no, not the prius... though i would rather have to pay a deductible and let that be the end of it. our 89 camry le v6 that DH conveniently just finished putting $1200 in parts and about 50 hours labor into just got creamed overnight by a hit and run driver, likely drunkenly on his way home from the bar that's down the street from us. it only had liability insurance on it. the front end is ok and it's still mechanically sound, but the rear end is [pfft] and i haven't even gotten to the funny part yet! we've been in the red for over a year and literally, last night before we went to bed, i sent off the very last payment that got us out of the hole. except for one lingering hospital bill that we probably won't have to pay anyway. well, and a couple grand in additional student loans, but those don't count. i am just so pissed off that i can't have ONE DAY! i just don't understand why sh!t continually happens to us. :angry: i'm off to craigslist now to see if anyone's selling a cheap 88-91 camry v6 with a blown engine or trans. edit: here's a picture.
Dude that sucks!! I'm sorry to hear about it. Hit and runs are the worse. Makes you wish you could out out an APB to body shops to be on the look out for a car with *this* type of damage and a shady story as to how it happened. Good luck with it. Trust me, I have occasionally ended up in better situations after what I thought were devastating set-backs. Keep us posted.
That's so awful! I'm sorry to hear that, Galaxee. Good luck on finding a car you can use to build a whole one. Tony's idea might not be all that bad, however: Maybe the cops can find a driver who cannot properly account for the damage to his car. If he hit the back of yours with the front of his, he may have worse damage.
I don't suppose the police made a DUI arrest last night in your location? And the suspects car had any matching crunches and paint matching your car? What about salvage yards? Any chance of some back end panels there?
I'm soo sorry. I'd offer pep talk to you but you don't need it. You're strong enough to get over these little things quickly. I got so used to stuff like this one year I changed my username on all my car forums to F8L Dirt!
oh crap! Our Camry was totalled last week by a taxi driver >.<. Is it really not repairable or is the insurance company lazy and would rather total it?
Galaxy get a PO Box and troll us for $5 each. You and DH have surely given all of us all at least $5 worth of advice. Congrats on momentarily sorta getting a handle on your debt (un American as it is). If it were me I'd be out trolling the cars near the bar for the next few weeks looking for 'your' paint on one 'o dem dere cars. I'd also be tempted to treat the owner of said car to either a 'friendly' shakedown or a hit and run court appearance.
Sorry, galaxee. Life really bites somedays, doesn't it? I wish there were something I could do. (Um, no, another car isn't exactly in my budget, either.)
oh we're going to troll the bar parking lot for the next few weeks alright. if we can catch the guy, awesome, we're going to sue him. the frame looks to be pretty screwed and as you can see, the whole quarter panel is just mushed. the rear door won't open, we're talking major repairs. i say it's totalled not because there is any insurance involved but because it's immediately apparent the car is a total loss. repair cost > than value for sure. we're going to salvage what parts we can, try to find a good body from the same model and drop in the perfectly running engine and trans with 140k on them. it's not drivable, the panel is rubbing on the rear wheel. if he can get the mudflap off, it might create enough clearance to drive it to the shop for a free estimate. who knows. but the car no longer has structural integrity so he wouldn't want to drive in traffic should another accident happen. grr :angry:
Gawd. It seems to be going around. So sorry this has happened to you...it's such a pain in the keyster. Know that I empathize AND sympathize with you...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ May 12 2007, 09:23 AM) [snapback]440608[/snapback]</div> I think this is a good idea. I'd pitch in, and I bet a lot of others would also. I would not call it trolling, however. Just people helping out. Sort of like the rent parties people used to have in the depression.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ May 12 2007, 06:12 PM) [snapback]440735[/snapback]</div> Or kinda like how the Amish all pitch in to help a neighbor after a disaster. Why does this always happen after the repair, never before? Without comprehesive insurance one is SOL. This is why I carry it although it doesn't always make economic sense. I'd file a police report. They may actually do something. I'd also consider printing a flyer and distributing it to the local body shops. If you find a car at a bar with matching damage instead of confronting the driver I'd take the plate number and call the police. For a possible hit and run they may send someone out in the hopes of also getting a DUI. Good luck Galaxee & DH. Hope the scumbag is caught.
no need for donations but many thanks i figure if we can make it through 5 figures of medical expenses and that whole mess without going bankrupt, we can find a dead-body camry too. it's the time lost that irritates us both. he's so busy as it is. we've got a couple leads on dead camrys so far, one that's a perfect match but that may or may not work out. we'll hear more on monday. we did file a police report right away, and pointed out the bar down the street. they told us if we found a lead to call them with the license plate number, but i don't expect anything. we've got full collision and comp on the prius, and just couldn't justify it for an 18 year old car. and here i was thinking, don't park the car we owe money on, on the street. hindsight's 20/20. [edit... yikes! i got all these connection errors last night, i didn't even know the post was going through! edited to remove excess repeat posts.]
OUCH! Thank goodness you weren't in the car when it happened! Yeah, then it probably wouldn't have been a hit and run, but you might have been injured. So sorry to hear about your troubles, and Good Luck! No more bad luck.
i was thinking this over, and it turns out had it been insured for collision we wouldn't have been in a much better situation anyway. kbb value for it is about $1500 in fair condition, but you know they don't care much about running condition on older cars. this is far less than we've paid for it and put into it, and far less than what we could have sold it for on friday. now to pay an extra ~$600 a year to get a payout of $1500 and have to start all over from scratch- or buy the car back from the insurance company- probably would end up costing us more in the end. nevermind that finding a v6 in such good condition in one of these cars is pretty rare. this one was a real find, hence the reason we snatched it up and sold the other camry. DH opened the trunk this morning and it no longer closes. we expected that. :lol: and no, we are not going to even try to open the rear door. he did find like 6 body clips at the curb, so their bumper must be barely hanging on. also, the upstairs neighbors heard the whole thing happen at 2:30 am- bar close. but the police didn't seem to care when i called to add this information to their report. we're on our own to find the culprit. i just want them to get theirs, even if we don't get any compensation. hit and run is illegal. the guy needs a big ticket and a mark on his driving record or something to at least match the inconvenience we're going through thanks to him.
