to take care of anything. I admit it was my fault, but the jeep had no damage and he shouldn't have been driving in the first place. Luckily the car is able to drive and one headlight works, so I was able to drive it home. I couldn't have been going faster than 10 miles per hour, but I hit in what has to be the weakest part of the car or the place where the damage is going to be extensive for such a minor accident.

So I need to replace the hood, grill, radiator support, headlight, and turn signal. Hopefully I can salvage the fender. The fan blade needs to be replaced and that's about it I think from looking at it. The radiator was fine along with the fans in front suprisingly and they still work. It didn't even touch the bumper, if only I had hit a car, I would have had minimal damage.

Ok now what I need help with is finding some of the parts at reasonable prices. The lowest I can find a hood is around $200 shipped and the radiator support is about the same price.

How difficult is it to take out the radiator support, I'm sure once I have the parts it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out, but I'd like to know what I'm getting into.

[NISMOPOWERED]

That sucks man. Oh well try not to dwell on it to much.
Good luck in the parts, if you take a little time on the hood you might fing a junkyard with the right color.

[loudandheard]

That would be nice. I'll have to check them out to see what they have. Hopefully I can have my car back on the road by the end of this month.

[trymonlam]

you might want to post up the color of your car here and let people know. others here might have the part u need. i have a trunk lid in white but it seemed like ur problem is in the front. so good luck.

[loudandheard]

The car is black I'll post a pic in a bit.

[Proven Guilty]

i've got a passenger side headlight if you need. is the grille frame bent?

[Prez]

I have a stock 202 driver's side turn signal assembly if you want it.

[loudandheard]

Here are some pics of my car after the accident.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i202/loudandheard/Picture051.jpg?t=1165861548

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i202/loudandheard/Picture052.jpg?t=1165861579

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i202/loudandheard/Picture055-1.jpg?t=1165861616

[loudandheard]

I think I might need to get one of those piece of crap ebay turn signals, because I already have the clear corners and I don't know what happened to my stock one. I think I might have a headlight aorund the house, they startted looking a little yellowish so I replaced them with some different ones, but they'll do for now until, I get replacements. I really appreciate eveyone's hlep. Thanks again.

[Proven Guilty]

well, the news you probably don't want to hear..

that damage is far worse than you're expecting. it looks like you've got frame damage on the passenger side (probably from going under the rear of the jeep) as that whole side is squared about half an inch out and about 2 inches lower than the driver's side.

i agree, you could probably reuse the bumper skin, it will just need to be removed, and re-seated (looks like it's skewed from the under skeleton structure from the preassure of the radiator support being so twisted)

you're definately looking at a new hood, grille frame and insert, passenger headlight and turn signal, radiator support, hood and probably hood springs as well, fender is game over too. you will have damage to the air box as well from the look of the pics, and if you remove the air box, i'm sure you'll notice structural damage under where it sits.

i would estimate close to $2500 in damage if you do everything yourself and have a body shop take care of the non bolt-on stuff.

[matt09]

Wow... That happened at 10 mph? The engine looks out of place :confused:
Wish you the best with fixing it.

[loudandheard]

I must have been going faster, but it really didnt feel like anything. I didn't even jerk much less see it happen. I only touched the guys bumper I didn't even have to slam on my brakes, wish I could have.

Yeah you might be right, from looking at it, I might need to have some parts pulled, luckily for me I know a good body man and he has access to a frame machine. I was hoping it wasn't that bad, but you just reinforced my worse hopes.

[Abuimad]

daamn i just saw this thread, what a bitch, good luck on the repairs man, and keep us posted

btw after pulling the frame, really check the engine bay over and over again, you dont want no leaks in there

[97C28O]

Ouch! That sucks.... Well look! your bumper is still on and your grill frame is still attached! :) Good luck with the repairs.. I also have to repair my hood from a hit and run...

Where can you get a hood for 200$ shipped? Is it new, OEM? I need one probably or they can straighten my hood out...

[loudandheard]

Here was a list I was itemizing to see how much it was going to cost me. I noticed if the price was cheap the shipping was really expensive, so watch out. The parts are aftermarket, ok quality, but nothing like oem.


Inner auto parts
http://www.innerauto.com/store/
216.21 for hood
$182.21 for radiator support
93.21 fender
29.21 hood latch

http://buy.fastbodyparts.com/index.php
All those parts have free shipping.

The rest do not include shipping
Parts train
http://www.partstrain.com/
91.10 for grille
22.73 hood latch
81.77 radiator support
43 for fender


Mercedes benz all pro car parts
http://shop.allprocarparts.com/bodyparts/search.html?model=c220&year=1996
$34.28 for fender
63.57 for grille
113.07 for hood
$80.74 for radiator support

Speedy auto parts
http://www.speedyautoparts.com/
33.62 fender- maybe
$89.73 grille
$80.55 radiator support
$113.20 hood
$22.39 hood latch- maybe
$13.21 headlight molding--- maybe
total 352.70

[Proven Guilty]

it's worth the extra bucks to replace the fender, over trying to repair that.

mine has been on the hydraulic frame puller 4 times, and it STILL doesn't track right. i would take an insurance claim and hope they total it mayng. not to mention it's a pre-update ;)

[Abuimad]

wow i had the same problem, i pulled my fender after my accident, and it jut looked smaller or different from the other fender, i tried so hard into fixing it, and then i just bought a new one..

[loudandheard]

How could I claim it to the insurance? I only had liability at the time, I took off the full coverage a couple of months ago to save some money, what a mistake. The guy I hit ended up taking off because he had a suspended license and it wasn't even his vehicle, but I have all his info. I don't know if I can do anything.

[trymonlam]

i think u should go back to where the accident happened at take a look at everything. if you have actually crossed into his lane. even if you have, u got hit by someone without license, so one way or another, the guy shouldn't be there in the first place. far as i see it, his at fault more than you do.

[unHookt]

If I'm ever involved in an accident where the other person doesn't have a license or insurance, or where their paperwork isn't legit, I'm on the celly calling it in to get a police officer to fill out an accident report. It's in your best interest to go that route, especially if your car is all jacked up and the other one isn't.

[Proven Guilty]

Originally posted by loudandheard
How could I claim it to the insurance? I only had liability at the time, I took off the full coverage a couple of months ago to save some money, what a mistake. The guy I hit ended up taking off because he had a suspended license and it wasn't even his vehicle, but I have all his info. I don't know if I can do anything.

your only option now is to sue his aunt for allowing him to drive the vehicle, as well as her insurance provider for the damages and repair to your vehicle.

while its generally considered for you to be at fault for rear-ending the driver (failure to stop) it depends entirely on the situation, and what caused the accident. the ball is in your court with him being an uninsured, unlicensed driver. the fact definately stands he should not have been there at all, and the "at fault" case could very heavily lean on that factor.

[loudandheard]

I understand what you are saying, but what I'm worried that it could back fire and cause me to have to pay for their damage. I might consult a lawyer to find out what my options are. I should have gotten the police invloved, but I didn't want another ticket on top of the damage that I already had, plus the guy seemed sincere at the time. I just wasn't thinking.

The other thing is would I have any difficulty if I did not file a police report or if they try to pull something about that he was not driving the vehicle?

[jnolte]

get a lawyer

its not your fault, he dident have an lisence

[Abuimad]

Originally posted by jnolte
get a lawyer

its not your fault, he dident have an lisence

exactly...if it was a fender bender i would understand not wanting to make this into a big thing...but looking at ur pics, this is a BIG thing

[Lordkoo]

Originally posted by Abuimad
exactly...if it was a fender bender i would understand not wanting to make this into a big thing...but looking at ur pics, this is a BIG thing

If you are talking about the damage, it is not a big thing.

Basically the damages occurred slightly above the frame. Easy fix!

[loudandheard]

Well, I've been cheking on some insurance sites and asking questions and it seems that it doesn't matter if the driver of the other vehicle did not have a license, because I rear ended him I'm ay fault. I might consult a lawyer, but I don't think I have much of a case.