T-Boned yesterday on our 2019 SL Plus

We got hit-and-run t-boned by an driver who ran a red light and then took off. A Good Samaritan chased the car down and the police arrested her. She was arrested for leaving the scene of the accident, no insurance, suspended license, and drugs in the car.

My wife took the brunt of the hit on the passenger side. We both were transported by ambulance to the hospital but fortunately no serious injuries. I have a bump on my head but since I’m on blood thinners and they were worried for a brain bleed. Wife has face, neck, shoulder and hip bruising. We were very fortunate and the Nissan air bags did a great job.

Here’s a few pictures. Do you think it’s a total or not?













This is the car that hit us.

Flyct said:

Here’s a few pictures. Do you think it’s a total or not?

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Happy to see you are not seriously injured.

I'd guess totaled. Only your insurance company will know for sure.

With cost of the airbags having to be replaced and the likelihood that battery is compromised due to the side impact, probably totaled.

Mine was hit that badly, but only in one door. I think it will depend on whether or not the door frames were bent inwards much. I once repaired a hit like that in a Comet, using a winch and used doors, but it certainly wasn't like new, and probably not safe. I'm glad that you are ok.

Ugh--sorry to hear about that! That's a horrible feeling. I remember being hit in the side in my 2-week-old Prius (my fault--a limited-visibility left turn). I'm impressed how well modern cars are able to absorb impact energy. It spun me around, but felt pretty gentle--it took me a bit to process what had happened. It was repaired rather than totaled, but no airbags deployed (no one was in the passenger seat).

Glad there are no serious injuries, and hope you get your nerves back (it took me a little while) and get back into a car before too long without too much trouble.

Now I'm picturing winching the door beam of a Comet. :|

It helps to park next to a good-sized tree. I used to buy and resell Mavericks and Comets (few of those around, but they were better equipped) and the one in question was my Grandfather's car. I'd found it for him right after it was traded in to a local dealership. He got T-boned in it - drove right out in front of an oncoming car. He was only shaken up. It was likely the first sign of his Alzheimer's disease. (Nothing implied here - I was hit in a parking lot complex at about 5MPH by someone who stopped at a stop sign before pulling out right into my door.) I was a little worried that it might be totaled, or that it might not get fixed perfectly, but except for a slightly out of adjustment driver's side rear door post, the car is perfect again. As long as your insurance adjuster is honest, you will find out when they look at the car.

Glad you are both ok, but biy that sucks.

Wow, what an unfortunate accident. But, I'm glad to hear that you and your wife are OK.

Based on the visible damage and possible hidden damage, I'd say it's totaled. I think it's ultimately up to your insurance company, since they will decide on what they consider to be totaled.

Please let us know the outcome of it all.

Glad you are ok or will be ok. I say Totaled or asked for it to be totaled.

Flyct said:

We got hit-and-run t-boned by an driver who ran a red light and then took off. A Good Samaritan chased the car down and the police arrested her. She was arrested for leaving the scene of the accident, no insurance, suspended license, and drugs in the car.

My wife took the brunt of the hit on the passenger side. We both were transported by ambulance to the hospital but fortunately no serious injuries. I have a bump on my head but since I’m on blood thinners and they were worried for a brain bleed. Wife has face, neck, shoulder and hip bruising. We were very fortunate and the Nissan air bags did a great job.

Here’s a few pictures. Do you think it’s a total or not?

This is the car that hit us.

Click to expand...

Nearly identical to the death of my 2016 S30 and it was totaled in a squeaker by $9,000. Realize it was less valuable but less than 14 months off the lot.

https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2018/01/she-gave-all.html

FYI; only the side bags deployed but it was still $7500 to fix JUST that...

johnlocke said:

With cost of the airbags having to be replaced and the likelihood that battery is compromised due to the side impact, probably totaled.

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My nearly identical accident claimed zero damage to the battery pack.

My somewhat similar accident also had zero damage to the pack.

The airbag deployment is going to raise the cost of repair A LOT.
If you want the car totaled then consider tacking on 'loss of value' cost ... if possible. I'm not sure how that works in a case where your insurance is footing the bill, presumably via uninsured motorist.

If the car is leased, then I wouldn't fight too hard to keep it unless you made a large down-payment. If you own it, and they total it, consider buying it back from the insurance company if the pack is undamaged, there is no other major issue, and the buy-back price is low. You can likely either sell it for more than you pay because of the pack, or replace the doors and drive it as a Winter car.

It’s still in the tow lot waiting for State Farm to tow it to one of their certified dealers.

What sucks is I was in the middle of a Lemon Law buy back case with the BBB arbitration due to excessive time out of service. This will out a big kink in that procedure.

The at fault driver doesn’t have insurance so it will go under my $1,000 deductible collision coverage.

Does anyone have a educated guess on how long it will take to repair if it isn’t totaled?

I did a search for the hit and run driver and came up with an old booking photo that matches her name and city.

Mine was in the shop about 10 days, but less than half of those were spent working on it. I'd guess a week to 10 days - more if parts are slow to arrive, less if they and the shop are fast.

LeftieBiker said:

If the car is leased, then I wouldn't fight too hard to keep it unless you made a large down-payment. If you own it, and they total it, consider buying it back from the insurance company if the pack is undamaged, there is no other major issue, and the buy-back price is low. You can likely either sell it for more than you pay because of the pack, or replace the doors and drive it as a Winter car.

Click to expand...

This is our first accident in over 35 years. We’ve been with State Farm since 1970, 50 years. Time flys.

The car is owned by me outright, clean title, no lien.

If it’s totaled my wife is saying to not buy another even though she loved the car.

2020 SL Pluses have an MSRP of about $45,000. After a $6,000 rebate and negotiated dealer discount plus tax and fees I believe I could buy one for $36,500 out the door. I can qualify for the $7,500 tax credit so my total real net cost would be about $29,000. I think value of the totaled 2019 would be about $26,000 so my net cost would be $3,000.

I just have to wait to see what State Farm comes back with. I don’t think it will be totaled. To total it, it would have to have more than $19,000 in damage estimate ie 70% of current value.

That damage could easily be $19k in my opinion.

Let us know how it turns out.

I think that as long as there is no hidden sub-frame damage (yes, unibodies have sub-frame assemblies), it won't be totaled. The airbags deploying does crank up the cost, but I don't think it will raise it that much. Mine was about $4.9k IIRC, parts and labor. I'd guess about $8k for this one, although that is only a guess.

I doubt that it will be a total loss unless the unibody structure is distorted beyond repair. The battery is probably OK unless the storage lot moves the car with a forklift (lifting entire car with forks under battery would not be good). My 2011 suffered additional damage after the crash by the way the storage yard handled it with a large forklift. It appears from your photos that only the side impact air bags deployed so the cost to replace them is probably not excessive.