For Those Who Have Been In An Accident

[Audifanatic11]

I got into my first accident in my life on Wednesday of last week, unfortunately. However, everyone involved in the crash is okay. I actually have the four Audi rings from my steering wheel burned into my forearm, .

Anyway, I finally found out today that they aren't going to total the car which I am extremely happy about. All of the damage was done to the front end and I want to see if I can get my insurance company to allow me to order the USP front end instead of my stock A4 bumber. I also need to replace the headlights and I don't know if It would be possible to get e-codes or not.

My question is...how do I go about seeing if they will allow me to order the USP bumper and possibly e-codes instead?

[Kerschera4]

i would assume you are having the repairs done at a shop certified by your insurance company. it is pretty easy to just contact the manager or whomever is incharge of dealing with your repairs and tell them your plan. it is good to have the part numbers to give them. most of the time a usp front compared to a stock front are not much different in price but you will need to and make sure you let them know that you will be paying any difference if there is one

and by the way. go reds

[audinaut]

Work with the body shop on that and not your insurance company -- they will only pay to get your car back to what it was before the accident.

Ask to receive the money directly from the insurance company instead of having the body shop collect/work with the insurance company. With cash in hand, you can spend it anyway you want. If you spend more on better/nicer parts, you will pay the extra over what the insurance company paid you.

If you get the money yourself, and the body shop discovers any hidden damage not in the original quote, then you go back and have the body shop work with the insurance company on agreement related to additional items needing repair, hence another check to you. Additional items needing repair will need to be approved prior to starting any repair work.

[Audifanatic11]

Yea, the shop my car will be getting the repairs done at is certified by my insurance company. This whole ordeal is new to me since I've never been in this situation before, but I have everything taken care of except for calling the shop and giving them the "Ok" to start working on the car.

I wasn't aware that I could receive the check directly from the insurance company, I will have to call them tomorrow and see if I can do that. I'm fully aware that the USP will cost extra, but I can't imagine it costing THAT much more.

And Kerscher, Old Trafford for life man!!

[absolutegtr]

I find it surprising that the insurance company is not totaling your car, especially since it is a 2002. Whats the mileage of your car? Any pics of the wreck?

God-for-bid, if I was ever to get into sn accident that would require the airbags to deplow, I would REFUSE for the car not to be claimed a total loss. The car will never feel/drive the same.

Honestly, I would push the insurance company to total the car, and then use that money to buy a real USP.

[A4Dit]

I find it surprising that the insurance company is not totaling your car, especially since it is a 2002. Whats the mileage of your car? Any pics of the wreck?

God-for-bid, if I was ever to get into sn accident that would require the airbags to deplow, I would REFUSE for the car not to be claimed a total loss. The car will never feel/drive the same.

Honestly, I would push the insurance company to total the car, and then use that money to buy a real USP.

Exactly what he ^^ said. My old A4 was hit last year and I made sure to meet with the adjuster at the shop my car was at. She said it was totaled when she saw it but I went with her just to motivate her to total it in case she didn't. I wanted nothing to do with that car after seeing the extent of the damage.

[Audifanatic11]

I have a couple of pictures of my car sitting in the flatbed after the wreck, but they are on my cell phone and I'm not sure how to get them onto here. To be honest, I'm just as surprised as you are. The car has 74k on the odometer right now.

I would be all for purchasing a new car, however finding what I'm looking for and for a good price would take months. And I've never driven a car after the airbags deployed and then were fixed....but I'm unsure as to how the airbags would have anything to do with the car driving differently.

[Audifanatic11]

I'll try to figure out how to get the pictures from my phone onto the computer so you guys can see the damage.

[absolutegtr]

I have a couple of pictures of my car sitting in the flatbed after the wreck, but they are on my cell phone and I'm not sure how to get them onto here. To be honest, I'm just as surprised as you are. The car has 74k on the odometer right now.

I would be all for purchasing a new car, however finding what I'm looking for and for a good price would take months. And I've never driven a car after the airbags deployed and then were fixed....but I'm unsure as to how the airbags would have anything to do with the car driving differently.

First off, its not like you just change out the airbags, and then you are good to go. Most likely, the wires are all fried, and the airbag sensors that detect the crash ae probably shot. And, pending pictures, there is probably some suspension and/or frame damage.

[dubbin.t.rex]

He means if you wrecked hard enough to deploy the airbags you probably did some damage that isn't entirely repairable/reversible

[Audifanatic11]

Aboslute, my bad if I came off as being sarcastic...obviously the last week hasn't been the best for me and I'm just trying to figure all of this stuff out. I totally understand that they don't just replace the airbags and then everything is all good.

So you're saying I should call back my insurance agent and tell them that I want the car totalled? Let's say I did this and they were okay with it...would I be able to get my wheels off of the car and put the stock ones back on it? I would get my suspension off of it too but I don't have the stock parts for that anymore.

[doublezero30]

make sure they go over EVERYTHING. i totalled my 2002 a4 last december sliding on ice into a tree at about 20-30mph. i really didnt think it was bad enough to total, but they did total it and i towed it to my house and started stripping parts. when i went to take out the 034 motor mounts, they were screwed. one was crushed, the other was split. i honestly would not have expected that, and was then glad that it was totalled. who knows what else was wrong that was hard to see.

as for taking parts off your car, my insurance said i could take whatever i could replace with stock parts. i was pissed because i had to let my exhaust go too. at the time, i didnt know that i could have baught the car back for cheap (a couple thousand $) and if i knew i could, i completely would have. in the long run i could have saved so much money. taking aftermarket parts off/parting it out.

[Audifanatic11]

Bah, yea...that's my main concern. The insurance guy looked over the body completely today and gave us that report, but didn't go through all of the engine compartment yet. Hopefully there isn't some underlying problem that can't be seen.

[ScaryGary]

This look familiar?

[absolutegtr]

This look familiar?

Where you driving with one hand on the wheel?

[HOFFY11]

get the money for repairs back to stock specs..and being that audi parts are factory expensive...you can find all the stuff youn need aftermarket and much cheeper..you will make your car sexy and get money in the pocket..just used this method for my dads truck

[Audifanatic11]

Haha, Gary...mine is pretty close to that only the audi rings go the other way down my forearm instead of across it.

[A4Tuuuurbo]

Nice Tattoo.. LOL.. I bet you can get some serious chicks with that!

You don't have to ask if its ok.. USP bumpers are factory parts, just have the part #'s waiting for the claims writers. And about the Ecodes.. I bet the insurance company will like that a pair of ecodes will cost as much as one headlight from the factory. They will be thanking you for saving them money.