My daughter's 500 lasted almost 3 months

[JimD]

Almost.... she was at work today when her manager came and asked if she had a Fiat parked in the front lot. She said yes, he said "You need to get out to the parking lot." Never good.



That is a Missouri Department of Transportation truck. The truck pinched the 500 to the ground, then drug it about 5 feet. They had to bring in a big wrecker to lift the MoDot truck off of the 500. When they did, the back end of the 500 did not settle back to what I consider a proper gap between the back tires and the wheel well lip. Looks still too wide. I guess the frame may have been bent? Needless to say, my daughter was in tears. She loved her "new" 500 and now it is basically toast IMHO.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Bummer. I'd say it is totaled. At least I would not want it back following any repairs to that much damage. I guess the good news is the DOT should have good insurance and no hassles settling a claim. Feel really bad for your daughter though.

 

[JimD]

Bummer. I'd say it is totaled. At least I would not want it back following any repairs to that much damage. I guess the good news is the DOT should have good insurance and no hassles settling a claim. Feel really bad for your daughter though.

The DOT is "self insured". I will definitely be telling them they are replacing the car. It was an accident free 2013 with 60K miles. It ran perfectly and everything worked. I will call my insurance (same agent as my daughter) and see if they should be handling the DOT for me.

 

[Rod Midkiff]

Do get legal help!

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Self insured; honestly I'm not certain if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the good side it might be more straight forward and easier to deal with than a regular insurance company. On the bad side it might mean they don't have any money. Rod may have a good suggestion there. After all you are dealing with two of the worst entities, a government agency (I assume the MoDOT is) and a risk management agency. At the very least I would not release my right to get representation.

 

[aarpcard]

I'd be cautious when dealing with their "insurance." Many states have laws stating if a Police car or other state vehicle is involved in an accident and is found at fault, then it is the other party's insurance that is required to foot the bill. In some states the not-at-fault insurance company isn't even allowed to pursue the state legally for compensation.

A friend of mine was rear ended by a cop. Cop admitted he was at fault and the police report stated the cop was at fault. Friend's own insurance had to pay to fix his car and wasn't allowed to go after the state for compensation. Guess who's rates went up as if they were involved in an at-fault accident. Good luck.

 

[JimD]

I'd be cautious when dealing with their "insurance." Many states have laws stating if a Police car or other state vehicle is involved in an accident and is found at fault, then it is the other party's insurance that is required to foot the bill. In some states the not-at-fault insurance company isn't even allowed to pursue the state legally for compensation.

A friend of mine was rear ended by a cop. Cop admitted he was at fault and the police report stated the cop was at fault. Friend's own insurance had to pay to fix his car and wasn't allowed to go after the state for compensation. Guess who's rates went up as if they were involved in an at-fault accident. Good luck.

I have talked to my insurance agent, fortunately here in MO the state will have to pay. The problem as I see it is that they know they are 100% at fault and are trying to wait me out till I get frustrated enough to file with my insurer. If we do file with our insurer, my daughter will have to pay here deductible and wait for the insurer to collect from the state. Why would MO wait??? I am sure they know that our insurer will total the car and pay book value, which means my totally innocent daughter suffers a financial hit.

Life isn't fair. This is a govt operation. Etc. Etc. I am not giving in that easy. The state capital is only 1.5 hours away. I am out of work, so I have the time to drop by in person.

 

[Pete Whitstone]

Self insured; honestly I'm not certain if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the good side it might be more straight forward and easier to deal with than a regular insurance company. On the bad side it might mean they don't have any money. Rod may have a good suggestion there. After all you are dealing with two of the worst entities, a government agency (I assume the MoDOT is) and a risk management agency. At the very least I would not release my right to get representation.

Here in TX, to become self-insured, you have to deposit the minimum state-prescribed insurance amount (typically $100k) into an account that is locked down and untouchable. So the "don't have any money" thing can't become a reality. Having said that, I'm not sure how that works for corporations or govt, but I imagine they would need $100k per vehicle, same as a person would. Now, whether $100k completely covers your butt in the event of a bad, multi-car wreck, that would be a worry. I think I carry more like $500k. Not the "money in an account" style, more like the "pay $300/mo" style.

Pete

 

[JimD]

3 weeks later, we are still waiting on MoDOT to settle this issue. After waiting two weeks for them to return my calls, I finally sent an email to the MoDOT director's email address. He got back to me in a couple hours and had a new adjuster on the case by late afternoon. Sure seemed like a positive development.

The next day was crazy. The adjuster sent me an email early in the morning saying he had the shop estimate in hand and would give the shop approval to repair the car. Problem solved.... right??? So I told my daughter she was getting her car back, that was a mistake.

MoDOT called late in the afternoon to tell me they have declared the car totaled and said it was worth $4900. This is the point 2 weeks of frustration got the better of me. I think I melted the adjuster's handset on his end. In short, I told them to find me an identical 2013 500 Pop for $4900, then I will agree that is the value. He said he would take it back to his director and see what they could do. That was last Friday. No word today. Maybe tomorrow?

They are covering the rental car all this time, so at least my daughter has wheels.

 

[bruakeman]

So sorry for your grief. But dang, the lot looks nearly empty, WTF?

 

[JimD]

So sorry for your grief. But dang, the lot looks nearly empty, WTF?

Thanks

Trust me, the lot wasn't empty when they hit her car at just about 12 noon. We sat there for 3 or 4 hours waiting for them to decide how to separate the two vehicles. Naturally as people left the nearby spots, no one filled in around the mess. In the end, they brought in a large crane truck and lifted the MoDOT vehicle off my daughter's car.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

This sort of stuff always seems so aggravating. But as long as they are paying for the rental car I wouldn't be in a rush to settle. Often a quick resolution ends up falling short of the mark. How is your daughter holding up?

 

[JimD]

Here is the latest update: After 6 weeks of BS, the MoDOT staff called yesterday to say that on the advice of their attorney they will be fixing my daughters car instead of declaring it a total loss. They assured me that they will cover all damage uncovered as work progresses. They are covering the cost of the rental until her car is fixed. At this point, this is probably a good outcome. My daughter is happy as she loved the 500 she had.

The body shop has said from the beginning that the damage is ugly, but mostly cosmetic. I hope they are correct. It sucks that my daughter no longer has a "0 accident" car, but hopefully the shop can make it whole again.

 

[bbrown]

Jim, don't sign off until you know with certainty that the car is repaired correctly and that the wheels are in proper alignment.
Unibodys have a tendency to be difficult to properly align after a serious accident.

 

[JimD]

That's the plan Bob.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

The body shop has said from the beginning that the damage is ugly, but mostly cosmetic. I hope they are correct.

Me too. Hope things work out well for you and her. I hate situations like this. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

 

[trumpet77]

wow, what a story! I hope that the settlement will somehow include future wear and tear possibly caused by this accident, lifetime alignments and lots of other stuff!

 

[JimD]

wow, what a story! I hope that the settlement will somehow include future wear and tear possibly caused by this accident, lifetime alignments and lots of other stuff!

We have had the 500 for over a year now following the repairs. The shop did a really good job and there have been no unusual issues with the car. The biggest issue is the replacement hub caps were loose fitting. 3 of them fell off in the last month, but we just stuck the 3 remaining originals back on. My daughter would really like some Fiat alloy wheels, do the mismatched caps will be fine for now.

In short, so far, so good.

 

[WantAnX1/9]

Almost.... she was at work today when her manager came and asked if she had a Fiat parked in the front lot. She said yes, he said "You need to get out to the parking lot." Never good.

View attachment 10648 View attachment 10649 View attachment 10650

That is a Missouri Department of Transportation truck. The truck pinched the 500 to the ground, then drug it about 5 feet. They had to bring in a big wrecker to lift the MoDot truck off of the 500. When they did, the back end of the 500 did not settle back to what I consider a proper gap between the back tires and the wheel well lip. Looks still too wide. I guess the frame may have been bent? Needless to say, my daughter was in tears. She loved her "new" 500 and now it is basically toast IMHO.

Abarth upgrade time...