My baby is gone....

Bought it in 2008 with 90k. 92k on the clock now. I had been saving her while I drove the doors off of several other wagons...well over 10k into the build, she met her untimely demise today at the hands of someone younger than the car itself.

Rear ended while at a traffic light by a stupid idiot in a VW going 50+ and not knowing where the brakes were. Saw her at the last second and floored away from the light, didn't even make to to the other side of the intersection.....

RIP Jade

Luckily I had onsite emotional support as Lynol was in the next lane and was about 10ft from the point of impact

What a loss. Glad you are OK, and I hope the nitwit's car is totaled too. Think what it would have been like if you had not floored it. You probably reduced the speed differential by 20 MPH. I hope the idiot girl has good insurance. You have some negotiating to do. I would go for the whole policy, including the medical for neck injury. Keep the car and move the modded parts to a replacement car. It looks like it bent the body all the way to the B pillar. My stomach felt about the same as yours must have when the dump truck sideswiped me. Mine is still in the shop almost 9 months later. If the insurance company balks, get an independent replacement value appraisal.

We will miss the old girl at the future Wagonfests.

My office is precisely 1437 ft from my home, and for 33 years I have walked to work.  Despite the fact that I have not driven the wagon in the winter since 2009, I've been rear-ended 3 time by idiots texting and driving within 1 miles of my home.  Fortunately, the cars were never damaged beyond some bumper cover replacement and paint.  

Thankfully, you're OK.  But, if they balk at anything less than than an extremely generous settlement, get a lawyer willing to take the case for a percentage and don't leave a scrap of meat on their bones.

Suprisingly she is still driveable but the frame is bent and the body is bent both downward and sideways. It was alot of energy, so glad I was standing still

A very sad way to end the year. Unfortunately now you need to prep for the insurance company fight. I hope the new year brings a good resolution to this. At least your ok.

That's really a sad news. Glad you are fine.

This really hurts to see. Glad you're ok, but man...ouch. I hope you get a good settlement out of this.

-Michael

Oh no,..... so sorry john,.

i hope you can arrive at a decent settlement,. maybe enough to go buy franks million dollar WB4 on E-bay,..I,m sure you're starting to feel all kinds of aches and pains physically and emotionally,. you should be compensated for such trauma,.

Quote :

franks million dollar WB4 on E-bay

Would that be the burgundy inside and out for $24K? Seems a reasonable base from which to negotiate a replacement for your loss.

dmg4 wrote:

Quote :

franks million dollar WB4 on E-bay

Would that be the burgundy inside and out for $24K?  Seems a reasonable base from which to negotiate a replacement for your loss.  

Quick buy it now! Good investment right!! Hagerty says so!!

That sucks! glad your ok

Thanks everyone. I am not fully ok, as some headaches and neck, back pain...but at least I’m not hospitalized...

If you are experiencing neck and back pain and headaches one week after the accident, you might want to make an appointment to see your GP. They may refer you to a specialist for x-rays and more tests. Proceed with caution. Document everything.

It's worth noting on occasions like this that Hagerty is a good company to insure these cars if they are not rustbuckets. They did not balk at insuring my 1996 Caprice wagon for $15,000. So, if my car is totaled for any reason, irrespective of fault, I get $15K to go find a replacement. My premium for replacement cost and liability is just over $300/yr.

This didnt happen on the wedding day, did it?

Jon

I'm sick about your car also, but I'm sure not as much as you. I know all the work and $$$ you put in it.

But in my eyes, you've still got the crown jewel.......The Yellow Pineapple.


Tom

silverfox103 wrote:

Jon

I'm sick about your car also, but I'm sure not as much as you.  I know all the work and $$$ you put in it.

But in my eyes, you've still got the crown jewel.......The Yellow Pineapple.


Tom

True and I may focus on that and my Healey and Cougar. I dunno if I have the energy to build another one of these....we will see.

I have been to a couple Drs. already and doing what I need to do to make sure I'm taken care of. Appreciate the well wishes.

Get that Cougar back on the road.....

Ugh, that's a serious bummer. If the rear axle is still straight get all your buds together, strip out the good stuff, take a sawsall to it and make a Lemons race car out of it. There is another team running a I believe 96 wagon in the series. It's a fun way to loose money

GMjonn wrote:

Ugh, that's a serious bummer. If the rear axle is still straight get all your buds together, strip out the good stuff, take a sawsall to it and make a Lemons race car out of it. There is another team running a I believe 96 wagon in the series. It's a fun way to loose money

An idea with merit, however there aren’t any Lemons races within 500 miles and the frame is bent pretty badly

Not to mention I need to strip the car to get my some of my money back (waaaay too much invested)

Understand.
I'm really lucky to have 3 events at 2 tracks within a a few hours from me, Road Atlanta and CMP

Invested? What's that mean?

RedandBlack wrote:

Invested? What's that mean?

Oh I mispoke,  "I pissed 10 grand into a hole in the ground".   There all fixed.

Well, I'm still arguing with Geico.   After 3 weeks of internet research and showing them a valuation for over 2k more than they offered on another wagon with higher mileage (50% more), they came up an entire 500 dollars.   They are whores.   I'm about to rip my cheery bubbly, agent a new asshole when I call her back tomorrow.....but I will meter my temper and get her to understand where we are....

That all said, on Friday I'll be dropping a few bucks onto another project (and I said I was done dammit)  

Generally speaking, insurance companies do not like open cases. If you are patient and have the resources to wait them out, they should gradually increase their offers to settle the claim. Remain firm with them, but don't rip any new assholes yet. That will work against your interests.

Offer to be helpful. They'll not like that. I would open a discussion with ads for cars that are exactly what you want, offer to let them buy it for you to settle the case, and mention that you might need to involve your attorney to facilitate an outcome that is fair to all parties. Just keep repeating that you need to replace the car with one of equal value, and that by taking you as a client and accepting your money, they are legally obligated to do so (minus a deductible), and that you are certain that others will agree with this position. Smile, and apply pressure.

Not sure of the system in FL, but in NY you can also contact the state insurance commission, state the facts, and request that they intervene.

Maybe if you offer to upgrade a replacement car with the usable parts from the old one. When my last Buick wagon was damaged by a kid who ran a light, the first offer was 1100. and they get the car and title. Among other things they reduced (adjusted) the book value by over 2000 for a complete repaint that they stated would be needed to get full value, because there was a patch of primer paint on the passenger back door. I was still driving it daily. It was an 85 I think. I gave them copies of receipts for a work, disagreed a lot, and eventually got 2400 to repair the car. I then got 3000. for it as a trade in on a used car. Insurance companies don't make profit by doing the right thing. Maybe during your next conversation, the headaches will return and you will have to hang up to call your doctor again....

Check this out...the last one.

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/01/07/best-collector-cars-to-buy-now-2019-bull-market-list

LOL. That stupid article is about fancy Buick wagons. John has the more generic Chevy version and the insurance company knows this. Much like the rest of us that aren't millionaire car collectors, Geico doesn't care what Hagerty says. His car wasn't insured for an agreed value either, so he has to deal with this nonsense.

I'm sure he will get what he wants, sadly it will just take a lot of time.

Quote :

That stupid article is about fancy Buick wagons. John has the more generic Chevy version

Hagerty did not blink at insuring my generic Chevy wagon for a replacement value of $15K.

So she is all mine now! Super cool guy Brian I took custodianship from, a 95 with 70K and rust free. She needs a new tailgate and passenger fender, but the price reflected that.

It's my 14th wagon, and most I ever paid on initial purchase (lots more spent in the green one though). It's also the lowest mileage. Original owner was about 80 and apparently parked by feel, hence the dents.

It's a solid 25 footer. Needs a few things like an AC recharge (clutch cycling constantly and not blowing very cold), new power antenna, and a few other misc items.

I'm very happy as the first drive was about 325 miles back home and she did well. Rolled hard with traffic in the mid 90s for about 15 minutes without breaking a sweat (I had to turn on my GPS speedo on my phone as I didn't think it was accurate, but it was )

Hey, you need to come to Wagonfest NY and park between DonMac and I!

dmg4 wrote:

Hey, you need to come to Wagonfest NY and park between DonMac and I!

BTDT in 2010. 9 days and 3300 miles with my 2 kids. Had fun at Niagara Falls and WF, but don't ever seeing myself doing it again. Sure it was fun, but the distance only worked as I tied my entire year's vacation into the trip...

WF FL on the other hand, is less than I drove today to pick up this car (roughly 3 hrs each way to Daytona)

Can a paintless dent guy fix the fender and tailgate? Sometimes it is cheaper than replacing the parts, and painting to match. I have a bunch of misc. stuff. I even have a source for the spare tire hold down "nut".

Nice find, looks great. Hope all your investment transfers over to this one.

Still not settled, the adjuster doesn't respond to my emails, only phone calls and then tells me things, she won't back up in writing. Time to escalate up the chain of command.

Of course, I was lax for 3 months as busy with other stuff, but not answering emails annoys the crap out of me.