Had an accident...

[tracied]

So two months in to owning our awesome Delica, and I got into an accident on Saturday night. I have the L400 space gear, 1994. Now I don't think it had anything to do with being a RHD, especially since I tend to give myself more room on the right, but anyway, what happened was I was turning out of the parking lot of the esso on 200th and 72nd in Langley and as I accelerated, I hit a telephone pole, not quite head on. I hit it fast enough and at just the right angle that the bar did nothing to help absorb the impact. My whole right side front was crumpled and the car was not driveable. Fluid was leaking everywhere and all the electrical components inside no longer worked (interior lights etc). I was in a state of shock as my kids were in the car and were crying because of it. It was very scary. I have never been in an accident before, and thank God we were not really hurt. I have a bit of a scratch on my face from hitting the handle above the driver side door, but the kids were fine, albeit very upset and scared and a bit sore from their seatbelts. While this was 100% my fault, the telephone pole is actually on the road, and the angle at which you turn unless you are really giving it a wide berth, doesn't give you enough illumination from your headlights as you are turning out. There is no barrier or any reflective material on the pole to warn you it is there. It was dark and it all happened so fast.

This is where it happened. The tow truck driver as well as a bunch of friends who live in the area said that pole has been hit before.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s ... ,,0,-14.86
The pole that has a yellow and black sign on it? That is the pole. There was no sign or anything reflective on it when I hit it.

Long story short, I had the car towed, with the intention of going through ICBC because I have roadstar and figured the deductible would be less than paying to fix it privately and it wouldn't affect my insurance too much because I am already at 43% discount. Well guess what, they said it is not fixable, it is a write off. I'm not surprised. Now it was pretty badly crunched, but given what I have heard here about them not wanting to fix these cars, I am suspicious. Of course I was still in shock and have been pretty shaky since. But what I want to know is how do I find out if it is true or not about my car being fixable, now that it has been deemed a write off? I do know after the accident, thinking wow, that is a mess, and I can't believe that much damage happened from such a low speed. I was going around 10km/hr, as I was in the process of accelerating when I hit it. The adjuster said that it is really all about whether they feel it is worth repairing and since these vehicles are not hugely popular, they don't feel the cost to repair is worth it. Now if my car is truly not fixable, or I am screwed because they have already decided, I can only hope that I don't get shafted on the replacement value cheque. If it's too late to get a second opinion, what can I do to prepare myself to ensure I get as much back as possible? The one good think maybe is that I did get such a great deal on mine, that when compared to others of the same feature, KM, year etc, they may come up with a higher number than I paid. But, is there any paperwork I should bring in when I go meet with them? I paid cash for mine in August, so I could try and get the guy I bought it from to write me a receipt or something, if they are offering me less than I paid, so I could show them how much I paid. I also have the inspection report from the shop where I took it in before i bought it, which shows the condition it is in, and what is excellent and what will need to be done in the next year or so.

Am I screwed? It's bad enough it was broken in, a few weeks ago and all my camera gear was stolen out of it in between shoots, but now this? It's not like i just have cash lying around to buy another car when I already had a great one, and one that we loved. :( Getting it towed from ICBC if even possible may end up costing me more than it is worth to fix the car privately, if ICBC won't pay for the repairs.

[mac_stang]

Find multiple listings of replacement delicas, about 10.
ICBC has to give you the average of the vehicles as a replacement cost(less deductible)
Good luck!

Brad.

[tracied]

Thanks Brad. Should I look only at dealerships, or include private listings as well?

[thedjjack]

I would get an estimate to fix it???

Then take the buy out and fix it yourself. Any photos?

[deli1733]

when i was t-boned in my awsome volkswagon diesel golf they determined the price by craigslist.. i dont know if i lucked out but i was able to get more for my car then what they were offering.

[BCDelica]

Run of bad luck? Glad your family was ok, if your entrance speed was faster it could have been worse.

Man, Shaw and Telus have been very slack there - wonder how long those 4 poles have been in the middle of the road way since the widening of that lane. It would take a crew less than one day to; pull the telephone and cable lines over to the new poles, and chain saw down the old ones. Shaw is cheap and would have us wait until we had enough jobs to keep a hired road flagging crew busy for a full day.

Regards,
Kev

[thedjjack]

You could buy it back in the settlement and part it out.

[tracied]

You could buy it back in the settlement and part it out.

But then I am both carless and moneyless. :p

[tracied]

when i was t-boned in my awsome volkswagon diesel golf they determined the price by craigslist.. i dont know if i lucked out but i was able to get more for my car then what they were offering.

I hope that is the case. I REALLY hope so because I know I am not going to find another deli in the shape mine was in, for the price I paid...

[tracied]

[quote="BCDelica"]Run of bad luck? Glad your family was ok, if your entrance speed was faster it could have been worse.

/quote]

I'll say.....my iphone just decided to die the other day too, and now I have clients trying to reach me who can't! My son said, "maybe this is God's way of telling you you need to take a break." LOL

I am really not pleased to learn that it would be such a simple fix to pull that pole down and make it safer there...

[tracied]

I would get an estimate to fix it???

Then take the buy out and fix it yourself. Any photos?

No I have no photos. I didn't think to take pictures after the accident even though I had all my camera gear with me, because I was in shock. Then when I went to ICBC I wasn't expecting to see it as they told me it wouldn't be there the same time I was. Only it was and I got to remove all my personal belongings. It was pretty sad seeing it there. I managed to not cry until I got home.

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

If ICBC decide to write off, you cannot buy it out or fix it by yourself.
That's their policy unfortunately.
You need to gather all market price and backdata for your delica and try to get more money from ICBC.

Steven

[tracied]

Thanks Steven. I will do that. I was told to go in with print outs of a lot of similar to mine vehicles for sale around here as well as any other records I have (which unfortunately because I've only had it a couple month and it was a private sale, isn't much).

Tracie

[thedjjack]

If ICBC decide to write off, you cannot buy it out or fix it by yourself.
That's their policy unfortunately.
You need to gather all market price and backdata for your delica and try to get more money from ICBC.

Steven

Not my understanding it is legally your car. No one can take it from you without your consent. They can make it so it cannot be re-registered.

My understanding is they cannot force you to sign it over.

[chris]

That pole is ridiculous. I would head out there pronto, take a picture of the pole without the warning sign on it and start asking some hard questions at the Langley roads department. And their risk management person. At the very least they should cover the difference between what ICBC will pay you and the replacement cost.

Could ICBC be your ally here too? They fund road safety and presumably have no interest in more people hitting poorly designed obstacles. They would know how many others have hit it.

Anyway, I'm glad no one was hurt.