Tonite i let my friend drive my truck for 2 blocks. He just wanted to try driving it. He stopped at a stop sign. Accelerated away but was in sand on the road. He fishtailed and overcompensated and straight into the woods. He knocked the passenger side mirror off. Broke the bumper a little and scratched every part of the truck. No engine damage but he scratched the rims broke the grill, a lot of exterior damage. He also bent the exhaust pipes under the truck .We got it out of the woods and the cops didnt get called. We drove it home and it drove ok. He doesnt want to go through insurance and he said he could pay for it. He said he would and i made him sign a paper that said he would pay. I was just wondering if i did the right thing or what else should i do? Should i file a police report or will that go through insurance. I have never been in a accident before so i dont know what goes on. I am heart broken and upset. Does anyone know how much the price for that damage would be. Just an estimate like 12000 or like 1200 i dont know. The ground effects are broke and i dont know if anything is wrong with the undercarriage. Even the roof is scratched up. I am upset but just glad we didnt die. we missed a bunch of trees by inches. Thank god we are ok. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Glad i am ok. A few scratches to me but that is it. My friend is fine. My baby is hurt. I hope if gets fixed up ok and i hope i dont eat the cost. I hope he will pay. I trust him but i dont know whether i did everything to ensure he pays. Any advice would help.. I know i *******ed up by lettin him drive. I am just upset. sorry i just had to vent. Thanks for ur advice.

Vinny'
2002 Red L
*******ed up

 

Originally posted by Vinny
... like 1200...

Dude, you've never met a claims adjuster have you? Get ready for a BIG surprise! I'd take your friend's car and sit on it until everything's repaired.

 

Ouch. Ive let 3 people drive my truck... my brother, my sister, and a really hot friend of mine. Other than that, no one has driven it more than into a driveway... If my truck was ever wrecked, i'd go into shock... let alone if someone else wrecked it! Hope everything turns out ok man. Atleast you guys are fine, thats all that really matters. The truck can be fixed to looked and perform better than it did before...

-Mike

 

wow that sucks. methinks you wouldn't really have to file a police report if its just your car and the woods....

but i would definitely make sure whatever contract you drew up promising him to pay is tight....

good luck on the estimate. hopefully your friend won't have to pay too much and end up bumming your couch because of it...

 

Vinnie,

Sorry to hear about the damage. As for insurance, some companies won't insure damage if the driver is not on the policy, so either you would have to say you were driving or you have a very good agent who will cover the damage anyway and recoup the cost by RAISING your insurance. You are going to have to have an accident report from the police, who you have to explain why the truck went into the woods, thats always the fun part. You could always call another agent and ask them how the scenario would play out, without exposing yourself or the accident to your agent.
As for the friend, what you are doing is a very nice thing, but many a friendship has ended mixing business with friendship. Can the individual truely afford to pay for all the repairs to a 30k truck? Are you willing to sit there and stare at it damaged every week as he gives you the money little by little each week or can he pay you a large lump sum to cover the cost? Go out and get an estimate to see what it will cost to have everything repaired down to the scratches buffed out and give him a copy. It might be more than he expected and you will be able to tell by his reaction how things are going to be. I don't know his financial standing, but with todays vehicles what looks like minor damage can sky rocket quickly. Do you want the damaged parts repaired or replaced?
I'm glad you and your friend weren't hurt, thats the main thing. Now, is it worth the stress on your friendship to have to keep asking him for the money or just get him to pay the deductable and be through with it. I hope everything comes out ok. Post some pics, it always seems worse than it usually is, the stress of the whole thing causes that.

Good Luck,
Bill

 

Ditto.

Also you live in Jersey, anything you do to keep your insurance from going up is a major positive.

bent the exhaust pipes ... Perfect excuse for a new exhaust.

Grill broke ? ... time for a billet grille

scratched rims ... no big deal, mine are scracthed and I could care less.

is there body damage or just scratches? That is going to be the pricey part.

 

yeah the front lower part by the fogs is chipped paint. the mirror broke off and the ground effects by the exhaust is broken. The right front light is cracked a little and the bottom by the door is bent a little.. This sucks. He said he can pay it in one lump sum so hopefully he doesnt try to screw me. is a piece of paper with 2 signatures and a witness signature a legallly binding document? Hopefully this gets resolved. ill keep u posted
thanks everyone

Vinny
2002 Red L
F###ed up

 

absolutely it is a legally binding contract as long as it is dated, CLEARLY STATES THE PURPOSE OF THE CONTRACT, and has at least his signature!

 

This is why I love USAA so much.....

They cover any car I drive, friends car, rental car....anything.

They also cover my cars no matter who is driving as long as I gave them permission.

USAA rocks!!!

 

Sorry to hear of this little fu*k-up
As was said before , KEEP your insurance agent out of this if possible.
People in other parts of the country can't even begin to realize how bad Jersey insurance really is
I just hope you and your friend are sitting down when the estimate comes in..........I also hope your friend is a man of his word.....
GOOD LUCK

 

The "ground effects" are only $150 a side painted so they arent bad.

 

Sorry to hear aboutthe truck.

Tough to say without getting an adjuster, what the total is but I bet you are looking at at LEAST $6000 to repair it....

Assumiing you can buff out all the scratches ....

Doug

 

That sucks.

The best thing to do, is go out and get an estimate. That way you guys can at least agree on the amount. Maybe you can save some money by getting the parts at wholesale (if you have some connections) and doing some of the simpler labor jobs yourself. You definitely want it fixed right, so don't try and take on more than you can handle just to save you friend some money. If he can't pay, then have him check into his insurance and see what they will cover. I actually had a situation where my son drove another friends vehicle (my son didn't have his license at the time) and ran into another car. My insurance covered the damage to to his vehicle even though my son wasn't on my policy. Avoid going to your own insurance if you can, but in the end, if I were you, I would want to make sure it was fixed right, so if it means going to your insurance, then I would do it. You don't want to skimp on a repair to a vehicle as nice as a Lightning.

Good luck, and hopefully you can get your truck repaired to original and you can maintain your friendship.

 

I second that!

 

I don't know about Jersey laws, but in Ohio you have to file a police report within 24 hours of being in an accident. So it you're afraid your friend won't pay, and you decide to file a police report, you may end up getting in trouble for filing it late. You could claim on the police report that the accident just happend, but then you have an agreement signed by your friend that is dated a few days before you filed the report. Not trying to scare you, but if your friend doesn't pay, I would talk to an attorney before you file a police report. Hopefully it won't come to that. Tom