So some asshole must have been parked in...

[Bossnass]

So some asshole must have been parked in, or just a drunken bastard, and they decided to push my car out of the way.

I went over to a friends house last night for a bbq and socializing. I parked my car, parallel, into a space on the quiet residential street in front of my friend's house. BBQ led to (more than) a couple beer, which led to leaving my car parked and walking home.

When I got a ride back over to pick up my car today, I noticed that the car behind me was touching my back bumper, and I was annoyed that they had run into me and parked there.

Then I found my bumpers had taken some damage. That is to say my back bumper has two baseball sized dents. And my front bumper was touching the ground and both front tires, hanging by two screws and bent out of shape.

As far as I can tell, whoever was parked in front of me backed into me. Then proceeded to push my entire car about four feet backwards, until it had hit the car behind. There were skid marks from the back two tires and scuffs from the front two.

What a piss off. I knocked on a couple doors to see if they had heard or seen anything, but didn't have any luck. It is a utility car, a honda civic, that was bought when I went back to school because it would be cheap to insure and maintain. And until last night, the body was perfect. Fuck.

[ryfo]

Bad luck. Its very annoying ehrn these things happen and no one comes forward. I hadf my car parked and someone came along and hit the corner,wreaking the indicator. The only good thing was my SO was in the front seat reading a book and was able to get the rego, so they had a suprise visit from the insurance co. Hope it dont cost too much to fix.

[Nimetic]

That does suck.

[ratbastid]

Yeah, that sucks. But that's what insurance is for. You do have collision coverage, right?

[Nimetic]

Over here - there's something called "excess". ie for myself, I pay the first $400 of damage. Otherwise I have to pay much more for insurance.

[Aro23]

if you have some extra cash it's better to get it fix by yourself than report it to the insurance as your rate will go up

[Bossnass]

Yes, I have collision insurance, but it just so happens that I can't claim this, yet.

I was not married and 25 years old last year, which meant that collision insurance (for a single young male) was prohibitivly expensive and I didn't have the coverage. I've since been able to add a second primary driver and collision insurance for 60% of what I was paying before.

However, to get no-fault collision insurance placed on a car that hadn't been insured, an expensive 'soundness certificate' or a 90 day waiting period is required. I opted for the waiting period, which hasn't expired.

Also, I have a $250 liability deductable, and a $500 collision deductable.

I suspect that damage is well in excess of $500, as I was quoted 440 for the bumper alone, ignoring the torn holes and the bending in the front quarter panels.

I have taken the bumper itself off to make it drivable and replaced the broken turn indicator dome. I have been told that driving it without a bumper is not illegal, but not a good idea. To file a claim I need a police report filed within 72 hours of the incident, which I got today. However, my no-fault collision insurance doesn't kick in until April 30th. So I'll see what happens when I try to use a three week old damage ticket then.

[Borla]

Unfortunately, I bet they deny you because the damage was done in the 90 day window.


Is the car an automatic or a manual? If it is an automatic (hopefully not) was the car in park and the tranny damaged too?

[Plaid13]

I am pretty sure it is illegal to drive without a bumper but... most cops will give you some slack on that sort of thing. but if you get pulled over for speeding or something you better be really polite about it or he will write you a ticket for the bumper and who knows what else.

[Scorps]

Originally Posted by Plaid13

I am pretty sure it is illegal to drive without a bumper but... most cops will give you some slack on that sort of thing. but if you get pulled over for speeding or something you better be really polite about it or he will write you a ticket for the bumper and who knows what else.

I drive my van all winter with no front bummper and no problem from cops, but my bumper mounts where covered

[Scrub0]

i don't think the cops will care. i drove my old '94 Cutlass Supreme for several months with a smashed up driver's door. the mirror was missing from that side as well, and i never got busted...it just looked like shit heh.

[shakran]

What year is your car? There are several sites out there that you might be able to score a very cheap bumper off of. Lots of guys sell theirs off when they "upgrade" to an aftermarket bodykit.

[basmoq]

I've been hit like that 6 times in the past year, not including being rear ended and hit head on, for a grand total of 8 hits in one year, none my fault. One car totaled, and the two new cars we got have both taken one of the hits. It's like having a large neon hit me sign above all our cars that we can't find the off switch for.