Accident in CETA...what to do?
 

Got in an accident tonight in my trans am.

I'm calling USAA Claims tomorrow morning and then I suppose I will take the CETA up to the the Pontiac dealer/bodyshop to get a full assessment....my wallet/insurance is not gonna be happy. On the bright side, I have been considering getting some new rims for a while now and I guess now I have a good reason to do so.

I know my way around cars, but I am no grease monkey so I am unsure of what to do here. I've gotten pretty attached to my car so this is really hurtin'. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and post up the damage. Ugh, its been a pretty terrible day but Im tryin to keep positive spirits here. Thanks for your help guys. And some fencing guys just for the hell of it. :engarde:

Dang man that sucks. hope everything turns out alright.

I pretty much did the same to my SS last tuesday : (

shit man, that sucks. Glad you're ok! Same thing happened to me a while back, Cruising down a 4 lane back wheels were BALD doing about 40 in a 45 came up on a turn (it had been raining) back wheels caught a puddle and spun me around 4 times and ended up in the center median. I hadn't been that scared in a LONG time.

Post some pictures if you can.

Another reason why I don't drive my ride out in the rain. I hope everything works out for you. I have USAA myself and they never let me down.

you're gonna give up on your car after a MINOR accident from the way it sounds? you ass, you're car must hate you ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...7/wreck001.jpg

fix and drive it

just an excuse to get some nice wheels :) nothing that came stock on a t/a or camaro really looks good anyway

Well if you take it to the dealer they are going to rape you. Sounds like your in for some hurt no matter where you go since the rear quarter is damaged. It's def not worth getting rid of the car what is your deductable 1000$, that is well worth keeping it. Find a body shop in your area that is good, cause if you get it back looking like crap your gonna want to sell it. Sorry to hear that it happened good luck on the fix.

dude if it doesnt total dont give up. anything that isnt fixed correctly should be taken back. i sell parts for the body shop at a freightliner dealership, i know it's big trucks, but it's the same shit really. we get these trucks in that are literally destroyed, and our techs take them apart and rebuild them completely. it's pretty cool to see a cab get lifted onto a set of framerails lol. dont worry so much about something being jacked up after they fix it. they do this stuff every day just like clock work.

I did something similar about a month or two ago, not as much damage but the shop actually charged $3400 for it. Personally I would try to see if they could give you a good price for the total, if not then just get it fixed.

any pix?

I didnt mean to give the impression that I am giving up on my car....i LOVE my car, but I have never been in an accident before so this is a new thing for me. My dad was pushing for me to just fix&sell it, but I really don't want to do that. Pix will be coming tomorrow when daylight comes.

And my car doesn't hate me thunder, it was just it's way of telling me I needed to take it in for a brake check-up and wheel change....I hope, haha. :angel:

So should I really take this into a body shop rather than the GM/Ponti dealer? Would it really be a lot less expensive? Anyone know of any good shops in the Hampton/NewportNews/Williamsburg, Virginia area?

I definitely wouldn't call it total, it just might have some alignment issues or other underlying problems. Im gonna try my hardest to fix this thing up right and keep it.

insurance companies will have a list of preferred body shops in your area that you can take it to, but you can really take it anywhere you want and get an estimate. they can't make you go to any particular body shop. if they don't want to pay for the shop you want to use, then go to several of their "preferred" shops and send in the highest estimate of them, then just get them to write you a check for that estimate amount, and take it where you want.

otherwise, they'll write out a check directly to the shop if you decide to go with one of their "preferred" shops.

Just make sure the body shop you chose is one you know does good work. Talk to people in your area that might know of one. If the work gets done and looks like crap you will be dissapointed and might just sell it. . .

+1!! Since its a CETA make sure you get Brand new GM OEM Parts! good luck!

Bones;

You need to get some pics up of the car. I've got the hood off my CETA if you need one, so you can save a few bucks. Fix the car and enjoy the hell out of it. There isn't a day I don't drive my yellow bird and everyone stares:D

Okay I took pictures, Ill upload them later tonight. Dropped CETA off at Pontiac BodyShop and hopefully that will take care of things. The hood was unaffected other than being misaligned...the bodyrepair rep I met with though seemed kinda shiesty to me, but whatever. Its a pretty reputable dealer so Im hoping I can get a good turn around on this. He didnt know whether or not he would be able to get the side-stripe graphic and such.

The back wheel is totally busted....time for some 18" TorqThrusts!! My deductible for this accident is pretty low, but Im really wondring how much itll cost at the shop. He was saying the back and front QPs had to go, the front bumper probly had to go, and some trim pieces. ugh. I just hope they color match it so it doesn't look funny.

These cars fade quick so they might have a lot of blending to do. The wheels are about $500 apiece from GM: FYI.

Here are the part numbers for the stripes

i have to ask. do you want to sell it?
:lol:

haha, I wasn't really thinking about it right now, sorry! Although everything has a price...:angel:


I'm not gonna get the original wheel. I wanted to replace my rims anyways, so maybe some how I can find a way to have the shop install a new set that I pay for. Hmm....

where are the pics?

hey; you weren't hurt be glad for that. This is the exact reason why i bought a beater to drive around in!

Hope everything works out for you man; awesome car!!!

Sorry for the delay, Im a real asshole for not putting them up last night I know. Here they are. Its really surprising that there was not more damage and I am truly counting my blessings for a) not being hurt and b) not having more damage to the car. It doesn't look like much from the pictures I guess, but the estimator at the Ponti dealer was freakin' me out a little bit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...dent/hood1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/BackEnd1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/BackEnd2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ident/Rim1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../FrontEnd1.jpg

That doesn't look awful. The only thing that sucks is that, from my understanding, the rear quarters are a bitch to replace. Still, it's highly unlikely that you totalled that car. Not even close, CETA's are worth a pretty penny, and you've got MAYBE $5k worth of damage there, i'd think.

Yeah, its not too bad after looking at it a second time around. I guess since I crashed on a gloomy rainy day to begin with, everything seemed a lot worse, ha. I never thought it was totaled, but the estimator dude was talkin like the suspension and rear wheel and yadda yadda blah blah were all muffed up......even though I drove it home, and then to the dealer with no handling problems or drifting towards one particular side.

Whereabouts in Va are you, anyhow?

the quarter panel has to be replaced, if someone were to take their time, it could be repaired, but its not cost effective for the shop. The fender has to replaced b/c yes, they can repair the fiberglass, but its difficult to preserve it for the long run and they dont want you to bring it back and have them keep repairing it, so they replace that too. Bumper, is fine, just sand down the scuff, scuff everything else up, and spray. A lot of blending with be needed, and honestly, locating those graphics will not be an issue. I would've recomended going to a smaller shop and dealerships are more expensive, but dealerships also want everything out the door faster then you can blink, and smaller shops are more likely to take more time to do it right the first time. Make sure you look everything over and its to perfection before you drive it off their lot. Point out any bubble in the graphics, any minor defect in the paint, panel alignments, color matching on the panels, no overspray on adjacent panels etc. good luck. i know its nerve racking, but hang in there!

[QUOTE=Bones87;9390917]I didnt mean to give the impression that I am giving up on my car....i LOVE my car, but I have never been in an accident before so this is a new thing for me. My dad was pushing for me to just fix&sell it, but I really don't want to do that. Pix will be coming tomorrow when daylight comes.QUOTE]

I just hit a deer with my car (doing 75mp).... over 6 grand in damage (oh and I got my car repainted two weeks ago!!)... my dad told me to fix it and sell it too... i'm a 21 year old girl with a hot car... He just wants me to get rid of the damn thing I think... haha.

But on a serious note. At least you're okay!!:nod: that's the important thing

[QUOTE=jay_dub87;9402692]Haha sounds exactly like what my dad was thinking...except Im not a girl.

09CPTN -- I'm in Newport News right now, but I'll be heading back to Richmond in the fall for my Senior year at VCU.

I am going to take a real hard look up and down my car to make sure it is all to perfection. I asked them on a side note to fix the drivers window and look at the front left brake as well since about 2 months ago the bolts came out of the caliper & bracket while i was driving, and the caliper fell loose from holding the brake pad in place and scraped against the wheel well (I know, wtf right?).

On the upside, I am definitely going to need a new set of wheels like Ive said already earlier. Now I just need to get the money.....::shrug::

Insurance companies usually only want to pay for aftermarket parts I believe. Make sure they use GM ones. I saw a guy at a body shop on my route bitchen bout his car panels not lining up right and the shop tech was explaining to him since they're aftermarket parts they cant line em up right. Customer was pissed but basically sol.

How do I do that? Call them up and tell them to use only GM panels?

I'd go down there and make sure myself.

btw i wanted to ask, how are the grip on those tires in the rear? do they grip good? i was looking to buy the same tires!

Man, seeing those pics makes me really want to get a beater for my daily driver instead of the ceta. I hope everything works out ok for you.

I'm in NN too.

To be honest I do not know, I dont have anything to compare them to they are the 1st and only set of tires that have been on the CETA under my ownership.

hey. what do you want for the 3 other rims. might be able to help you out with this whole. "i wanted to get new rims anyways"

I have a complete tail clip for a convertible ta, and rh fender.

-Ryan

Sent you a PM.

Body Shop should be taking care of everything and my deductible will be my only payment. In the event I will need those parts to be payed out of my own pocket, I'm coming straight to you. Thanks man!

BodyShop today called and left me a voicemail today. They told me the total damage was $6,600....I laughed when I heard it. I also told the estimator to make sure to use only GM parts and not aftermarket and he pulled a "well, I cannot guarantee that." They also said expected time of completion would be June 4th....ugh.

Do I just call my insurance now and tell them that the damage has been calculated and then stroke them a check for the deductible payment?

If you want to be different when you get it fixed, don't put the side stripes on. The 1st thing I did when I bought mine was take them off with a heat gun, the car looks badass with the stripes removed.

I tried to do the samething to mine but the paint is faded and it would have been to obvious where they were.

Tell them you WILL NOT take aftermarket or USED parts on a COLLECTOR Trans Am. Otherwise they should pay you for Value lost due to it. That's B.S.

Okay I will definitely make sure of that tomorrow. They are also now telling me that its going to cost $50 to get the broken rim back....I couldnt understand the estimator over the phone cause of his damn Jersey accent, but he said something like "core" cost of $50 if I wanted to get the cracked 4th rim back. What the hell is that BS?

Yea do what the other guy said. Your car is a C.E., make sure they take care of you the right way. My boss's daughter spun out in a CE T/A and he had to pay a lot of money for the wheels

Got some good news today. They will be using all new GM parts to replace the broken and dented pieces on the car. They removed the bumper and QPs I believe but have not started replacing parts. Looking at a June 4th delivery....blah, long time away, but I'm feelin' pretty good about this.

Good Luck

They shouldn't have any charge for you to get the wheel back thats crap. It's your wheel they are not buying it from you, it went in to them as yours it stays yours. I wouldnt pay for my own $#!^.

I was recently hit pretty hard in the passenger side quarter and door.. Did $4200 in damage. The body shop replaced the entire quarter panel and door. They did a great job aligning everything and matching paint.

Since you took it to a dealer you dont have to settle for anything less than perfect. If you dont like the job tell them to redo it.. My buddy is a gm mechanic and he said a guy came in with a C6 that was hit hard. Apparently the dealer didnt have the greatest body shop and the job has been redone 3 times now. lol Hopefully everything works out for you.

So did ya get the car back?!

Bones,

I'm just finding out about this and I'm so sorry that it happened.

I'm glad you are getting it fixed and they are using the correct GM parts cause a car like ours deserves at least what it originally came with!

Good Luck

later

Thanks Bandit, I appreciate it!

I have not gotten the car back yet. The original "delivery date" was June 4th....this was delayed according to my estimator as there was "trouble locating parts thru a nationwide search." New D-Day is June 11th....hopefully everything will turn out a-okay. June 12th I head out for Coronado and come back in a week. Hopefully I'll have some new info this week....and a "new" car!

+1 looks like the right side of our cars love to get trashed hahaha

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...arcrash003.jpg

Dropped by the body shop today. Car is delayed YET AGAIN for whatever reason known to man. The guy also said that because the rivets on the window motor have to be drilled out and replaced, its going to cost a few more $ to buy the rivets. If it is some astronomical price I am going to flip a shit. Car has now been delayed til next Wednesday. UGH.

ya dude quarters suck to put in i had to put one in my car last month, dumbass 17 year old kid not payin attention :bang:

yeah bodywork can be a pain in the ass. Hope you get it back soon. I'm glad they are giving you new GM parts too. They wouldn't like me much because i'd be there watching them install and paint all the stuff too. I'm very untrusting with others working on my cars:D

Just got back from California (my first time -- oh my god, so awesome). Got a call from body shop while in San Diego. You will not believe this...because I know I don't either. My car must be delayed a 3rd (or is this 4th?) time because of a bent rear axle or bent rear housing. I told the guy I have a job interview in Washington July 5th and he could not guarantee it would be finished by then. WHAT THE @#$%. This is coming up on 2 months and Im getting really annoyed by this delay after delay. Why was the axle not detected upon first bringing the car in? I apologize for my ignorance as I do not know the operations of a body shop, but am I wrong to be pissed off about this taking such a long time?

Thats sucks, you would think a competent shop would look for all damages before they just start fixing it.

What pix?


For anyone still paying attention to this thread, I got a call today saying that the rear-axle that was supposed to arrive Monday has still not arrived. I drove by the dealer today and could actually see my car in their fenced in body-work lot. Everything looks pristine so far but it doesn't have it's right side feather/stripes.

That's all for now, Im sure I will be posting another delay or some kind of non-sense within the next few days.

That really sucks.. When mine was hit, they orginally told me it would be a week and a half. It took them one day shy of a month to straighten everything out.

Thats crazy that it bent the axle! I was hit at 50mph square in the axle and it didnt even get pushed. Guess i got lucky.

Keep us posted. I want to see pics when its done.

I hope you get it back soon.....I would be going nuts!

This is becoming a circus. I wish I was making this all up....but Im not. Last week I was told the "rear axle housing/part" was due in by the middle of the week. It did not arrive until today and I received a call saying that the part they received is actually damaged and will not "fit" or work or something or another. My estimator is trying to call the salvage shop that sent him the part and I quote "See what they will do."

This has got to be a joke. Right? I mean I feel like a bunch of monkeys are trying to fix and find parts for my car. I asked the estimator why it has taken so long to find a replacement part -- his answer was that only one shop "answered" his service order or request for what is still @#$%ed up. I do not understand why there is only ONE REAR POSI TRAC TCS AXLE/HOUSING IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY. This is ABSURD.

So there you go, thats the next ridiculous phase of this whole process. Im sure I will be back with more monkey business in the future.

If I were you, I'd probably be in jail for going postal on everyone involved in this clusterfuck, good luck though :D

Wow man that sucks...I would be flipping shit by now

My car is finally finished....sort of. I was able to pick it up today and drive her home, good as freakin' new. All parts were replaced with brand new GM parts and a nice new paint coat. The pesky/stupid line-X strip on the back bumper is gone and I've got a good-as-new CETA. The hood and left headlights, however, are still misaligned. When the guy and I were checking it over when I was ready to drive it home, there was still a noticeabe gap difference between the right and left side. It was right at closing time so he told me to just take it home, and come back at 8am and he would have my car aligned good and proper. 2 months, a week, and some change later....I've finally got my baby back!

Good to hear you finally got it back and I hope you're happy with the work due to how long they made you wait to get it back.

man my dad's shop would have had it done in a week. That's rediculous. we fixed my Vette in FOUR DAYS:D
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...justgotit3.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ustgottit2.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...Justgotit1.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ttePics007.jpg

Four(4) days later this is what we ended up with:D

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...ttePics013.jpg

Yeah, shame you're not in VA. After all of this, I knew there was going to be something off-kilter when I got it. Im really kind of surprised they didn't try to realign the food/headlight right. Its like a 1/4in gap on the right side and 3/4in on the right....bah.

But driving it home tonight...I'll be damned if I didn't feel like I did the day I bought it and drove it home. :devil:

yeah but at least it's done and your happy with it;) glad you got it back though. Mine actually ended up needing a wheel bearing cause it had a buzz on the passangers back one. So i drove it for a couple days when it was in need of that and then i threw in a bearing one morning. Been great ever since;) you should throw up some pics of the car now that it's fixed:thumb:

I wouldnt ever go back to that body shop though. After over 2 months getting your car fixed and shit still isnt aligned right by them. How hard would it be for them to take some pride in thier work and look over things before having the customer inspect the vehicle

congrats. it is important to make sure the body company does a job to perfection. Mine was hit in the right rear tire and messed up alot of stuff. Mine was not fixed right and it has a gap under the tail light and had a bent control arm and axel shaft. since then i have put moser axels and lakewood control arms.

i would like to see some pics of how it came out

damn, sorry about your luck. If i remember right, you only recently purchased it....that blows. Go over every inch of the car and check everything. Have other people look at it too so you can make sure the color match is right and everything is lined up. Cant be too careful!

WOW THATS BLOWS DONKEY DICK MAN......thats bs that your car is still not out

Any pics of the gaps and fixed pics?

Yeah I will post before and after pix tomorrow. Yeah it was relatively brand new, I got it in January. I also forgot to anecdotally mention that when I pointed out the alignment mistake, the estimator said "Well, I can have them work on it, but theres no guarantee that this wasn't misaligned from before we got it." WHAT?! I'm thinking to myself I've got before and after pictures and this crap was pristine before I hit the rail -- maybe his memory needed to be jogged since it had been SOO long since I brought the car in for repair. Then he proceeded to pop the hood and manually grab the headlight and tried to PULL it over to the left to get it in line. I literally stood there stunned in silence before asking him what he was doing (no answer). Since it was past closing time, he told me to come back first thing in the morning and his guys would fix it -- which I did. After waiting an hour and a half, everything was aligned and FINALLY this whole ordeal officially ended.

The paint job and repair work to the quarter panels was flawless -- I'll give them that. But the customer service and the whole fact this took almost 3 months still blows me away. I filed a complaint with USAA but never heard back from them. Argh. Regardless, my cars back in business better than it was before.

damn, just read the whole thread and it sounds like a huge pain in the ass. surprising with usaa. at least you have ur car back and youre happy with it!

Congrats on finally having it finished and back behind the wheel!!

I'm glad you have your car back....let's see some pics.

Yea let see some pictures