Some guy rammed the back of my Z this morning

[MrMasterCraft]

So I'm driving the Yukon to meet my co-worker at a commercial jobsite where we've been doing work at the past few weeks, and I get a phone call. It's my girl. She's crying, and tells me that some guy just straight up ran into the back of the car. I ask her if she's ok, she replies yes. Apparently, it happened close to a fire station, where she pulled over at. The guy took off, however, she was able to get the tag number and a description of the vehicle.

To make a long story short, one officer arrives, gets the info from her, while a couple more are searching the area, and the truck is found. Driver found not soon after. The guy driving says that he is a diabetic and can't remember a thing. However, the truck was found not far from the scene, pulled into a body shop, and tucked away as if he was trying to hide it. There were other people that called into the county police, reporting the guy driving like a dick. They give the guy a breathlizer, blows a 0.03 (which is well below the legal limit), but he's staggering around and throwing up. The cops are convinced that he's UTI on other drugs

In the end, it seems as if it was one of two things. The first, being that my girl was driving like a lunatic and pissed the wrong person off (which I don't beleive to be the case, she's a pretty defensive driver for the most part). Second, this guy just got over a long night of partying (or regular drinking), high on meds or recreational drugs, and has a pretty bad temper. In any event, this was a company vehicle that he was driving. I told her to have the car towed back to the house, when I got off, I picked it up and came back up to the company that we work for to pick her up. I'm waiting on her now, to get off so we can go home, and I can get a full in depth story.

My question is, what are the reconciliations for something like this? I had big plans to take this car off the road, clean it up, and do some suspension work to it and to make it a track only car. Now, it has a huge hole in the bumper from this prick's truck (tow hook), bumper is sagged down a little, mis-aligned, scratched all up, and the exhaust is hanging down a little. I chose to drive it up here and back to get a feel for the car, and see what spots to troubleshoot. I got on the interstate to come up here, and once you get around 70mph, it starts to vibrate. At 75 it gets worse, and at 80 its pretty damn bad.

What are the proper steps to be taken here? I'm not looking to make a million here, but I HATE the idea of having a shop fix the car, and it never driving down the road straight again. I plan on calling up his insurance company and the company he works for, and seeing what they're interested in doing. If I could get a fair replacement, that would be nice, just not sure how things like this would usually work

[blackSS01]

Depends on the damage but if the frame (Uni Body) is fine, then whatever is fixed (If done by a shop knowing what to do) The car will drive like its never been in a wreck

You need to have it looked at to see what all the damage is to it, alot of times stuff damaged is hidden to the untrained naked eye. Good luck with it and sorry it happened. Good thing is your girls alright. Be careful tho, she may have a hidden injury that hasn't shown its self yet. Lawyer up for sure and sue

[sunsetorangess]

Yepp and do not, do not give a statement to the insurance company or sign anything until you contact an attorney if thats the route your going to go, and have your girlfirend checked out, some soarness is common but ensure shes good to go. In the end his insurance will pay for any medical bills and rental car bills you have.
Like said above, the damage to the car may be superficial and something simple, or on the other hand it may be major, take it to a shop you trust to get an estimate, i always take it to the dealer for an estimate and then take it to a shop i like or do the work myself...
goodluck and sorry
J

[02transamce]

Research body shops in your area if you do not already know of a good one,and do not let the insurance company tell you who to take the car to,you have the legal right to choose who repairs your car,progressive tried to pull that crap with me and I had to get pretty nasty with them about it,dropped their asses for state farm right after the car was fixed and saved $100 bucks a month too. Glad your girl was ok and best of luck with your car.
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[blackSS01]

Almost forgot (Laws differ from State to State) but he can still be charged with DUI at a .03

[cammed goat]

I agree with the above statements. That guy has ISH-UES!!!

[02transamce]

He did get charged with hit and run/leaving accident scene right?
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[pajeff02]

Sorry to hear. Hope all turns out ok for you and your lady friend.

[cammed goat]

He did get charged with hit and run/leaving accident scene right?
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I was wondering the same thing. I know certain states consider it a felony.

[310stanger]

Almost forgot (Laws differ from State to State) but he can still be charged with DUI at a .03

Yeah man, I'm pretty sure that if you crash and you have ANY amount of alcohol reading on your breathalyzer they can get you with some sort of dui charge.


Have your girl checked out by the doctor and dont hesitate to sue. She might feel fine right now, but something can creep up and then you are stuck with medical bills.

Take the car to a good body shop AND a good auto repair place. The body shop will be able to write a good estimate for body damage but I think its always a good idea to have a good auto technician look at the suspension, wheels and other mechanical things. I've seen the MECHANICAL repair work that body shops do and its often piss poor.

[310stanger]

One other thing, I know she got hit and couldnt control the other driving hitting her, but nonetheless I NEVER let anyone drive my car because of shit like this. I rather me be in the drivers seat if something like this is gonna happen. Saves a lot of headaches.

[MrMasterCraft]

She did complain yesterday of back pains, but after a night of good sleep, she feels fine. I still told her to go to the doctor's today, which she is out doing right now (I just got off work). In VA its a felony hit and run, which he had gotten charged with. Apparently, there was a whole rack of other charges that the guy got slammed with as well. I know they did not charge him with a DUI, but that they were going to do some drug testing when he arrived at the jail. The thing I find a little hard to beleive, is that he was driving a company vehicle, and his license had been expired for a year

Taking it to the dealer for a total estimate is a good idea, I'm going to run by there tomorrow and see what they have to say for sure There's only one body shop that I trust locally, and they are eeeexpeeeensive! But their work has turned out numerous awards cross country, so you get what you pay for when you walk through their doors. Thanks for the advice guys! Will keep everyone posted as this progresses

[cammed goat]

Welp, hopefully he will lose his license for the non-renewal and be penalized for the idiotic driving. If I were you, I would get a lawyer and go after the company in case the company KNEW that moron had an expired license. A few years ago, I was at my job and my manager did an impromptu license check and I was 3 months expired. Went to the MVC the next day and cleared that up REAL quick.

[dragonchick]

What is it here lately about people driving trucks & SUV's? Do they get raging mad everytime they see an F-body thinking they have to try and destroy it? I hope you get a big settlement out of this. Make that guy think twice B4 driving like a dumbass again!