accident update, paint questions

[marc_scirocco at sympatico.ca (marc_scirocco)]

I would make it clear to the insurance rep that I would only accept a repair
to the car, and not the car to be totalled.

I'd clean the car so it looks as good as possible.

I would dig into my paperwork as many receipts as I could find.

I'd never accept a "We'll call you (eventually)" kind of an answer.

I'get the rep to commit to something. "Ok to call you back tomorrow
afternoon Mr Rep?".

Polite , diplomatic and firm harassment until I'd be reasonnably satisfied.
It still is a used car, but a rare and clean one.

And don't be too worried about the paint curing for a month. It should be ok
within 24 hours.

You can probably bend the rad support back into shape, or get a new one
welded in, have the hood replaced, and get the car back into shape easily.

Cheers.

Marc
'83 Scirocco
'97 A4 Q

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org 
> [mailto:scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org] De la part de T. Reed
> Envoy? : 21 d?cembre 2004 15:40
> ? : scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> Objet : accident update, paint questions
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> So I've been in touch with the insurance company of the guy 
> that drove in to my baby. They still haven't "established" 
> which party is at fault but it's pretty obvious, and I 
> believe it's even in the police report that the other driver 
> admitted fault.
> 
> A rep called and said he needs to take a statement from me, 
> and that "if you desire to have us inspect the car", he needs 
> its daytime address and a phone number.
> 
> "If"? That sounds optional. I'm not sure what to do here. If 
> I don't have them inspect it, he may simply offer a puny 
> settlement. If they do inspect it, they will either total the 
> car or offer me a puny settlement, or both. Part of me thinks 
> that if I don't have them come, they might give me the money 
> they would have paid their insurance goon to come look at it, 
> but the other part of me thinks that's ridiculous and 
> acknowledges that they are greedy scum-sucking bastards who 
> don't want to give me a dime.
> 
> The damage really isn't -that- bad, I'd like to think they 
> won't total it.. the hood can just be unbolted and replaced. 
> The most difficult-to-fix damage is that the top "tray" part 
> of the core support is bent in an inch or two and pinching 
> the driver side hood latch. Incidentally, this is where the 
> headlight bracket attaches at the top, so I can't "fix" my 
> headlight situation until this gets repaired. In the mean 
> time I'm trying to avoid driving at night, how convenient.
> 
> It seems to me that the shop can just cut a core support 
> "tray" out of a junkyard car, strip it, prime it and paint it 
> and weld it in place. Of course I'd like brand new parts but 
> lets be realistic. Still, it seems within the realm of any 
> half-decent body shop's capability.
> 
> But that's only what I can see; it'll be up to the body shop 
> to determine whether the hood hinges are bent, and whether 
> the core support is a candidate for full replacement (not 
> sure if the bottom mounting point for the headlight bracket 
> is bent too.. though certainly not as much).
> 
> I can't foresee any "surprise" damage to anything other than 
> the core support, hood, headlight, hood hinges, fender edges, 
> and the piece under the windshield. But the later three would 
> be relatively minor compare to the first of those three. Who knows..
> 
> Again, see:
> 
> http://www.wsu.edu/~treed2/pic1.jpg
> http://www.wsu.edu/~treed2/pic2.jpg
> 
> Obviously, the next step here is to take the car for 
> estimates to several different shops in the area so I can 
> "arm" myself with some real numbers.
> 
> I've heard that I should also wash + vacuum if the guy is 
> coming over. 
> Sounds like a good idea but I need to be careful not to 
> damage the crash area further (the paint in that area is 
> peeling off like skin on a bad
> sunburn)
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> So here's the next question.
> 
> Let's assume they agree to fix it, and the core support 
> (maybe just the top stamped tray piece) gets painted, the 
> chips on the under-windshield-piece and the fender(s) get 
> touched up, and the hood gets replaced and painted.
> 
> Now the problem is, I need to take this car back to school 
> around January 5th. Right now I'm in Seattle, which has 
> moderate 35-45 F winter temps. 
> School is an icy frozen tundra, where the temperature 
> frequently drops to
> 5-15 F and a foot or more of snow falls overnight.
> 
> It can't be the best thing for new paint to wind up in this 
> kind of environment a week after it is sprayed on..
> 
> I searched the net and couldn't find any specific advice 
> against taking a freshly painted car (or just "hood") to a 
> very cold place, but common sense tells me that if it's not 
> fully cured, the evaporation of the volatiles in the paint 
> will be on "hold" until it returns to a warmer climate. Also, 
> any moisture in the paint could freeze and expand, 
> introducing small imperfections in the paint job.
> 
> It's out of the question to leave the car in Seattle and "go 
> without"; it's my daily driver and only car. I have a feeling 
> that the insurance company will not pay for a rental for a 
> month while my paint cures in a garage.
> 
> So, any recommendations? I'm trying to make my life 
> not-miserable as a result of this not-my-fault accident, but 
> at the same time, I don't want a car with thousands of tiny 
> cracks in its hood and core support paint.
> 
> Thanks for any advice
> 
> -Toby
> 
> (and thanks to those that responded to my earlier post)
> 
> 
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