Rear Ended!!!!

[Beholder88]

So I was driving through a construction zone on 422 here in good old Butler County. The highway was closed down to one lane and there were cars everywhere. I came up to a traffic light and stopped. The car behind me (a 2003 Impala) stopped. Then a 1998 Dodge Ram, towing a boat, failed to stop and slammed into the Impala, which in turn slammed into my car. Me, my wife and my 16 month old son are all ok. No one else was injured. Luckily the guy has insurance, and they are paying for everything. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

[Alerosaint]

Glad you and your family is ok....also glad your hoe aint badly damage.

[bdyman]

glad your ok,
by the looks of it, i guess 2 things;
1.the rear body panle is screwed
2.the 1/4 is buckled due to the left frame rail, trunk floor, inner and outer wheel house is buckled and pushed forward

if you want more insight, get me more pics of the inside of the trunk, with the carpet pulled back or out, and insurance companies, and pics of the left rear frame rail

[ServO]

Its a good thing nobody was hurt. Is your trunk lid gonna have to be replaced or is it just sitting wonky 'cause of the damage to the bumper? That rear drivers side panel makes me cringe! Will that back door still open?
Sorry about the damage to your car man.

[cherrington17]

thank god for that bumper doing its job...

luckily no-one was hurt. espicially your son. (you and your wife would deal with it... he wouldn't)

[Atmosphere]

Ouch. Glad you're okay.

[Beholder88]

Yeah, I'm glad everyone is ok. It was actually a mildly light crash. Both drivers side doors open, with some force. The trunk will not open at all. When I push the trunk button, it clicks... nothing. I can turn the key, but again... nothing. An adjuster is supposed to be calling me tomorrow so he can set up a time to come look at it. I'm not supposed to be driving it until he gets a chance to look at it. Hey bdyman, the guys insurance is Progressive, Mine is Geico. We both have full coverage. and the lady on the phone told me they would cover everything (assuming it's not totalled, which I doubt.) I'll try to get some better pics tomorrow, it's getting too dark now.

[CactusWill]

assuming it's not totalled, which I doubt


Hmmm, I wouldn't be surprised if they offered to total it, might be a nice opportunity to make some money off the deal if they did. Glad you guys are ok tho.

[YALEROYNOT]

let me kno

i have a whole car in my drive for $300 come get it, exhaust was 600 + alone. one tailight out of 4 is gone (drivers side outter), aas front and rear bumpers and factory extra front. no head lights and some small parts. no wheels bring a trailer and its yours.

drop zone malibu springs are also on it

[Redog]

Glad you are all OK

422? Where is Butler County? North of Philly?

[KenshinZero]

Holy freakin shit! I just got rear ended today as well, not as badly tho, some of the bumper pin things poped out and the trunk latch got bent. The lady hit me @ 5-10 mph lol. Im glad to know everybody in your car is ok.

[Oldsnut]

Glad all are OK, could have been worse in both crashes.

[whynotbewild]

Glad you all are ok

[99alerogirl]

hey your bumper looks a little dented... haha jk.

looks a LOT like mine did when i got rear ended... it was almost totalled. $3000 worth of damage because of the 1/4 dent.

[dragon8807]

that sucks, but glad everyone's ok

redog, butler county is north of pittsburgh

[bdyman]

well actually, geico, and progressive, arent that bad of companies, labor hours are just a few bucks short of state farm, geico like to use allot of OEM parts, progressive tend to lean more to the afterbirth parts which isnt bad, but on some parts it can be

neither car wont total, at least here they wouldnt, i can fix that all day long, and i would tell the adjustor that, which then he would write the estimate so i can do just that, and fix it, just becasue you see the 1/4 is buckled, thats what we do dude, put that car on the frame rack, and pull pull pull!!!

as i would pull the the frame rail body panle, trunk floor, inner and outter wheel house especially on the frame rail, we keep pressure on the tower while we pull, and bring the 1/4 back to shape, now keep in mind too that frame machines can pull with 20 tons of power, so ya that 1/4 can be fixed

dude its no problem, i can fix i k now i can fix it, unless things are different out in your area, it could total and if it does well then keep it totaled

[Beholder88]

Wow, hey YALERO, where are you located? If they offer to total the car, I might just see if they will let me keep it and I can take parts off of it and use the money to get yours. I don't know though. Thing is, we still owe a little over $5,000 on the car. I just got the damn thing last year. Progressive gave me a place that's not too far from me, they call it a "network shop". I guess it's a place that is certified by them as a good repair shop, and they will guarantee the work for as long as I own the car. If it isn't totalled, I'll be able to get the work done, and guranteed, for free. I'll keep everyone posted.

[bdyman]

ya what they call it is different from the truth, and here it is
its called service first shop or a direct repair proceduer
when they tell you that the car is going to one o f their perfered shops "oh its a drp shop a service first shop" ok when a shop becomes service first or drp for a insurance company

all it means is that the shop and insurance company is making money, the insurance company lowers the labor rate, the shop gets huge discounts on parts, and sometimes the shop pays the insurance company money yearly or monthly to stay a service first shop

like the shop i work for we are service first for state farm, it doesnt matter if the shop next to us takes state farm becasue we are service first we get every car first!, then any other shop in the area

the whole life time warranty thing, is nice for the customer nnot nice for us, if us techs repair a car and it comes back with problems, we fix it for free, i hate that!! thats why any car i touch i never see again, i maybe have 2 cars come back in a years time

it is nice but if something stupid happens to the car or you hit something with the car and we can say hell no this isnt warranty work, he hit something, but if the paint is peeling, or lets say something isnt lined up, on that line its warranty

you have a choice where to take your car, if i was in the area i would tell you to bring the car to me, its not the insurance company that has the right you do you tell them where you want the car fixed not the other way around

of if the shop is a huge corperation owned chain shop like a cars collision, or car star, stay far far far away from shops like that i know i worked in one for yrs, and all they do is hack em and wackem out the door, stick with the small ma and pa shops better quality will come from a tech who isnt rushed
see my point

[Beholder88]

Well, the shop that they told me about is actually a Dodge dealer! Go figure. I wouldn't mind going to a small shop somewhere, I actually have one in mind. I might still go there if things start to sound fishy. They gave me the option to choose where I wanted to go, but the whole warranty thing does sound good - as a customer anyway.

[bdyman]

im not knocking the warranty thing at all, its great for a customer, well it being a dodge dealership i wouldnt go to it, i have seen and had to re do so many cars from dealership body shops, one focus i fixed the bumper was being held on with vise grips, and it came from a ford dealer shop

here in the chicago land area there are a chain of shops called gerber collision, the owner sold every single shop to allstate, kept the name and now allstate has a huge chain of body shops, and i wouldnt let a tech from those shops touch my toliet

i say dude you have a say so tell geico no im going here, ok adjustor goes to that shop and there is nothing they can do about it

[Beholder88]

Progressive told me I can go where ever I want. They just recommend one of the network shops so I can get the warranty deal. I'm pretty good with cars, so I plan on doing a rather thurough inspection of my hoe's ass end...

[cherrington17]

not to mention, take pics, and get a decent opinion here.

[zzyzzx]

I'll bugg right out!

Anyway, let is know what the estimates say.

[bdyman]

dude the shop i work for has a lifetime warranty too, and its a small ma and pa shop, take the car where you want its your choice, bottom line

[hok666]

damm that's messed up looks like its in good condition to...

[Beholder88]

I plan on taking more picks later tonight. I'll upload all of them to photobucket when I get a chance. I still haven't heard from the insurance rep, last I knew he was still trying to get a hold of the other guys involved in the accident.

[lonnie]

Damn....glad you and the fam are ok!

[Beholder88]

Well, she's been totaled. I'm no longer a member of the Alero community. This sucks.

Anyway, I'm looking at a 2005 Buick LaCross CX. Can anyone run the VIN?

2G4WC532951244703

I searched on carfax, but didn't actually get the report, and it came up with 11 results. I just don't know what they are.

[worknprog.99]

unless its the buik lacross super its a waste

[Beholder88]

unless its the buik lacross super its a waste

No, just the base model. What's the super? I didn't see that as an option when I looked on kbb.com.

[99alerogirl]

you could be a member of the alero community.. buy naich's alero!!

[bdyman]

the lacrosse super is the same car as the grand prix gxp, it has the ls4 in it, as much as i like my gxp, i dislike the trans problems, mine is the 2nd trans

[Beholder88]

Well, I'm going to look at the Buick tomorrow morning. I want to get a good look at it and take it for a spin. We'll see what kind of financing we can get and hopefully we'll be on the road by Friday. If something's not right, I'll be looking at something else...

[Naich]

so I guess you're not interested in my Alero any more? I replied to your PM....

[Beholder88]

so I guess you're not interested in my Alero any more? I replied to your PM....

Sorry, the wife is the one paying for it and she doesn't want another one. I need the daily driver family car now, and the project car will be the cutlass. I really wish I could change her mind, I'd be all over your Alero.

[Cliff8928]

unless its the buik lacross super its a waste

Actually, I think I'd rather have the 3.6 which would be in the CXS.

Thank goodness that 2009 marks the last of the 3800.

[TheEdgeofSanity]

Actually, I think I'd rather have the 3.6 which would be in the CXS.

Thank goodness that 2009 marks the last of the 3800.

whats wrong with the 3800? IMO its the best engine ever made for a FWD car

[YALEROYNOT]

Wow, hey YALERO, where are you located? If they offer to total the car, I might just see if they will let me keep it and I can take parts off of it and use the money to get yours. I don't know though. Thing is, we still owe a little over $5,000 on the car. I just got the damn thing last year. Progressive gave me a place that's not too far from me, they call it a "network shop". I guess it's a place that is certified by them as a good repair shop, and they will guarantee the work for as long as I own the car. If it isn't totalled, I'll be able to get the work done, and guranteed, for free. I'll keep everyone posted.

i am 45 min north of philly 19438 harleysville pa

[CactusWill]

whats wrong with the 3800? IMO its the best engine ever made for a FWD car


I dunno about best engine ever, but I agree its rock solid. Both the series I in rwd cars, and the series II in transaxle mounted fwd cars. Its generally good for 250k+ miles, as opposed to the ford 3.8 which spins its bearings at around 100k miles.

[Cliff8928]

whats wrong with the 3800? IMO its the best engine ever made for a FWD car

It's 90°, It can't run smooth without a balance shaft, a MASSIVE harmonic balancer and a split pin crankshaft. A V6 should be 60°. It was a V8 derived engine, just like the 4.3.


Also, the 3800 has been out of production for almost a whole year now yet they're still using it through the 2009 LaCrosse.

[CactusWill]

It was a V8 derived engine, just like the 4.3.


Thats correct. The 4.3 is a 350 minus 2 cylinders, and the 3.8 is a 305 minus 2 cylinders. And you can get 400-500k miles out of both of them when properly maintained. You can be biased toward the newer engines all day, but bottom line is they don't have the proven track record or history for you to back them up with.

[Cliff8928]

a 3.8 (231) is derived from a Buick V8, not a Chevy V8 like the 4.3.

Not necessarily biased to newer engines, just better designed ones. Even a 1960 GMC V6 would be fine. Or almost any straight 6.

[Beholder88]

I test drove the Buick yesterday. What an amazing ride. Solid performance. The salesman looked a bit surprised when I hammered on it and took a turn at about 40mph. This will be a good car, going to pick it up tomorrow morning. Will post pictures :)

[Nate's Alero]

I test drove the Buick yesterday. What an amazing ride. Solid performance. The salesman looked a bit surprised when I hammered on it and took a turn at about 40mph. This will be a good car, going to pick it up tomorrow morning. Will post pictures :)

so the alero is off to the scrapyard? buy it back and sell us parts!

[Beholder88]

Can't afford to buy it back man. If I didn't owe so much money I would have taken it back. I really hated to see it go, it was my favorite car.

[CactusWill]

Uh, did you even ask how much they would charge to buy it back?

[IRONDOG442]

Butler County FTL
Beaver County FTW!