Rear-ended

[ChrisION]

What is this? Rear-ending season??

I was rear-ended Tuesday evening by a 1996 Oldsmobile. I can't really go into detail about what happened, but long story short, we were making a right and the person behind us didn't see us slowing down. They tried to swerve into the left lane but hit us on the left rear. I spent most of Tuesday night at the hospital. I have whiplash and have to wear a neck brace I've also been having headaches on and off. We got an estimate yesterday by their insurance; $1,309.45. Saturn called us back today to make an appointment to take it to their body shop; it is scheduled for Monday the 20th. I have to go back to my doctor today to see what happens from here.

Pictures are in my gallery.

[saturnguy0077]

Hope everything works out well for you. Glad you were not to seriously hurt.

[PAGuy77]

I am so sorry to hear that Chris. I am glad to hear that you are ok, other then the whiplash. I hope they can get your Ion fixed and back on the road real soon.

[saturnd00d]

I agree, I hope things work out for you. I'm glad you were not hurt more serious than you are. Whiplash definitely sucks. I had it too a couple years back when I was rear-ended by a dumbass uderage chick who stole her brother's Rav-4 to bring her friends home (AT 3:30am!!!)

[ChrisION]

Thanks everyone. I can start taking off my neck brace now (woo!! ) and my doctor gave me the number to a physical therapist to call next week if I don't feel any better.

Probably the worst part of all this is that not only does the car only have 400 miles on it, but the first payment isn't even due until next week

[OhioVueBoy]

Sorry to hear that man, good luck with your car.
If I can offer one word of advice, from a detailer's point of view as well as someone who has had to pick theirs up after an accident, is to seriously check every square inch of it over, and don't be afraid to point out what isn't right.
~D.J.~

[Christjnk]

Glad to hear your alright.

[ChrisION]

Thanks DJ and Christjnk. I can assure you, if everything isn't right when I go to pick it up, they wont hear the end of it from me

Another issue to deal with is that their insurance is only giving us $25 a day for a rental car, through Enterprise. On Enterprise.com, their cheapest is a Metro at $31 a day (with tax). I want to upgrade to at least a Cavalier but am I correct that they have to cover 100% of the cheapest one if I don't upgrade?

[GR898SL2]

Sorry to hear about your accident, ChrisION. Aside from the whiplash, glad to hear that you are OK. That stinks that you didn't even make the first payment on it and now this happens.

As far as the rental car is concerned, even if the cheapest car on the lot exceeds what the insurance is laying out, you are responsible for the difference not covered, in your case $6, which is basically the tax on the Metro. Try going with one of the other agencies, because Enterprise tends to be on the pricey side. I rented a Saturn L200 from Enterprise and Avis. Avis was $8 cheaper ($47 v $39).

Good luck with getting your ION fixed.

[SilverNickelQC]

Sorry to read about your accident, Chris, if you go to the airport and get a rental it'll be way cheaper than the franchise around your area. Call them and you'll see, you may get a full size for the price of a compact.

[ChrisION]

The closest air port is BWI... about an hour away more or less... not worth the savings I wont know what's going to happen with the rental car until Friday... so I'll let you know then

[Cap138]

Oh man, sorry to hear about your crash. Especially since you just got your car a little more than a month ago. I’m glad to hear you’re not seriously injured, but you might need to be careful, as sometimes injuries from accidents can linger for weeks after.

Good luck with the repairs and to you and your car.

[joecool234]

Man, I hate driving in this state. If I had a dollar for every time I passed someone talking on an f'ing cell phone, I'd be able to go to a senator with $10 billion and demand legislation be passed. Nobody seems to pay attention when they drive. Sorry to vent, at least you are OK man.

[SL2Dreams]

Realizing your car is basically brand new, I can see that they are paying for the repairs, but what about the long term. How much value will your car loose just for being in an accident. Does anyone know if there is anyway to get that money back? I think he should be compensated for it. If my car ever gets hit I know i'll be asking for someone to come up with that money.

[ChrisION]

I don't think there is any extra loss in depreciation unless it's totalled/flood damage, etc. in which case no one wants to buy it anyway The TrailBlazer was in an accident when it was brand new too (just our luck!) and as of today, it's worth $17,370 trade-in. On KBB there is a 'Rate It Yourself' option instead of putting Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent condition, etc. and there was an option for 'has the car ever had frame/body damage' or something like that. When selected and not selected, there was not a dollar difference in residual value. As long as it's repaired correctly, I don't think you have to worry about extra depreciatoin

[ChrisION]

Ok, rental car update: We called and went to Enterprise in person tonight and set up to get the rental on Monday morning. According to the person there, it's going to be a "Nissan Sentra or something" and Geico is paying 100% of the rental car bill I will have pics of what ever it is then