Advice Needed - Accident Last Night in Minneapolis

WhoBeDaPlaya

WhoBeDaPlaya

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Damn pickup truck ran a red light and ran into me. Wheel is bent, right front quarter panel is toast and some tranmission fluid is leaking (though I think it's from the AC cooling fan since its tank is empty). Engine still starts are runs fine, no error lights are on, airbags did not deploy. Liability only insurance - was going to add comprehensive later this week :|

Pics of the damage :

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/dndisturb/LS Accident/P1020259_resize.jpg
http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/dndisturb/LS Accident/P1020260_resize.jpg
http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/dndisturb/LS Accident/P1020261_resize.jpg
http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/dndisturb/LS Accident/P1020262_resize.jpg
http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww8/dndisturb/LS Accident/P1020263_resize.jpg

Fortunately, I was able to pull over and park it properly in a residential area. The part that sucks is I was on a day trip to Minneapolis (from Ames, IA) and was just on the way back on I35 and am now stuck here (the car is about 2 miles from the downtown area).

I'm thinking the car is totalled. It's a 2001 LS V8 with 178000 miles with a fair bit of cosmetic damage (rear bumper cover and passenger side doors) but was mechanically sound (new FIs, COPs, compressor, coolant reserve tank, plugs, clockspring, rearview mirror (still in the trunk), hub covers and Kenwood aftermarket radio).

Does anyone from Minnesota know how best to get rid of the car? I'm new to this town and know no one and nothing about auto-repair in the area. I'm hoping to get a little scratch for it seeing as to how I put in the parts/repair above just within the last six months.

Many thanks in advance!
 
Good luck on getting any money back. Your insurance will most likely total the car. These cars hold value like a leaking faucet. A friend of mine gave his brother his LS and he wrecked it. It was minor, back bumper, rear passenger quarter panel mainly and front passenger fender was bent a little. It's an 03 with 148,000 miles and his insurance company totaled it. He bought it back and had it fixed within a week. He went out and bought a use bumper, fender that was already painted the color of his car and pulled the quarter panel out himself and then took it to the body shop to have everything painted. Just by looking at the damage of your car, it looks like that small damage can be fixed easily, but it's all depends on what the insurance wants to do. Since you don't have comprehensive then you are going to have to fix it yourself out of pocket unless the other guy had insurance. Just a little insight on what to expect.
 
LeaSr77 said:
... Your insurance will most likely total the car...
Click to expand...

His insurance won't total the car, he doesn't have coverage. The insurance of the guy who hit him will be the one totaling the car, if he was insured.
 
Best bet is to call a junkyard, Johns Auto is the first one that comes to mind.

You can also try calling any towing company and ask them what you could do.
 
well hes going to get a huge fine. you can take him to court since he is responsible, but if he can.t afford insurance, good luck getting any money. i hate to say it, but a judgement in your favor doesn.t necessarily mean you gettingbpaid.
 
pektel said:
well hes going to get a huge fine. you can take him to court since he is responsible, but if he can.t afford insurance, good luck getting any money. i hate to say it, but a judgement in your favor doesn.t necessarily mean you gettingbpaid.
Click to expand...
No worries about that - I'm already assuming the worst. Plus since I'm an out-of-towner, I can't really afford to drag things out. Holing out at the Hilton downtown gets expensive :P

The fortunate part is that it isn't obstructing traffic and the house its parked in front of is for sale / unoccupied, so I'm already saving mucho dinero on towing and storage charges.

What would be my best bet for recovering something for the car? Call a junk yard? I've never sold to a parts / junk / scrap yard before and don't know if they'll just offer me peanuts for it.

Thanks for all the help so far fellas! Everyone's aces here on LVC :cool:
 
If you do try to sell to a junkyard you need the title, which you probably do not have in the car, sooo yeah....
 
CrackerJack said:
If you do try to sell to a junkyard you need the title, which you probably do not have in the car, sooo yeah....
Click to expand...
Damn! Thanks for pointing that out CrackerJack. Forgot about that amidst the confusion after the accident and arraging for accomodations and supplies (clothes, etc.)
 
Crackerjack, fbird18, jk52781, 04lincolnls, and xtcmels all live in the minneapolis area. If I was down there, I'd offer you a some cash for the engine/tranny. But I'm 200 miles north. List it on craigslist. I just sold my girlfriends busted 1996 monte carlo for 500 bucks. Probably could've got more for it, but it needed to get out of my garage.

But my point is, people respond to craigslist FAST. I had emails within an hour or 2.

Hope this helps.
 
So for someone on craigslist, they have an address of where to find your car, knowing that you most likely won't be around in case they want to grab anything off it...

Just saying maybe you should leave the specific physical location of the vehicle out of it.
 
Oh, another thought. I know fbird18 probably doesn't have the room, but maybe one of the other guys would have room at their place to store it for a bit. you'd have to pay for a tow, but no storage charges.
 
Called John's Auto and they're having a guy look at the car this evening / tomorrow morning, but their initial estimate seems a little low ~$300. Hell, anyone here want to buy it for a little more?
 
You don't necessarily need comprehensive to have this covered. I pay an extra $3 a month to cover uninsured/underinsured drivers hitting me. Double check your policy you might have that too.
 
pektel said:
So for someone on craigslist, they have an address of where to find your car, knowing that you most likely won't be around in case they want to grab anything off it...
Click to expand...

lol, its not a honda...how many lincoln chop chops are there in minneapolis? theres dozen of honda ones, i hop on mnsc every couple of months and theres always a new thread about how a honda got stolen.
 
If you do need somewhere to keep it, you can probably leave it at my dads warehouse parking lot. Just let me know. It's in Golden valley BTW.
 
I may have missed something, but why dont you keep the car, fix it up piece by piece, it doesnt look that bad actually.
 
I would take your room number off and the car location off of the craigslist ad... you never know who might be reading it. I wish I was closer to you, I'd give you a lot more than 300 for the car.
 
Pete. I'll go in $100 to buy it with you haha

By the way, I call the front left wheel hub. Or any wheel hub that's not damaged. And if it doesn't squeek.
 
There you go. I can do the extra 350. I'd love to have an extra powertrain.
 
Wow look what I've been missing :). Are you guys really going to buy this car? Has he said he would actually sell it to you for that much? That would be awesome to have a parts car laying around somewhere close! If it comes to buying it, I'll put in some money too if you guys don't mind :) and I call clockspring and steering rack!

Oh and sorry WhoBeDaPlaya, that really does suck! :( What are you going to do man?
 
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