The Few, The Proud, The #$#!!@

I'm glad you're okay but the car is hard to look at.... I hope you have her back on the road soon.

 

I have run across a couple threads on here where owners claimed there were carb cars in the 1980 model year. Here is one:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191764&highlight=1980+carb

Seamus

Edit: To the original poster I am sorry. I also have a '78 308 GTS so I feel bad that this happened.

 

They exist... Most of them are in Europe and Australia etc...

 

Okay, I gotta get on the soap box a bit. $25k to $30K to R&R the front clip? I'm sorry but there is just no way to justify that kind of expense. And that kind of money is why these cars are being totalled.

AFAIK, once the damage to a vehicle exceeds 50% of its value, the insurance company is under no obligation to repair it.

On another note, I would have someone look into this trucks legal roadworthiness, if someone did rear end him at speed, his truck is going to kill someone.

 

Do NOT let USAA send over an adjuster. Have your company handle it all and bill USAA. That way it is YOUR interests that are being served, not their interests. And if your collector car insurance is like Hagerty, they will pay up to your AGREED value to fix the car. Doesn't matter how much it is at all.

 

That may be true (I think value fluctuates by company) if you carry normal insurance on it. But all of the reputable collector car companies don't work that way. They pay up to what you agreed it was worth.

 

I would love to hear other peoples experience with dealing with insurance companies, especially when the other person was at fault. I have read some other threads on this. I wil keep fchat posted as this developes. Thanks much.
DC

 

Start adding up just the parts cost alone. New bumper, front clip, turn signal, headlight bucket (maybe both), louver plate behind headlight, front air dam....and those are just the parts you can see on the surface. By the way the bumper is sitting the front grill may be bent, the radiator, fans, headlight mechanisms, and hood latches may all be damaged, not to mention the work it will take to get the framework all straightened out. Just replacing the front clip alone with parts and labor will be spendy. It's not like bolting a new fender on a chevy pickup truck. The seams all take work to make them look right. Add the rest in and the price just keeps climbing.

$25 to $30K does seem a little steep, but possibly there is more damage under the surface than we are seeing. Honestly I don't see how it could be a whole lot less than that in the end.


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Is the entire car being repainted, or only the damaged areas?

 

I asked Gary if the whole car would need to be repainted. He indicated that it wouldn't since it had a very recent paint job. I am concerned about matching the front clip with the rest. This will all come out in the repair estimate this coming week. I will be sure to keep everyone posted as this develops.

Question regarding the front bumper. Does anyone know if these bumpers can be re-surfaced? The bumper itself didn't get bent, but there was a very serious tear in the rubber near the top middle of the bumper. The passenger edge was dinged also. Thanks much.
DC
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I have two 308's and am very familiar with how they are constructed. I am also pretty familiar with the costs of the parts involved, and I still feel an estimate approaching $30K in very questionable. The clip is $4500 from Ferrparts brand new. There should be a lot of battering ram bumpers around reasonably priced, the louver and headlight cover, lets say $6K all told for parts. Now someone tell me how to justify $20-$25K in labor.

 

Daniel, when somebody cut infront of me one day, this is what happen to my front end.

The last pic is what it looks like now, so YES it can be repair.
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Because it's a insurance job and you can.
I see about $10-12K in damage- maybe $15K is you go ahead and strip & respray the whole car the same color.

 

Do you know how they did it? I asked my body shop and the dude there said it could be done but that in about three-ish years it would start to crack again. I'd REALLY like to get this done just once if possible and without coughing up big bucks for a really good used one.

 

I really didn't know what they did, the day after the incident I brought my car to the bodyshop and told them that I would like to
replace the bumper since it's the other drivers at fault, his insurance will pay for it anyway. His reply was, no need to replace it
we can fix it, so I said ok if you guys think you can make it look good I will leave it up to you. But I never ask how they are going
to fix it or how they did fix it after I got the car back.

If you like I can call them back and ask how they did it.

 

Mike,
Yes, please let me know. Also, I will take it to Fresno and drop it off and have them do it if you will provide the contact info.

Dan

 

What I will do is e-mail them the pic of your bumper tomorrow and ask them what they think of it.

 

About to go to bed here on the East Coast, but let me say two things:

1) Sorry, that sucks. We all make mistakes but that guy made a big one that is close to having to designate someone shoot him for being such an idiot.

2) Bobileff is scary good. Don't sweat him matching paint colors, etc. His body shop guys are very - very good, and you won't even be able to tell it was damaged when he gets done with it. Keep it man, it is your car.

Let us know how it turns out.

MB

 

Gary is the bomb. It's the only place I will take my car. He has helped on so many things over the past few years. I plan on posting pictures of the progress of the restoration and resolution with USAA insurance.

As for the Marine, we all make mistakes. I wouldn't want to be him with his insurance company (been there done that back in the 70's). This happened so fast. His back up light came on, I hit the horn, and the next thing I knew I am looking at his truck's rear end in my windshield. It was surreal. The first thing I said to him was, "I sure hope you have good insurance. Do you realize this is a Ferrari?" I was so angry I was literally shaking. All he could say was "I am so sorry, I didn't see you back there".

After he saw the Miramar Air Station decal on the car indicating an officer he started to panic. I had calmed down by then and said something about this is why we carry auto insurance, now get your truck off my car!

I wonder if USAA will cover post traumatic stress syndrome related to this accident? Hummmmm.

DC

 

If she still looks good I'd love to know man. Maybe I can get the same process down here. Does she look like she did before the accident?

 

Not to excuse what the marine did (backing up in a travel lane is always a bad idea), but I was in the 328 the other day following my wife in her Acura MDX, and the first thing she said when she got out of the car is, "You need to realize that 90% of the time I couldn't even see you back there." It occurred to me that I rarely have the oppurtunity to see a 3x8 from a "normal" vehicle's seating position (let alone a truck), so I didn't really appreciate how hard these cars are to see.

 

So sorry this happened to you. It does illustrate a problem I'm always aware of when I drive my 308 - people just DON"T SEE YOU! Our cars are so low that its common for people, especially SUVs, to have no clue that we're there. I always assume that I'm invisible to others thanks to some lane changing on top of me incidents. we all need to have superior defensive driving skills. The good news for you is that there's no one better than Gary to fix your car 100%

 

It's actually looks better, before it has the kind of semi glossy looks but now it's more like the brand new looks

 

Really sorry this happened. Just look forward to a few months from now when all is well and your car will be even better than it is now. Just don't take any %&#$ from his insurance company. Did you call your ins. company? They will help "back you up" just in case. Document, pics, document, dates, times, names, pics, document, document, document every phone call etc etc.

Many of us do feel your pain. mb

 

After getting over the shock of the event and getting his information down I found a nice safe quite spot and began making the phone calls. First I called my insurance company to report the accident. I then called his insurance company and had a long extended discussion. I have the claim process started with both my and his company. Talked with Gary and he assured me that he would help all he could to get this resolved as quickly as possible. He really is a super guy.

I got the car over to Bobileff as quickly as possible and they took a series of photos, some of which are here in this post. I should hear today from the insurance companies as they begin this process. I will keep everyone posted.

DC