My new WRECK :( -UPDATED with Pics (page 2)

[BrianAg95]

Well, I found the right Grand Wagoneer for me. A very well maintained 1988. Black paint, not even oxidizing on the hood yet. (though not shiney anymore either). Interior in great shape.

Tuesday I go to pick it up. The day was the day from hell.... I get al the way to the PO's house and realize I left the cash in the jar at home.... Argh.. ok so drive back 30 minutes to get the cash... Return and take care of paperwork... Drive straight to the DMV to do all the title/registration/plates. I also needed plates for my wife's car, since we just moved to a new state. Well I couldn't do her plates, and could only do mine.... so after an hour wait at the DMV I hav my plates, and everything is set... I meet my mother in law who has been entertaining the kids at a McD's playground while waiting for me to get all the paperwork done, so she can follow me back home....

We start off. 1.2 miles later WHAM!!!!!

A 90'ish year old woman in the parking lane of the hill we were going up, lost her brakes, or just her wits ,and was going backwards down the hill in the parking lane... the parking lane however ended, and a crash barrier protected a power pole at this point... she hits the crash barrier, and bounces into the traffic lanes, right in front of me.... I have nowhere to go, I try stopping, but she is still coming at me (still coasting on the downhill) my mother in law is driving my wife's car behind me.... after seeing brakes are not going to be enough to miss her, I swerve... onl problem is the person in the left lane has instead of stopping.. kept coming, and so I end up becoming the center of a car sandwich....

The Right front impacts the 68 VW bug (that was coming down the hill backward in the parking lane), and the left front corner impacts the front and rear doors of the jeep cherokee that was next to me...

The right front corner of the Wag, rides up over the rear of the VW, and my right front tire gets gashed by the bumper of the Bug...

So here I am in my 2 hours old to me new Grand Wagoneer.. and stuck in an accident I had no way to avoid.... another hour or two dealing with towing and police report and what not, and I finally am heading home.. without my brand new to me truck

The cop said I probably saved the 90'ish woman's life (the one in the bug) since I probably would have just either driven over it, or had it's engine in her front seat... Nobody else was hurt, and my 4 yr old son in the backseat (IN HIS CAR SEAT THANK GOODNESS) was fine as well. So there is a silver lining I guess. She got the ticket for failure to control her vehicle.. and her insurance is covering things....

My fear right now is, I am going to get a call from them saying they want to declare my vehicle a total loss. As the only thing I have gotten so far is the verbal, "we are covering your loss".

Damage is cosmetic from what I inspected.. both front quarter panels are bent pretty bad... the hood is fine... the grill trim is bent.. the side turn signals are gone.. The front ones seem to have just popped out, but seemed intact. Bumper of course is toast...

ugggghhhhh..... still upset 4 days later....

[AlsChopShop]

sorry to hear it. hope all goes well for you.

Al

[Millerluck]

Man that suxs.

Lots of great people here. Post what you need in the wanted section and I'm sure you'll get lots of help with parts for cheap.

Larry

[shimniok]

Glad no one was injured, that is a great thing. But yeah it really bites to get in a wreck in a new to you vehicle.

Hate to say it, but they will almost certainly total it. These trucks aren't worth so much anymore. BUT... what I did with mine when it was wrecked was to total it but buy it back so I ended up with the approximate value of the vehicle less $500. If it isn't too banged up, you could take that $$ and buy body parts off the list here or from the junkyard and fix it back up.

Real sorry to hear all this.

Michael

[CustomWag]

Man, what a total drag! Couple good suggestions so far, another thing to think about, if the body shop that does the estimate tells you it's totalled, tell them you will approve used parts. I hit a deer several years ago, they wanted to total it, told the body shop they could use used parts, & that brought it down to where the ins. co. agreed to fix it.

BTW, "new" hood for our rigs listed at $700 a few years ago

[Gambler68]

yeah like Shim said. just check with your insurance carrier to make sure they will cover a Salvage titled truck. If not, just go get some crap liability from anywhere.

Replacing panels on these is EASY. It'll be a learning experience you'll enjoy.

[fulsizjeep]

Man, just think if you had been driving anything else? The Jeep saved you and your son from injury. Sorry to hear of your headaches.

Now, post of some pix cuz we like to see them NASCAR boys crash. Oh, this isn't ESPN?

[JeepBountyHunter]

Been there done it..and they fixed mine. July 3rd 2001, Driving along and a Ford F150 with a lift kit starts to turn out into traffic in front of me, only had time to go to the center lane to swerve around this guy, only to have him push in my rear quarter and wedge my tailgate in...$3000.00 repair later it was fine, and paid for by that guys insurance. Forward to 2007, that new rear quarter got cut off and given to Tommygfunk to fix his Cherokee...my Waggy died in a engine compartment fire in 04, you never know what gonna happen...but I always felt safer driving in it after that accident....than anything I've driven since.

[Ghinmi]

Where are you located? I'm sure some local board members will help you out. I've got most of the stuff you need to fix it except the fenders. If you're close enough to pick it up it's free. Shipping would be way too much on big items like that. Still sucks happening to a new Jeep though.

Greg

[Deus]

man that suxs bad, but if you wernt their a different vehicle would have hit her and may have not been as forgiving.
atleat you wernt in a bug and an fsj was rolling down the hill...


Got me thinking(oh no not thinking). Anyways say if you had an old fsj with a brand new high performance engine and what not accessories, and saved all the receipts would the insurance company pay for those mods minus depretiation?

[chrisnsarah]

That suck! I know how you feel. Went through the same thing almost 2 years ago. T-boned astop sign runner. Only difference is at least I got to enjoy the Cherokee for 16 years instead of 2 hours.

They totaled mine too, but I bought it back from them, mostly for the recently rebuilt 401 that survived. Actually ended up making money on the deal . I still have a rebuildable carcass.

[BrianAg95]

Need to update my profile, since I just moved and put the ole location on there. I am in Denver. South Side, Centennial. I won't know anything more till Monday when the shop has it scheduled for the complete checkout and esimate.

I'm withholding any decision on what exactly to do until they go through the estimate process.

[DesertWaggy]

Sorry to hear that, but glad everyone is unharmed. That is why I bought mine for my daughter to drive to school. Had it 1 1/2 weeks and a Jetta turned left in front of her. I just got it back on the road last week after 4 months of rebuilding, straightening, etc. The Jetta (God rest his soul) was DOA (the car not the unisured motorist). My daughter was unharmed after a 40mph crash with no front bumper. These vehicles are lifesavers, and knuckle busters, and gas suckers....

[chr1s]

ouch~
sorry to hear about that

[DanHS]

Sorry to hear that, but that's life sometimes. At least you didn't get blamed for striking other vehicles in your attempt to avoid the vw. If the insurance company wants to total it because of body shop costs, see if you can work out anything where they'll just reimburse you for buying replacement parts yourself if the vehicle is deemed safe to drive with only cosmetic damage.

For this reason, I think I will be building some light but sturdy prerunner style bumbers that brace up the front of the frame with brackets that run down the frame a couple feet for added bracing. That way if any idiot manages to hit me I won't have smashed fenders and a bent frame.

[ohioj20]

all I have to say is, fight the old lady's insurance company if they want to total it and give you very little if you feel it was worth what you paid. Been down that road after a complete restoration of my 1982 J20

[waggy401]

Woo Hoo - I can post again! Anyway, when I got hit a couple years ago, I was amazed at what the insurance company paid out. Between the repair of the rear quarter panel and the Ch*vy Trailblunder they supplied for me to drive for a week and a half, it cost more than I paid for the thing. Let the insurance know that these things are getting to be classics, and if the frame and engine are OK you want the sheet metal fixed.

Fight the man!!

[HeavyHauler]

Sorry to hear the bad news.

[BrianAg95]

Ok well they want to total it... they are giving me $4690 if I give them the vehicle, or $4390 if I keep the vehicle....

Considering I paid $4000 for it I can't complain too much..... (of course I did get a steal of a deal.. others in the area with same milage/condition are going between 5-6k.) I looked at one that the guy wanted $5500 for and it was not in nearly as good a shape as this....

I am going over to the body shop today, and looking it over, and going over the repairs with the body shop. I want to be sure there is no suspension damage or anything else other than sheetmetal, before I make up my mind.

I want to fix it... but I don't want to get into hidden or dangerous damage....

[ComancheRob]

TAKE THE JEEP AND THE MONEY!

its a difference of about $300

TAKE IT! LATCH ONTO IT WITH LEGS AND ARMS!

You're not going to get a better deal than that.