Saturday, July 29. I’m at work, I go outside on my last break and another employee that was outside told me that someone is parked quite close to my car. I work at a Safeway, and I park out away from the cars and carts so I don’t get hit. Seems very odd someone would be parked directly next to me when there’s tons of empty spaces anywhere else, so I think it can’t be good. It’s some big beastly 80s Dodge pickup, faded yellow and ugly. Parked really damn close to me. Then I see that it is not merely parked next to my car, but almost on top of it. My passenger side was completely covered by this truck, I thought well, did this idiot pull up intentionally? But nobody was in the truck, and my side mirror was bent away from the car, so the truck had backed up into me. Still suffering from the shock, I got really uneasy, wondering what the hell happened. Nobody was in sight, and it seemed very strange. I called the police, and they sent an officer. This whole time I’m freaking out inspecting the damage. I took a bunch of pics on my cell phone when the truck was still against my car, but I can’t get those on here right now. 80s ugly Dodge pickup, all that matters.
Almost right after the cop arrives, the truck’s owner came running out, “ohhh ****” etc. I guess he worked next door. He had parked diagonally from me, left his truck IN NEUTRAL and apparently did not set his parking brake all the way (the cop cited him for this later on.) So his truck rolled back and murdered my passenger side, after he was gone..
The worst part was when the cop instructed him to pull away, and hearing all the crunching noises and seeing my car jolt up and down was pure hell.








Now, I don’t post here often, and nobody knows about my car – there’s really not much to know. It’s just a 1998 GS-R, stock, cypress green pearl, but I love it, and it’s my car. MY car. Violated. Thing that really hurts is, I just had the motor completely rebuilt, which was such a relief because it had been leaking oil hardcore in recent days and stressing me out a LOT. The motor was shot to hell at 142k, but it had just a month ago been restored to brand new status. Car completely detailed, inside and out, barely a month ago, my clutch was new less than a year ago, everything basically was brand new. My prized GSR was reduced to THIS because of some moron who decided to park right by me. I am quite attached to my car, and after all the work I have done to have the money to pay for all the maintenance over the past year (I only bought it just over a year ago) this really hurts. I’m a full time college student, and I work quite a bit. It’s not easy, and being just a nearly-21 year old kid doesn’t make my insurance cheap. I have a perfect driving record too. Most of my money goes toward the car.

He has insurance, but this damage is so bad they wouldn’t cover it, right? The first shop I showed the car to, took one glance and said it’s a total loss. I figured, but my car, totaled? Painful. I’ve never experienced this before, but from what I understand, they’d give me blue book which sucks, we all know our Integras are worth more than that. Especially ones with new motors etc., I mean I was going to keep this car forever and know it would last forever. So frustrating.

However, he called me Monday morning and said he doesn’t want to go through his insurance. He is working out a DUI, trying to get a probationary license, and this would screw him up good. He wants to pay me out of pocket. I told him, you realize this car is a total loss, right? He still wants to pay for the damages. I’m going to explore this. I own him right now. This guy is like 6 foot 6, I have to look up to him when I talk to him. He’s in his 30s. I’m just a 20 year old kid, and he can barely look me in the eye. It’s almost funny. He’s so intimidated right now and I’m gonna take advantage. And believe me, I will.
Insurance is a poor option at this point, you’ve seen the damage. I told the guy this car is worth at least $7k, and he said he is prepared to pay up. He’s gonna clean out an IRA account, get cash, he has good credit, he said he’ll borrow more… wow he must be desperate. He just does not want this to be reported to his insurance. Hey, lucky for me right?
Well hey, if I can squeeze $8k or so out of him, that helps me out. I don’t have much money, I go to school, I’m not gonna be working much once I transfer in the fall..
But should I fix my car?
Thousands of dollars is quite tempting to just keep…I could drive my car like this, have it be my totally reliable beater, or I thought about looking for a good shell and dropping my new motor into it… I’d rather not look for a different car. I could also get my car fixed, and go back to where we were before it happened and forget all about it – but I’d be passing up a bunch of cash. I don’t know if I could live with spending $6k or so to fix a $6k or so bluebook car. I’ve already spent as much as I’ve paid for the car in fixing it. It’s crazy the amount of money dumped into it. I don’t work on major things myself, because I don’t have the knowledge or time – I’m too busy with school and work and things, so I have to pay to have work done – so I’ve spent more money than I like to admit, especially to all you Honda-tech people who do all your own work. I’m fine with it, I love the car – but bottom line, this hurts.

So far I got estimates from 4500 all the way to 6000. More on the way tomorrow.

So, options.
1 – Get money – charge him for my car. Try and get at LEAST $7 out of him. Keep the money, keep the car, drive it looking that that (ugh, it looks like **** and will not get better… but it drives fine. I’ll be in college, lot of commuting every other week, etc, no longer think of the car as my good-looking gsr)
2 – Get the money, but fix my car. I’ll be able to pocket a little bit. Couple grand if I’m lucky.
3 – Get the money, but get some Integra shell (might be looking a while) and put my motor into it, and spend way less. Keep in mind my interior is in really good shape, but it’s tan – we all like black better, I might be able to find one? I don’t know how hard teg shells are to find these days.
4 - Get the money, get a shell of something else and put my motor in it (I'd really rather not...I don't race, I have one car to daily drive and I like it to be somewhat likable)
4 – Get the money, sell my motor, part out the car. I’d have a lot of money but no car. I could then buy some shitty car and not worry about anything anymore.
5 – This one is just “in case” – but if he somehow fails to provide me with money, I WILL report it, and he’s screwed – but so am I, because my car is a total loss, and I’m stuck with what they give me – and no car. I could buy it back yes, but it’s still damaged. This option sucks.

I’ll edit this post and keep you updated. Any input? Suggestions?
I’m still kind of in shock at the whole thing.

 

way too much for me to read, but it looks well written. I think its the wrong forum i would post it in kill it might be OT a little but they like reading stories like this

 

I read to you having a rebuilt engine. I'd buy the car back (its def totaled sorry man) and take the engine out and maybe part out the rest of the car.

edit: just read your options. I'd go through insurance, no matter what, you may get less money but this guy could screw you. Do you have the police report? If so then I'd wait to see if he pays you 8k, but if he starts taking to long, report it to your insurance. Let them deal with this bullshit thats what you pay them to do.

 

 

Well even tho he was wrong, but still shouldn't jips him, what you can do is take parts from your car and buy a new car or shell and drop in the motor. that would helps him and yourself alot

 

4

 

i dont think its worth fixing that car. the corner is hit to max and wow its going to be a **** load of bondo in there. IMO

 

i dont know much about body work but here's a suggestion.

1. get money from the guy, don't squeeze every last penny out of him just because you are at an advantage. it would seem very shady if you said your car's totaled but you're still going to drive it after draining his bank.

2. go to a reliable mechanic and check if there's frame damage. if there's frame damage... stop reading at this point, i can't think of anything more off the top of my head.

3. if there's no frame damage, buy a new door and a new fender, don't worry too much about the color, at least you know it's not bashed in.

4. tell the shop to fix just the rear quarter panel.

5. save up for a real good paint job.

 

Oh man that hurts! , well at least there is insurance,

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dc2rtek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i dont think its worth fixing that car. the corner is hit to max and wow its going to be a **** load of bondo in there. IMO </TD></TR></TABLE>


They wouldn't use all bondo in there, they would pull it out alot. But yeah its defintly still totaled. I don't know about frame damage at those speeds, but either way the rear quarter panel is a HUGE structual part of the car since its a unit body frame design.

 

shop will cut quarter panel and well it shut, and weld and do body work, just if you got $$$

 

Oh man...that is *** right there...sucks like hell dude, ionno if repairing ALL that damage is worth it...man nice looking GSR too...oh well...good luck man

And I think you should get at least 8,000 from this guy, and I would just buy a new door and new fenders, and just drive with a messed up quarter panel.

 

What a shame.

how much for the wheels

 

just go through the insurance. then everything is documented. if you wait too long for him to pay you then you cant report it. just buy the car back then get a shell and swap everything

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JThrasher79 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just go through the insurance. then everything is documented. if you wait too long for him to pay you then you cant report it. just buy the car back then get a shell and swap everything </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

GO THROUGH INSURANCE. Trust me, my manager backed into my car 1 year ago and he hasnt payed my dad yet for all the body work my dad did. I wouldnt even waste my time/$$$ getting that fixed...its totaled, that back quarterpanel will never be the same...to much bondo. If he dont pay you 8,000 cash withing 2 weeks, tell him tough **** and get his ins info.

 

wat the expletive are u guys talkin about? the kids car aint toalled. all it needs is a door, a fender, and a quarter panel. if he were to bring it to my shop i cant seee that damage anymore than 3,000$ and i garentuue u hi car is more than twice that. u guys are crazzzzzy sayin that **** is totalled. we wouldnt pull that out at allllll. def new door, fender, and quarter.

 

3

 

id go through insurance and not have to worry about him jipping you. IT HAPPENS!!!!

like someone said earlier if their is frame dmg then dont bother fixing it. Accidents lead to a lot of problems, if the frame is bent buy a shell and swap everything

 

i agree with gsr dood... i worked auto body for a couple years and it isnt even worth pulling it. better off just getting new parts. as long as theres no frame damage ull be fine. just replace the quarter panel, door and fender. then get a nice paint job

 

Oh my dear god , i just scrolled down and saw thoes pics before i read the whole thing .... I totaly feel for you man , I have the same car year color .. and if this happened to me I have no clue what id do . That dmg is so bad I probley would of cryed on site , anyways if its just been rebuilt , Id try to hang onto that motor , start a new teg project ? Sell off the parts everyone loves OEM parts , i dunno bro thats just horrible . I hope things get better for you and sorry for the loss one CGP owner to another .

 

Sorry about the carnage...

 

that sucks..
A buddy of mine left his truck in neutral one time and when he came out of the store the truck went through Mc Donald's window down the street

But yah.. i had a similar situation with insurance and i had so many options, chances, and opportunities - but all ended up in me loosing. So i stuck it out and ended up fixing my car dispite everyone telling me to part it out and sell it for 1/4 less than it was worth- and im glad i did

 

Damn, this is gay!

 

It was an accident. **** happens, but its no reason to try and clean someone out.

Insurance is the only way to go.