Got Hit, Now What?

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4CloverLeaf

Active member
Joined
Mar 24, 2017
Messages
27
Location
Colorado
Well, I have been driving for over half my life without incident until this morning when my new car got hit from behind on the highway. Less then 700 miles and the temp plates still on it. Traffic came to a stop and I had to use my brakes to stop. Unfortunately, the guy behind me also used my brakes to come to a stop.

I absolutely needed to get to work, so we exchanged info quickly and I drove the rest of the way into the office. No extra warning lights on the dash and the no airbags went off so hopefully everything is okay. I have a few questions though.

My back bumper is trash, I think both rear quarter panels may need to be replaced as well. Hopefully there is not any frame damage. The alignment still seems okay and it still felt okay to drive. I reached out to the driver who hit me insurance company and filed a claim already and I am scheduled to get the car inspected on Monday. Can any normal body shop handle this or do I need to go to a Nissan dealer? Could the battery have been damaged and is there anything I should be sure to have checked? I do have LeadSpy and did my first reading yesterday morning if that will help in any way

Does anyone have any advice on dealing with all of this? It is my first time and I just keep coming up with more and more thing to worry about.
 
Ka-ching!

Call a personal injury attorney, they should be able to get you a nice settlement that will buy you new cars a few times over.
 
Report the injury. That kind of crash produces real whiplash, and it isn't wrong to file a claim for it. As for battery damage, a Nissan dealer should look at it.
 
Definitely go to a doctor and get a check up--it will strengthen your claims for reimbursement for your time and costs dealing with the crash. It sounds like the damage to your car is significantly less than mine and the onboard charger is no longer in the back so it is not likely that there is damage to the EV components. Nissan has a publication on their web site that offers suggestions about accident repairs. Basically, you should insist upon genuine Nissan parts and repair procedures in accordance with the Nissan manuals. As mentioned earlier, don't let them bake the battery. I suggest you keep the portable EVSE at home so the body shop will not charge the battery and leave it at full charge (try to get to the shop at less than 75% SOC). If possible, I suggest you take it to a Nissan LEAF certified dealer that has an associated body shop.

In my case, the body was distorted enough to rub on the left rear tire and the left rear door (and hatch) could not be opened, but I drove it out of the intersection to a safe place to park. There were no warning lights and I sat in it running climate control while waiting for the tow truck (wanted to get the battery partially discharged for storage since it was only 4 miles after leaving home). My 2011 was technically repairable, but the other driver's insurance company declared it a total loss. I was able to see the extent of the damage when I went to the body shop after they had removed the hatch and interior panels. Bent support brackets for the onboard charger were the only apparent damage to EV-related components.
 
I recently read a post on MNL, warning not to allow the body shop to bake the car like they normally would as this will cook the traction battery. Makes total sense and I sure hope that if my Leaf needs bodywork done that I remember to warn them against doing that!
 
You guys' that have the first thing out of your mouths to cry for injury lawyer are a bunch of asses. I can see why insurance is so expensive : its guys like you chasing dollar signs anywhere you can find it..

I do not share the others opinion that only Nissan has to see the car. The leaf is a car like any other, and the repair would be a standard thing. I also think they can cure paint with heat lamps instead of putting the whole car in an oven.

Sorry to hear about your terrible experience. At least there was no injury. I would try to find a way to either get a new car, or quickly trade it in for a new one because the BRAND NEW car will never be the same..
 
Yeah, the OP said nothing about an injury, you turds. The work can be done by any good body shop. You don't want the car baked at too high a temperature, but that isn't a problem, there are other ways. If you think there might be something wrong with the car, you can have Nissan check it out, but they don't have to do the body work.
 
powersurge said:
You guys' that have the first thing out of your mouths to cry for injury lawyer are a bunch of asses. I can see why insurance is so expensive : its guys like you chasing dollar signs anywhere you can find it..

I do not share the others opinion that only Nissan has to see the car. The leaf is a car like any other, and the repair would be a standard thing. I also think they can cure paint with heat lamps instead of putting the whole car in an oven.

Sorry to hear about your terrible experience. At least there was no injury. I would try to find a way to either get a new car, or quickly trade it in for a new one because the BRAND NEW car will never be the same..
The other driver was at fault and the OP incurred a significant financial loss. Assuming the other party is collectable their insurance will pay to have his car repaired, not replaced. In addition to lost time and inconvenience, to "quickly trade it in for a new one" will be several thousand dollars... it would have been costly even if his car hadn't been damaged, now he's got an accident on the carfax so add an extra couple grand of insult to "not injury".
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
The other driver was at fault and the OP incurred a significant financial loss. Assuming the other party is collectable their insurance will pay to have his car repaired, not replaced. In addition to lost time and inconvenience, to "quickly trade it in for a new one" will be several thousand dollars... it would have been costly even if his car hadn't been damaged, now he's got an accident on the carfax so add an extra couple grand of insult to "not injury".

+1 Very well said. Since I did nothing wrong, I had no reason to try to minimize the repair costs so I had the car towed to a repair shop associated with and recommended by my dealer. Because it was declared a total loss even though it was technically repairable, I lost a lot of money by having to replace my car (which was completely paid for so I had no payments except electricity and insurance). I ended up with 6 years of payments on the replacement. I also spent a lot of time dealing with the other driver's insurance company trying to get somewhere close to what my car was worth. The insurance company and/or its storage facility essentially committed fraud, but I did not have quite enough proof to take to the State Insurance Commission. I learned a lot from the experience (and comparing notes with friends) and will not hesitate to offer advise to others when they ask.
 
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