The accident scene.
My car.
Her car.
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The accident scene. |
My car. |
Her car. |
Of course I knew that I was immediately in danger of having my car totaled by the other insurance company given the low Blue Book value of my car. Repair estimates ranged from $2100 to $5300. The other insurance company, Ford (yes, THAT Ford), offered only $1100! I rejected their offer, but they refused to negotiate. So I decided to sue the driver and take my case to Small Claims Court. (The other driver also refused to negotiate.) It just so happens that the nearest courthouse is very close to where I work in Palo Alto, making it not at all inconvenient. Despite the fact that the defendant had a Ford-appointed lawyer helping her who prepared an overly dramatic legal brief, the judge found her to be at fault (no surprise) and awarded me $2100, almost double what her insurance company had offered! In addition my car would not be totaled. Despite some after-trial antics like threatening to appeal, I eventually got the check and cashed it immediately.
| I then took my car to Dunn's Automotive to have it repaired. Two weeks later the car was ready. It looked quite good initially, but then I noticed various small details like the deformed body side moulding which was barely stuck on, a missing screw cap, a charred and broken piece of interior paneling, and a door which was out of alignment. I thought I would try the local salvage (junk) yard just to get the missing parts, but I ended up doing much more, replacing the damaged paneling, my two hatch struts which were too weak to hold up the hatch anymore, and a couple of other small parts which my car had lost over the years. The moulding I took off, straightened out, and reinstalled using a special tape made by 3M. The door I realigned with the help of my impact wrench. |
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Here's are photos of the replacement paneling which I then spray painted to match the color, and the
finished product installed.
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