My New Car Is Broken :(
(Yes, we're okay. We weren't in it when it got hit.)
So the new car we got at the end of August is busted, possibly totaled, but I'll find that out once the insurance appraiser gets back to me. The entire driver side is smashed in. The wheels and rims are damaged, a mirror is missing, both doors are destroyed, and it looks like the rear axle might be wrecked too. Here's how it happened:
At around 12:30am on Tuesday, a vehicle was traveling on the other side of my road, crossed over the opposite lane, and crashed into the side of my car that was parked on the street in front of my house. Unfortunately, I did not hear this, or if I did, I fell back to sleep thinking the sound was from my cat knocking something over in the kitchen again.
When I left my house for work at about 7:45am on Tuesday morning, that is when I first saw the damage to my car. The first thing I noticed was that the hubcap was off of the rear tire that was facing the house. In July, someone stole all four wheels off of our other car, so the first thing I thought was that someone targeted us again. Then I went around to the other side of the car and the entire driver side was severely damaged.
There was no note or anything, so I called and filed a police report while my wife took plenty of photos. Then two of my neighbors left the house for work, and they both said they were up the previous night and saw flashing lights one house down a little after midnight, and it looked like a lady had gotten into an accident. But they could not see the damaged side of my car from their windows, so they didn't know that it was my car that was hit. But when they told me this, we realized that the lady's car was still there, in front of the house next door, parked the wrong way. And on the driver side of this beige SUV were scratches of blue paint from my car. We also found a side mirror from the SUV in my driveway, and part of its bumper under my car.
So I called back to give this additional information (make/model/plate# of the SUV) for the police report I filed earlier. I wondered why, if there were flashing lights (from a police or emergency vehicle), no one knocked on my door, or left a note to let me know what happened. Someone was nice enough to neatly pile up some car pieces on the sidewalk next to my car, but not to inform me or my wife. The lady taking the report on the phone told me to call the number for my district's Community Service office.
When I did that, I spoke to a very helpful officer who was able to look up the reports from the previous night, and he told me that there was a report filed at about 12:30am that listed me as the victim, and said that the driver of the other vehicle fell asleep. He told me for more information I should contact Automotive Investigation. I've been trying to get in touch with someone there since Tuesday, but have so far been unsuccessful.
I'm still trying to find out what exactly happened, why the other vehicle was still there a day later (it was still there on Wednesday morning too), and why no one thought to buzz or knock on my door, or at least leave a note or something. If I was listed as the victim, someone obviously looked up my plate number and got my name and address. And with three units in my condo, someone would have heard the door, especially since the other two said they were awake and saw the lights outside. Fortunately, the other vehicle was still there so I was able to piece together what happened, but if it wasn't, I would still have thought that someone sideswiped my car and drove off. If I hadn't called the Community Service line myself, I would have never known that I was already listed as the victim on a report.
Yes, I'm fortunate that I wasn't in the car, and that we got the gap insurance on our lease (which basically protects us in the event the car gets totaled). Having been through this entire process a few months ago when our wheels were stolen, we knew exactly what to do, and were somewhat calmer about it. We also might be lucky that our car was there in the first place. If she didn't hit it, she might have kept going (we're on a slight curve), hopped the curb, and wound up hitting the house. So of course, it could be much worse, but it still sucks.
So the new car we got at the end of August is busted, possibly totaled, but I'll find that out once the insurance appraiser gets back to me. The entire driver side is smashed in. The wheels and rims are damaged, a mirror is missing, both doors are destroyed, and it looks like the rear axle might be wrecked too. Here's how it happened:
At around 12:30am on Tuesday, a vehicle was traveling on the other side of my road, crossed over the opposite lane, and crashed into the side of my car that was parked on the street in front of my house. Unfortunately, I did not hear this, or if I did, I fell back to sleep thinking the sound was from my cat knocking something over in the kitchen again.
When I left my house for work at about 7:45am on Tuesday morning, that is when I first saw the damage to my car. The first thing I noticed was that the hubcap was off of the rear tire that was facing the house. In July, someone stole all four wheels off of our other car, so the first thing I thought was that someone targeted us again. Then I went around to the other side of the car and the entire driver side was severely damaged.
There was no note or anything, so I called and filed a police report while my wife took plenty of photos. Then two of my neighbors left the house for work, and they both said they were up the previous night and saw flashing lights one house down a little after midnight, and it looked like a lady had gotten into an accident. But they could not see the damaged side of my car from their windows, so they didn't know that it was my car that was hit. But when they told me this, we realized that the lady's car was still there, in front of the house next door, parked the wrong way. And on the driver side of this beige SUV were scratches of blue paint from my car. We also found a side mirror from the SUV in my driveway, and part of its bumper under my car.
So I called back to give this additional information (make/model/plate# of the SUV) for the police report I filed earlier. I wondered why, if there were flashing lights (from a police or emergency vehicle), no one knocked on my door, or left a note to let me know what happened. Someone was nice enough to neatly pile up some car pieces on the sidewalk next to my car, but not to inform me or my wife. The lady taking the report on the phone told me to call the number for my district's Community Service office.
When I did that, I spoke to a very helpful officer who was able to look up the reports from the previous night, and he told me that there was a report filed at about 12:30am that listed me as the victim, and said that the driver of the other vehicle fell asleep. He told me for more information I should contact Automotive Investigation. I've been trying to get in touch with someone there since Tuesday, but have so far been unsuccessful.
I'm still trying to find out what exactly happened, why the other vehicle was still there a day later (it was still there on Wednesday morning too), and why no one thought to buzz or knock on my door, or at least leave a note or something. If I was listed as the victim, someone obviously looked up my plate number and got my name and address. And with three units in my condo, someone would have heard the door, especially since the other two said they were awake and saw the lights outside. Fortunately, the other vehicle was still there so I was able to piece together what happened, but if it wasn't, I would still have thought that someone sideswiped my car and drove off. If I hadn't called the Community Service line myself, I would have never known that I was already listed as the victim on a report.
Yes, I'm fortunate that I wasn't in the car, and that we got the gap insurance on our lease (which basically protects us in the event the car gets totaled). Having been through this entire process a few months ago when our wheels were stolen, we knew exactly what to do, and were somewhat calmer about it. We also might be lucky that our car was there in the first place. If she didn't hit it, she might have kept going (we're on a slight curve), hopped the curb, and wound up hitting the house. So of course, it could be much worse, but it still sucks.