dragonfire Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Friday night my 88 sedan was backed into. Major damage was done. About midnight my wife was sitting in the living room watching TV. I was in the bedroom play Xbox. I heard this loud bang. I was like wtf was that. Then I hear my wife say get back here spardnubbin. I jumped up ran out the front door to her saying someone just hit the sedan. I saw the damage ran back inside got street clothes on. Jumped in my Baja and hauled rump roast. Went to a local 24 hour has station. Found a 2005 GMC Canyon. With rear quarter damage. Took a quick picture of it. Hit feeling told me this was the truck. The guy in the driver seat finally saw me looking at his truck. He looked like a deer in the head lights. I asked him if there was something he wanted to tell me about this damage. He of course denied it was him who hit my sedan. I told him who ever hit my car left a tail light behind. And if it didn't fit his truck then he nothing to worry about. So I came back home. Showed my wife the picture. She said that looks like the truck. She was not able to get his tag number. By the time she got to the front door. The truck was already in the street. Mind you my sedan was parked 20 plus feet off the street. Cops came filed a report. Showed the cop what I found at the gate store. He said with having a tag number from a witness nothing he could do. The next morning I was up early and outside. Picking up all parts that were Subaru only leaving only smashed tail light from a GM small truck. Like the one I found the night before. Called my insurance company only to realize i didn't have collision on my policy. My mistake and huge one. Started my own investigation since th cops couldn't help me. Put all the pieces that found together. When I did I knew that truck hit my sedan. Later that evening a friend came by to help me check while I drove the sedan around. Nothing was broken or the car was crabbing. And so on. Thankfully it drive just fine. Neighbors came by to check out the damage. I turn to look down the street there goes that truck. My buddy jumps in his car as I say busted jackass. Drove to end of my street as he pulled into his driveway. There was a cop there already. On a unrelated issue. When walked to his cruiser we waved him over. Told him the story of what happened. He said get out and stand at the front of your car. He went to talk to the guy about it. Waved us over. The owner of the truck still denied hitting my car. Cop asked me what color my car was. I said light blue. Then this guy says well there is red paint here not blue. At which point I said what you don't know is the panel that was hit is a patch panel. And the paint color under the repaint was red. Told the cop I had a busted tail light and pieces I found in my yard. He asked me to go get them. Came back started to try and put it back together. Nothing really fit together to well. The officer said we need to find a piece that can prove it came from this tail light. The one in the picture was it. Fit like a jig saw puzzle piece to what was left on his truck. Cop smiled and said got it. Said it was as good as finger print it for so good. No denying it now. Another cop showed up. Same one that came to my house rallied that day to take a statement from my daughter who saw the whole thing from her bedroom window. She never told us she saw what happened because she saw is the night before talking with a cop thought we had it handled. The truck stopped 15 feet from her bedroom window. That alone freaked me out big time. After the cops took his information for me and all that. As they were leaving. He told me his friend was driving the truck. And was drunk. He met him at that store o had found him the night before. I about lost it. My buddy stepped in and got between me and him. Forced me to walk away. Because I had been hit by a drunk driver at the age of 19. A major accident. So the ball is rolling insurance. I am scared they will total it out. I can't let this sedan go to junkyard or scrap. Been with for ten years. I won't let it go out like that. Moral of the story. Don't hit a car guys car. More to come..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I am very sorry to hear this. I have a fondness for these sedans. Definitely fix her up. These cars grow on you and it would be like abandoning family. I hope that human scum that hit your car and drove away is prosecuted to the fullest extent. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonist Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 If you let insurace at that, they will definitely total it Especially as the damage goes up the C pillar. My first car was a sedan. I discovered about 3 months after owning it, that someone had welded the back of another sedan onto it. Everything from the rear window back was from another car. But this was back in 94 when these cars were still worth something, and it had a rare (for Aus, 85 only) factory electric sunroof. I ended up rolling it about 5 years later & the sunroof was my escape route 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Even if they total it you can keep it. Which they're going to. That's much more work than the cars value (to an insurance company) Sorry for the bad luck. Save some money for a parts car with a good rear quarter. Least you can keep driving it. Make sure the tank don't leak! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooner Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Crappy, you should've titled it "Hit and tried to run" though haha. Glad you caught him and at least your car stopped him from plowing into the house! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Also I am very sorry to read about this, I hope that you will be fixing it Soon! Kind Regards. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Yeah, they're going to total it. That sucks big time. Unless you know someone who can cut and weld in a new rear quarter, it's going to be close to a grand just for that. Beings that it seems to be up in the C pillar and there's rust there, to do a proper repair, the back glass is going to have to come out and part of the pillar replaced. What a jacka**. Don't even get me started on drunk drivers.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 The sedan runs fine no fuel leaks. The damage is rough. The rust in that area makes it look worse. When inspecting the damage I found that at some point in this cars life the rear quarter panel had been replaced. I suspected some work had been done. The paint was off just a little bit on that fender. Took around my neighborhood yesterday and Saturday. Drives fine no major suspension issues or anything else. Now I guess I wait and see what happens. If they want to total it. I say give me my money and I will fix it myself or let it live on in another sedan. Which is going to be really hard to find in the state of Florida. Last time I saw one for sale was three years ago. And I frequent craigslist at least three times a week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Skishop69 this is not the first time I have had to deal with a drunk driver. In the mid 90s I was hit by a drunk driver going 70mph. Head on. That car saved my life. Now two cars have kept me or my family safe. My daughters bed room is right in front of the sedan. And she saw this happen. The sedan stopped the truck about 12 feet from her bedroom window. Where her bed is. Scared the hell out of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooner Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Wow, that's amazing you survived that wreck. I'm assuming you were wearing your seat belt? What car was the drunk driver driving that hit you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 I was not wearing a seat belt. It was only a lap belt. Doctor said if had been wearing it. There was 60% chance it would have separated my spine from my pelvic bone. And at the very least be paralyzed from my waste down or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) Catalina is a pretty hefty chunk of iron. Glad you're ok. I have had 2 rigs totalled by drunks. Just to give you a better idea on your Subie: You'll be lucky to get $1000-$1500 for it and the buy back to keep it will be $300-$500. If you fix it yourself, you might break even. If you have to have someone else do it, you're going to be out of pocket at least $1000. Unfortunately, the insurance company doesn't care how it runs and drives. They're going to look at pre-crash condition and local market resale compare that to cost to repair and total it. If the repair cost exceeds 60% of the value, it's a goner. Since a really good condition GL might go for $2-$3k, even with the damage you have, it would be a loss. Just basing what I see in your pics and my experience. You've got close to $3k worth of damage there if it were to go to a body shop. Hate to see someone lose a beloved vehicle, but I just think you should be prepared for what's coming. Edited February 23, 2015 by skishop69 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) ... is going to be really hard to find in the state of Florida. Last time I saw one for sale was three years ago... I has been at Florida few times, the last time was at early 2001, and the only city where I saw many Subarus, was at Fort Lauderdale, then in all Miami, Doral, Key West, Orlando, and everything in between, I only saw a Cherry Red EA82 GL Wagon with white 8 spokes wheels, inside a Garage... Usually Subarus are more abundant at those states where Snow falls... Maybe you can bring one from another state... have you checked COPART? My wife won an auction there, obtaining her "KiaStein" online... Kind Regards. ►Edit: underlined words are web links. Edited February 23, 2015 by Loyale 2.7 Turbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Insurance adjuster is supposed to come out tomorrow. I washed the sedan. Cleaned it up. Try to make it look as good as possible. Can't do anything about the rust. Lol. So we will see. They would give me what the value will be minus salvage cost. That will be what I get out of it. Then the hunt will begin on finding another sedan that I can let this one live on in. Only time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Skishop it is major damage. The frame work of the trunk is in bad shape. The frame horns off the subframe seem to be good. But still the age and blue book value. Is not even going to be close to repair cost. Unless for some reason cost have dropped way off recently. That catalina was a beast. Loved that car. Only got to drive it four days of the two weeks I owned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Sad to read about your Sedan. Good to hear that none of your Family was injured. Can see from the pics just how close things were to the house. Do believe, that the registered owner of any vehicle is reliable for any damage caused by said vehicle, regardless of who was driving it. So, his drunk friend was driving the truck when it hit your car. Owner went to pick friend up somewhere down the road. How did owner of truck get there? And where was said "drunk friend" when you showed up at the store/gas station? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 When I arrived at the gas station the guy in the picture with the cop car was in the driver seat. After I took a picture of his tag. And he said it wasn't me. I didn't come from your direction. I never told him where I lived. This other guy comes out ripped shirt and fresh cut on his hand. My gut told me then it was him. But there was no witness to the driver. Just the tag. After the cops basically showed his punk rump roast that the tail light fragments I had matched his truck. He had to give up the insurance information. I have now started things with State Farm. Though I never got to talk to jake from State Farm. lol. When the cops left his house he came to me and told me his buddy was driving and drunk. He met him at the gate store. He was a few miles away at a friends house when he called and told him what happened. I got there just after the drunk walked in to the store to clean up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonist Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/151419-1992-subaru-loyale-sedan-shell/ Sorry, you'd know better than me how far away this is from you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman01 Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I would try to insist that these are now deemed "classic" cars, and cannot be totaled, and they must fix it. A long shot, but hey, in my state my $500 rusty Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera is "valued" at $6k for taxation purposes, and is decreed a "classic" car for valuing the annual registration tax. Too bad to see another one of these increasingly rare old Subies sitting there terminally injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 In Florida your car has to be 30 years old to get an antique tag. I will look into the Classic car situation. Thank you for that idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferp420 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 take the money buy the car back buy a new car and build this one in to a wheeler and or get creative with it im sure it wont ever look the same but ill bet it still has alot of fun left in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfire Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Been a slow process. Finally got something set for the adjuster to come out. Now just wait. Yeah I will keep the sedan. If they total it or not what happens next with it. Who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now