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Lightning strikes twice

3K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  Mike_TX 
#1 ·
I was rear-ended in December, and after more than 6 weeks in the shop I got my car back in mid-January. Well, lightning strikes twice it seems. Today I'm sitting at a stoplight and get rear-ended again, this time by a Chevy pickup truck.

Makes me want to cry.

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#2 ·
I was rear-ended in December, and after more than 6 weeks in the shop I got my car back in mid-January. Well, lightning strikes twice it seems. Today I'm sitting at a stoplight and get rear-ended again, this time by a Chevy pickup truck.

Makes me want to cry.

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**** that fucking sucks ass. I think I remember the first time you post about the other time. Glad your okay. Whats going to happen next?
 
#4 ·
I was rear-ended in December, and after more than 6 weeks in the shop I got my car back in mid-January. Well, lightning strikes twice it seems. Today I'm sitting at a stoplight and get rear-ended again, this time by a Chevy pickup truck.

Makes me want to cry.

View attachment 220105
Ouch! Sorry man. Did the truck driver have insurance?
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the sympathies, guys. The guy driving the truck was a young college kid, and I suspect he was either texting or otherwise playing with his phone. No way to know for sure, but the way he creamed me at a red light suggests that.

Yes, he has insurance - with Geico - and we've been talking back and forth.

Geico is sending out an adjuster to write up the damages sometime over the next day or two. In the meantime they've arranged for a loaner car. I haven't checked with Enterprise yet, but the claims person told me they'd put me in a "comparable" car to mine. I'll get it later today. And we were planning to go to Phoenix in about 10 days, so I guess I'll be driving their loaner car there.

As for me, I'm feeling pretty beat up this morning. I was looking up at the light when he hit me, so I wasn't braced for the collision. The seatbelt seems to have gotten me under my right arm, and my neck is sore this morning. Probably just minor stuff, but if it continues to bother me I'll go get x-rays.

I HATE having to go through this again, but there's nothing I can do about it.
 
#7 ·
While I hate ambulance chasing lawyers, I would suggest that you do go get x-ray'd and further checked out and get it on record. If you have issues that creep up a few months down the road, you will want to have recourse to getting the right medical treatments paid for by the other guys insurance.

The car can get fixed and put right again so don't worry about that.
 
#12 ·
The car is leased, so any DV would go to Kia. If I trade the car before the end of the lease, I get stuck with the DV. And I'm probably going to be trading (for another Optima in all likelihood).
 
#13 ·
Welp, just short of 6 weeks later my car is out of the shop. This time, there are multiple (like a dozen) small paint defects I'm going to have to have them fix. Maybe it was the humid weather, or maybe they were just sloppy.

After driving a Nissan Altima for a month and a half (and putting 4500 miles on it ;) ), it's like I have a new car again. The SX-L just runs SO much better than the Altima. Man I love turbos!

But ... I'm most likely going to be trading the car soon. Being wrecked twice doesn't help the trade-in value, and the longer i wait the worse it's going to be. And since I lease, I can pay a monthly payment on this car or I can pay it on a new one.

And unless something changes, I'll probably go back with another Optima SX-L. There just isn't another car that has the things I want on it at anywhere near the price. I've been looking at everything from Audi A4's to Jaguar XE's, but it's hard to get all the things that I have on my Optima ... brake hold, auto-dimming headlights, bird's eye view camera system, paddle shifters, auto-folding mirrors, pano sunroof, etc., etc., at any price. And with LED headlights on the 2017's (and better wheels), the Optima just comes in first place.

Now, if I can just wrangle a 2-year lease .... lol
 
#15 ·
if you have more than 6 months left on your lease, trading it early will cost you a pretty penny. they'll just roll the remaining payments toward your next lease and essentially, you'll be paying for two cars, but drive one. i'd just wait it out, especially if you're getting the same one. perhaps, 3rd time you total it and walk scott free.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Mmmm ... not quite. I've traded out of my last 7 or 8 leases early. What they do is just appraise your car the same as they would if you financed it. Your lease has a payoff just like a "financed" car, and if your car is worth less than the payoff (which they usually are), you just have to add the shortage to the new lease (or pay it off in cash if you choose).

You are NOT obligated to pay remaining payments on the lease. A lease is just a different way to finance a car, but it has the benefit of a guaranteed buyback, and the payments are usually 30-40% less than buying.

As it turns out, I traded my 2016 SX-L for a 2017 SX-L yesterday, and my lease payment is actually $3 LESS than before! Credit Kia's Summer and Memorial Day incentives for that ... it shaved about 3 grand off the cost.

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#21 ·
Amen to that!

---------- Post added at 08:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

same lease term, no downpayment and $3 less per month? i'd take that deal too, but my car buy out is always few grand higher than it's worth, so never could get a decent deal.
I don't always either, although Acura enticed both me AND my wife into several trades by offering us new cars after about a year at the exact same lease payment and nothing down.

---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 PM ----------

I'm very sorry to hear you got hit. I often think of putting a camera in my back window so I can record the driver looking down at their phone while they hit me. It's amazing how many people text and drive here while it's against the law...

My ex-wife got hit in the rear as well 30 some years ago and got whip lash. She has never been the same. One wouldn't think the spine alignment could play such a vital roll in life. Be vigilant with any symptoms you may experience!
Thanks, langenet. I cringe every time a car approaches me from the rear now. Didn't use to pay a huge amount of attention, but they all scare the heck out of me now.
 
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