jaunty75

In the parking lot at a local museum a week ago Sunday while I was inside and away from the car. Fortunately, the person who did it came forward, and the car goes into the shop on Monday to be repaired.

I was worried about the repair because the car is so old, but the body shop guy, who has done good work for me in the past, told me it should be no problem. They'll straighten this metal.

I have the car insured as a regular driver through State Farm, and their estimate of the damages is just over $1,100. Fortunately, it won't end up costing me anything except the vehicle being out of use for a week or so. But apparently the insurance will even pay for a rental while mine's in the shop.


I felt pain when I first saw it. It was a hot, searing pain.

jaunty75

Here's the damage to the vehicle that hit mine. It's a 2014 Ram pickup truck. Made a dent in the rear bumper.

oldcutlass

It's always unfortunate that these things happen. At least the guy was honest enough to search for you and take responsibility. Hope the repair turns out as expected.

jaunty75

Actually, the story of how I actually made contact with the guy would fill a book.

He hit the car on Sunday while I was in the museum. I was actually attending a multi-day event there, as was he, and he and the group he was with were actually from California.

I went out to the car at the end of the day on Sunday. It was dark, and I didn't notice the damage until I got home. There was no note (that I could see -- more about that in a moment).

I called my insurance company the next day, and it was going to be treated as an "unknown motorist" accident and handled through that part of my policy. I would have to pay the deductible.

On the way home this day, I was driving along and noticed a piece of paper fluttering around just under the hood in front of me. I figured it was probably the note left behind by the guy who hit me, and it had just slipped down under the hood. This car has the windshield wipers that park out of view under the lip of the rear edge of the hood, and the note apparently had slipped or been blown by the wind off the wiper.

I thought to myself, hallelujah, I won't have to pay for the repair after all. But not so fast. The note said only "I'm sorry I hit your car. Call me at XXX-XXXX." There was NO area code (or name or anything else). I assumed, therefore, that the number was local and dialed it that way both with and without the area code. It went to a number in a city an hour away from here, and the guy who answered the phone said he wasn't in my town or at this museum at all the day before and in fact had never heard of the museum. So I assumed I was at a dead end.

On Tuesday, I'm at the conference at the museum, and this guy comes up to me and asks if I own the yellow station wagon in the parking lot. I said yes, and he apologized and told me he's the one who hit me, and he wondered why I didn't call him. I told him I tried the number, but with no area code, if his number was not from the local area, I couldn't reach him. It turns out it was a California area code, and how the hell was I supposed to guess that?

I told him next time leave a complete phone number and at least your name and perhaps address, especially if you're from out of town. After all, there's only about 1000 possible area codes. Should I have tried them all?!?!

But all's well that ends well, and, as I said, things are moving forward.

joe_padavano

Ouch. This is my big fear, as I'll be using the newly-acquired 64 Vista as a daily driver. You're lucky the tail light housing wasn't broken, but I wonder if the tailgate mechanism needs to come out to straighten that wrinkle properly?

jaunty75

I was actually very fortunate the taillight was apparently only pushed back and not dented or broken.

I don't know about having to remove the tailgate mechanism. The only thing the body shop guy told me is that the bumper would have to come off, but that shouldn't be too difficult.


I know there's an inherent risk in driving an old car as a daily driver in terms of getting collision damage repaired. But it's a risk worth taking if the car isn't a 1000-point show car and worth tens of thousands of dollars. It's got 110,000 miles on it. If I didn't drive it, it would just sit, and what am I saving it for? My heirs? The @%^&# with them!

Koda

Yeah, I can't use a car I really care about for a daily driver. I like my truck a lot, but it's nothing special, even though it has performed in a stellar manner for 7 years now. I routinely park in BFE as a matter of exercise, but the odds would get me eventually.

My advice, make sure the body guy knows he's working for YOU and not the insurance co. Tell him the car matters and to do the best options. Phrase it like that so he knows your not insulting his work, but if there's a choice, you want the better repair for more moolah. I know I'd pay extra out of pocket to make sure the best job is done if it needed more cash to do the better option. Don't get taken for a ride, though.

Like my truck got hit, I said we're using OEM parts new, I don't care what their insurance says, I'll pay difference if I have to, best paint, etc. Repair looks good 3.5 years later.

jaunty75

I have complete confidence in him, and I don't need to tell him any of this. He's not dealing with the insurance company, anyway, as they've already given me a check for the loss (minus the deductible--I'll get that back when they settle with the other guy's insurance company), so I'll be paying him myself when the time comes.

joe_padavano

Well, two comments. First, when I go back and look at the top view, the tail light housing appears to be tweaked. You'll never straighten that pot metal, so you might want to check it and start looking for a replacement if needed. Second, only needing to remove the bumper sounds like pulling the dent with a stud welder and slide hammer. You might get lucky if pulling from the tail light opening relaxes most of the buckle, but if not, you really want to get behind that panel I don't know how far the tail gate mechanism extends into the quarter.

joe_padavano

I hear that, but the alternative is a soul-sucking commuter vehicle. My new motto is "Life's too short to drive a beige Camry."

(No, I don't own a Camry and never will... )

jaunty75

I'm going to take it one step at a time. Both the body shop guy and the insurance company estimator expressed confidence that the stud welder/slide hammer approach would work. If it won't, we'll worry about it at the time.

I sort of have this "I won't tell the body shop guy how to do his job if he won't tell me how to do mine" attitude. I've found it to work well in general as I engage professionals and their services through life.

joe_padavano

In that case, you've been much luckier than I have. I find that most (not all, but most) "professionals" I've dealt with have been more concerned with speed and profit margin than quality. This applies to the work on our old log house as well as the car, the horse trailer, etc. This is why I do just about everything myself now.

jaunty75

I've had two previous jobs done by this shop over the last couple of years, and both have turned out fine. Until he gives me a reason not to trust him, I trust him. So far, he's batting 1000.

oldcutlass

That's how it should work with a trusted shop Juanty. You drop it off and pick it up when it's done. If any issues arise during that process hopefully a simple phone conversation to discuss issues, agree on a solution and press on.

jaunty75

That's exactly what I have in mind.

joe_padavano

If you have a supplier you trust, that's great. My experience has taught me to be like Reagan, trust but verify. The problem with simply dropping off and picking up is that you have no idea how much bondo got used.

Like making sausage and politics...

barnfind

X2 .

A shops idea of doing a job "right" can and often does differ from my own.

ent72olds

I gotta say, looking at the damage, $1100 seems pretty light.....

MDchanic

I'm really sorry to hear about that, Jaunty, but I see that I have nothing to add to the general commentary.

I will note, though, that, unless I'm mistaken, it looks like your sheet metal dented his bumper.

Not too bad.

- Eric

Allan R

Nasty looking surprise Dan, but glad it's going to work out. Be glad there's an honest person in the world who actually had the decency to track you down. When I looked at the damage pics, I would say you're really lucky that none of the trim pieces got whacked or dented. Looks like straight forward metal work. They'll let you know if anything develops when they remove the trim to do the work. That side spear is not easy to find, as I'm sure you know. BTW, that DS bumper appears to be out of alignment. If they have to remove it and tweak it, that will add significantly to the cost of repairs, as I'm sure it will need re-chrome afterwards.

nsnarsk65cutlass

That sucks,but a good body guy can work that 70s metal back in shape.IMO it won't be a younger person.I could be wrong.Nick

1970cs

That's a bummer, I hope your body shop does a nice job! So hard to get a good job done.

My good body shop that did my 70 CS and my buddy 72 GP did wonderful work for great prices! But my hopes on using them in the future! My wifes DD just went in for the third time for issues related to original repair and looks likes it's going back for a forth because you can see the fogging when blending the clear.

Pat

jaunty75

The guy who did the estimate talked to me at length about this. He said that it would probably be the case that the entire "rear half" (the entire roof and both sides rearward of the rear doors) of the car would need to be recovered in clearcoat as clearcoating must be done right up to a "hard edge." There's apparently no way to blend new clearcoat with what's already on the car. The sheet metal on the wagon is continuous from one rear fender over the roof to the other rear fender as it connects along the upper rear edge of the rear door openings just ahead of the rear side windows.

You can see that in this side-on photo.

jaunty75

I do take some small solace in this as I think of it as my car fighting back. However, the solace only goes so far as it wasn't actually his truck. It had been rented from Enterprise Rent-a-Car, which actually makes the insurance aspect of it a bit more complicated as things have to go through them. But my insurance company is handling this, which is as it should be as that's what I pay them for. "Subrogation" is the term.

MDchanic

I thought this was a "family" site!

- Eric

Lady72nRob71

Sorry to hear about the damage, and the hassles you are having to go through.
However, I'm glad the one who caused it came forth and is cooperating, and that the damage is somewhat small. Of course I have often seen the small damages take a lot to repair! I remember the car that was dinged by a backing trash truck....
I wish you luck in getting your wagon looking like new. Interesting point about taking the clearcoat to a hard edge - did not know that...

z11375ss

I thought this thread was about someone's wedding night!

loudmouthaussie

Damn jaunty this hasnt been a good period for our custom cruisers! I would gladly trade you damage though. Cargo glass from states to australia or body work? Sounds like youve got it under control

jaunty75

The car goes into the body shop this morning.

76 Regency

Sorry to hear that but at least the driver did the right thing and it will be fixed right away. Good luck and I'm sure she'll be just fine.

Allan R

Perfect! Timing couldn't be better to add ghost flames to the hood and side of the car...

car_designer

Jaunty, sorry to hear about the damage. But glad to hear the guy came forward.

I had someone back into the front of my Delta once and the guy came to find me inside a store. My bumperette did better than the rear plastic bumper on his new Audi.

Joe, that's why I bought a Mustang

joe_padavano

Mmmm, tough choice. Drive a Camry or a Ford.

Talk about the lesser of two evils...

jaunty75

Probably not.

Besides, the car is already yellow. It's one big flame as it is!


P.S. What, exactly, is a "ghost" flame?

jaunty75

The problem for me is that what hit the car was a pickup truck whose bumper was so darn high off the ground that it completely missed mine and hit the taillight.

jaunty75

The body shop guy predicted the car would be ready for me to retrieve on Thursday, which is too bad because I have my rental car for an entire week.

I dropped it off at 8:30 a.m., and he said they would begin work immediately.

1970cs

Ghost flame!


Pat

jaunty75

That may be a ghost flame, but it doesn't explain why it's a ghost flame. Where are the ghosts? Or is it because you can just barely see the flame? In which case, what's the point?

Regardless, I ain't putting that on my car. I always thought those flame-painting treatments you see are cute for about the first five minutes, and then they're annoying to look at for all the rest of your life.

1970cs

I think you would know this stuff, being a car guy! Yes, you can barely see them.

I am with you when it comes to flames ghost or laid on top! On most other custom stuff like murals, stripes and skulls, I will also pass on those just not my cup of tea.

Pat

jaunty75

Ah, there's a few things I take pride in not knowing!