[Siper2]

....pull one of these.

Yes, I have finally fallen from grace and had my first at-fault accident. The other night I was driving home from work (ironically, of course, after getting back to the office in the company car, in which I'd done a 3 hour trip), and was at a toll booth. I'd gone a different way than normal, since I heard about a traffic jam on my usual route. Figures, right?

Well, I have EZ Pass and was behind a couple of trucks. I saw that the lane to my left was empty, so I pulled out, and--------- *WHAM*.

:facepalm:

20 years' worth of driving, probably half a million miles under my belt, and I have no idea what happened. To my credit, it was raining and getting dark, and the guy might have been in my blind spot. But still, I obviously had a momentary lapse and just didn't pay attention. He was in a large pickup truck. Put on my hazards and pulled over after pulling away from the toll booth, and we exchanged insurance info. He was nice enough, he was with two other guys on a business trip.

No damage to his truck, but I have a dented FL fender, cracked L headlight, scraped L wheels (both), and a trim piece popped off my LR wheel well, as you can see in one photo.

Today I had an insurance appraisal done and they gave me a check, to go and get repairs done wherever. I have a relatively small deductible, and accident forgiveness in my policy. I'm a little confused by one thing he said, though...

The rear left door has a "pressure dent" that I didn't see, until he wiped off some dirt. Yeah, it's there. He said they'd want to get that pressed out, then repaint the door. And since the new fender needs painting, they want to repaint the FRONT left door too, even though there's no damage. Because they want the paint to all match.

Seems :crazy: to me. Am I wrong?

Also allotted is some money for two refurbished wheels for the left side. However most of the black marks will clean off. I'm going to do that this weekend, and see how bad the actual scratches are, underneath. I may not bother, if it's minor.

Hell I may even be able to find a parted-out fender off of the Legacy forums or something.

Not sure how I'll handle things yet. The other night I was furiously embarrassed, and very angry at myself. It's starting to fade, but ..........slowly.


So.........the next time you find yourself having to wait a couple minutes.....just wait. I suppose that's my lesson, I don't know.

=S2=

 

[awdorgtfo]

Ahhh Sorry to hear that man!

 

[Joshua]

usually they will blend in a bit since the new paint will be slightly off from the original paint.

Sucks man, but at least everyone is ok

 

[SubieNate]

I've gotten different opinions from different shops on the paint matching thing... when I got backed into in my old car one shop wanted to paint the hood and fenders as well as the front bumper to "blend" things together and into the rest of the car, another said they could "match it perfectly."

I dunno which is more correct.

 

[rallifreak]

You are a very lucky man, sir. I was in a position to watch someone doing that exact maneuver get plowed into by a large pickup, which ended in a mostly non-existent front passenger's quarter of the car. Glad you're ok

 

[Siper2]

Yes, yes I am. I have no bloody clue what happened, I really don't. Unless he moved over from HIS left, in to that lane but.........I don't know. I even have blind spot mirrors.

 

[rallifreak]

maybe just going fast? Several times, I have checked all my blind spots and mirrors before a merge and the coast seems clear, but then I merge and get someone 2" off my bumper leaning on their horn, prolly hating me cuz I interrupted them going 30+ over the speed limit

 

[SubieNate]

It happens to the best of us man. Back in November I was driving in San Francisco, heard an ambulance behind me and thought that the taxi driving in the lane next to me about 100ft ahead of me was the one that had been driving next to me earlier. Maybe it was, or maybe it wasn't, but I went to move over and there was an identical taxi driving RIGHT in my blindspot. Fortunately I didn't move over so fast that he couldn't brake to let me in, but the situation ended with me cleaning SOMETHING off the side of my car for a good 45 min a few weeks later because he flipped his shit and threw a paper soda cup with God knows what in it at me.

 

[Siper2]

rallifreak-

I don't know - if he were going fast, he'd have stomped on his brakes. Or if he didn't have time, it would have been a harder impact. And I didn't hear brakes. It was more like I nosed over, and THUMP! I was pushed in to the railing of the toll booth lane a bit, and both mirrors flipped in.

But, the car seems to drive fine. No steering wheel shenanigans, even though I did specify money for a 4-wheel alignment on the repairs list.

 

[Siper2]

It happens to the best of us man.

That's what they say. Last April I got my first speeding ticket in 11 years, though it was marked down to a non-moving and I paid it by mail within 2 days.

So... just, meh. That's all. My pride's hurt more than anything, I guess. Well, except my poor car.

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

glare from the glasses and it was raining too. probably helped make the situation worse for you. i won't wear my glasses at night for that reason, i can't see nearly as well as i can with contacts in.

sucks man. sorry to hear about it.

 

[JdmGary]

Same here. Glasses at night + headlights + rain=bad news


Glad you are ok!

 

[danimprs]

I feel your pain. Been in multiple accidents (not my fault though, sorry ) and am so tired of dealing with them. At least having the clean record for that long will make it easier to deal with the situation.

 

[Siper2]

Well I've been wearing glasses since 1999 or so, so I wouldn't go that far. I think it was just a lazy moment, honestly - a mistake.

 

[Kevo]

I've been in accident with a previous car where I also had to get parts repainted with no damage to blend the new paint in with the old better. It's not abnormal.

And I'm sorry to hear about the accident, things happen.

 

[dogletnoir]

Just glad to hear you are ok... paint & metal can be fixed.
& don't feel too bad, a driving record like yours speaks for itself.

 

[Siper2]

Marred! Ruined!

Martyrdom! :lol:

 

[Siper2]

Got some parts prices from a Subie dealership, I may ask one more dealership for their costs too. If they're close to what the shop charges for the stuff they get, I'll at least have SoA stuff to put on the car. Going to try and find a paint/repair shop with a good rep, today and tomorrow.

 

[Siper2]

Quick update...

Found the body shop I want to use, I think:
Auto Body Repair Service Mechanicsburg, PA

Been open a long time, stellar reviews on Google, and won an award from the big magazine that's in our area, who does a yearly "best of" section for local businesses. The more I read about insurance "pro shops," the more convinced I was that my initial impression was right - most do poor work, and use crappy parts.

Going to get an estimate ASAP.