messed up my TR

I put my TR into my car covered transporter and was heading down the highway when the car in front of me lost control on black ice ... then me. Into the ditch. I went to check on my baby and saw that all the tied downs had ripe out of the floor and the TR had banged around a bit inside the trailer. Both the drivers side and the passenger side have just small creases on the lower rear ... front bumper scratched, both turn signals cracked, 2-3 small dent on the rim of the truck lid where the metal part of the straps hit it. All in all not that bad ... a few thousand dollars ... still not sure if the insurance company needs to be invoved. Any opinions?

 

Scary - thankfully you're all right. Been there/done that on black ice - fortunately in beater cars.

Have you priced the turn signal lenses? Did you get an estimate of what it might cost to smooth out those creases?

If you can do it without insurance, I would. The other thing is I'm sure this would end up on Carfax and then people will think your TR was hit.

My two lira...

 

be sure to understand the "vehicle under tow" language/provision. this is a very important coverage point and you should have your insurance co. cover you. it is a comp claim and WILL NOT impact your rates.

DO NOT let anyone tell you differently. i had my race bikes fall off the trailer towing to daytona one year. the "vehicle in tow" provision was mentioned to me by a police officer as race bikes were not insured. they were fully covered (and then some) by my insurance company under my comp coverage.

do not miss out on your rights!!

pcb

 

That's unfortunate, but it sounds like you got lucky at the same time. I would report it to your insurance company, and take pictures of the damage before you get it repaired, to document the minor nature of the damage. The cost might be more than you expect. You will have the option to pay for the repairs rather than take an ins company check, but of course, its unethical and fraudulent to try to cover it up.

 

That terrible for your TR, but at least you're OK. Do you have pictures?

 

Yes everyone was ok ... however while waiting for the police 3 other cars ended up in the ditch alone side of me ... no collisions though. One actully rolled twice (dodge pickup) and the people walk away without a scratch!

As for my TR, the damage is only minor however my covered trailer has a good amount of damage. I am planning on reporting to the insuarnce company today just because I figure I have 2-3K on my car and another 2-3K on the trailer. I will post photos later.

 

I did notice a clicking noise when I drove the car up the street last night ... only in first gear ... not sure what that may be ... The other gears did not do that. any ideas?

 

The other half of this story is that I had just purchased the car 60 mintues before this happened! I had not even connected the insurance company to tell them I owned it yet. I know I have 30 days ... but I am sure they are gonna love this one.

 

The best thing is that you are not hurt. I have towed a lot and often wondered about the insurance coverage. I may call and see how it works. I suspect the repair to the car is somewhat higher than you think. It really doesn't take much for 2k repair anymore let alone it being a Ferrari.

 

Was the vehicle in gear when it was being towed? Could be trans problems? Better call your insurance co, this could be expensive.

 

body work on a ferrari is not cheap. from what you explained, sounds like a lot more than 2-3K. could turn into 4 times that. at least everyone's ok.

john

 

please read my prior post ..."vehicles in tow" . i cited how my insurance covered my race bikes that were not covered w/ individual insurance binders. you will likely be be covered.

 

My insurance company is saying that it will most likely be covered. HOWEVER I HAVE A BIG PROBLEM

I put the car in gear to drive it up and down the street and YIKES in first gear the clicking noise as you roll is geeting much louder ... if fact it is now starting in the other gears ... what the heck is going on. The car was is gear when this happened, so I am thinking the tranny might be really messed up. I can hear the insurance compant now ... how can you prove the tranny was messed up during the accident?

The only potential saving grace is the fact that I just purchased the car from a car dealer (non-ferrari) ... so I have many people to say that it was fine when it left the dealership.

 

how can they prove that is was not? you will be fine. you must stand your groud with these people. you must have patience and you will prevail.

btw...there should be ZERO impact to your premium as it will be covered under comp.

 

I would stop driving the vehicle immediatly. If a tooth broke off during the sudden stop, it will only do more damage by driving the vehicle. I would bring the vehicle to a ferrari dealer or a trans shop reccommended by them. I would be sraight with your insurance carrier from the start. This type of damage can be verified by a qualified technician. If you go to someone that is less than qualified it will only cause doubt from your insurance carrier.If you have full coverage you should be covered . Was a police report taken at the scene? If so this will make it very difficult for the insurance company to deny a claim, unless personal towing of your vehicle is exempt. Keep us informed on your claim; we might all learn something about insurance. Good Luck

 

You could lob cotton balls at a Ferrari and cause 2K-3K damage. You need a competent Ferrari shop to estimate how much this is going to cost.

Absolutely. You wouldn't have bought it if the gearbox was making scary noises. I'm sure jolting the car while parked in gear isn't healthy for it.

I agree, but mostly because it's like evidence now and you want to leave things as they are.

 

I called the ferrari dealership in Atlanta and they told me that a jolt like that could definatley mess up the tranny if it was in gear. In fact he told me you should never tow a ferrari in gear. He also told me that could be an expensive issue ... 15-20k!
The insurance company told me that they will make a determination on Thursday.
BTW Gieco view this as two seperate claims ... one for my truck (no damage), and one for the Ferrari. They also assigned fault even though the police did not! I am not sure why ....

 

Because someone is always to blame. It isn't the job of the police to assign blame. That is for the judges and insurance companies to figure out.

 

A good point. Transport cars in NEUTRAL, tie down securely and let the straps/chains do their job.

 

Not necessarily. First steps first:

1. Calm down and gather up your air of confidence. You pay for insurance for a reason, and the company now needs to provide you with service for your premiums. First get coverage established inside your 30 days if you haven't already done so.

2. Re-read your policy for "vehicles in tow" (see poster above). This regards the claim for damage to the Ferrari while in tow. That is a comphrehensive claim and not a liability claim.

3. Damage to the towing trailer is different. That is a vehicle, but since it was being towed, you should assert that it is also a "vehicle in tow".

4. Remind your insurance company that the "fault" here is in the design of the highway which couldn't handle weather conditions, and not in you as a driver, or any of the other 3 or 4 drivers who ended up in the ditch thanks to road design and weather complications. Tell them that you do not accept having this assigned a "fault".

5. Have a good Ferrrari independent look at the transmission, which is your primary problem. I have had good luck when I had my Ferrari TR in getting parts from Ricambi. I believe that I still have turn signals and the amber signal covers for the front of the vehicle in my garage which I will pass along to you at my Ricambi cost plus shipping if your shop can't find them. It took Ricambi a while to find them for me.

6. See # 1.

 

Wow!! Sorry to hear about that man!! I feel like I know you and this car. And now this.....

Uggggh. I do have faith that this will turn out for ya....

 

Sorry to hear about this. However if it is in fact the trans that is dmgd and the ins company pays, it may be a good time to upgrade the trans and diff to 512m specs on the ins companies dime.

 

So sorry to hear this, especially after following your search for a TR saga for a couple months now.

Make sure that if the tranny is messed up that the insurance covers it as part of the accident - TR transmissions are expensive to repair.

I hope it all works out in the end.
Best of luck!

 

Are you guys sure that the insurers don't have loopholes to get out of this?

It always struck me as odd that you have thirty days to notify your insurer of a new vehicle (or is it a week)? I have NEVER taken a car from the dealer without calling my agent first, as I always suspected they would find some way to avoid coverage...

Look at rental cars. Most folks presume that if you have coverage on a car, you likely have rental car coverage too. Even if you opt for the coverage, it is limited. You can't drive a Yugo as your daily driver, and rent an exotic and expect coverage. American Family, I believe, has limitations to "similar car" coverage.

I hope this goes smoothly for you, but I think you have some heartache ahead of you.

If you creased several area's, the car may need an ENTIRE respray to match. Good luck getting that paid for. And when your insurance learns that a ferrari trans isn't 800$... .

Does Geico even cover ferraris? I didn't think that they did...

 

Yeah they had the best rate for my ferrari. All my cars are covered by Geico