our NEW A4 got hit in a parking lot!!!!

**gsxtasee** · 04-22-2008 01:01 PM

So the wife and I go to an after party in Hollywood and come out at about 7AM to find the parking attendants telling us we have a "scratch" on out car... turns out some asshat drove his rental can into our brand-fugging-new bphantom black A4!!!! put a good dent and crease in teh driver rear quarter panel and got the bumper a little too. we moved parking spots to get out of the way as askjed by the attendants and heard something rubbing in the rear tire area so we just had it towed home and it's at body shop now.

the attendants got the dirvers info and rental car info so we have a pretty good info with which to track him down but first rental car co said he had tehir insurance AND his personal insurance but now their adjuster is saying he only had coverage for the rental car and NOT for liability to otehr peoples cars.. what a PITA. It's looking like I'm going to have to go through our insurance company and let them deal with making the other guys pay for the damages.. either way it's a HUGE dissappointment to have to have this car repaired when it's so new!

On the bright side, we're probably going to add the Vorsteiner hood andDTM rear bumbper while it's at the shop... Hey, gotta get something out of thedeal, right???

**Quattro** · 04-22-2008 01:08 PM

dang sorry to hear this!! ya good things come out of bad experiences

**era** · 04-22-2008 01:55 PM

I know how you feel ! I had my car for less than a week before a construction worker opened his pick up truck door on my passenger side quarter panel. I went to a shop to do paintless dent removal and it came out like brand new. Maybe that will work, but if not you can always get some mods like you said

**B7A4WD** · 04-22-2008 02:26 PM

thats a bust.... what a dumby

**A4 JooN 2.0T** · 04-22-2008 03:01 PM

at least you know who the guy is.......i got my car hit twice while i street parked and dont know who it is.....anyways GL

**Obvis07** · 04-22-2008 05:12 PM

lol. thats good that u found them. remember when i got into my hit and run. omg still never found the person

**Sharkfin** · 04-22-2008 05:57 PM

that sucks but now you get a sweet hood and bumper!!!

**dreamcar=rs4** · 04-22-2008 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by A4 JooN 2.0T

at least you know who the guy is.......i got my car hit twice while i street parked and dont know who it is.....anyways GL

holy shit dude NY is not safe for audis

**gsxtasee** · 04-22-2008 08:01 PM

well, we "kind of" know who he is. we have his rental car info but the rental car co is playing games alread and I'll likely have to file it under my uninsured motorists policy and let my insurance company deal with the idiots. the sucky part is I'll be making pmts on the new Audi, have no rental car, and the value of our car is going to decrease significantly now that it will have a carfax hit on it at the whopping age of 3 months old!!

We are likely going to need to sell it at the end of the year when my wife finishes her USAF training if she can score an overseas duty station but it will be pretty hard now I think with teh damage done to it.

No, paintless dent repair won't work. the panel is pushed in big time and has a hugh crease in the metal. it'll need to be cut out and the the new piece welded back in place... it's not a small job though the damage is seemingly "minor"

**4-tified** · 04-23-2008 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by gsxtasee

well, we "kind of" know who he is. we have his rental car info but the rental car co is playing games alread and I'll likely have to file it under my uninsured motorists policy and let my insurance company deal with the idiots. the sucky part is I'll be making pmts on the new Audi, have no rental car, and the value of our car is going to decrease significantly now that it will have a carfax hit on it at the whopping age of 3 months old!!

We are likely going to need to sell it at the end of the year when my wife finishes her USAF training if she can score an overseas duty station but it will be pretty hard now I think with teh damage done to it.

No, paintless dent repair won't work. the panel is pushed in big time and has a hugh crease in the metal. it'll need to be cut out and the the new piece welded back in place... it's not a small job though the damage is seemingly "minor"

Things can suck.

Having a simple body repair like yours does not lower the cars resale value to any significant level. Getting a "rebuild" title does. Your car isn't damaged at that level. Modern car repair is amazing.
Anyone looking at a carfax report and reading what was repaired would be ridiculous if they wanted to pay you less for a car that was repaired properly. You don't have mechanical damage, simply cosmetic.

You're just being overly emotional as your new car got damaged, anyone would be. But, it'll be fine. Once repaired the car will be new again.

As far as insurance goes, the guy has to have your states "minimum" insurance, which is called "liability". Anyone renting him a car would NOT do it if he did not have self liability coverage through his insurance company, or through the rental company. What does that mean?
It means that in either case the driver has to have minimal of "liability" insurance in order to even be driving a car rented or his own.
Yes, he may have bought the optional rental car coverage to cover any damage to the rental car, but he still needs to have liability coverage insurance in order to drive the car in the first place.
Liability covers damage caused to OTHER drivers/cars.
The insurance company needs to give you the guys name and you need to deal with him directly, not the rental agency. If the guy bought liability coverage through the rental agency then he needs to work that out as well.
Still, it's the driver you need to speak with or his insurance company.
Get his name and number and call him directly. If he has insurance then you can deal with them.

You have a police report, I hope? You have the witnesses names?
BTW, I'm sure his rental must have some damage on it.
Did the rental agency disclose that to you?

You do have the option of letting your insurance company handle this, as you noted. They will find everything they need. There IS a cost to this even though insurance companies act as if there isn't.
First, it costs your insurance company time, which is money, in order to track down all this info. You'll be responsible up front for any deductible.
You should get the deductible back once the issue is settled with the other driver and/or his insurance. The cost to you is that your insurance company chalks this up as a "claim" with them. Depending on your insurance company, once a number of "claims" are made they can increase your premiums even though you were not at fault. It's up to them and that sucks. Even if you want to leave, you'll still have a "claim" record with them and other insurers may not look at your insurance record favorably, meaning you may be charged higher rates even if you want to switch companies.
But, if you don't have many claims over and over, then letting your insurance handle it is a nice easy way to go.

BTW, you should be able to get a rental car. Just tell your insurance you need a rental car. You'll pay up front, but tell your insurance that you want the rental covered as well, and that they need to seek that cost recovery from the driver and/or his insurance as well.
If your insurance is taking the case then they can be treated as the other drivers company. In other words your insurance company needs to indemnify (cover your costs and/or loss, return you to pre-accident position) you.
They'll recover the costs to them when his insurance pays or when there is judgment against him.