[hl0m4n]

i got into my first accident today. funny thing is before i left the house i had a strange feeling it was better for me to stay home but instead i decided to go out anway (kind of a de ja vu effect). accident happened now at 1:15am.

in the picture i am the pink dot and the woman (dodge caravan) the green. i was making the left turn staying in my lane and the woman at first was in her path of the turn as well until without turning the blinker, jumps the lane to go into the exxon which in turn scraped the driver side of my car (from the driver side door to the front fender).

looking at the damage my fenders seems to be fine (minor scratches, maybe a small dent) but the major thing is my door. my door is cracked and the paint is peeling and i can see the metal. no water is getting in but it is cracked and im not sure if i need a new door or if bmw will bondo it and repaint.

the good thing is the woman was nice and admitted to me and the officer that she was tired, it was her fault, she was sorry, and she didn't see me. from the look of her face she was dead tired (literally just woke up) and she was going to the exxon for coffee. she said her son (at camp) is sick and had to pick him up right now.

my parent's are sleeping now and this is my first accident. so i got the police report what do i do next? it says here it is NY DMV law i have to report it to NY DMV within 10 days. so once i do that how do i get the ball moving on the estimates, repair, etc.

from the looks of the situation i don't have to pay anything right as it was completely not my fault and the woman even admitted to the police and i that it was her fault. thanks guys.

Questions:
1. besides reporting the accident to the DMV, how do i get the ball moving on the estimate, claim, etc?

2. does this mean when a person uses carfax to look up my vin it will say i had an accident?

3. if the door needs to be replaced, will bmw be using the same window glass at least (cause i don't want to get another glass tinted again). i also have a key hole delete, will they carry that over as well?

4. i just looked on the ny dmv site and it says "The accident appears on the records of all the involved drivers. An accident listed on your driver record does not indicate that you were at fault. The DMV does not try to determine fault in an accident." so this means that even the woman admitted it was completely her fault, was tired, etc this thing will still be on my record forever and not show who's fault it was?

8/18 Update:
it has been 10 days and the situation is the same. before anything goes on liberty mutual has to speak to the woman to confirm the accident but for some reason she can't be reached so the waiting game continues.

i got the police report and it clearly states the accident was her fault, she was sleep, didn't look, etc so im good with that.

she lives literally 5 minutes from me in a complex. the insurance company is really nice over the phone , sent many letters, etc but said it is vacation season and be understanding.

so after another week if nothing happens then they will send an investigator, etc.

Update 8/27/08:
finally they get in touch with the woman. i got the call today saying i am 100% covered and the check they sent me is $2,800 and sum which is based on the liberty mutual's body shop estimate. now i have my bmw estimate at about $4,500. huge difference. so im going to bring them a copy of the liberty mutual body shop and a copy of the bmw estimate they gave me so we can see what is the difference and what we can do.

liberty mutual did say any more problems, damage, etc when car is getting fixed, dealer has to fax them the problems and the waiting game continues. i will let you guys know tom after speaking with dealer whats up.

but hey, you have to admit at least i am 100% covered and im getting my check in 4-5 days .

[E92_335]

show us some pics of your car! haha

nice drawing. definitely the inside car's fault (which was the woman in this case) sorry to hear this. hope it gets resolved asap

and yes you have to report to the DMV and even though it wasn't your fault, your insurance might be raised just a little.. how old are you?

[ericsmc83]

Hopefully you got her insurance information. Just file a claim with your insurance company against her, and you should be good to go. No $$$ out of pocket, no insurance premium increase (at least that's how it works in WA).

I've almost been hit twice in the exact same manner you've depicted here. I always watch my six during those double lane turns. People need to pay attention.

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by E92_335

show us some pics of your car! haha

nice drawing. definitely the inside car's fault (which was the woman in this case) sorry to hear this. hope it gets resolved asap

and yes you have to report to the DMV and even though it wasn't your fault, your insurance might be raised just a little.. how old are you?

im 19 (had car since 16 no accidents and only 4 speeding tickets all in NJ so my record is still clean ). why would my insurance be raised alittle? besides reporting it to the DMV, how do i get the ball moving on the estimate, claim, etc? parent's are sleeping right now so i want to find out all the info i can before i tell them in the morning.

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by ericsmc83

Hopefully you got her insurance information. Just file a claim with your insurance company against her, and you should be good to go. No $$$ out of pocket, no insurance premium increase (at least that's how it works in WA).

I've almost been hit twice in the exact same manner you've depicted here. I always watch my six during those double lane turns. People need to pay attention.

yea i tried preventing it, i honked and she insisted in going to the exxon and then i slammed on brakes hoping she would speed up (or at least see me, she says she didn't) after hearing my honk so i can avoid and that didn't happen as well. i didn't get her insurance information. i called the police, they came and i got the police report. she lives about 5 minutes away from me too

[hl0m4n]

also does this mean when a person uses carfax to look up my vin it will say i had an accident?

[hl0m4n]

another question i have is if the door needs to be replaced, will bmw be using the same window glass at least (cause i don't want to get another glass tinted again). i also have a key hole delete, will they carry that over as well?

[Robert]

First step is to call for her insurance information tomorrow, then file a claim with her insurance. Second, is to request for a police report, one they took at the scene, and keep it as a copy.

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by bobbo

First step is to call for her insurance information tomorrow, then file a claim with her insurance. Second, is to request for a police report, one they took at the scene, and keep it as a copy.

fack i don't have her insurance info. all i have is this police report, i just checked and her phone # isn't even on here. shiet what do i do? i know i should have got this but i was just in shock, surprised, all these things were running through my head at the time.

is there a way i can get her #?

[hl0m4n]

o wait im looking at the police report i have her first and last name along with insurance company (liberty mutual). that should be all i need right?

[Robert]

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

fack i don't have her insurance info. all i have is this police report, i just checked and her phone # isn't even on here. shiet what do i do? i know i should have got this but i was just in shock, surprised, all these things were running through my head at the time.

is there a way i can get her #?

Did police took down your insurance info? If yes it's likely they did for her too, and it will be on the police report. You said you know where she lives. Get your dad to drive over tomorrow and get the information from her. I know the feeling of first accident from experience, heart racing, survival instinct kicks in, and everything seems like a dazy. It gets easier but accident always blow.

[methodtim]

DUDE. Wake up your parents, tell them what happened, and have them help you out. That's what they're there for. Get off the computer and go talk to Mom and Dad. I'm serious, this is lame.

By the way, glad you're ok.

[Robert]

Yea get your parents to help. If they were nice enough to buy you a bmw, I bet the first thing they won't do is give you a beating... :-) It's part of growing up, doing the right thing and taking on responsibilities.

[hl0m4n]

i quietly woke up my pops (couldn't hold it in much longer till morning) and he just went back to sleep with an angry face and told me he will take care of it in the morning.

i just looked on the ny dmv site and it says: The accident appears on the records of all the involved drivers. An accident listed on your driver record does not indicate that you were at fault. The DMV does not try to determine fault in an accident.

shit so this means that even the woman admitted it was completely her fault, was tired, etc this thing will still be on my record forever and not show who's fault it was?

also the woman lives in a condo complex that is 5 minutes from me i don't know her exact house number there and it is now shown on the report.

[demosthenes]

Everything should be fine.

It sounds like you got her contact info and your insurance company will contact hers.

When you get estimates, tell them you want genuine BMW parts and ask them if you'll be able to see the car was repaired after it is done. If they don't assure you you won't be able to see the repairs, take it somewhere else.

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by demosthenes

Everything should be fine.

It sounds like you got her contact info and your insurance company will contact hers.

When you get estimates, tell them you want genuine BMW parts and ask them if you'll be able to see the car was repaired after it is done. If they don't assure you you won't be able to see the repairs, take it somewhere else.

what do you mean by ask them if ill be able to see the car was repaired after it is done? when i get the car back and the door is good isn't that fine?

[roozie2001]

along with all the insurance claims you make you need to make a claim and sue her insurance for diminished value of your vehicle. because in your carfax your car has now had an accident.

[rit]

This is an awesome forum. I don't know of any other where you can get 10 responses within a couple hours at 3am!

Good luck with your parents. Should be no big deal.

[demosthenes]

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

what do you mean by ask them if ill be able to see the car was repaired after it is done? when i get the car back and the door is good isn't that fine?

What I mean is that a great body shop will do the body work so well that you won't be able to tell the difference between the repaired portion of your car and the portion that wasn't damaged.

I took my previous car (TL) into a shop and asked the guy what should I expect to see when I got the car back. He said: "You won't be able to tell the car was ever damaged and repaired". He was right. This was a big deal because it meant that from then on, I didn't have to worry about the little stuff.

[Tim2189]

dont even bother with the insurance bs...call her up and tell her you want a new door !
hey atleast your first car accident experience wasnt a hit and run like mine

[Bimmer007]

go with insurance claim, it wasn't your falt so your rates will not increase, this way you know your car will be repaired in full (hidden damage if any) also bmw doesn't usally fix it, they sent it to a reputable body shop in the area

if you bought the car (and plan on keeping it) don't worry about carfax

if you leased it then the dealer can't CPO the car, but if you lease another bmw, they might look the other way

[EDK99]

wow you still have crayons. cool!