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Be careful out there, friends

ocnblu

By ocnblu
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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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I came home for lunch today, and checked in here for a few minutes before heading back. On the way back to work I was involved in a traffic accident. My beautiful new truck is wrecked. An access road coming through the back way out of our local ballpark has a gentle arc leading to another, wide-open parking lot. At the very end of that road, about the last 20 feet or so, it turns sharply to the right to meet that lot. There are no stop signs, no lane markings and no speed limit, as it is private property belonging to the ballpark. Quite a few folks use it as a shortcut.

Anyway, a guy in a black Cobalt sedan was driving through that rear lot, out of my line of sight (high fences obscure the view), went to make a hard left onto the access road just as I was rounding that sharp turn, and I hit him, from the fender all the way down the side of his car. The left front corner of my truck is messed up pretty bad. The bumper was into the tire. My boss came over and pulled the bumper away with a chain hooked to his Explorer so I could get it to our shop.

We waited almost 3 hours for the police officer to arrive. Not a good day. I am sick.

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z28luvr01 Newbie

z28luvr01

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I'm so sorry, Bill. I hope the whole insurance ordeal goes as smoothly as it can. At least you are OK.

I'm not trying to make light of the situation, but can you write your own estimate and have your shop do the work, or does the insurance company have to take care of it? I'm just asking because it would be great if you can at least have a hand in how it's fixed to make sure it's done right.

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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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Thanks, everyone. z, I have Progressive insurance, and we are not linked with them at our shop. A Progessive employee will come out to write the estimate. You better believe I will be hovering, however.

My problem with Progressive is, they are big on aftermarket parts. I think I will be ok on this though, since the GMT900 is so new, there aren't many aftermarket parts available for them yet.

Sigh... damn, this is sad for me.

Edited by ocnblu
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BigPontiac Newbie

BigPontiac

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Well at least it wasn't that pesky Lincoln Townhouse :AH-HA_wink:

Seriously though, sorry to hear about your truck but at least you walked away and the truck sounds repairable. I was less than thrilled when a teenager hit my Sierra in Feb, but eventually everything was put right. Certainly a hassle, but there are worse outcomes.

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vonVeezelsnider Newbie

vonVeezelsnider

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Yeah, That's what I was thinking... Maybe a full body Bubble Wrap for my car would be a good investment... You guys better get ready because I have a bad feeling I'll be next. At lunch all of the idiots at my school like to drift through the icy parking lot, cutting lot's of cars close... Someone's gonna smoke me one of these days... Between the idiot abusing his poor 1993 SSEi by drag racing, the Idiots in the Prelude, 1985 Mustang, and 1987 740GLE drifting around, and the people trying to kill a Ford Tempo, it's just a matter of time. I park in between a 1992 760 and a 1996 Eighty Eight, so I guess I'm kind of shielded but I'd hate to be a Cavalier on Oldsmoblie sandwich with some Volvo on the side.

Edited by vonVeezelsnider
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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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Thanks again, everyone. Usually when an accident occurs on private property in PA, each person has to go through their own insurance. That's what I've heard from customers in this situation, and that's what the officer said as well. I'll post a picture of the pain tonight I guess.

Thanks for giving me my beach, z.

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jlgolden Newbie

jlgolden

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I would be sick about this as well. So sorry to hear this news. Hopefully you will have a pristine repair job and be "good as new" very soon.

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GMTruckGuy74 Newbie

GMTruckGuy74

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Ocn, you know how much I love your Sierra... I pray all goes well for you. You know I had a similar experience myself this time last year with the SKY - you'd never know it was hit or repaired unless I showed you the pictures from the accident. Stay on top of it and hopefully all works out in your favor.

Just so everyone here knows what great looking truck Ocn has, I'm attaching a picture of it that I took when Fly picked up his Lesabre at Camino's and a bunch of us C&Gers gathered for the event back at the beginning of August.

post-418-1196447395_thumb.jpg

post-418-1196447596_thumb.jpg

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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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The frame is swayed over, yes, but that can be corrected. The right side fender gap to the hood widens as it comes to the front, a telltale sign. The rail itself won't require any hammer work, though, it's not distorted. Everything is bolt-on except for the hood repair, and chips in the leading edge of the door where the fender came back against it. The adjuster wants to try to repair the radiator support, but I think it needs to be replaced.

RE: Cobalt. He has damage from the front fender to the taillight. His windshield is smashed. The front and center pillars are buckled. It may need to have the dash pulled out to repair the hinge pillar. It doesn't look good.

I think I was going about 20 mph at the point of impact, with my foot hard on the brake.

Edited by ocnblu
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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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There are threaded inserts running up the outer bar of the rad support for fender mounting bolts to screw into. Those inserts are nearly ripped out of the support. No way they can be fixed. The support itself appears to be made from high-strength steel.
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Oracle of Delphi Newbie

Oracle of Delphi

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Blu what are your plans for this truck after it's repaired? If you can afford it, I would trade it in on the same truck if you like it or on something more fuel efficient. My feeling is it will never be the same as it once was. Like I said, I don't know what your financial status is, but if you could, I would.

Edited by Pontiac Custom-S
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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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My primary concern is the frame, which, in my experience with our laser-guided frame machines, can be completely pulled back into proper position. Everything else is a bolt-on replacement, except for the hood and door, which has been noted.

At least, that's my "professional" opinion. And it's true. My emotional perception is another matter... yes, the event keeps traveling through my mind. It will stick with me for a while. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel when I get back in that driver's seat. Time will tell, I guess.

Another thing I have to think about is how this will affect my insurance premiums. The dust hasn't officially settled yet.

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Camino LS6 Newbie

Camino LS6

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Blu what are your plans for this truck after it's repaired? If you can afford it, I would trade it in on the same truck if you like it or on something more fuel efficient. My feeling is it will never be the same as it once was. Like I said, I don't know what your financial status is, but if you could, I would.

Bah!

Hogwash!

The truck will be just fine.

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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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When I asked for an ASTRA brochure this afternoon, the little Saturn greeter chick came back with a salesperson and a tiny fold-out card with info. I had to ask a second time for the price list.

All I wanted was a stinkin' brochure, not a pitch. Everyone was polite, however.

Please don't take this as an indication one way or another. I love that truck... but I also feel guilty sometimes driving it, unloaded, by myself, daily. Who knows, maybe I hit my head in the impact.

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ocnblu Newbie

ocnblu

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I've had many many new vehicles in my life... and I've always kept my trucks longer than my cars. The last car I owned, an '03 ION Quad Coupe, was a total piece of crap. I had it barely a year before I traded it on my Colorado.

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