I'm letting my insurance company handle talking with the at-fault party's insurance - Especially since my car isn't driveable, I don't have the time or patience for the other insurance company to drag out the process.

My insurance (Statefarm) went to the body shop to take a look at the damage. Estimate came out to a tad over $5100. My body shop is sourcing the parts (all new/oem, except for the headlight, which will be a used/refurbished unit) and has a target finish date of 5/31. I have full coverage on my car with a $100 deductible on collision (the difference in premium for $100 vs $500 deductible and $100 vs $1000 deductible was around $30 and $80 per 6 months).

I stopped by the body shop today to take a look at the car and price out how much it would be to fix a few other cosmetic items (i.e. small dings that were there when I bought the car). While I was in the garage, someone backed up into my rental car and drove away. The rental car's front bumper was popped out and the paint was deeply scratched/scuffed, so that's how my week has been going. Hopefully Hertz doesn't make too much of a fuss - the front bumper was already damaged at pickup... hopefully I'm not on the hook to repair that.

 

Remind me not to stand too close to you, you're jinxed right now. Good luck on your repairs, glad nobody was injured.

 

WHAT??! You didnt ask for camera footage?

 

There should be some video of who backed into your rental! Did you at least catch the car model and color?

Also, I wouldn't accept refurbished/used headlights. OEM new only!

 

That may not be entirely accurate. If the cops or the other driver see the dashcam, they can ask you to provide the footage (may need a warrant) - and deleting it could be considered destruction of evidence. My suggestion (I'm not a lawyer) would be not mention the dashcam at all (unless you are absolutely positively sure that it can't be used against you). Review the footage alone and then decide whether to present it as evidence or not. Let the other person make inaccurate statements (in the heat of the moment) and you can sort it out after looking at the footage.

 

The other driver is incredibly lucky that no one was coming the other direction in that lane at the moment, as he really swerved into oncoming traffic. It could have very easily been a head-on situation.

Glad you have the cam and are okay.

 

This accident just bothers me on so many levels. We have people doing this in NYC, specifically on Staten Island Expressway where they jump in and out of the HOV lane to get ahead. Most of them don't qualify to be in the HOV lane but who cares. It creates a dangerous situation when you have cars coming at close to 50-60 mph and some idiot jumps into the HOV lane. There is a Youtube video of this that is exactly the same situation as yours. People just don't pay attention and/or don't care.

Ed

 

What an idiot.. decides to put the blinker on at the last second and jump in.. I would've been pissed!

 

I had a 'minor' accident (no airbags, driveable after accident) which was caught on my dashcam, and the cost to get all original Lexus parts was $9k (the headlight alone was $1,732 just for the part). My dealer would not give me an appraisal because they said they would not go to court over it. I gathered my own information on the web on similar models and mileages, both with and without accidents to note the price differences.

Diminished value should be filed as a separate claim to the insurance company, and the value is VERY negotiable as I found out. The original insurance adjuster told me on the phone that they estimated my diminished value would be $144 based on his calculation, though once my car was fixed they automatically sent me a check for $600 which I did not cash. Had a negotiation call with a senior insurance adjuster and ended up with another check for $1,400 for a total $2,000 in diminished value. Do your homework, though be reasonable.

 

I am curious. Do dash cams note/record speed automatically, or is it user changeable?

 

I think it depends on the quality of the dash cam. Some have GPS built in (or add on) which calculates your speed. Similar to using a navigation App like "Waze" on your smartphone since the phone already has GPS.

 

I have read that you probably don't want the speed recorded. If you are going over the speed limit at all then the other party's insurance will try to leverage that evidence against you.

 

I need a dashcam asap.
Which one will you guys recommend?

 

Just hardwired using by tapping into power from the windshield wiper sensor, which is only powered when the car is on.

Wiring details.