The End of My Kizashi
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:26 pm
Well, I've been meaning to post this for a couple months but wanted to wait until insurance stuff was settled and then get past the holidays.
Back in October I was waiting to turn left less than a mile from home and was rear-ended by an F-150. My 2013 SE AWD (~67K miles) sustained significant damage but all occupants were unhurt (as was the other driver). I was at a complete stop, waiting for a pedestrian to clear the drive I planned to turn into, when I happened to glance in the rearview mirror a second before impact. I'm not sure what the hell the guy was doing up to that point, but I witnessed the look of horror on his face as he realized what was about to happen. Luckily, he did have an split second to brake at least a little before he hit me.
I was heavy on the brake so the car didn't move too far from the point of impact. My window was open a few inches and later I found the garage door opener, which I kept on the visor, out on the road. I was glad to recover that before it got run over! After the initial shock and checking that my wife and kid were OK, I was able to restart the car and slowly pull into a business driveway across from the drive I had intended to turn into. Surprisingly, the car moved without any hesitation or noise.
Two pedestrians, including the one I was waiting for, immediately came over the make sure we were OK and offered to provide witness statements. I quickly surveyed the damage and checked to make sure the car wasn't leaking anything. My wife called the police. It took a few minutes before the other driver got out of his truck. His airbag deployed and I think he was a little dazed. He was on the phone with the police as well. Funny enough, the police told him they were sending someone but the operator my wife spoke with said they wouldn't respond due to Covid and to just exchange info, take pictures, and fill out some form online.
The other driver and I exchanged insurance info and he didn't really have much to say. I asked if he was OK and he did the same. I don't recall him ever apologizing, but the adrenaline was pumping and I might have missed it. All I remember him saying was that "he didn't see me."
He called his parents who showed up a few minutes later. They didn't look happy. It was a younger guy, maybe early 20's. Truck was a 2018. His mom chided him for not having his mask 
The police officer came and took our statements, then gave us each a form to complete with personal and insurance info, then we each got a copy. She got him to move his truck out of the road. He had some front end damage but it didn't look too bad; drivable, but I heard some scraping. While we were waiting for the police I picked up some of the wreckage from the road and that's when I saw the garage door opener.
The other driver got a ticket for following too close. I don't believe that was actually the cause of the accident (it was more an issue of not paying attention), but I'm not familiar enough with the specifics of our traffic laws to know if there is a separate law for inattentive driving, or whether one is more severe than the other. Whatever. Hopefully he learned something.
At some point while we waited for the police I contacted my neighbor to see if he could come pick up my wife and kid, as I wasn't sure how long we'd be there or if I would be able to drive the car home. They headed off and once things were done with the police I checked the car a bit closer and determined that I could probably get it home. Trunk was unable to open but I was able to fold the rear seats down to access the bungees I keep in the car kit. I was able to bungee up both ends of the bumper that seemed loose and headed home. Luckily I didn't have far to go and it was still light out as most of the tail lights were busted.
Insurance was a pain in the ass but worked out ok in the end. I called my insurance the night of the accident to report, but told them to wait to do anything until I'd heard from the other guy's company. His insurance called the following morning and were very good to work with, at least at that point, offering tow, rental car, and a quick resolution. They provided info on their preferred body shops. I checked with my company, and called a few friends, and settled on one that had good references and also happened to be a preferred shop for both insurance companies. Flat bed came that night and I was able to clear 90% of the stuff out of the car.
Accident was on a Wednesday, it was towed on Thursday, and by Monday I heard that they intended to total it. They already had an offer prepared: ~$6,300 plus another ~$500 for taxes and fees. Sigh. Of course, reading about other totaled Kizashis here had prepared me for a low offer. But I'd done my research and had compiled data for 30 other Kizashi SEs currently for sale across the country. When taking into consideration year, mileage, and AWD vs 2wd, the insurance offer was much lower than the average asking price I was seeing. So in response, I sent the agent my data, and several other points on why their offer was too low. All in all, I asked for $9,000.
Crickets. NOTHING from the insurance company for two weeks. In the mean time, I went to the body shop to clear out any final possessions and give them the 2nd key. The gave me the repair report and it would have been close to $11K to fix my car
. I took the liberty of swapping off the wheel locks, taking the all-weather mats, and grabbing anything else I thought I might be able to sell. I finally had enough waiting and called the insurance company. Agent played like they never got my email and all the info I sent and said they would review it. They sent the valuation report, which was based on prior sales. It included only 2 Kizashi sales; both higher miles and different trims. 
Said they would look for something closer to mine. A day later I had their second offer. This time, a bit better ($7,555) and the valuations where closer, but still not what I was hoping. I said I'd think about it.
I did a lot more research. In addition to just looking at what I thought my Kizashi was worth, I was also concerned about being able to replace it with something similar. There are rarely Kizashis for sale in my city. The closest one for sale at the time was in Chicago and happened to be the same year, same trim, AWD, with similar miles, and priced right about at what I was asking. But, if I didn't want to travel 3 hours to car shop, what could their offer get me locally? Not much, is what I found. For the amount they were offering, all I could find was older, higher mileage, boring
, and certainly not AWD. I argued these points--that their value was too low and it wouldn't put me in a similar vehicle--and declined their offer, asking again for $9000.
Again, no contact for a week. I finally get a call and am told that was the best they could do, NADA Guide says it's worth less, blah, blah, blah. I emailed and made my points again and sent KBB reports showing the top end of their range was around the amount I was asking. I pointed out that used car prices are up due to the pandemic
I also said I was disappointed in having to wait so long for them to respond and that I shouldn't have to be the one always contacting them. Waited a week and I called again. Finally, this time the person seemed to take my points seriously. She asked if she could review my file and call me back in 15 minutes. It was more like half an hour, but she had a lot to review She calls me back and says she doesn't know why the didn't settle this sooner, and my points are valid. New offer, ~$8,900 including the taxes and fees. Yes!
Then she asks me about rental car reimbursement. I explain that we declined the rental because we have a second car (wife's car) and I'm working from home due to Covid, so we didn't want just have it sitting in our driveway. She says whether I got one or not, I'm owed money for "loss of use" to the tune of $22/day since the accident. By now it's been 6 weeks since the accident and she adds $946 to the settlement 
No other agent I'd talked to had even mentioned that I was owed that, and I certainly didn't expect it.
So that's it. I miss my Kizashi. It's spot in the garage currently has a ping pong table in it
. We're aren't in a hurry to replace it since the company I work for is not in a rush to have use return to the office, possibly ever. I'm going to try and sell the accessories I scavenged locally first to avoid shipping costs/hassle, but whatever doesn't sell I'll probably post on here.
Drive Safe,
WIKizashi
Back in October I was waiting to turn left less than a mile from home and was rear-ended by an F-150. My 2013 SE AWD (~67K miles) sustained significant damage but all occupants were unhurt (as was the other driver). I was at a complete stop, waiting for a pedestrian to clear the drive I planned to turn into, when I happened to glance in the rearview mirror a second before impact. I'm not sure what the hell the guy was doing up to that point, but I witnessed the look of horror on his face as he realized what was about to happen. Luckily, he did have an split second to brake at least a little before he hit me.
I was heavy on the brake so the car didn't move too far from the point of impact. My window was open a few inches and later I found the garage door opener, which I kept on the visor, out on the road. I was glad to recover that before it got run over! After the initial shock and checking that my wife and kid were OK, I was able to restart the car and slowly pull into a business driveway across from the drive I had intended to turn into. Surprisingly, the car moved without any hesitation or noise.
Two pedestrians, including the one I was waiting for, immediately came over the make sure we were OK and offered to provide witness statements. I quickly surveyed the damage and checked to make sure the car wasn't leaking anything. My wife called the police. It took a few minutes before the other driver got out of his truck. His airbag deployed and I think he was a little dazed. He was on the phone with the police as well. Funny enough, the police told him they were sending someone but the operator my wife spoke with said they wouldn't respond due to Covid and to just exchange info, take pictures, and fill out some form online.
The other driver and I exchanged insurance info and he didn't really have much to say. I asked if he was OK and he did the same. I don't recall him ever apologizing, but the adrenaline was pumping and I might have missed it. All I remember him saying was that "he didn't see me."
He called his parents who showed up a few minutes later. They didn't look happy. It was a younger guy, maybe early 20's. Truck was a 2018. His mom chided him for not having his mask The police officer came and took our statements, then gave us each a form to complete with personal and insurance info, then we each got a copy. She got him to move his truck out of the road. He had some front end damage but it didn't look too bad; drivable, but I heard some scraping. While we were waiting for the police I picked up some of the wreckage from the road and that's when I saw the garage door opener.
The other driver got a ticket for following too close. I don't believe that was actually the cause of the accident (it was more an issue of not paying attention), but I'm not familiar enough with the specifics of our traffic laws to know if there is a separate law for inattentive driving, or whether one is more severe than the other. Whatever. Hopefully he learned something.At some point while we waited for the police I contacted my neighbor to see if he could come pick up my wife and kid, as I wasn't sure how long we'd be there or if I would be able to drive the car home. They headed off and once things were done with the police I checked the car a bit closer and determined that I could probably get it home. Trunk was unable to open but I was able to fold the rear seats down to access the bungees I keep in the car kit. I was able to bungee up both ends of the bumper that seemed loose and headed home. Luckily I didn't have far to go and it was still light out as most of the tail lights were busted.
Insurance was a pain in the ass but worked out ok in the end. I called my insurance the night of the accident to report, but told them to wait to do anything until I'd heard from the other guy's company. His insurance called the following morning and were very good to work with, at least at that point, offering tow, rental car, and a quick resolution. They provided info on their preferred body shops. I checked with my company, and called a few friends, and settled on one that had good references and also happened to be a preferred shop for both insurance companies. Flat bed came that night and I was able to clear 90% of the stuff out of the car.
Accident was on a Wednesday, it was towed on Thursday, and by Monday I heard that they intended to total it. They already had an offer prepared: ~$6,300 plus another ~$500 for taxes and fees. Sigh. Of course, reading about other totaled Kizashis here had prepared me for a low offer. But I'd done my research and had compiled data for 30 other Kizashi SEs currently for sale across the country. When taking into consideration year, mileage, and AWD vs 2wd, the insurance offer was much lower than the average asking price I was seeing. So in response, I sent the agent my data, and several other points on why their offer was too low. All in all, I asked for $9,000.
Crickets. NOTHING from the insurance company for two weeks. In the mean time, I went to the body shop to clear out any final possessions and give them the 2nd key. The gave me the repair report and it would have been close to $11K to fix my car
. I took the liberty of swapping off the wheel locks, taking the all-weather mats, and grabbing anything else I thought I might be able to sell. I finally had enough waiting and called the insurance company. Agent played like they never got my email and all the info I sent and said they would review it. They sent the valuation report, which was based on prior sales. It included only 2 Kizashi sales; both higher miles and different trims. Said they would look for something closer to mine. A day later I had their second offer. This time, a bit better ($7,555) and the valuations where closer, but still not what I was hoping. I said I'd think about it.I did a lot more research. In addition to just looking at what I thought my Kizashi was worth, I was also concerned about being able to replace it with something similar. There are rarely Kizashis for sale in my city. The closest one for sale at the time was in Chicago and happened to be the same year, same trim, AWD, with similar miles, and priced right about at what I was asking. But, if I didn't want to travel 3 hours to car shop, what could their offer get me locally? Not much, is what I found. For the amount they were offering, all I could find was older, higher mileage, boring
, and certainly not AWD. I argued these points--that their value was too low and it wouldn't put me in a similar vehicle--and declined their offer, asking again for $9000.Again, no contact for a week. I finally get a call and am told that was the best they could do, NADA Guide says it's worth less, blah, blah, blah. I emailed and made my points again and sent KBB reports showing the top end of their range was around the amount I was asking. I pointed out that used car prices are up due to the pandemic
I also said I was disappointed in having to wait so long for them to respond and that I shouldn't have to be the one always contacting them. Waited a week and I called again. Finally, this time the person seemed to take my points seriously. She asked if she could review my file and call me back in 15 minutes. It was more like half an hour, but she had a lot to review She calls me back and says she doesn't know why the didn't settle this sooner, and my points are valid. New offer, ~$8,900 including the taxes and fees. Yes!Then she asks me about rental car reimbursement. I explain that we declined the rental because we have a second car (wife's car) and I'm working from home due to Covid, so we didn't want just have it sitting in our driveway. She says whether I got one or not, I'm owed money for "loss of use" to the tune of $22/day since the accident. By now it's been 6 weeks since the accident and she adds $946 to the settlement
No other agent I'd talked to had even mentioned that I was owed that, and I certainly didn't expect it.So that's it. I miss my Kizashi. It's spot in the garage currently has a ping pong table in it
. We're aren't in a hurry to replace it since the company I work for is not in a rush to have use return to the office, possibly ever. I'm going to try and sell the accessories I scavenged locally first to avoid shipping costs/hassle, but whatever doesn't sell I'll probably post on here.Drive Safe,
WIKizashi