Hit and run

[DiggerDerrik]

So last night I was on my way to the airport. A construction zone narrowed the freeway down from 5 lanes to 1. Some dude in a 80's Celica (I'm guessing) absolutely pile drove into the back of my Kiz Of course he ran after that too. I think the car soaked up the impact quite well. Car still drove fine and other than the trunk needing a hard shove to shut I didn't notice much in terms of mechanical change. My best guess is the guy was going 25mph when he hit me. I tried chasing him to get his license but he wasn't having it and I wasn't gonna ruin someone else's night. I'm 1500 miles away from the car right now. I'll update with pictures that weren't taken at night when I get home in a few days. Of course I just dropped full coverage on it a few months ago. Pretty sure it would have been totaled anyway.

[WESHOOT2]

Back-end bummer.

[DiggerDerrik]

I spent the weekend with a cousin who owns a body shop. He said its totaled based on the value of it. The spare tire now sits at an upward angle toward the back of the car. Apparently I do still have uninsured motorist insurance. They're coming to look at it Friday. If they total it I'm gonna buy it back. I've had the car since new. It still drives fine.

[DiggerDerrik]

Dash cam wasn't clear enough to get a license number off of this guy. I'll still give the file to the insurance company. Perhaps they have the resources to clear the photos up

[DesRado]

Sorry man! That's terrible. Sorry that happened to you. People like that are why we can't have nice things.

[KuroNekko]

Sorry to see this happen. At first glance, it doesn't look too bad with just the bumper photos, but the photos under the car tell a different story. Parts that are supposed to be horizontal are now vertical.

[DiggerDerrik]

Car was totaled. Insurance company valued it at $6100. It's a 2010 GTS FWD auto with 118,600 miles. Buy back is $990 so I took them up on that offer. Taking it in for an alignment tomorrow after I attempt to sledge hammer the trunk pan back flat. The adjuster said the right rear tire was toed out a bit. Hopefully that's something an alignment can fix. Guess I'll find out if something in the suspension is broken/bent. I've put about 250 miles on it since this happened a week ago. It drives like it did before, like a dream (gutless dream). Looking for a new rear silver bumper cover. Let me know if you have an extra laying around. 21,000 of these things sold means used body parts are hard to find.

[DiggerDerrik]

After removing the spare the damage to the trunk pan was very evident. The damage doesn't appear to have traveled as far as the rear tires. At least not with the sheet metal. I'm sure something was knocked lose being that the impact was so great. I managed to pound out as much as I could with my 4lb hand held sledge. Enough to get the spare tire back in and get the trim peice to lay flat again. The styrofoam piece that holds the scissor jack won't be going back though. I carry a hydraulic floor jack anyway. Now off to the alignment shop.

[Ronzuki]

As long as the alignment can be squared away w/ simple adjustments and it drives and handles OK...I'd say you're well ahead of the game. I'd likely do the same since it's basically irreplaceable.

[DiggerDerrik]

I had it aligned yesterday, at who I view is the most reputable shop in my area. I told them why I brought it in. When I picked it up they said everything checked out ok. They also said my brakes were still good which is funny because they're the originals . I love my car and look forward to driving it another 118,000 miles. That is if the CVT allows.