Now I'm REALLY berkeleyed (RIP Samurai)

As a real-life cyberpunk character, I don't benefit from the comfortable safety padding on life that the average middle-class person enjoys. There are no backsies or second chances. Just a knife fight in a cramped room between me and the bare blade of reality's dire consequences. Every victory counts and there's no room for meaningful losses. Today I got cut deep.

I was coming down the hill in the background of the second pic, she was entering the road from the side-road on the right edge of the second pic. She pulled out way too close in front of me and impact was inevitable at that point.

Parts I know will need to be replaced so far:

• Chassis (including brake lines because I lost hydraulic brakes after the accident)
• Body (minus glass, roof bits, tailgate, maybe right side door) - might be cheaper to fix than replace
• Front axle
• Front-left leaf spring (I have a spare)
• Exhaust
• Wiper tank
• 1 headlight
• 1 custom foglight mount
• Edit: Windshield frame, look at those wipers...was almost rusted to nothing anyway.

No damage to myself other than a sore chest and a bruised knee. Haven't tried to open the hood yet. It's been dropped off at a body shop for a damage estimate for insurance purposes. But any money I get from insurance (I have a barebones policy myself) will be a pittance compared to the cost of fixing this. She'll get a new cookie-cutter CRV extruded from the factory and it'll be like nothing ever happened.

Of course this happened in the middle of an offroad rally season that was going decently, just a few weeks before the 60th anniversary June event. Can probably borrow my dad's X-trail for that since it's being set mild enough to do in a stock SUV, since we're aiming to get lots of old-timer competitors to enter and get 60 entries. Now I have to tell my sponsor about this. Ugh.

Edit: ow hiccups hurt and I get hiccups a lot.

Well, that sucks.

Sucks.
Glad you're okay.

What kind of truck is the blue one?

Sorry for your lose. That thing was clean.

Who is the shirtless guy?

Shirtless guy is a bystander who saw the accident. Blue truck is the ubiquitous Isuzu Dmax, our F150 equivalent.

The Samurai wasn't as clean as it looked from a distance, but this is a major setback.

I dunno how it works on your island, but can you get another one for the insurance payout? Are you sure the chassis is berkeleyed? If it's tweaked, could it be straightened on a frame machine?

Is your Rolla up and running or are you now on foot?

The insurance payout might cover half the cost of fixing this at most. It might be possible to straighten the chassis, the bend is pretty severe, but it's probably cheaper to get a used one.

The Corolla's running and there's a car I can borrow too.

That's sad.

Glad you are OK.

So, is this not being covered by her insurance?

Should be, for certain values of "covered." The Samurai's paper value is about half of its street value, and fixing a modded one is not as money-efficient as buying some random one.

toyota axle time. but it looks like tube fender time for the body since the hood looks fine.

Hood's a bit twisted and the left-side hinge separated. I don't know what exactly failed in the hood latch mechanism either. I don't have any budget for improvements unfortunately, it'll be hard enough to get it back to how it was this morning.

I'm really hoping the left-front wheel isn't bent. Those wheels were a gift and it won't be too easy to find a matching one.

I've had good luck getting wheels straightened. I even had on that had a bad crack and a little chunk missing that the wheel repair guy was able to weld and straighten.

GameboyRMH wrote: The insurance payout might cover half the cost of fixing this at most. It might be possible to straighten the chassis, the bend is pretty severe, but it's probably cheaper to get a used one. The Corolla's running and there's a car I can borrow too.

It's her insurance, and they also need to pay out for lost work time for you and damage to your equipment - whatever that may be. For example, if you had a truck outfitted for electrical work and all of the cabinets and spools were destroyed, these would have to be replaced at their expense.

Ahhh I see the problem, ya'll were driving on the wrong side of the vehicle!

Or "I see a more major problem, the accident shoved your steering wheel into the passengers seat!"

chaparral wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: The insurance payout might cover half the cost of fixing this at most. It might be possible to straighten the chassis, the bend is pretty severe, but it's probably cheaper to get a used one. The Corolla's running and there's a car I can borrow too.

It's her insurance, and they also need to pay out for lost work time for you and damage to your equipment - whatever that may be. For example, if you had a truck outfitted for electrical work and all of the cabinets and spools were destroyed, these would have to be replaced at their expense.

Just a friendly reminder- if this happened in the US, your advice would correct.

Not sure about the insurance requirements/rules in Barbados.

pheller wrote: Ahhh I see the problem, ya'll were driving on the wrong side of the vehicle!

At least they drive RHD cars. In the USVI's, and many of the northern islands, they drive on the left, with US spec cars...

In reply to alfadriver:

Having done so in a rental Jeep, that's a good thing. The consequences of slapping mirrors is much less severe than the consequences of putting 2 wheels off the paving. Driving from the outside seat gives you a better view of the cliff that's 3 feet away from your edge of the road.

Sorry about the wreck and glad to hear you came out OK. Just keep an eye on the sore chest and knee when the adrenaline wears off. If either are hurting after a few days, it might be worth getting checked out.

As a real-life cyberpunk character, I don't benefit from the comfortable safety padding on life that the average middle-class person enjoys. There are no backsies or second chances. Just a knife fight in a cramped room between me and the bare blade of reality's dire consequences. Every victory counts and there's no room for meaningful losses. Today I got cut deep.

I had to quote this because it made me smile. Pure poetry.

-Rob

Dude that sucks! My Camaro got killed in very similar fashion. Hope the insurance payout is fair and you're able to get it fixed.

alfadriver wrote:

chaparral wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: The insurance payout might cover half the cost of fixing this at most. It might be possible to straighten the chassis, the bend is pretty severe, but it's probably cheaper to get a used one. The Corolla's running and there's a car I can borrow too.

It's her insurance, and they also need to pay out for lost work time for you and damage to your equipment - whatever that may be. For example, if you had a truck outfitted for electrical work and all of the cabinets and spools were destroyed, these would have to be replaced at their expense.

Just a friendly reminder- if this happened in the US, your advice would correct. Not sure about the insurance requirements/rules in Barbados.

I was thinking the same thing. If it was deemed her fault, it's her insurance company you're dealing with and it doesn't really matter what policy you have with your provider. Like Alfa said though, no idea if it's somehow different on the island.

MrChaos wrote: toyota axle time. but it looks like tube fender time for the body since the hood looks fine.

Sidebar: That's the coolest Sami I've ever seen.

Yeah her insurance should be paying for the damage, it's whether her insurer will cover the cost of fixing this properly that I'm worried about.

This is the coolest Samurai I've ever seen:

That sucks. Collisions are the worst.