It's just a car, but WHAT A CAR. When life gets real, what matters becomes evident at the speed of light, and some aluminum, plastic, and rubber isn't that big. But I've never enjoyed or identified with an inanimate object more than this thing... so my heart goes out. I've been in minor fender benders, and the moment I realize my car slides into something else, or the other way around, I will be mortified.

To buffer against, and protect from, the reality of this awful accident, let's talk about the complex weirdness of how our system is set up, and a guy that should have insurance can't get it, and then this happens. I am NOT letting the guy off the hook, but man this stuff is complex.

In CA, that uninsured driver would be in jail. As much as I love law abiding citizens, it's a bit privileged and presumptuous to suggest it isn't more complex than just "get insurance". But I think that's why CA made that law, and that law hurts families.


The poor have a bureaucratic tax levied at them for being poor. It DOES NOT justify this guy not having insurance, but it's fascinating: Guy can't afford insurance. Guy gets job. Guy can't get to job that will help pay for his insurance until he gets to job to get paid to pay for insurance. So he drives w/o insurance to support family, save up to get it... and then this happens. The law makes it so these types just buy a $300 car, wait for an accident or for the car to break down, and literally walk away from it. It's so complex... how do you get those people to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and not be lazy, while not destroying the lives of people who are working hard in society and literally trying to figure out these complexities.

There's another aspect of this, IE tax on the poor... parking tickets.

Poor guy gets a ticket. Can't pay ticket. Ignores it. Gets a few more tickets. Car gets impounded after boot... he can't pay tickets, nor can he pay impound fee. Impound fee is higher, day by day.... person can't get to their job, and loses job. Person can't afford to get car out of impound for $1000's of dollars, so it's cheaper to abandon and buy a new car for $200.

I would like to be callous and black and white on this, but the whole system is set up for these accidents to keep happening because the only people who really win are insurance companies.

But the coming age of autonomous cars will wipe out insurance, parking, police/law around traffic/DUI, prisons will have less DUI people, medical will have less injured people, parking spots will be empty, parking will close down, property prices will go down.... and it will be too expensive to drive, anyway.... so this is a "now" problem. It will be wildly different in the future.

 

Uncle Fishbits, perhaps you should sell your car and donate the money to all those poor guys who don't have insurance.
As bad as you might feel for the guy that plowed the OP's car, the fact is that we need to remember who the victim is and who the criminal is. Yes, driving without insurance is a willful crime as is driving high. Perhaps if had not spent his money on pot, he'd have been able to afford insurance. Regardless of the reasons why, if someone can't afford insurance, they can't afford to drive. Period. It's no more complicated than that. They have no right to risk the hard earned property of others. If you damage the property of another, then you have a legal and moral responsibility to make them whole again. There's nothing complex about it. Being poor does not absolve anyone of this. Plenty of people live without owning a car. If you feel bad for them, then by all means help them out by paying their insurance for them. And parking tickets being a tax on the poor, are you serious? I have not had one in 25 years. I have a novel concept. Don't park where it's illegal to park. It's called personal responsibility. And if you do take the risk and get caught, be a man and pay for the ticket. As for the insurance companies, they provide a service. They are necessary as most people can't come out of pocket for the damage they cause in an accident. The proper way to think of it is a large number of people pooling their assets to mitigate risk. CA requiring insurance does not hurt families. It's quite the opposite in fact. You see, if people were not required to have insurance, when they destroyed the car of someone who is using their car to support their family, that person wouldn't be able to continue to make a living. If the "poor guy" who plowed the OP had been put in jail, perhaps the next time he would think twice before spending his insurance money on pot. But nope, he's free to continue on his path of destruction.

 

OMG, so much whitewashing.

I've had the pleasure driving on US roads (mainly Florida) for years and have experienced so much mindless driving, so many loose cannons....,well, that's one thing. But what happened to diablomkii was
more than that. That was downright criminal behavior.

If you drive without insurance you drive E X T R A careful, but that guy ran a red light !

I'm sorry what happened to you diablomkii.

 

That guy *is* a criminal. Derrrr. Yeah, I totally apologize for waxing about abstract BS - it has no place here, especially with this just being about empathizing with the time away from your car as well as damage. Apologies about that.

I have to stop reading all the political garbage and just drive.

 

no worries fishbits...the friendly banter is a good distraction for me hehe.
by the way, update: geico assessed the external damage MINUS the suspension ( because they haven't taken it apart yet at the shop) and appraised the damage at $9000. so I'm guessing after the suspension is assessed it should be more like $15000? not that it matters to me, as my max deductible is $1000...and I am ok with that!

 

Post some pics when you get her back....which hopefully doesn't take too long.

Cheers,
Dave

 

will do!

 

You are a gentleman, and fantastic on the insurance. Wow.

 

Like I said before take to Jaguar approved shop! $9k seems low as all new parts will be used and labor charged at aluminum rates. Body shop will fight it out with insurance company! Not many shops are aluminum qualified!

 

yeah, the shop it's at is jaguar approved. I initially called the dealer when the collision happened and they said we send all our cars here since we don't do collision. so am confident it's a good place. going on Monday to see the car. will post pics, updates, etc.

 

so turns out there was significant structural damage too. repair cost estimated around $40,000. GEICO have decided to total the car. I'm quite depressed today.
will get an R end of the year. I will still be around this forum.

 

That's a shame. Very sorry.

 

It's perhaps sad in a sense, but I would be greatly relieved. The ownership experience of significantly damaged, and "repaired" vehicles very often doesn't go well. Given that the accident happened, I think the decision to total your car by the insurance company was your best possible outcome.

 

Sorry to hear that. It says a lot that you're going to get another F-Type.

 

that sucks to hear. hopefully you will be back in another f-type soon!

 

Agreed.

Sorry to the OP as I know you were excited to get the car back but this is probably for the best. Hope you are back in another F type soon.

Cheers,
Dave

 

+1.

 

Wow...scary stuff. I'd call that a blessing in disguise...

 

I would consider this to be the best possible conclusion to this unfortunate situation- you will not have to live with a repaired car.

Considering that they totaled your 2016 car, they should provide you with MSRP compensation that should exceed what you owe on it. More so, right now you will be able to secure substantial discounts (~$15K) on 2016 F-type, quite possibly allowing you to upgrade to a loaded R type without any additional out-of-pocket expenses.

 

It's a lease.