Another Fender Bender

[WelmoedJ]

Tom was able to get out of the car in one piece.
The picture shows him behind his car.

No info on the truck driver's furtehr actions (stopping, exchange insurance info etc).

From the stories it seems the other drivers over at your end behave less well than over here?
Anyway I haven't yet been in a situation where other drivers endanger my car's space while on the road.

I have seen others needing a full emergency stop being to much fixated to the D and forget about other traffic.

[JohnZ]

Watching that picture makes me feel sad, I'm sorry for Tom, I hope that when I will be able to ride in my car everybody will be more careful on the roads...

[TTait]

My wife and I are 99% fine - a little neck stiffness - but that's to be expected.

As Welmoed stated, a guy came over into us and sent us into a 100k Nissan GRT - I was able to miss hitting it head on but went into his door pretty hard, then back into the douche in the truck.

The police report came the other day - 100% his fault - despite his antics at the scene and claims that he has no idea why I hit him - the guy never took physics I guess. He had been drinking, but the police chose not to get a BAL? They let him drive off - his truck was mostly fine.

The car went down to Danny today on a flatbed - Damages should not exceed the value of the car, but Danny tells me some companies don't want the risk of escalating repair costs and a different carrier totaled one with just $14k in damages a few months back. I have to fight the value battle now. Hoping to convince them not to total it. I'm guessing $21-$25k in damages. Every time I looked at it I found more wrong. Turns out my drivers wheel now has Nissan GTR colored accents and slices in the sidewall. It also needs a full right side, front end, fiberglass repair, LFF, maybe drivers door, hood, windshield, front wheel, tire, frame and suspension repairs - a lot. Fortunately the seatbelts were good. Actually - the car was pretty close to "done". It still had the original steering wheel which was not perfect, but every other part of the car had been replaced or upgraded. 8 years of work. It sucks.

Anyone here want to offer an opinion as to how much more a D might be worth if it was owned for 12 years by Universal Studios Hollywood? I'm trying to get the insurance company to consider that when valuing the car - not because I want a bigger check, but because I don't want it totaled.

[rdarlington]

Anyone here want to offer an opinion as to how much more a D might be worth if it was owned for 12 years by Universal Studios Hollywood? I'm trying to get the insurance company to consider that when valuing the car - not because I want a bigger check, but because I don't want it totaled.

Unless you paid for insuring the car as a collectible with an agreed upon value from outfits like Hagerty, your car is worth whatever a comparable vehicle in your area would be worth.

The going rate for a DeLorean in good shape tends to be around $25k, however my insurance company (State Farm) thinks "average retail" was $28k. Hagerty decided my estimate of $35k for my ride was acceptable so I opted to switch to Hagerty.

Typically if the cost of repair exceeds 50% of the value of the car, the insurance company will decide it's a total loss and cut you a check for what the car is worth. Some give you the option to buy the remains back so you can fix it on your own, part it out, or do whatever else you might like to do with it. This was pretty much what happened to a couple thousand cars a few years ago where I live after a hail storm came through. Turns out it's expensive to bang out dents properly. They had trailers and RVs setup for a couple weeks with people in them writing checks.

In my case, I wanted to make sure I could get a car in as good a shape as the one I have now should something go horribly wrong.

-Bob

[Patrick C]

Glad to hear you are okay, Tom. Sorry to hear about the car, but keep the faith that she'll be better than new once you get her back.

[TTait]

Unless you paid for insuring the car as a collectible with an agreed upon value from outfits like Hagerty, your car is worth whatever a comparable vehicle in your area would be worth.

The going rate for a DeLorean in good shape tends to be around $25k, however my insurance company (State Farm) thinks "average retail" was $28k. Hagerty decided my estimate of $35k for my ride was acceptable so I opted to switch to Hagerty.

Typically if the cost of repair exceeds 50% of the value of the car, the insurance company will decide it's a total loss and cut you a check for what the car is worth. Some give you the option to buy the remains back so you can fix it on your own, part it out, or do whatever else you might like to do with it. This was pretty much what happened to a couple thousand cars a few years ago where I live after a hail storm came through. Turns out it's expensive to bang out dents properly. They had trailers and RVs setup for a couple weeks with people in them writing checks.

In my case, I wanted to make sure I could get a car in as good a shape as the one I have now should something go horribly wrong.

-Bob

Even if its totaled - this is a car I'll keep. I already know what Danny would pay for the hulk, and he does not intend to bid against me for it. It will be back on the road, and the salvage title won't mean that much as I intend to keep the car.

It was technically totaled when I got it, and I have a lot more invested in it now. It has virtually every upgrade imaginable, and every mechanical component on the car has been replaced, including the engine (I have the original on a stand) which is now Stage II, except the brake booster, carbon canister, and wiper motor. I rescued the car once - not going to give up on it now. I have some of the replacement parts already - if it was totaled I could put cash in my pocket and still have it repaired - but I'd like to keep the title clear if I can.

[rdarlington]

It was technically totaled when I got it, and I have a lot more invested in it now.

Oh boy, say it ain't so. Was this on a salvage title? They won't pay you anything for that, because presumably, an insurance company already did -unless you've got an agreed upon value. That would be unusual with a salvage title car.

[TheSmokingMan]

A DeLorean and a GT-R in an accident. I wonder what the odds of that happening is...

[kings1527]

The Delorean takes defensive driving to the next level.

Boy, is that the understatement of the year. I've thought the exact same thing countless times driving my car.

My wife and I are 99% fine - a little neck stiffness - but that's to be expected.

As Welmoed stated, a guy came over into us and sent us into a 100k Nissan GRT - I was able to miss hitting it head on but went into his door pretty hard, then back into the douche in the truck.

The police report came the other day - 100% his fault - despite his antics at the scene and claims that he has no idea why I hit him - the guy never took physics I guess. He had been drinking, but the police chose not to get a BAL? They let him drive off - his truck was mostly fine.

The car went down to Danny today on a flatbed - Damages should not exceed the value of the car, but Danny tells me some companies don't want the risk of escalating repair costs and a different carrier totaled one with just $14k in damages a few months back. I have to fight the value battle now. Hoping to convince them not to total it. I'm guessing $21-$25k in damages. Every time I looked at it I found more wrong. Turns out my drivers wheel now has Nissan GTR colored accents and slices in the sidewall. It also needs a full right side, front end, fiberglass repair, LFF, maybe drivers door, hood, windshield, front wheel, tire, frame and suspension repairs - a lot. Fortunately the seatbelts were good. Actually - the car was pretty close to "done". It still had the original steering wheel which was not perfect, but every other part of the car had been replaced or upgraded. 8 years of work. It sucks.

Anyone here want to offer an opinion as to how much more a D might be worth if it was owned for 12 years by Universal Studios Hollywood? I'm trying to get the insurance company to consider that when valuing the car - not because I want a bigger check, but because I don't want it totaled.

I'm so sorry to hear about this, Tom. I used to work at Universal when your car was sitting at the tram garage outside under a tree for years. Without a doubt, you did a ton of work to it.

[Kenny_Z]

Oh boy, say it ain't so. Was this on a salvage title? They won't pay you anything for that, because presumably, an insurance company already did -unless you've got an agreed upon value. That would be unusual with a salvage title car.

I don't think he means it had a salvage title. I think he means it might as well have since he put so much work into it. Good luck, Tom. I hope you get your car back without the salvage title.