You called the cops on your buddy? Or is it not his car?

Oh, as for the accident with the tire... who is your insurance company?

In my experience... if you have State Farm, you'll be taken care of and everything will be cool.

If you have Allstate... prepare for some hurting. I currently have Allstate and they didn't lift a finger when I was in an accident. Other person was found at fault, their insurance wouldn't give me fair value on the car (there was one on Autotrader that was close to the offer they gave me. Autotrader car was $500 more, but had no engine. All other cars were a few thousand higher.) and tried to blame me. Allstate did nothing to help, and I plan on switching to State Farm when my MINI arrives.

 

He actually bought the car from a Police Auction 2 years ago. But I have Mercury...

 

What, no pics???!!!

I must've missed your post about the ************...???

 

Mercury is your insurance company? Is it a regional insurance or ???

 

Just googled Mercury Insurance and came across this:

http://www.carreview.com/cat/automob...2_1823crx.aspx

 

Any updates or comments to the Mercury Insurance info I linked in a previous message?

 

I've used them for years, and have never had one problem.. fact, I'm actually really happy with them. So is everyone else in my family.

One of the reviews was of a guy who was mad because he hit a guy that had Mercury.. and then he said that they are only good for covering those that they insure... but... isn't that the point? I mean, turn the tables and put yourself in the position of the guy of the parked car that got hit, wouldn't you want to get your car taken care of? I dunno.. that's just my opinion.

But I'm very happy with Mercury.

 

Steve,

Have you talked to your insurance yet? I assume with a new car you have collision coverage, so that will cover you no matter what. Believe me, the insurance company is more motivated than you are to find out if someone else is to blame. They want to recover some of their money. So I would let them sweat it, not you...

Regarding the damage, a rental car should be covered the entire time your car is in the shop. So again, no sweat. I would just make sure you are getting real OEM stuff put back in.

Your total out of pocket on this whole deal really should be limited to your deductible. If your insurance finds someone to blame, you might even be able to recover that...

Glad to see you are ok. As others have said, that could have been much worse.

-Ed

 

One thing you might try is calling CalTrans, just to see if someone reported that tire falling off a truck. If someone did, and they caught a plate number, you might be able to find someone who can be held responsible.

I had to do the same thing a couple years back, when I was heading down the 101 and a dump truck going the opposite direction suddenly spewed a half-dozen pieces of 2-foot-square sheet metal out everywhere...and they caught the draft and one flew directly into my windshield (that was some scary $%*&). So it took me about 10 minutes to get to a phone to report it, but I had no plate number...but the CalTrans folks had already taken a report from someone else traveling behind the truck and had a plate number and name from the side of the truck...I was able to get the company's info and they paid for my windshield replacement.

Anyway, short version being, call...they might be able to help you if someone reported it.

 

A similar incident happened to me years ago. It was daytime and the highway was quite crowded and tthere was a piece of firewood in the middle lane (already split into a wedge shape). The car in front of me swerved at the last second but I could not, with cars on either side. I tried to send it under the middle of the car, a Mustang, but there wasn't enough room. It hit one of my wheels. Wrapped the rim around the brake. I managed to get the vehicle to the side of the road and called a tow truck. I had to pay the deductable, while insurance covered the rest. In Massachusetts, where I lived at the time, they have an insurance review board. I told them my story and they agreed that I should not be held liable for any rate increase, so that was nice. Still out the deductible, though.

In regards to your damage, my mother-in-law backed into my first MINI and did nearly the same amount of damage. Hood, radiator, bumper, plus some other misc parts. Didn't look bad but it came out to almost 3 grand. Took the shop about 4 days to do the work. The good news is, all of the parts are bolt-on, so it will be just as good as new when they are done.

 

Megan Racing hasn't been on NAM since he posted his message about finding the stash...I wonder if things got complicated for him & he doesn't have access to a computer? It's odd that he hasn't replied to anyone's posts in his thread....

 

Or he's going to the Dragon?

 

If there were 3 bricks and only reported 2....

 

Yaaaaaaaaaaah.. I'm cool. It coulda been a lot worse though.. I'll tell you one thing though, I was so ready to get hit in the face with my airbag. I realize that MINIs are tough little cars.

For instance..

An SUV backed into my rear quarter panel. I have a TINY dent that almost no one can see, and he lost an entire bumper and folded in the bottom half of his SUV. So.. I thought that maybe I just got lucky.

The tire I hit, was a big truck tire, those things are damn near solid and weigh about 30-40lbs. so to hit it at the speed I was going and the speed it was going towards me.... for the damage it did... the MINI is onnnnnnnnne tough little cookie, or perhaps just a really stale one.

I'm not going to the Dragon.. I keep on getting invited and all that good stuff.. and it's cool and what not, but if I missed a day of work, then I'd probably come back to work in the middle of a small riot, half the employees would either be dead or replaced and my boss would probably be crying in his office, underneath his desk while several small fires broke out in different areas of the building.

As for my life being complicated... it's not complicated, it's just really funny sometimes. Like someone asked me for a shortshifter for his Automatic today.... I just turned around and walked away.

My insurance doesn't cover a rental car.. yes, I'm just THAT cheap. But the good thing is, my body shop has plenty of cars there that I can use meantime, so I'm taken care of.

 

LMFAO! That's priceless! And I bet the person stood there failing to realize their uhhhh, ignorance, and thought to themselves, "Man, that guy's customer service sucks!".

 

Maybe he wanted to... improve his... hmm... I got nothing.

 

Yah... I had nothing either.

 

Damnit.. whenever I post from home I gotta remember not to use my Alter-Ego.

 

BUT what about the "2" bricks??? It's like a soap story without a end!! I've got to know what happened!!