Just got into an accident !

[rdrtech]

Hey Folks,

Well, I just got into an accident with my spider. First of all everyone is doing fine. We had our seat belts on which I am sure kept us from any harm.
I was driving down a city road at 40 mph when a truck pulled across us from a parking lot. I had time to brake about 30 feet before impact. I hit her pretty hard on the drivers side of the truck. I took off the front bumper last week in order to get it re-chromed, although I am unsure how much it would have helped considering the height difference. You can see the truck in one of the pics below.
The police charged the other driver with failure to yield, so this will help when dealing with the insurance company as the other person as found at fault. I will deal with them tomorrow. Hopefully they will be able to repair the car. I just put brand new tires on yesterday and a whole lot of other work and parts in the last two years.
I'll keep everyone up to date. Now - time for a beer!
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/ ... C02190.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/ ... 2194-1.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/ ... C02183.jpg

[So Cal Mark]

oh man, what a bummer! I'm not sure if insurance cos are different in Can, but here they would total that car claiming it's not worth the amt needed to repair. I'd start acquiring ads of cars in similar condition to prove the cars' worth.

[mdrburchette]

I'm sorry for your misfortune and glad everyone is okay. What terrible luck! I believe Mark is right that it's a total loss but hopefully you'll get top dollar out of it so you can find another one as beautiful. At least it looks like the front end did exactly as it was designed to do; crumple to keep the cockpit secure.

[Curly]

So tragic to see such a beautifully maintained Spider damaged like this
I'd like to think the insurance company would have a heart and address the situation in your favour, but in this cut and thrust world of economic realism they'll probably try to screw you with some sort of market valuation garbage. I sincerely hope the payout enables you to afford a replacement Spider of similar quality.
My commiserations.

[ga.spyder]

OUCH!! That hurts to look at. I have collector car ins.(State Farm) ,in which you state the value of the car.I set my replacement value at 10,000.Hopefully that would prevent the low-balling in the unfortunate event of an accident. Hope it all works out for you.
Craig

[pope]

Son of a #%*@!

[rlux4]

Sorry to see that Carl. I do like your "why me?' pose on the last one though. Your car has amazing headlights, they must have been made by Timex!
Best of luck on the repair/replacement hassle.
Ron

[JeremyB]

Like the VW commercial "OH SH--". The most important thing is that no one was injured.
As for teh car, man that sucks. I really hope th eins co doe snot screw ya.
Hey, this could be a good use for all of those peopel that buy the waaay over priced spiders. Start trascking those down, and documentign the "current market value" to get a decent pay out.

[mbouse]

ouch! Ohhh, man.

[kristoj]

Yikes! Glad to hear everyone is okay. Hopefully you have collector car insurance. Like Craig, I have collector insurance but through Grundy. It is a lot cheaper than standard insurance, and you can set the value. I have mine t $10,000, but will be revising it to $12,000 this year since I dumped so much into new parts recently.

It doesn't look like the front wheels are pushed back (which would indicate major structural damage) and the door gaps at the front fenders appear to be in tact, so from the pix it looks like you may be able to get away with a LF fender, hood, inner LF fender, core support, grill and whatever machanical damage was caused (radiator, etc.). Hard to tell from three pictures, but I'd would bet it could be repaired for a few thousand dollars. It might be a blessing in disguise that the front bumper wasn't on it as that would just cost you another $600 to replace it. Good luck and hope it works out for you!

[81autospider]

DUDE!!...that is what I did last summer in my Miata...my insurance Co. totaled my car ...and because of that mishap, I was able to upgrade to a much nicer refined automobile...I hope you get what the car is worth...lucky you didn't have air bags...my bags almost completely blew the front windshield out and left me with a air bag rash for almost 2 weeks...have a drink on me while you're at it

[spidernut]

That's gotta hurt to see your car like that. Glad to hear you're O.K. My brother in law just got rear-ended in his 1965 Mustang. It was a rare 289, 4 speed, 4BBL carb, all matching numbers. The car was totalled too. They're waiting for the insurance company to settle on a value. Mustangs are easier to value than Spiders due to popularity of each. I hope all goes well for you.

John