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Look what I woke up to this morning!

8K views 52 replies 43 participants last post by  monkeee2002 
#1 ·
So, this morning at 5:30 my apartment doorbell starting ringing. When I went outside, my next door neighbor told me that my girlfriend's Jeep just tried to drive through her porch.

Turns out a Mitsubishi Eclipse's e-brake had failed and it rolled about 50 yards down a hill, ran into the back of the Jeep, which pushed it over two parking curbs and a drop off at the edge of the parking lot and rested teetering on a concrete wall and our neighbor's porch.

Needless to say that it has been an interesting day. I found damage to the grill, hood, tailgate, tire carrier and step bars. The kicker is that it was resting on the oil pan on that concrete wall and it was kinda flattened out and the front of the trans bellhousing was a little scuffed up.

It's now at the shop and were waiting to hear back from the Eclipse's insurance company as to weather or not they will want to repair it or not.

First time that I have tried to post any pictures. Let me know if they don't go through.




 
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#33 ·
How did you get the jeep back in the parking lot? Did you just pull it back? Looks like you could have pulled it back a bit then jacked the front up to avoid further undercarriage damage... Sure hope the Eclipse was insured... otherwise your own policy should cover uninsured... Deductables on uninsured or under insured?
 
#35 ·
Well, the police were driving up right as I walked out and first saw this whole thing. The officer had an obligation to get it towed off the building immediately and then had to have someone from the fire department come out and inspect the structural integrity of the building. Because of this, a tow truck was called before we could object.

He put his flatbed under the rear wheels and drug it back up with the winch. I was watching very carefully and actually took a video with my phone and I don't believe any damage was done during this. The driver was an older guy who really seemed to know what he was doing. Since it was already up on the truck, we just had them go ahead and take it to the collision shop so that it couldn't be contested by the Eclipse's insurance that we tampered with the vehicle in any way that might have damaged it more.

The officer had a job to do and was just trying to get it done right. He was really nice about it all which helped and the Eclipse's insurance is going to cover the cost of the tow truck.

We should hear something from their claims adjuster some time today and I will keep y'all updated on how it turns out.
 
#39 ·
That's horrible. I had my car (before I had my Jeep) parked in my future wife's parent's driveway and an idiot next door ran thru a fence and hit my car. It was in gear and had the parking break on which kept it in the driveway and also prevented it from hitting my future father-in-law's car. I went thru my insurance because I needed the car to get back to school in 2 weeks. A couple months later I got my deductible back.

Good luck dealing with their insurance company, hopefully State Farm is as good as their ads.
 
#41 ·
I've been a member of USAA for Vehicle Insurance for what 18 years now. Got my first policy when I was 15 years old. They are absolutely amazing. Even extended my coverage for 6 months without paying when I lost my job, until I had the funds to pay them up. Their motto is "We know how to serve." and they mean it.
 
#44 ·
I'm in the Army and agree they have the absolute best insurance ther eis, that's my opinion. Just to add to your statement I'm prety sure their motto is actually "We know what it means to serve" hence them not providing services to someone that has at some point either themselves or someone in their family been affiliated with the military. Years ago they only offered services for Commisioned officers, as the years go on they get less strengent with their rules.
 
#43 ·
[/QUOTE]

Does anyone else notice anything strange about the Eclipse?
It looks like it's been sitting for years with the growth all over the windshield and hood. I'm surprised they even have it insured, since it doesn't look like it's been driven in years.

Good luck and I hope you get her Jeep fixed without any insurance problems.
 
#52 ·
Does anyone else notice anything strange about the Eclipse?
It looks like it's been sitting for years with the growth all over the windshield and hood. I'm surprised they even have it insured, since it doesn't look like it's been driven in years.

Good luck and I hope you get her Jeep fixed without any insurance problems.[/QUOTE]


You must not live down south with a lot of pine trees. This time of year the pine pollen can turn a black vehicle yellow over night. I grew up in a part of Mississippi called the pine belt and it was a constant battle to keep my truck clean.
 
#45 ·
Hey Guys,

I just wanted to give an update on the Jeep. The Insurance company did declare it a total loss and gave us a value of $6300. According to AutoTrader.com the cheapest 6 cylinder Jeep we could have bought was for $8500.

I spoke with our insurance company and the woman explained that they get their value for vehicles the same way that they did , so we would have to negotiate with our own insurance first and then they would make the same case against State Farm. So, I decided to just negotiate directly with State Farm and not use our insurance company. This went on for about 2 weeks and they made us an offer of $7700, which I was prepared to take and make due. My girlfriend was not so easily persuaded to take a loss on her beloved "Pink Dragon". She sat on the phone with them for 3 hours, 3 days in row and got them to make an offer of $8600.

When they got the value of $7700 they had done what they call a comparable market research of the surrounding area to get their number. I spoke with a great uncle who is a retired lawyer and he said that I was privy to that research. If you ever find yourself in the same situation, ALWAYS get that research. State Farm put up a big fight over giving it to me and only did after I very stubbornly sat on the phone with a guy for about 2 hours demanding it before I would ever accept anything. Their definition of "surrounding area was one jeep from Miami (10 hours away) and in Charleston, WV (8 hours away) and one was a SE model. I would not call that comparable or the surrounding area and this gave my girlfriend enough leverage to get the last offer.

This morning we got the check and we also retained the salvage title for the old Jeep for $1000 to get the parts off of it we want and part it out. It's a shame that it has a salvage title because it drives perfectly. I don't think the dented oil pan has been pushed into anything. It has good oil pressure and is not making any noises. The oil pan should probably still be replaced, but since I'm parting it, I'm not going to worry about it.

I am going to pick up another black TJ this afternoon that I found on craigslist and start throwing the pink fender flares on it. She wants to call this one the "Pink Phoenix". I will post some pics when we are done.
 
#50 · (Edited)
This morning we got the check and we also retained the salvage title for the old Jeep for $1000 to get the parts off of it we want and part it out. It's a shame that it has a salvage title because it drives perfectly.
I'd say it's a good thing you've got the salvage rights, because it seems like there's always a huge market of people looking for used factory odds and ends that a lot of popular aftermarket sites just don't sell.

If you've got the ability to store it somewhere for a little while, do that for as long as you're able to sell parts of it off.

Now, that being said: you, uh, wanna get rid of those half doors?

I kid! They're the wrong color. ;)
 
#49 ·
We have considered keeping the old Jeep. As of right now, I'm in YJ that has seen better days. What we are considering is getting her the new Jeep (we didn't have a chance to go look at it yesterday) and putting her Pink flares on it for her to drive and then fixing the old Jeep to get it a "rebuilt" title so that it can legally be driven by me. Then she would want to sell the YJ, and I would want to turn the YJ into a trail rig. If we're being completely honest, she would probably win that argument because I have too many toys as it is.

However, the problem with that plan lies with the State of Georgia. They are somewhat strict about the process of getting a "rebuilt" title. It has to be rebuilt with a lot of picture evidence and then inspected by a state inspector before it can be approved for the title. Furthermore, the state really want the rebuilding process to be done by a Licensed Re-builder, which I don't have the cash for.

According to the tax commissioner's website, non-licensed re-builders can rebuild up to 2 vehicles a year without a license, but after speaking to several people with experience with this process, they say that the inspector's are EXTREMELY strict and picky when a non-licensed individual has a vehicle inspected. I was even told one story where the inspector took out a torque wrench to check the torque on the bolts holding a fender on to make sure they were within 5 ft/lbs of the factory specs. The guy failed because he had tightened them with a impact gun and almost all of the were too tight. I'm told it is very rare for a non-licensed re-builder to pass.

But, I would still really like to keep this Jeep and would love any input from anyone who has gone through the "rebuilt title" process in Georgia or knows someone who has that I could talk to.
 
#53 ·
Glad no one was hurt, also glad to see that your g/f stuck to her guns and got a fair price from the ins. company.

But, Holy PINK! LoL 0_0
 
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