When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Sorry for the damage to your car and glad you enjoyed the trip anyway. For me, my first Corvette purchase was a bucket list item but I fully realized when I bought the car that is just that, a car and a depreciating one at that. These C7s, other than maybe the ZR1s, will never be collectible unless the car has some sort of special provenance. My car is garaged and well maintained but I drive it anywhere and in all weather conditions. I'll be trading it in a year or so and the next owner will still inherit a very nice and well maintained car but it will be worth whatever the books say it is worth. At my age I have finally reached a point in my life where important issues, family and friends, are what I worry about not my cars. Life goes on.
Sorry for the issue, some people really suck and the scumbag that hit you unfortunately seems to be of the type that is multiplying faster than the number of decent human beings on this planet. I see it all the time in parking lots and I have to wonder just how stupid the general population has to be. Just yesterday there was a mint Solstice parked out of the way. Some numb-nutz decides that the parking spot next to the car in the middle of a nearly empty parking lot is the perfect spot to wedge his crappy S10 into. Swings open the door and I hear a thump. I wait for the owner to come out to his car and let him know what just happened. Luckily the idiot that smacked him was still inside. My guess. That genius had zero insurance to match the zero functioning brain cells. Just incredible.
Hope you get your car back the way it was and without any more hassle than you have already endured. I hate leaving my vehicles anywhere, does not matter what tactics are used to keep them out of harms way. Seems far too many either just don't give a **** or go out of their way to make other peoples lives as miserable as possible.
WOW ! Sorry for your low spots in your vacation. Sad that there are people who lack rudimentary driving skills. Sad that there are people who fail to own up to their mistake. OF COURSE, these types of people are usually the same person. Sigh...
Weirdly, I find myself wishing there were photos of the grasshopper event--yeah, it's gross of me but I was sickly curious what that sort of thing looks like. EEEEEK !
Sorry for the issue, some people really suck and the scumbag that hit you unfortunately seems to be of the type that is multiplying faster than the number of decent human beings on this planet. I see it all the time in parking lots and I have to wonder just how stupid the general population has to be. Just yesterday there was a mint Solstice parked out of the way. Some numb-nutz decides that the parking spot next to the car in the middle of a nearly empty parking lot is the perfect spot to wedge his crappy S10 into. Swings open the door and I hear a thump. I wait for the owner to come out to his car and let him know what just happened. Luckily the idiot that smacked him was still inside. My guess. That genius had zero insurance to match the zero functioning brain cells. Just incredible.
Hope you get your car back the way it was and without any more hassle than you have already endured. I hate leaving my vehicles anywhere, does not matter what tactics are used to keep them out of harms way. Seems far too many either just don't give a **** or go out of their way to make other peoples lives as miserable as possible.
I didn't even bother to mention this, since it's so common. In the middle of nowhere (MO) at a small diner.
I didn't even bother to mention this, since it's so common. In the middle of nowhere (MO) at a small diner.
Really ! So, you park in "East Jesus" to help prevent car dings. You DON'T do like some people do--take two spots. But you park in "Never-Never Land" and someone has to put on a smug face and park their land yacht beside you. WOW...whatever "floats your boat", I guess.
If it were me I would wish for not being able to identify the other driver involved but having an independent witness. Much rather deal with MY insurance company than theirs for the simple reasons the op stated. I've been there. And i too identified the clown. Wish i hadn't.
the mess he would have had to deal with had he not received the text message is not one I would wish on anyone.
hit n run or vandalism is no deductible for me as well.
Seems like you had a run of bad luck...but at least you're using your C7 and still had a good time despite all the problems. The car will be fixed, and you'll be back in business...I daily drive mine, so things can happen, even if you're careful!! Only way to keep it pristine is to leave it in the garage, and what fun is that...
Unfortunately, in my experience, comprehensive claims like vandalism can really jack with your insurance rates...insurance is such a racket. Health, auto, home, it's all the same :-(
I'm so glad you had a good time, but that's why I would never take my car on a trip like that. I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night with it parked in hotel parking lots.
Oh holy crap, what fun is it if you’re afraid to drive it.
I feel worse for you than the OP. You'll never be able to truly enjoy what the car is made to do. The same things could have happened on the way to the grocery store, or in any parking lot. Sounds like you just need to leave it in the garage at all times, and don't let anyone else in there. They might knock a ladder over or something.
Yup... You're exactly right!! And that's why I moved it out of the shop to the garage Don't feel sorry for me in the least. I'm perfectly happy being OCD about my car. And the next person will too when I sell/trade it. I'm the type of person I'd WANT to buy a car from.
I drove the car just over 4000 miles over two weeks and had a great time seeing lots of new places and driving some very fun back roads.
On the downside, I got to have the following misadventures...
1. Asleep in our hotel in Rapid City, SD the phone rings. Never a good sign. It's the front desk wanting to know if we were the owners of the grey corvette because it had been hit in the parking lot.
I go down to the front desk where the clerk tells me the gentleman standing there had seen the car get hit from his room window, and had gone down to the lot and checked on the car then got a photo of the license plate from the car that hit me.
Since it was Sturgis week, the good samaritan had been keeping an eye on his bikes parked in the lot and noticed a suspicious large white van circling the lot. He saw the van for some reason try to back into the space next to my car (plenty of open lot spaces) maneuver back and forth at least a dozen times while trying to park. Finally get the van into the spot. Then pull completely out. The driver of the van got out, walked over to my car, examined the damage and then drove away, only to circle the lot a few more times, then park at the opposite end by the hotel next door. The good samaritan told me this story, gave me this contact info (turned out he is a Harley Dealer in Southern California and agreed to talk the police if necessary. He texted me the photos he took of the car damage and the license plate of the van that hit me.
Called the police, very nice RCPD officer came by, took the report, talked to the desk clerks at both hotels and found the van driver. he got me the driver's info for the police report (name, insurance, etc.) The van driver came over to me and apologized for the damage and said he never realized he had hit me (as the witness said "Liar, liar, pants on fire). I called my insurance company 24 hour line and reported the incident. They contacted the other driver's insurance and told me to followup with them if I didn't want to have to pay my deductible.
The next morning the other driver texts me, apologizes for the "scratch" and asks me not to report it to insurance. I tell him it's too late.
His insurance contacts me the next day (Allstate). I give them the info, they tell me to use their phone app to take pictures of the damage and they will send me a check or ACH transfer for the claim if their driver is at fault. I do this, and a couple of hours later get an email from their adjuster with the damage assessment and repair costs. They say it will be about $1000 to repair. But if my shop finds additional damage to have him contact them and they will cover as needed. Car hasn't been to the shop yet as I won't be back to my primary home until Lablr Day weekend.
The next day i get another call from Allstate; their insured is now denying any responsibility for the damage and saying he didn't hit me. I have to give a recorded statement, in which I include the police report number, how they can obtain it, and tell them that their insured had texted me, admitted that he had hit met, and asked me not to report the damage to insurance. I emailed them screen grabs of the texts. Two hours later I get a call asking how I want them to send me the money for the repair.
My biggest concern , at this point, is that the panel alignment of the rear bumper cover and the quarter panel to the passenger door is screwed up. I had had the door adjusted by the dealer ti align perfectly and it is now off by about a quarter inch. Anyway pics of the damage are below:
2. While driving across Nebraska at night I apparently encountered a swarm of grasshoppers. Some of these suckers had 4" wingspans and tn the space of about three minutes completely covered the windshield with dead bug parts. I had to pull over to clean off the windshield and the headlights. These things were huge and they beat the crap out of the vinyl stripes across my hood and on the rear spoiler where impact buried a couple of large grasshoppers under the vinyl I was pulling bug parts out of the vinyl My insurance company will be taking a look at it (fortunately I have pictures from that same day of the perfect striping). I really like the way the silver stripes look on the grey car and will likely take any money they give me and put it towards having the stripes painted on and properly clear-coated. FWIW, the CQ coating was of no help in this situation. A huge rainstorm about 20 minutes later washed off the rest of the dead bugs.
3. And to add insult to injury, about an hour from home (our place in TN) some idiot decided that the traffic in a construction zone was too annoying for him and he blasted down the shoulder to the next exit, throwing up a large rock from the gravel in the shoulder which put a quarter sized divot in my windshield, directly in my line of site. $250 deductible, it gets replaced Thursday.
Other than that it was a great trip My wife and I did have a really good time.
Sorry about your car. I would look into a diminished value claim against his insurance company.
Can you imagine if you didn't have the witnesses and text from the guy.
Lemme just say this and let the chips fall where they may: I think the Harley dealer from SoCal is a very wise person to watch out for his vehicles, and incidentally, yours, too. He knows what these dopes want, and how easy it is to get (I've heard the true stories of Corvettes being stolen at my local, all cars-show, as well as at other major gatherings in hotel parking lots at nite). He's also a good guy IMO to step up and stand up. I'd give him a big thank you. That's a lot of happenings for one trip, but I do know the feeling----I really do. Good luck and safe(r) travels!
My Corvette is more than just transportation to me that is why I drive it local and enjoy it just as much as a person that takes their Corvette on long trips! TO EACH THEIR OWN! By the way I almost have 1500 miles on my car in 16 months of ownership and don't want other people telling me when and how often I should drive my own car! OP I am sorry that your car got hit and feel your pain.
Last edited by Always Red Dave; 08-22-2018 at 10:44 AM.
I'm so glad you had a good time, but that's why I would never take my car on a trip like that. I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night with it parked in hotel parking lots.
These would have been the low points of the trip if I had taken my Suburban instead of the Corvette. Driving would have been a lot less fun, but I could have split the long haul driving time with my wife (she can't drive a manual). And given how many bugs I had to clean off the front surface area of the vette, even without the grasshopper attack, I don't even want to think about how miserable it would have been to keep that huge, blunt front end of the 'burb clean
08-21-2018, 05:10 PM
Don't feel sorry for me in the least. I'm perfectly happy being OCD about my car. And the next person will too when I sell/trade it. I'm the type of person I'd WANT to buy a car from.
with as noted in previous post!