Delorean Accident on Long Island?

[tommyrich]

I hope it wasn't anyone here, but this morning a coworker came into my office asking if I had been in an accident. He saw a Delorean vs. Honda in Cold Spring Harbor, NY. This in not far from where I live, but fortunately, it wasn't me. He said it was a bad front-end collision and that the driver was taken to the hospital (supposedly with minor injuries according to the nearby police officer). Please let me know if you hear (or read anything). hopefully he is OK.

Thanks,
Tom

[jawn101]

Not something you ever want to hear happening. Hope everyone was OK.

[WelmoedJ]

Accidents unfortunately are part of life.
Was this D owner the front or the end part of the collision?

I know of one of our members who was the end of this type of a collision.
The outisde damage seemed not too bad, but under the surface the body has been hurt.
Fortunately fiberglass bodies can be repaired in such a way that the repair is even better (stronger) than the original.

That happened to my first D after having a dispute with a street lamp post.
Body at the driver's side door had been split due to the side impact force.
Nevertheless the repair has been such that nobody was able to detect where the damage to the body had been.

Hopefully the driver in the accident you informed us of, has minor personal damage.
Hospitals are very good in repairing human damage.
I wish him speedy recovery for both himself and his car.

[dtjk592]

Unfortunately I was the driver involved in the accident. It was basically a head on collision offset to the passenger side front of the car as the other driver just made a left right in front of me leaving me virtually no time to stop. Fortunately I am ok aside from a few stitches on my eyelid and was home from the hospital in about an hour. I have hagerty insurance and they have been great so far. The damage to the body tub does not progress behind the front wheel and only the hood and passenger fender were damaged. Still quite a traumatic sight. Thank you all for your good wishes and I hope to have the car back on the road soon! 21296

[thirdmanj]

So sorry, man. Glad you're ok though!

[Hokie]

So sorry to hear this! Keep us posted on your experience with the insurer, the settlement process, repair, etc. I'm evaluating changing insurance companies so any insight you could give would be helpful. Best of luck, and glad you are OK!

[JohnZ]

Hell what a pity! I'm sorry for you... and take a look at the car! Must have been a shocking accident.

[Kenny_Z]

The photo is gut wrenching but good to know you're aiming to get her repaired. I'm equally as glad to hear you are ok after the accident.

[Henrik]

Scary but - again - great to see you're OK.

[David T]

Scary but - again - great to see you're OK.

That is the risk we take every time we take our cars out on a public road. The car can be repaired and fortunately you were only lightly damaged. In these days of so many drivers driving distracted it takes only a second and your pride and joy is a mess. Glad to here your insurance company is not giving you any problems. Keep us informed of your progress.
David Teitelbaum

[djdogbone]

Tell me of this special insurance. I have Progressive right now.

[dtjk592]

Tell me of this special insurance. I have Progressive right now.

Basically instead of going on a book value as most insurance companies do when you start your policy they establish an "agreed upon value" with you which basically means say you establish the value of a car as 10,000 dollars they will contribute that to its repair or should damages exceed that give you a check for the agreed value and take possession of the car. The premiums also tend to be a bit cheaper as they pay attention to where the car is stored etc and it cannot be your primary use vehicle. Generally I have had good experiences with them as they understand preferences for particular shops and are used to dealing with exotic vehicles as only certain cars qualify for their policies.

[NightFlyer]

First off, glad you're OK - that's most important.

Second, if that happened to me, I would have been going ape on the other driver.

Finally, glad to hear that Hagerty is treating you well.

[Jonathan]

Basically instead of going on a book value as most insurance companies do when you start your policy they establish an "agreed upon value" with you which basically means say you establish the value of a car as 10,000 dollars they will contribute that to its repair or should damages exceed that give you a check for the agreed value and take possession of the car. The premiums also tend to be a bit cheaper as they pay attention to where the car is stored etc and it cannot be your primary use vehicle. Generally I have had good experiences with them as they understand preferences for particular shops and are used to dealing with exotic vehicles as only certain cars qualify for their policies.

That agreed upon value clause is called a "19A" here in Canada, not sure if it's referred to as the same thing in the States. Like you said, you get covered for up to the agreed upon value. So, why not make the agreed upon value like $100,000? Because your premiums are based on it. Higher the value, higher the premium. Goes the other direction too. You can lop $10k off the value and save $100 per year in insurance, but that's not going to be very nice if your car gets crunched. That's sort of how all insurance works in general anyway... premiums paid based on value. The classic car stuff just takes some of the ugly assessment stuff out of it. Hagerty does it this was, agreed upon value that is. If your car is over a certain age, you have had a drivers license for a certain number of years, and a couple other stipulations like was mentioned about keeping it in a secure place as opposed to parked across the street from your apartment at the local night club sort of thing. I've never had to find out how a claim would work and hope I never do. Knocking on wood...

[David T]

That agreed upon value clause is called a "19A" here in Canada, not sure if it's referred to as the same thing in the States. Like you said, you get covered for up to the agreed upon value. So, why not make the agreed upon value like $100,000? Because your premiums are based on it. Higher the value, higher the premium. Goes the other direction too. You can lop $10k off the value and save $100 per year in insurance, but that's not going to be very nice if your car gets crunched. That's sort of how all insurance works in general anyway... premiums paid based on value. The classic car stuff just takes some of the ugly assessment stuff out of it. Hagerty does it this was, agreed upon value that is. If your car is over a certain age, you have had a drivers license for a certain number of years, and a couple other stipulations like was mentioned about keeping it in a secure place as opposed to parked across the street from your apartment at the local night club sort of thing. I've never had to find out how a claim would work and hope I never do. Knocking on wood...

In the US there is no such thing as "19A". The rules vary State-to-State. Agreed upon value is not going to come into play here unless it is lower than what it will cost to repair. If the cost of the repairs equal or exceed the agreed upon value the insurance company can elect to total the car. There is also what is called "Subrogation". If the accident was the other driver's fault your insurance company can make the other driver's insurance company pay them back for the claim.
David Teitelbaum

[Dangermouse]

That agreed upon value clause is called a "19A" here in Canada, not sure if it's referred to as the same thing in the States. Like you said, you get covered for up to the agreed upon value. So, why not make the agreed upon value like $100,000? Because your premiums are based on it. Higher the value, higher the premium. ..

At a certain point they will require some sort of appraisal if your personal "valuation" is too far out of line with other DeLoreans they insure to avoid insurance fraud.

A $100k DeLorean would need a coffee grinder screwed to it or be gold plated to get that sort of agreed value policy.

[Jonathan]

In the US there is no such thing as "19A". The rules vary State-to-State. Agreed upon value is not going to come into play here unless it is lower than what it will cost to repair. If the cost of the repairs equal or exceed the agreed upon value the insurance company can elect to total the car. There is also what is called "Subrogation". If the accident was the other driver's fault your insurance company can make the other driver's insurance company pay them back for the claim.
David Teitelbaum

Good point David. We Canadians at some point thought it would be a great idea to introduce this concept of "no fault insurance." Yea, so buddy could pretty much plow you on purpose and your own insurance company is buying. If he was impaired or something though I guess in the criminal code area, then maybe a different story. But the whole his fauly versus your fault is a non-issue for the most part (not saying that's good, just saying that's how we roll here).

Would be interested in knowing what happens to cars deemed totalled? Meaning, if a car is a mess and more expensive to fix than give the owner a cheque for the agreed upon value, where does the remaining wreck of a car go? And of course the reason I ask is because there are almost always going to be a bunch of parts that would still be valuable to other owners if we had access to them.

[NightFlyer]

I have an agreed value policy with State Farm in Michigan (no-fault state) - $32,000 value, full liability/comprehensive coverage with $100 deductible, annual premium $186.

[Jonathan]

At a certain point they will require some sort of appraisal if your personal "valuation" is too far out of line with other DeLoreans they insure to avoid insurance fraud.

A $100k DeLorean would need a coffee grinder screwed to it or be gold plated to get that sort of agreed value policy.

Yea, definitely. You would likely not get them to approve it assuming they have someone there doing a sanity check on the values.

That being said, my personal opinion of the appraising industry is not high. Why? Because in a nutshell when I got an appraisal done when I first got the car and got it road worthy and what not, this "certified appraiser" character says to me "so, what do you think/want it to be worth?" Here I am thinking my $150 appraising fee might get a guy that will do someresearch on other cars, go over yours with great detail noting any and all imperfections or upgrades, etc. and then report back with a value. Nope. Buddy wants you to tell him A) what did you pay for it and B) how much more have you spent on work, and then C = A + B (where C = your appraisal value). Last time I checked the Hagerty pamphlet handed out to me at a car show I could have sworn one of their bullet point features was that it does not require an appraisal. If this is the way they have gone... and like you said, within reason, it would be a better way of doing things considering how random these certified guys are.

[NightFlyer]

Good point David. We Canadians at some point thought it would be a great idea to introduce this concept of "no fault insurance." Yea, so buddy could pretty much plow you on purpose and your own insurance company is buying. If he was impaired or something though I guess in the criminal code area, then maybe a different story. But the whole his fauly versus your fault is a non-issue for the most part (not saying that's good, just saying that's how we roll here).

Would be interested in knowing what happens to cars deemed totalled? Meaning, if a car is a mess and more expensive to fix than give the owner a cheque for the agreed upon value, where does the remaining wreck of a car go? And of course the reason I ask is because there are almost always going to be a bunch of parts that would still be valuable to other owners if we had access to them.

As far as I know, no-fault insurance here in the states merely prevents you from filing a claim directly with the other party(ies) insurance carrier, however, the insurance companies are free to duke it out amongst themselves as to which company will actually bear the hit on the claim payout (subrogation, as David was describing above). Typically, they end up sharing the costs of the claim's payout(s) proportional to the weight of the available evidence. Basically, it eliminates the need for the parties to retain counsel and pursue a claim/litigation against the opposing party(ies) and their insurers and makes it so that you're only ever dealing with your own insurance company, unlike at-fault states. Thus, the only time you need an attorney in a no-fault state is when the damages/injury are in excess of your policy limits and the other party was at fault. However, as the police don't assign fault for accidents in their official reports in no-fault states, it places a heavier burden on such potential claimants/litigants. So, while the no-fault laws saves many accident victims the costs of retaining a lawyer, it also makes it more difficult to prosecute legitimate claims in excess of policy limits against an opposing party and their insurer. Basically, insurance companies love no-fault, while attorneys hate it.

Most insurers that I'm aware of will sell you the 'totaled' car for its salvage value, if you want to purchase it, otherwise, they typically either have contracts with salvage yards / parts pullers that purchase the wrecks from them at salvage value, or they auction them through services such as Copart. 11 years ago, my 1995 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe was hit by a school bus in Wisconsin. As Wisconsin is an at-fault state, and the bus driver was deemed at fault by police and all witnesses, I filed a claim with the the bus company, which happened to be self-insured (National Express Corporation). After filing a pro se lawsuit against them, they finally declared my Eldo 'totaled' and paid out the full price I was seeking in property damages, $16,500, plus reimburse all court costs/fees I had incurred in filing the lawsuit. I then offered to buy the car back from them for their declared salvage value of $400, and they agreed. So, I got $16,100 and got to keep my Eldo, which I later repaired with a front end clip that I purchased from a yard for $1,500.

[Rob Greenhaw]

After filing a pro se lawsuit against them, they finally declared my Eldo 'totaled' and paid out the full price I was seeking in property damages, $16,500, plus reimburse all court costs/fees I had incurred in filing the lawsuit. I then offered to buy the car back from them for their declared salvage value of $400, and they agreed. So, I got $16,100 and got to keep my Eldo, which I later repaired with a front end clip that I purchased from a yard for $1,500.

Do you now have a salvage title on your Eldo, though?

[deloreanman14]

Ouch!! :blackeye: :frown:

Although it pains me to see a beautiful car smashed up like that, the fact that you left the hospital within an hour is proof that John built one safe car. Best of luck getting her back up and running! :thumbup2:

[DMC3165]

Wow sorry to see that. Glad you are ok. I had a bad wreck with mine on the Verazzano bridge back in '99 so i know what you're going through. Have you decided where you're going to send your car for repairs? Mine was rearended and pushed into another car so the damage was extensive including pushing the engine off the engine mounts. Total damage was around 16K back then! Insurance wanted to total it but I fought with them and they fixed it. 40,000 miles later she's still going.

Best of luck with your reapirs and glad your ok. I'm sure your not interested now but the LINY-DMC is having a BBQ and road rally this saturday 8/24. Maybe if you'd like to get together with other owners and talk shop your welcome to come. PM me for more info

[dmcnorway]

I'm so glad you're ok. That's one scary photo!
Doc's words to Marty comes to mind: "... He'd rip through us like we were tinfoil..."

Stian B.


Unfortunately I was the driver involved in the accident. It was basically a head on collision offset to the passenger side front of the car as the other driver just made a left right in front of me leaving me virtually no time to stop. Fortunately I am ok aside from a few stitches on my eyelid and was home from the hospital in about an hour. I have hagerty insurance and they have been great so far. The damage to the body tub does not progress behind the front wheel and only the hood and passenger fender were damaged. Still quite a traumatic sight. Thank you all for your good wishes and I hope to have the car back on the road soon! 21296