A bad encounter with a Toyota.

[Greycloud]

This morning I just got in my 2006 LS to drive off from my girlfriend's place (parking in the street). As I tried to make a U-turn to head in the right direction, a guy stopped right behind to take my spot, and a girl with a Corolla, while veering in the opposite lane to avoid us both, graciously smashed into the front left side of my LS. Despite the fact that my car was clearly visible and I honked as I saw her approach (I was in the opposite lane by about 1 foot), she didn't seem too interested in stopping (she was driving around 15mph). At least I was able to drive off after temporarily removing the smashed bumper, while the Corolla had to be towed away.

So, long story short, here are the before and after pictures:

Before:

Now:

Since responsibility will probably be judged to be shared by the insurance company, I might have to pay for part of the costs of repair. Any clues as to how much that will be? The problem areas are the headlight (all lights still work, the plastic covering is broken), the bumper which will need replacing, and the fender which is dented.

 

[RodLS]

Ouch

Is the headlight cracked? Hard to tell with the film over it.

 

[der3wuste3fuchs]

This morning I just got in my 2006 LS to drive off from my girlfriend's place (parking in the street). As I tried to make a U-turn to head in the right direction, a guy stopped right behind to take my spot, and a girl with a Corolla, while veering in the opposite lane to avoid us both, graciously smashed into the front left side of my LS. Despite the fact that my car was clearly visible and I honked as I saw her approach (I was in the opposite lane by about 1 foot), she didn't seem too interested in stopping (she was driving around 15mph). At least I was able to drive off after temporarily removing the smashed bumper, while the Corolla had to be towed away.

So, long story short, here are the before and after pictures:

Before:

Now:

Since responsibility will probably be judged to be shared by the insurance company, I might have to pay for part of the costs of repair. Any clues as to how much that will be? The problem areas are the headlight (all lights still work, the plastic covering is broken), the bumper which will need replacing, and the fender which is dented.

It depends on your location and how many different shops you get a quote from. You should have better luck finding spare parts, given your later model. if you're not body work handy you can get an old bumper from the junkyard, sand it, prep it, then bring it to the shop. It will save you money.

If the headlight housing is cracked I would recomend replacing the unit unless you want to try to refinish the material. You can keep it and fill in the cracks however it looks like you have a very clean LS and would like to keep her that way. Either way fill in the cracks so moisture will not get in (if its not just hairline cracks), or replace.

Good luck, at least it wasn't any worse for you or the car. And be thankful you don't live in a no-fault state!

 

[Greycloud]

Ouch

Is the headlight cracked? Hard to tell with the film over it.

Yes. The plastic covering is broken (not only cracked, but part of it is missing), but otherwise the inner workings are okay, all lights work. Even the left fog light seems okay, the cable, bulb and socket are all intact, they've just been displaced with the bumper.

 

[Greycloud]

It depends on your location and how many different shops you get a quote from. You should have better luck finding spare parts, if your not body work handy you can get an old bumper from the junkyard, sand it, prep it, then bring it to the shop. It will save you money.

If the headlight housing is cracked I would recomend replacing the unit unless you want to try to refinish the material. You can keep it and fill in the cracks however it looks like you have a very clean LS and would like to keep her that way. Either way fill in the cracks so moisture will not get in (if its not just hairline cracks), or replace.

Good luck, at least it wasn't any worse for you or the car. And be thankful you don't live in a no-fault state!

I'm in Canada; Quebec.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into the bumper issue. As for the headlight, with the plastic covering being broken I fear I'll have to replace the whole thing, yeah...

On the bright side, damage is relatively low, and we barely felt a thing when it happened.

 

[RigsLS]

Sorry about your troubles, hope all turns out OK for ya.

~ speedy recovery, spring is around the corner!

 

[Kumba]

The before picture certainly looks familiar (see my signature).

Expensive car and paint to have the issue with. Because of the metallic silver paint they will (or should) blend the color in through the rest of the car. That means they'll spray down half the front doors and the hood in order to make the repair not noticeable. If they don't do that then there is a pretty good chance that you could easily see the difference in the seams.

When I had my fender and headlight repair, along with some bumper scratches filled and refinished, it ran around $3K. About $500 of that was rental car for almost two weeks though. Headlight (non-HID) was about $600 which left $1900 in fender and bodywork.

Ohh, and the autoshop probably won't be able to aim the headlights to save their life. At least the one I went to couldn't.

 

[Upstairs Chris]

Did you just exchange insurance or was a police report filed?

 

[M4rk]

$1.5k for one headlight as yours looks like a HID.

 

[Andrizzle]

Can't tell if the hood is jacked up or not, but if it is just headlight fender and bumper - you can find those easily. Hood is hard to find.

HID headlight is somewhat difficult to find, but not impossible.

 

[Greycloud]

$1.5k for one headlight as yours looks like a HID.

I see.

That's quite a bit.

Did you just exchange insurance or was a police report filed?

Report.

 

[Telco]

Looks like the same damage for the most part that I had on mine, with HID. Only, I also had to have a wheel replaced. They painted mine, blended the door, and painted the hood, and replaced the passenger pinstriping for right around 3600 bucks, no deductible since mine was caused by a Wal-Mart tractor losing a part of its trailer leaf spring and I was able to get the truck stopped. While they were at it I had the driver side pinstripe replaced, had them do the entire hood to fix some rock chips, and had a large spot of missing paint fixed on the right rear quarter. The extra work was about 600 more. Well worth it. They replaced the passenger front wheel, fender, the nosecap, passenger headlight.

 

[1LoudLS]

be thankful you don't live in a no-fault state!

why is that?

if my car gets damaged, I pay the deductible, it gets fixed. i dont have to worry about how much its gonna cost me or how much to blame I am. dont care if that sh!t cost 10k to fix, i pay my $500 and be done with it.

as a bonus, if im not at fault, your insurance is paying me back that deductible. (for the record, here. there would be no question to the fault. if you hit somebody in their lane no matter if by inches or feet, its just that, you hit them. its not your lane to be in.)

 

[Greycloud]

as a bonus, if im not at fault, your insurance is paying me back that deductible. (for the record, here. there would be no question to the fault. if you hit somebody in their lane no matter if by inches or feet, its just that, you hit them. its not your lane to be in.)

I understand, but in my case I wasn't in her lane at all. She was overtaking the car waiting for my parking spot and was in the opposite lane, where she had no business being. It was actually more my lane than hers, since I was about to start going in that direction.

 

[Greycloud]

The before picture certainly looks familiar (see my signature).

Indeed. When I bought my car (January 2011) it was from a Montreal dealership, who had bought it from a seller in Ontario. At the same time I found that picture online, and it's absolutely identical to mine (window tint, wheels, bumper, color). Plus, I know it's probably from Ontario by that company name on the nearby truck.

I'd have posted a picture taken by me of the car, but in the last few months I didn't because of winter, and now I can't until it's fixed properly.

 

[1LoudLS]

I understand, but in my case I wasn't in her lane at all. She was overtaking the car waiting for my parking spot and was in the opposite lane, where she had no business being. It was actually more my lane than hers, since I was about to start going in that direction.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you meant

I was in the opposite lane by about 1 foot

I though you went into opposing traffic and hit somebody from that lane.

 

[smoothLSV8]

Since responsibility will probably be judged to be shared by the insurance company, I might have to pay for part of the costs of repair. Any clues as to how much that will be? The problem areas are the headlight (all lights still work, the plastic covering is broken), the bumper which will need replacing, and the fender which is dented.

I once had cosmetic damage to my minivan. I went to several bodyshops to get quotes. I wanted at least 2 quotes above 1 grand. I sent those quotes in to the insurance and I was given a check in the amount of the lower one.

By the way the lowest quote was about 800.

 

[RigsLS]

I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you meant



I though you went into opposing traffic and hit somebody from that lane.

That's what I took from it to.
Pulling a U-turn into the other lane by one foot and then struck.


Now I see, one car pulling out of spot, second car coming up from behind,
waiting along side, first car leaving spot beginning a U-turn to go into other direction,
then Toyota going around both cars in same direction and smacking into U-turning Frenchman.

If that's not it, we might need a diagram, I function best with pictures.

 

[RigsLS]

I understand, but in my case I wasn't in her lane at all. She was overtaking the car waiting for my parking spot and was in the opposite lane, where she had no business being. It was actually more my lane than hers, since I was about to start going in that direction.

did she cross a solid line to go around you two ?
you were sideways on the roadway, about to block both lanes ?


Wow, this one could go either way actually, now that I think about it.

 

[embe]

Is that a different color blue paint on the bumper? Or maybe the base coat showing through

 

[jolinc01]

Is that a different color blue paint on the bumper? Or maybe the base coat showing through

That's either the base coat or paint transfer from the Toyota

 

[1LoudLS]

looks like primer/base coat

 

[Greycloud]

That's what I took from it to.
Pulling a U-turn into the other lane by one foot and then struck.


Now I see, one car pulling out of spot, second car coming up from behind,
waiting along side, first car leaving spot beginning a U-turn to go into other direction,
then Toyota going around both cars in same direction and smacking into U-turning Frenchman.

That's correct. As I was about sideways on the road, I stopped because her car was coming (she had more than enough room to avoid me, plus she had enough distance to stop). But as she overtook the car which was waiting for me to leave my spot, she smashed into mine 2-3 feet away.

Here's a diagram I made with paint showing the situation. My car is blue, about to U-turn and go towards the left, but waiting for the road to be clear. Black car was the one waiting for my spot, and red car was the Toyota which smashed into me. Green are random parked cars.

As the diagram shows, while the black car (another Toyota, an Echo...) did block her view, she still could see part of my car (otherwise she wouldn't have smashed into it...) and had more than enough room to avoid me on her left, or to stop.

The black car which was waiting for the spot made itself scarce very quickly... by the time I got my bearings, it was gone.

 

[RigsLS]

1) Hmmmm, I'd have to flip a coin on this one, honestly!

2) Despite she's making a pass on a lane where she is allowed to be, she is still the passing car and responsible for her pass.

3) but then you are also suddenly crossing into the other lane attempting to go opposite direction thus blocking traffic.

4) I'm not 100% sure, I'd says she'd be responsible as she's doing the passing but perhaps UpstairsChris the COP can shed some light on a situation like this for you.

5) Location: Montreal, PQ correct ?

 

[jjcool00]

Ugh that looks awful man, sorry! In the U.S. - at least in NJ this would be your fault unfortunately, don't know if that is the same in Canada. As you are the car ENTERING the road you are supposed to yield to traffic. Same as if you were to pull out of your driveway and a car struck you.