94 coupe + sign = bad times

[Ruphelyn]

so i was picking up my grilfriend from Love field on the 26th when a dodge stratus taps my back end as Im trying to get onto TX-183 from TX-408. This sends me into a spin which ends with my car sideways over the curb and sliding at about 30 into a sign. pictures of the damage are below.

I would like to know if this can be straight repaired, or if a shop is going to want to replace the hood completely intead. im not an expert but it seems to me that repairing that would cost a lot less than a new hood. I would also like to know if I am correct in my belief that the damage on the rear of the car can be repaired without part replacement as well.

Where the stratus took a chunk out of my car

where the sign scraped my back end after impact:

front driver side wheel damage

the point of impact with the sign

I took off the panel thats missing in the bottom right of the above pic due to the damage it sustained.

also, if anyone in the DFW area has had good experiences with a body shop, please share. I would love to take her to a corvette shop, but I dont know where one is around here

 

[Jeb]

Should we understand that the Stratus had no insurance or that he hit-skipped?

 

[Ruphelyn]

it was a hit and run. the stratus was not affected by the collision and after he saw me careen off the road, he ran off.

I'd like to pay that person a visit.

 

[XLR8]

That's terrible!! But thank Heaven you're okay! I'm sorry I can't offer any repair advice but I wanted to offer my sympathy and hope that there's some substantial BAD KARMA ahead for the boorish and cowardly driver of the Stratus.

Good luck with the repairs.
Jane Ann

 

[Ruphelyn]

That's terrible!! But thank Heaven you're okay! I'm sorry I can't offer any repair advice but I wanted to offer my sympathy and hope that there's some substantial BAD KARMA ahead for the boorish and cowardly driver of the Stratus.

Good luck with the repairs.
Jane Ann

thank you very much, your sympathy is not unappreciated.

 

[boomdriver]

so i was picking up my grilfriend from Love field on the 26th when a dodge stratus taps my back end as Im trying to get onto TX-183 from TX-408. This sends me into a spin which ends with my car sideways over the curb and sliding at about 30 into a sign. pictures of the damage are below.

I would like to know if this can be straight repaired, or if a shop is going to want to replace the hood completely intead. im not an expert but it seems to me that repairing that would cost a lot less than a new hood. I would also like to know if I am correct in my belief that the damage on the rear of the car can be repaired without part replacement as well.

Where the stratus took a chunk out of my car

where the sign scraped my back end after impact:

front driver side wheel damage

the point of impact with the sign

I took off the panel thats missing in the bottom right of the above pic due to the damage it sustained.

also, if anyone in the DFW area has had good experiences with a body shop, please share. I would love to take her to a corvette shop, but I dont know where one is around here

iF YOU ARE IN THE HOUSTON AREA, nw, or can get here, I do Know of a small swhop that will take this job and having it l;ike new when they are done. The disassemble to paint, disassemble to inspect. they have their own hi-tech frame machine and can do it all.

If you;re interested on just want to chat with the guy, drop me a PM and I'll give you him number.
Sorry this happened to you, but I know who will get it fixed and now would be the time to poilish up the a little.. underhood polish, wheels,. calipers etc.
I just started my biz of polishing aluminum and would be glad to help.
Let me know if the painter/body guy needs you. Just off 290 near beltway8 l

 

[GS Diva]

What a shame!!! And how infuriating that the other guy took off. ad

I'm not a body expert, by any means, but I would think that some of that will need replacement rather than repair. Do you have collision insurance on the Vette that will cover the damage? Please let us know how it works out for you.

Elaine

 

[Schrade]

Did you see the traffic cams? Check TX DOT for surveillance footage? Overpasses and exchanges are monitored almost everywhere now...

 

[Ruphelyn]

just got back from about 5 different shops, only 1 of which would work on a corvette. the hood and air extractor will have to be replaced but the rear fender can be repaired and the paint matched and blended. all in all, the repair work will be about $5500.

Spoke with the insurance company today and they said if it passes an inspection with an adjuster, and the adjuster can see that the car was hit by another, the claim should fall under my uninsured driver insurance THANK GOD. due to the unreasonably high rate already placed on that car because of my age and gender, my family elected to go with liability only.


also schrade, I checked and the area where it occurred is not covered my the txdot traffic cams. several other intersections near it were though which aggravates me a bit.

 

[93Rubie]

Wow, tough luck. Was the car driveable after you got hit? Had it been I would have chased the SOB down!!! He would not have gott'en away. ad

I hate idiots. We need less in this world. :W

 

[Ruphelyn]

yeah, it was drivable although the wheel is now cocked about -20 degrees. fortunately i have a lifetime alignment on that car so that is the only thing i wont be paying for

 

[boomdriver]

yeah, it was drivable although the wheel is now cocked about -20 degrees. fortunately i have a lifetime alignment on that car so that is the only thing i wont be paying for

Thats a front wheel that took the impact and got bent? if so, the rack & pinion needs to be replaced or at minimum inspected thourghly. Steering racks are fragile. So is the composite leaf spring.

Mine was hit broadside many yrs ago dead center on the rt rear wheel. The result was both control rods bent almost 1", the toe-rod assy damaged in the center housing, and the rear section of the transmission housing broken open from the C-beam trying to move sideways...
If there had not been the trans fluid all over the street, it would have been hard to tell what the damage was because the wheel itself was not very far out of position.
Personally, I like to replace body parts. Repair is always detectable no matter how well its done. Repair is not always permanent with these bodys that are made of different materials.Unless its a Vete shop, there is no assurance of them doing a good repair. Even the sanding has to be done differently on a vette because of the soft body..it's not like scrubbing a steel hood.
I've never seen a c4 hood that was cheap. Being a different type of resin is why. The vette hood has changed constantly since the C4 due to new resins and methods of forming. Even the fiber glass copies are expensive.
Probably the single most expensive replacement part of the body. The "come back" rate on vettes is high at body shops because the work has to be done right, with the right repair materials, or the repair fails.

You have my sympathy.....

I recall my first vette when I was 27 yrs old, single and calling around to buy coverage on a new Corvette....right.
I was laughed at, insulted and basically robbed. With a sterile driving record back in 1988, I paid $1100 down, then around $165 a month for the next 5month, AND, that was for RV coverage...I was not legally covered if I drove to work M-F. Only fully covered on weekends. That was all I could get the first year with State Farm. That was for a 6 month policy with one of the very FEW that would even cover me. I needed counseling and medication when I had to turn in a claim where I was hit in a parking lot...