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Clipped Mirrors instead of Head On

3K views 23 replies 12 participants last post by  billt 
#1 ·
So I'm driving back from a short errand.

And I see this car suddenly coming at me, in my lane, head on.

He looked like he was trying to pass another car in front of him..

It was only 2 lanes (1 each direction).

There was a guard rail on my right.

I went as far to the right as I could and slowed down and hoped.
And SMASH. F'K.

I pull over and get out and all I could see was my side view folded in and smashed. I thought we side swiped each other. I don't see a scratch.
It sounded worse than it was because it smashed the side view mirror into my window.

He did pull over.

So I turn around (damn hard with no side view mirror). And pull up to him.

I said why were you passing !! He said he wasn't. Oh Crap.
I amazed my self that I stayed calm and didn't lose it and chew him out.

I call the cops and while waiting all witnesses leave.

I was worried he might have been drunk because it was not even close to have enough time to pass.

So cops come and see this very apparent minor accident that could have been very major. We were both doing 30-35MPH.

Cops don't even want to take a report if it's less than $1000.00 damage and nobody is hurt. But they did.

So then I explain to one cop this should not be my fault.
So we both fill out reports and exchange info.

I asked the Cop what the other operator said had happened.

He said he was looking down at his GPS and veered out of his lane.
That made sense because he didn't look like he was even overtaking the car in front of him. I was relieved he admitted fault to the cop.

He said he'd cover it. I saved his ass and mine.
30-35mph head-on offset wouldn't be pretty. He was in a Chevy Suburban.

Damn, I'm worried I'm gonna have another accident with no side view mirror. Can't believe how hard it is to drive without it.

Wonder what it will cost to fix. Mirror housing doesn't even look that bad, but it swings back and forth and don't know how much damage to guts of mirror is. I have BSM and power folding.
 
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#2 ·
Glad you weren't hurt and that the damage wasn't worse. I've lost a number of mirrors on various 4x4's over the years to idiots like that and they have never stopped. But, in the old days, you went to a glass shop and they replaced the mirror in the mount. Now, with the retractable mirrors and defrosters and turn signals, not to mention warning lights in those mirrors, it isn't as simple or as cheap.

Again, glad you weren't hurt.
 
#3 ·
eBay!! There are plenty of Grand Cherokee mirrors available and they are easy to swap. You can even buy the complete mirror assembly with cap and mirror and all.
Or if you aren't handy or have the ability to purchase stuff online then I suppose go to the dealer, but it won't be cheap. Through online yourself prices won't be bad, but through a dealer I can see a complete mirror assembly being very expensive. Especially if it's for a higher end model with dimming, heated, lane departure, power folding etc etc.
 
#4 ·
Since he's paying for it, if all goes well, I just assume dealer fix it.

For grins I checked ebay. I don't see an overland driver side with bsm on ebay.
there is a passenger side one for $700-ish.
 
#5 ·
Called dealer. $1050.00 installed.

I love my dealer. Called before 8AM on a Saturday to check hours and service answered.
He asked for VIN, checked inventory, ordered part and made appt in 5min.
 
#23 ·
Oh man. Some idiot used a bat or skateboard about 3 days after I purchased my vehicle and slammed it against my driver mirror. It cracked the housing and everything. I never reported it to the insurance, which I wished I did in hindsight. I ended up epoxying the parts together and there it has remained for almost 3 years. Unfortunately the mirror vibrates when I play music loud, but the other outside mirror doesn't budge. I hate that person who hit my mirror. A new one is very expensive and the ones on eBay don't look to be the right type. I have a Summit model with all the bells and whistles. So I need to pay the big bucks.
 
#7 ·
Damn when mirror abruptly folded at 70mph and smashed lens against drivers window it dinged the door and there is a bunch of scratches in drivers window.

Seems so petty, considering how bad it could have been but I'm bummed.

What triggers a carfax report?

Police report? Insurance paying out?
 
#8 ·
Here's a link to Carfax and what/where they obtain their info...

CARFAX®- See CARFAX® Car Data Sources | Comprehensive Car Database

Carfax can only obtain info from sources that make it available to them. Not all states, police departments and insurance companies do. So while Carfax is better than nothing it may not be completely accurate.

I know that when my 98 went back under WI's lemon law, none of that info ever showed up in Carfax because WI didn't make that info available. Not sure if they do even today. If I can find that old VIN I'd be curious to run that today just to see what shows up.
 
#9 ·
After reading so many posts about using your OWN insurance company instead of trying to use the guilty parties, I called my insurance today.


Well it's not so simple as them lighting a fire under the other insurance companies butt.


When you call your insurance company, everything is on YOUR plan. They apply your deductible, your good driving points go away etc.


Then LATER they go after the other insurance company and the other insurance company has to admit liability. If they don't you are screwed. Once they do, they send you a deductible check and reset your record.


For a large accident, by all means just contact your own even if not your fault or fault not proven. Just get it fixed.


But for a small accident, it gets complex. If this was no fault or my fault I'd pay it out of pocket. But until it's proven and settled to be other parties fault it's all on me.


And if for some reason the other party wiggles out of liability. I'm screwed because they already paid the claim I put in. It may not even be worth my insurance companies time to fight with the other insurance company for so little money. They don't care my record is clean or not. They will do what is the cheapest path.


If I call the other party insurance, I'm sure I'll run into similar horror stories for slow pace and used parts.


This sucks.


Mirror $1050.00, Dent in Door $400-500 they have to use body filler and paint whole door. New molding and drivers window has small chips taken out.


I must say though MetLife is blazing fast and my dealer where I bought and service it is listed as one of their repair shops. And they called changed my personal apt to have fixed out pocket tomorrow and switch it to an insurance repair (all within a few hours).
 
#10 ·
Each carrier has their own processes and policies around handling a claim that should ultimately be paid by another party's insurance. Some will ding you; some will not unless you're a 'frequent claimer', as it were.

It's good that things are moving swiftly at least so your ride is good as new real soon now!
 
#11 ·
As I'm on the phone talking to the insurance company a thunderstorm rolls in.
Then it starts hailing. It's pretty rare around here and it was around pea sized (large peas). I didn't think anything of it. So I wanted to wash my car before bringing it to dealer for new mirror tonight. As I'm wiping the hood down I noticed about 10 dings in the hood.


Man that hood is soft. Can a scratch and dent place fix these?
 
#17 · (Edited)
I love my dealer.
Well it turned out the mirror was back ordered and took another week.
He squeezed me in today around 11AM when it arrived.

When I got in the car after the repair, I immediately noticed the drivers door glass didn't have any scratches, which was caused from the side view mirror lens smashing into the glass.

It looked like a new window.

They buffed it !! I didn't even ask to and it was pretty subtle and wasn't gonna bother with it. I didn't even know that was possible to buff it !!

Everything looks like new except one minor ding which I can get mostly buffed out.

Mirror cost $890.00 from the dealer.

I decided since I've already paid for this out of pocket, my best path is to go to the other parties insurance. And what ever I get, I get. I'm not gonna risk tarnishing my record with my insurance company for so little money.
 
#18 · (Edited)
You can still have your insurance company "light a fire", as you said, under the guilty party's insurance without filing a claim. Had a lady hit my Dakota in a parking lot once: soft ball sized dent and deep scratches in passenger side of my truck bed. She stuck around and gave me her insurance, and they toyed with me.

After a week of "our clients would rather not go through insurance" and negotiating with the lady's husband (offered me $100 after I presented them with a body shop's estimate of almost $900), I called my insurance. Didn't file a claim, just gave them her insurance information, and explained the situation. The truck was in the shop a day later, and I got a rental on her insurance's dime for the two and a half days it was in. You pay your insurance premiums, if you don't want to file a claim, fine, but use them to pressure the other guy's insurance rather than fretting about it so much.
:thumbsup:
 
#19 ·
Update:


My insurance kept giving me the impression that they would not do much unless I filed a claim with them which I wanted to avoid in case there was difficultly getting other insurance to accept liability. It was all or nothing.


So I dropped my claim with my company and started the process direct with his company. And I got a case number and contact from my insurance company for his insurance company.


I keep leaving messages and nothing. Then I get a call from my insurance company that the other company is denying liability and that they are now claiming he never crossed the yellow line. And my insurance recommended I keep the case open with them and they will follow through.


I was so pissed. It is right in the police report that he admitted he crossed over while looking at his GPS. Not only was he over he was fully head on. I was so pissed because I saved his sorry $ass. A head on at 35 mph EACH (70 mph total) offset could be deadly even in good modern vehicles.


So I called his insurance and this time I skipped the initial agent assigned a very nice lady answered. She immediately pulled up the police report and said, oh I guess we need to review this. Then 2 minutes later she was setting up an appraiser. Appraiser came out instantly and wanted to see receipt of work I had done. There was some stuff fixed that I didn't even mention to appraiser because it was very nit picky. Appraisal came back next day and it had the exact number I had on my invoice plus $400.00 to fix small dent on door. I received a check just a few days later. And they offered a rental.


I'm so pissed this weasel tried to lie about what happened. He never filed his police statement.


I hope his insurance goes through the roof.


I was gonna let it go and forgive, if he took care of things to keep his record clean and my Carfax clean. He didn't, then tried to lie his way out of it on top of it. Tough to get this out of my head. And I'm sure this will end up on Carfax now. And all that is left is a dent the size of my pinky finger nail which I can't decide to get fixed or not.


I later went back to scene when he denied liability and found his mirror in the gully on MY side of the road. I remember seeing it on my breakdown lane white line as I drove away. That's how far over he was. Our mirrors collided while I was in my breakdown lane.


I still freak out now and then when a car approaches that look like it might pass someone.
 
#20 ·
I'm glad that you got that resolved. And yea...scary thing.
 
#21 ·
By the way I was so glad I called the police on this small accident.
It was one sentence in the police report that made things right.


I wish I noticed his mirror on my side of the road before police left.
I also wish I got the name of witnesses that left (as backup).
 
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