Hit&Run. Totaled or Repairable? A bad day for my P85D

[sthatche]

So I awoke Friday morning to a phone call saying my car had been in a 3 car Hit & Run. The damage seems to be quite bad - a white BMW literally plowed into the side of my car (along with a Mercedes and BMW parked beside me). The car was hit hard on the drivers side, as well as pushing the car through a brick threshold on the passengers side (hard enough to blow out the rear passenger tire and break the rotor completely). I have many concerns mostly about safe repair as well as diminished value given that it clearly won't be worth as much after the accident. I attached photos as well as a link for the video from the security camera across the alley. I wanted to share to see if anyone had suggestions or advice or had gone through this before.


[video]https://youtu.be/7Lm-5WWrjg0[/video]

 

[lolachampcar]

The door skins are $950 and $975 so they are not bad. The BIG his is doing a quarter panel which typically runs over $20K. Hopefully the passenger side is only doors or a front fender and NOT the rear quarter panel. If it is, you may want to try what I did which was selling "as is" thus allowing someone to get creative with the repair (non-certified shop) allowing them to get into the car much cheaper than normal while allowing you to recover as much as possible from the car.

BTW
Sorry to see that..... It makes me sad.

 

[steve841]

WOW .. that's crazy!

And they have no evidence left behind? Like pieces with a VIN on them?

 

[breser]

That's heartbreaking to look at. Given that you have a brown P85D I hope you can get it fixed since you can't really replace it.

 

[sthatche]

They left behind parts of their front end but no license plate or VIN unfortunately. The local news aired a report on it to try and see if anyone in the area knew who it was - not sure if they police have any leads yet.

 

[Canuck]

Someone also might have a surveillance camera -- maybe not of the scene itself but if you follow the various approaches to the accident scene there might be one that catches the vehicle before the accident. I find the police don't do much when it comes to accident investigations so walking the neighbourhood yourself, and putting up signs, might help.

 

[sthatche]

Yeah - my wife and I were so excited to get the brown color before it was discontinued. We also just had the next gen seats (front and rear) installed last week and only actually got to use them for about 3 days.

 

[1208]

What is the road like where he came from is it straight or did he come round a corner because it looks as though he suddenly turned and aimed for your car. Must have been drink driver or drugged up surely. :scared:

 

[sthatche]

It actually is a residential alley in Boston. He turned because he hit a brick wall on the opposite side of the alley and that launched him in the opposite direction. He likely was going very fast to have that much momentum to continue after hitting the brick wall and the BMW and Mercedes prior to hitting my car.

 

[hyperpretension]

A car is considered a total loss when Market Value - Salvage Value > Repair Cost. From what I see in those photos, you're in for some repairs due to the high market value of the car and limited damage.

My last car was cursed and hit four times in less than one year. The last accident cost $16,000 to repair and took two months, but because it was a luxury car the calculation leaned toward repair--even with three other insured losses on it.

 

[ModelX]

I am so sorry so see this!

 

[CatB]

Oh that makes me sick that someone would be that messed up to do that to you. Driving is a privilege and that idiot should forfeit it immediately and permanently. And pay for *all* damages - insurance is for accidents not gross irresponsibility - why should the rest of us pay with higher premiums?

 

[sthatche]

I agree - it is very frustrating. And it does make all of our premiums go up when people do this.

 

[AudubonB]

I either could be callow and not chime in, in that I've nothing to add to this discussion,

or be a commiserative fellow owner/member and let you know that I, too, am sickened by this terrible event.

I think I'll choose the latter...

 

[purplewalt]

They left behind parts of their front end but no license plate or VIN unfortunately. The local news aired a report on it to try and see if anyone in the area knew who it was - not sure if they police have any leads yet.

First, really shocking to watch the video: sorry to see such significant damage to your car.

Is there a way for the local/state police to review ALL registered BMW 4 door models, and have it checked it out that way.
Also, if you forward this video to all local BMW and higher level repair shops, they should be able to assist in identifying the model/year of the car, then the owner and then the driver.
They will be needing parts in order to repair the car at the very least (from BMW dealer).

It would also be good to show the video to your insurance company.
They have a huge vested interest in going after the responsible party(ies) and then identifying them to the police.

I don't know what the action that the state/local police can take (ticket?/impound the vehicle?) AFTER the perp is located.
Certainly, the driver of the white BMW knows someone will be out looking for them.

 

[JMG]

Yikes, okay, maybe I should delete my other thread as now it looks terribly insignificant.

You are thinking along the right lines. If you havent' already go ahead and get it reported to your insurance company as a uninsured motorist claim (hopefully you have high enough limits).

Good luck and let me know if you need a diminished value expert. Through my own small incident, I've discovered a resource for using against the insurance company with regards to a diminished value claim or a total loss value.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

That was very painful to see. So sorry that you had to go through this.

 

[Zroiron]

We installed dual cameras in our Tesla for this very reason....oh, and for people who lie to police when they cause an accident!!

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Ouch. That's a costly hit - a Bimmer, Merc, and a Tesla. I sure hope they catch whoever did that.

 

[AMPd]

Ouch. That's a costly hit - a Bimmer, Merc, and a Tesla. I sure hope they catch whoever did that.

Talk about driving through a bad neighborhood eh?

Sorry to see this happen, hopefully there will be a way to identify the ahole, and make him pay for all this.