Disaster Struck. I think my baby is gone. :(

Wow, truly feel for you, hands down one of my fav 355's around. You survived, you have your health, you will look back on your moments with her and reminisce on your times with her.

 

Was thinking of you last night when I was driving brisky through a canyon Northwest of Vegas on a moonlight run, and coming over a crest of a small hill, made eye contact with a large burro that was standing on the shoulder of the road. Scared me to death. Between seeing it and passing it was less than one second - I didn't have to swerve but kept thinking of how quickly that could go wrong.

 

You guys have Wild donkies out there?

 

Yeah, two of the areas that are great for driving have them - Red Rock and Mt. Charleston.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=601qHdinA98[/ame]

As you can see in the video, they're pretty casual about cars, which makes it scary at night because they will stand by or on the road. Three times, including last night, I've passed them on the paved shoulder.

That said, driving canyons in a convertible in a desert full moon is surreal - the moon gets so bright with no other light pollution, that the large rock formations that you're driving past are totally visible in your peripheral vision. It's like a trippy dream.

 

noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


sorry Eric

one of the prettiest (and rarest) 355's. sad.

sue the state and county for not controlling deer population

 

btw you might want to contact these guys for an opinion on repairability: Manns Restoration & Maintenance

 

Here are the photos of the wishbone still fitted to the chassis of the damaged car I posted up which had a similar impact on the same corner.

Upper wishbone and chassis mounts are straight, the mounting point to the upright though has bent straight up, the lower one was ripped clean away from the alloy upright, its mounts on the chassis though are fine, I double checked all the dimensions against a straight 355 chassis we also have here, and they are identical. No rearwards distortion at all.

Hopefully this car is the same, make a nice lightweight track car OP if you can buy it back, at least some consolation
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Eric. Listen to this ^^^^^^

Until they agree to a payout, it is still your car, that they insure. I would not let it move until you know what is happening next.

 

I agree, but check the policy. You may have to pay for storage until the claim is settled and you turn over the tittle or have the car moved to the shop doing repairs.

 

So tow it home.

Problem solved.

 

Exactly. That's where I would have had it dropped off from the start.....

And, with an already damaged car, the truck driver is less likely to give a crap if more damage is created....

 

Friends house? $50/mo storage unit? Probably all not worth the trouble if your not planning on buying it back.

I wonder if you can pass on the insurance buyback to another individual before the send it to auction if you pass. would be nice to see it stay in the group here.

Almost makes me want to repaint mine blue so your color doesnt go extinct lol... almost

 

I would not let it go out of state, for the sake of an extra week insist they simply pay local storage costs until they make a decision. What if you wanted a local company to carry out the repairs via the insurance company so you could inspect the work as it happens are they then going to cover the cost of returning it? not a chance.

If you do want to buy it back then the cost to recover from miles away will be down to you, as will any repairs to damage caused whilst in transit/storage at the auction site.

They already know are going to total it, just wont admit it to you yet.

 

Tell them I wont charge storage either. Please have it towed to Glendale, CA as your trusted "Buddy Shop" is located in Glendale. If you end up buying it back and selling it to me, half of the job is done

Smart hey

 

You guys are paranoid. It's basically just as I said. They want to store it somewhere where it won't cost anything for either party involved. Get a grip. Totally normal. And guess what else. If it is totaled they won't issue a check until they have the tittle in hand.

 

+1 I wouldn't worry about it

 

Not paranoid ,it's called years of experience in dealing with insurance companies, they don't care if it's a Ferrari or a Kia, they just process them all the same, and they don't like owners retaining the salvage either, too much hassle and paperwork, the OP won't see that car again once its left.

 

Sorry my good friend, I'm not with you on this one

Eric still owns the car and until they total it has a right to decide how this will go down. If they are worried about a couple bucks in storage costs they should get off their asses and make a decision. Taking it out of state is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard and imagine the cost doing that!! Certainly out weighs the cost of storage for a few days.

And then if he decides to buy it back or have it fixed, they are going to bring it back? He has the right to have it fixed at the shop of his choice and not Macco in IL!!!

Eric, put your foot down on this now - it all smells really bad!

 

Exactly!

 

I posted this earlier, will say it again....

If you have ANY thoughts of any outcome other than taking the agreed value settlement and letting the car go off to a junkyard, I would

1) somehow get the car secure, under cover
2) keep it there until you have a clear agreement with the insurer on your settlement AND a resolution should you want to try and buy it back.

I've unfortunately lived this goat rodeo before, once the car starts being moved around or ends up at a "free storage" tow yard, parts will be picked, water will intrude, you name it.

To be fair, if this was a Camry or an F-150, you might just as well be happy to hand over the title and get your check, and minimizing cost is what insurance companies do, all fair and fine.

However, in this case, you might want to be proactive in protecting the asset. There is no doubt you are likely going to be under time pressure to even get a rough idea of repairability, plus decide IF you even want to go down that road. All I'm suggesting is the longer the car sits unsecure/outside, or gets moved to "storage facilities", it makes that option more difficult and expensive.

With no offense to Copart, a friend's Ferrari experienced some severe damage, we saw and went over the car at the scene. It was towed, estimated, claim settled and then ended up at Copart. We saw the car 3 weeks later. You would be amazed at the stuff that was missing (or was lost, fell off, whatever).

 

That's ok. It's ok to be paranoid.

I mean, I'm sure Eric is still upset about all this. Why is there a need to cast dispersions on the intent of his insurance company? I assume Eric is smart enough to be dealing with a reputable one. Check it out on the BBB web site or with the DMV or Department of Commerce in his state. I would bet that if Eric requests that the car be stored somewhere else, or not moved from its present location, it would just slow the entire process down. These thing happen every day.

To Eric I would simply say, do what makes you comfortable.

 

True John but come on you have to admit move the car from Missouri to IL is just stupid.

I bet they plan to total it and want a value assessment from "their" salvage vendor.