Totaled 98 Jetta

[Farmboy]

Help!

On 29 November I was car 4 in a 5 car chain reaction on an arterial street in a Minneapolis suburb. I stopped when traffic in front of me stopped and as I was wondering if I had used up too much of the buffer in front of me was rear-ended by a Ranger traveling an estimated 40 MPH at impact (driven by a high school girl I think may have been on her cell phone just prior to or during the accident) and pushed into a Ramcharger. I had a bad feeling that it was going to prove to be a messy situation to clear up, but held out hope that is now being dashed.

My insurance company is happy to total the car, but I haven't finished the claim yet due to a number of concerns, not all of which are clear here. The police asked me what happened, and I told them what I said above. They wrote nothing down and measured the scene not at all. FYI - Nobody went away in an ambulance.

Now for the dashed hopes: I haven't seen the police report yet(long story), but intend to get my hands on it Monday. After talking with the driver of the Ramcharger the other day, I found out there were no citations issued and it was written up as though each vehicle involved rear-ended the one in front of it before it was hit from behind. Not true, at least in my case.

I have a few questions I hope somebody can help me with in this kind of a situation in Minnesota:

How seriously should I consider keeping the car to get the drivetrain out of it (32k)?

Does any body else want it? I may not have the time/place to pull it/keep it and I'm not entirely certain it's completely undamaged.

In some detail, how do I protect myself (legally?), for my personal physical damage? I'm physically mobile, and haven't gone to a doctor yet, but these kinds of accidents must add up over time, I'm sure, and I've definitely been recovering - sore, tired, etc.

At this point is there anything I can do to get the record to account for reality, for purposes of driving/insurance record and getting rental reimbursment from the insurer/party that hit me? i.e., I was clear until I got rear-ended.

Can I get nuisance compensation from the insurer/party that hit me?

As a point - I got out of the car and stood on the curb feeling just fit as a fiddle cursing the car cause it looked like sh*t. The next day when I got stiff I realize how much I loved the car!

Thanks for your help.

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00 NB TDI 5spd yellow
98 Jetta TDI 5spd 32K RIP

 

[Rick]

I hate to say it, but in Arizona even if you are 20 ft from the car in front of you if a car traveling at a high rate of speed pushs you into that car you will be cited for following to close.

Not what I would consider fair, but that's Arizona law for you.

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2000 Golf GLS
TDI, 5 speed
Tuning Box, MAF Screens Removed, K&N Filter

Rick Horwitz, AB7FH
rick@4x4central.com
www.explorer4x4.com

 

[bigrichard]

Let me know if you decide to keep and part out your vehicle. I need some stuff

 

[Autopilot]

Farmboy,
Sorry to hear about your accident.

As I'm sure you know, Minnesota has so called "no fault" insurance. This means that your insurance company will pay for the damage to your car, and then the insurance companies will fight it out amongst themselves to see who pays in the end. If your insurance company doesn't like the outcome, they raise your rates. Unfortunately, it always happens that you are at least partly at fault no matter what happens. You can be sitting at a stop light, minding your own business...get rear ended and still be partly at fault, just for getting out of bed that morning.

As for keeping the parts...if the car is totalled, you will have to buy the car back from the insurance company. You'll have to decide if the price they want is reasonable.

As for your personal injuries, you'll have to let somebody know if you are injured. Keep records of doctor visits and diagnosis.

Also on the unfortunate side, unless your insurance company is really outstanding, you may have to employ a lawyer to see what other rights you have and to go after who you think is really at fault. It is a little strange that the police "wrote nothing down".

Good luck.

BTW, where abouts did the accident happen. I live in the Mpls area.

 

[Farmboy]

If I understand correctly, the 'no-fault' only applies to medical. There are 4 thresholds in MN:
1 - Minimum 60 days unable to work(disability permanent or temporary)
2 - $6000 spent in 4 years
3 & 4 I can't remember right now, need to take better notes, or keep better track of the ones I take. Hard to do when too busy in general and shaken up by the whole experience.

On the buyback. They valued at about 16.5k and offered buyback at 30%. USAA is the company, and did us right on our 85 Civic and 90 Cavalier for hail-damage totals from the storms 1.5 years ago. ( Still have them, cost $400 to buy both back) But, I understand it's a business, etc. They aren't likely to go beyond their contract, and since I'm not bleeding, bent, or in the hospital I'm not going to smell like money to a lawyer. Lucky for me, I have some friends who are bar members, and they hooked me up with a Personal Injury guy who gave me about 5 minutes before I could hear the boredom in his voice. Pretty much on my own.

Autopilot:
Unfortunate is a good word. This happened in right hand east bound lane on 42 west of 13 (1/4 mile west of 27 to be more precise)in Savage. Accidents are common in the area, an officer pointed out the spot where they had a fatality a week earlier .5 mile north of 42 on 27. It seemed kind of like an assembly line thing for the Police. I have to get my eyes on the report, and possibly my hands.

Thanks for all replies I've received so far, I hope I get some more comments/questions to help me cover this from all angles.

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00 NB TDI 5spd yellow
98 Jetta TDI 5spd 32K RIP

 

[ckimball tdi]

Farmboy,
I am not too familar with the laws of your state but rule of thumb on any rear ender with more that two cars is: did the first guy(infront of you) feel one impact or two??. if only one, your company dosent owe ANYTHING (provided you have rear damage and from what it sounds like you do!!((major bummer)) if the guy in front of you felt two impacts...well ...you and your company owes it!!! In my professional opinion (I am a claim manager for an auto insurance co. ((NO booing or hissing alright!!)) this claim will probably be handled in your favor(provided there arent other perameters involved) and you will be made whole. USAA is a good company and will protect their insureds all the way.

As far as your car goes(DOUBLE MAJOR BUMMER!!!) buy it back and either part it out or turn it into a autocrosser or ??? I guarantee the drive train alone will sell for alot more than what you are buying the car back for....seats,radio,doors etc..

good luck

Cameron

p.s. if you have any questions email me and I'll try to answer as best I can (I am in calif)

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Cameron Kimball
98 Jetta TDI Tornado red
81 MBZ 300SD 370,000
77 MBZ 300D 493,000
79 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Diesel (no laughing It is a great car!!)
47 Ford Super Deluxe Coupe




[This message has been edited by ckimball tdi (edited January 04, 2000).]

 

[Karl Roenick]

In this neck of the woods, everybody sues each other. Maybe to protect yourself you should get a lawyer. There are enough TV ads for them (again, around here).

 

[ckimball tdi]

...ps.. as far as atty's go...stay away from them....if you are legitly injured and are not being treated fairly then think about it..those greedy people cause OUR RATES TO CLIMB due to less than legit injury claims!!!
and to rub salt on a wound, they get 33 1/3% for doing JACK!!
If you lived here in Calif, on tv, you would see Ron Cey (yes formally of the DODGERS!!) flying around in a helicopter pitchin some fly by night law firm that ENCOURAGES this kind of thievery!! (man I thought there was $$ in baseball, I guess there is more in personal injury!!)

sorry, I am off my soap box now!

 

[sljkr]

Your biggest problem may be overcoming the incorrect information in the accident report. With the time that has passed, I would not expect the officer to be willing/able to change the report forms, even if a mistake was brought to his attention.

This leaves the responsibility on you and USAA. Do you have a local USAA representative (read "friend") who might help make your case clear to the claims people? Have your rep or claims person contact the Ram charger driver before he "forgets" how your part of the accident happened and get some corroboration to your statement.

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99 Silver NB TDI

 

[Torqster]

Farmboy,
Glad you were not seriously hurt--headrests are a VERY GOOD thing!

I spend two hours a day in traffic that ranges from 80mph to 0mph, so your story hits me close to home. Not a day goes by that I don't see a two or three car pile up (two this morning). It never occurred to me that a person could be considered liable for something that happened after he came to a total stop!

I can understand if someone lied, and the facts were recorded wrong but hell, you were not following too closely, so you were able to stop. The person behind you was either following too closely or being reckless (not paying attention) so she clobberred you. Somebody should let her know it was her fault. If she's like a lot of folks these days, she probably thinks it's your fault for stopping in front of her!

"I'm like talking to Muffy on my new Nokia and she's like right in the middle of telling me about her New Year's date and then this IDIOT like STOPS in front of me--like, just STOPS--like, hello, this is a highway, you're supposed to, like, GO, right? Next thing I know, the Nokia is in PIECES all over the car. Then this cute cop comes and I'm like a MESS . . . "

 

[Karl Roenick]

The exact same thing happened to my sister. She was also in the middle with her 2 kids(just shook up thankfully). She settled quickly for not too much. The person who's path she was pushed into is suing her (ankle injury). The person that ran into her (uninjured) was a school bus whose insurance company since went bankrupt. The police report was accurate. This all happened like 4 years ago. I don't know what the answer is. Just drive defensively I guess. Any kind of encounter could involve a lawsuit.

 

[Farmboy]

First, let me apoligize mid-thread for my long-windedness. It's just my unfortunate reality. You wouldn't believe how much shorter my verbal statements tend to be.

CKIMBALL - Good point. The guy in front of me has no idea of what he felt. Could be worse for me, he could incorrectly remember more than one hit. He was pretty realistic and down-to-earth at the scene, but you never know. I happened to call him, because the insurer of the SIXTEEN YEAR OLD chatting on her cell phone in the Ranger ((family?)company vehicle) that nailed me had pulled the rug after initially offering to give me her account number for my car rental so they would be charged directly. He alerted me to the fact that there was a city and state accident report that the officer in charge had filled out, which was obviously something different than the diagram/list she had mailed me. Oops. Anyway, the buy back looks likely. Shy of $2k is the minumum salvage estimate, therefore the buy back value. Like I have the time or place to strip a car! Autocross?! Tell me more! I'm not nearly beat up enough yet! When I figure out how, I'll post some pictures, it's definitely ugly, but not bloody. And for some good mnatured ribbing about the money to be had in insurance. Hmmm...let's see... 5 cars in CA. I take it you live in the attic of a 5 car garage and have no house. And about your Olds, my Mom is on her second Caprice Estate Diesel. They're dogs, but keep on plugging. As for lawyers, again, I'm lucky. My college roommate is a lawyer. Unfortunately, he's a criminal defense attorney. I don't WANT to pay him or a friend of his, but if the insurer of the Ranger doesn't come clean, what choice do I have?

SLJKR - Another good point. I talked to the officer the day I read the report(yesterday). She amended both reports, and added the observational corroboration of an older salt officer that was on the scene assisting her. My 'reality' now supported by 3 parties, 2 being police officers. As it happens, USAA hired a local freelance adjuster yseterday. He came and got my signature to get a copy of the report today, and faxed me a copy, saving me the SEVEN DOLLAR FEE to get one at the precinct. He stated to me the the amendment was 'solid'. Hope he's right.

TORQSTER - Agreed. I dig headrests. I also dig the fact that I was relaxed when she hit me, or at least as relaxed as I ever am. The seat, I fear, is shot. I only wiegh 190 pounds, but it didn't want to return to the upright position afterwards. I also dig the design of the A3 Jetta. BIG collapsible trunk volume(25% larger than current) and headroom in the rear seat. Sorry, I digress. I don't know for sure, but you may paint a good picture of the girl that hit me. She sure was quick asking ME what happened and then trying to hand ME her VERY handy cell phone, asking ME to call someone for her. It's hard to believe I was able to be nice to her, suggesting she calm down, etc. But, I was 16 once myself, and I'm not entirely heartless. And you are right, drive defensively. I usually try to slow down early and slowly so that the numbskull tailgating me has a greater chance of realizing that they are in a dangerous situation. Not ALWAYS possible. Also, if the left lane isn't CLEAR for 1/4 mile, I tend to stay in the right and leave a HUGE buffer in front of me. Oh, yeah. Also, there needs to be hard physical evidence to support my 'claim'. My car isn't exactly unscahted up front. There were no eye witness bystanders. I had no passenger. You get the picture.

KARL - 'No fault' laws where whe was? What's to settle? Can she file a joinder with the party suing her? That means the court agrees to recognize that she's a nuetral/claimant-friendly party in the middle and not liable, modifies the claim making her a co-claimant, and names as defendant the bus company/driver/insurer, even if they have gone under. IS the bus company/school district still in existence? BTW - Does she realize HER insurance company isn't completely her friend and will be happy to hang her out to dry for enough money?

Again, thanks to all respondents. I am seriously heartened by your support!

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00 NB TDI 5spd yellow
98 Jetta TDI 5spd 32K RIP

 

[ckimball tdi]

Farmboy:
Again I am not too familar with your neck of the woods but I am sure there is some sort racing sactioning body out there that supports "Autocrossing". Out here they usually have events at old airports (Norton Air Foce Base for me, I used to run a salvaged 88 RX7 !)If you have never heard about it, you race on a coned off course against the clock. It is fun and if your car is beyond repair WHO CARES HOW HARD YOU DRIVE IT!!

As far as my house goes: my wife enjoys her 3 bedroom 2000 sq ft TENT in the back yard whilst I basque in the glory of my 3200 sq ft garage!!! (damn my wife is good!!) she puts up with my "car issues" very nicely(I am on my 154th car....damn my wife is good (are you reading this hunny??)

As far as my Oldsmobile goes, I bought this car for $800.00 from an 88 year old man who took IMACULANT care of it (have the window sticker, orig. build sheet etc). the motor puked at 90,000 and he paid 3500.00 for a NEW, not rebuilt GM long block. he got sick and had to stop driving so I couldnt pass it up. I get 28 mpg in this tank It is my daily driver due to the CRAPPY road (ORTEGA HWY) I take to work (sorry for SOOTING every one behind me!!)....you need the GIRTH of this vehicle to make it home in one piece every night!!!! (I dont like putting my jetta thru that torture!!

I called my junkyard buddy yesterday and asked him how much he would get for a low mileage TDI motor and " at least 3000.00!!!""
so find a friend and start strippen or go RACING!!!
Cameron

[This message has been edited by ckimball tdi (edited January 05, 2000).]

 

[ckimball tdi]

...ps.... you could also take down to the local drag strip and try bracket racing. These cars are so consistant you could take all those big block Camaro owners MONEY!!!!!
Cameron

 

[Farmboy]

Both ideas sound like fun. My problem is that wife and I just bought a 1600 SF townhouse condo with a 360 SF 2 (?) car garage. I am already sick of scraping the windows on the beater I drive, due to the fact that the beater I don't drive sits beside the NB in the garage. (Can you believe someone is so cheap as to keep 2 beaters?)

Does the $3000 still hold if I'm using a Qt of oil every 3500 miles? Any idea about the transaxle, computer, and injector pump?

Thank again for the info. Oh, and I think Mom's wagons get the same kind of mileage. her typical trip is from the farm in MT to the local 'town'(population 50, 1000, or 2000 depending on which one she goes to) at a solid 50-55 MPH.

Anybody local to Minneapolis that wants to see a TDi stripped drop me a line. I'll probably do it in 2 to 8 weeks, if I can get everything worked out.

BTW - Anybody out there using VW credit? If you ever think about it, BEWARE! They are not very responsive. Of course, maybe no lien holder is responsive. That was the first car loan for either of us.