Got into accident with my brand new M4 :(

[newtorin]

Hi!

I am new to this forum, but I hope someone could help me around here!

Got my F82 M4 only in the end of September, 2020. And unfortunately got into accident in the beginning of October (a week ago). The car is 2018 MY, but new for me and financed through BMW Financial. I hope someone can help me to better understand how to manage this situation. Other party took full blame for the accident, as he went into my lane for no reason.

I am not familiar with car parts, so I am wondering how severe the damage is, what do you think?

Repair cost is quoted for almost $21,000.
$11,200 for the parts, the rest for labor, tax, etc. All the visual damage was done only to car's left side. No airbags were deployed. The body shop is saying that there is no damage to underlying structure of the car. Accident happened at around 30mph. We were driving in opposite directions through a bend. The other car was a pick-up truck, towing an off-road vehicle. Both mine and his insurance company is GEICO and both of us are based in California.

I am just worried if the car will ever be the same and I am wondering if I can either claim the diminished value check for the car and drive it or sell the car and ask the insurance company to cover the difference when purchasing an equivalent car.

I would argue that I just bought a new car with no prior damage to it and I want to have that experience, I don't want to worry if the car will hold up or not when driving on a race track. Even if the repairs will be done perfectly my experience will not be the same.

See some pictures below:

[N1rve]

IMO, that looks like pretty serious damage.

[maddmatth]

Originally Posted by newtorin

I would argue that I just bought a new car with no prior damage to it and I want to have that experience, I don't want to worry if the car will hold up or not when driving on a race track. Even if the repairs will be done perfectly my experience will not be the same.

Sounds like your imagination runs wild and looks for things to worry about. Getting the car repaired is the easiest option, if that really scares you, you can sell it after and let someone else have a bargain

Main concern of mine would just be looking for the body shop with the best reputation, possibly one recommended by the high end car dealers.

Many cars on the road have some kind of history, would be a waste if we tossed them all in the scrapheap after every accident.

A nice car like that, is well worth repairing.

[NSX2M4]

I assume your shop removed all the damaged panels to inspect what lies beneath the rear quarter panel? You'll probably have some suspension linkage damage in there as well.
As for selling it in the current state, I'm not sure who would buy it other then a salvage car auction business. Your best bet is probably fixing it and then deciding. That's the least amount of loss route.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

If it didn't break the diff away from the under body that is an easy fix so to speak. BMW makes a rear quarter kit for the dealer collision places to fix this. If your estimate is around lets say 20k they will probably fix it and not give you an option

[c0nrad]

Originally Posted by maddmatth

Sounds like your imagination runs wild and looks for things to worry about. Getting the car repaired is the easiest option, if that really scares you, you can sell it after and let someone else have a bargain

Main concern of mine would just be looking for the body shop with the best reputation, possibly one recommended by the high end car dealers.

Many cars on the road have some kind of history, would be a waste if we tossed them all in the scrapheap after every accident.

A nice car like that, is well worth repairing.

second this. take it to the best body shop in the area if you're already going through insurance. could even take it to the dealer.

you could be very lucky and really only need those panels replaced. possibly a little work on that one suspension point.

fix it, drive it, if you really can't deal with it then sell it. you will take a loss, but at least you live in a populated area where someone will buy it.

[spuntyb]

+1

Take it from me. This happened to mine earlier this year when someone nearly took me out on the highway, and I ended up hitting the concrete divider - lucky to be alive tbh. Of course the other driver sped off. Took 6 weeks to repair. $30k covered by insurance. 2 weeks after getting it back, I hit road debris which tore up the splitter and did some under body damage, but nothing serious thankfully. Another week in the shop, covered by insurance. Lost my umbrella insurance after that lol. Spun my crank hub months later. New motor, new crank hub. I won't be keeping it, but I don't worry about it too much. Your damage does not seem bad at all, even if you plan to track it. Fix it and move on. Owning cars sucks, but unfortunately driving them is too much fun. It could be worse, you could be having the year I am!

[calcio]

PM me as I might be able to help you in the situation your in.

[deeldoo]

Buddy i am in toronto, did the exact thing, whole rear quarter panel damaged although way less than yours but damage is damage, a full replacement of quarter panel was required.

I nuked one right wheel suspension, 2 wheels, and deployed 1 airbag.

Car was fixed and drives absolutely perfect. Don't be one of those guys that just wants everything immaculate.

Do you toss your wife out when you pop some kids in her and she doesn't work nearly as good? Well this is one of those situations but she does work exactly as good if you take it to a top notch shop.

Get it fixed

[ia12]

Same happened to me when mine only had 2k miles on it. Some chick rear ended me while on the phone. $25k damages but the car was so new, they ended up using all new OEM parts. Was in the shop for 6+ months. But at the end, it came back perfect and didn't have issues with it at all. Even got them to pay me diminished value.

Make sure you research / find a good repair shop. That is what makes a difference.

[uncle ben]

Fix it and forget it. Drive a janky rental for the month or however long it takes to get fixed, and look forward to enjoying your car when it’s all fixed.

[agentrnge]

Start the fix process. When they start pulling panels and really get into it they might find bigger issues inside. If not, get it fixed and see how it is. If its fine, and you get diminished value ( or plan on keeping it long term ) then its just a pain in the butt to get through now and then continue to enjoy it. If its not fine, and the fix is not sufficient then get rid of it. In cases when the fix is not good enough, and the car is not the same I'm not sure how much push back you have with the insurance co to say "listen, its not fixed. Its only half fixed and it drives like crap" and demand either buy back/or additional repairs.

note: I have heard horror stories of Geico demanding the absolute worst cheapest replacement parts for repairs. I don't know if there are cheap-low quality replacement parts available for the F8x. That might only apply to appliance-utility-cubes.

[RugbyBro]

Since you’re not at fault and it’s CA, take it to a BMW body shop. Don’t get pressured by insurance to go to a cheap shop, you the right to take it to a shop of your choosing so go OE. I went Sunwise (Concord) for a different accident (not at fault) and they handled the at fault party’s insurance and the repair was WAY more that their adjuster offered initially.

Also, as others have stated, your car will be fixed to spec with OE parts if you take it to BMW - I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. Yes there may be a DV claim, but it’ll likely cost you more in time, effort, and money to try and make that case then you would actually receive. If it were a Ferrari, that might be different story.

[SCS55]

Get it fixed. When it's time to sell/unload, it'll have a dinged CARFAX but Who cares? Fix it and drive the sheet out of it especially if you're going to track it. Btw...Same thing happened to our 2011 328i DD. T boned by a big F250 at a Starbucks, back rear quarter panel had very similar damage. I thought it was totaled. Ended up getting repaired and it's unbelievable what body shops can do and I'm fairly confident California has its share of good if not excellent body shops.

[jpy1980]

Originally Posted by spuntyb

+1

Take it from me. This happened to mine earlier this year when someone nearly took me out on the highway, and I ended up hitting the concrete divider - lucky to be alive tbh. Of course the other driver sped off. Took 6 weeks to repair. $30k covered by insurance. 2 weeks after getting it back, I hit road debris which tore up the splitter and did some under body damage, but nothing serious thankfully. Another week in the shop, covered by insurance. Lost my umbrella insurance after that lol. Spun my crank hub months later. New motor, new crank hub. I won't be keeping it, but I don't worry about it too much. Your damage does not seem bad at all, even if you plan to track it. Fix it and move on. Owning cars sucks, but unfortunately driving them is too much fun. It could be worse, you could be having the year I am!

OMG you need a hug. *hug* *there there * haha you Have a great attitude!

[newtorin]

Originally Posted by spuntyb

+1

Take it from me. This happened to mine earlier this year when someone nearly took me out on the highway, and I ended up hitting the concrete divider - lucky to be alive tbh. Of course the other driver sped off. Took 6 weeks to repair. $30k covered by insurance. 2 weeks after getting it back, I hit road debris which tore up the splitter and did some under body damage, but nothing serious thankfully. Another week in the shop, covered by insurance. Lost my umbrella insurance after that lol. Spun my crank hub months later. New motor, new crank hub. I won't be keeping it, but I don't worry about it too much. Your damage does not seem bad at all, even if you plan to track it. Fix it and move on. Owning cars sucks, but unfortunately driving them is too much fun. It could be worse, you could be having the year I am!

Hurts me to see damaged BMW's. I hope it drives the same afterwards!

[newtorin]

Originally Posted by agentrnge

Start the fix process. When they start pulling panels and really get into it they might find bigger issues inside. If not, get it fixed and see how it is. If its fine, and you get diminished value ( or plan on keeping it long term ) then its just a pain in the butt to get through now and then continue to enjoy it. If its not fine, and the fix is not sufficient then get rid of it. In cases when the fix is not good enough, and the car is not the same I'm not sure how much push back you have with the insurance co to say "listen, its not fixed. Its only half fixed and it drives like crap" and demand either buy back/or additional repairs.

note: I have heard horror stories of Geico demanding the absolute worst cheapest replacement parts for repairs. I don't know if there are cheap-low quality replacement parts available for the F8x. That might only apply to appliance-utility-cubes.

Thanks for help! I guess I should check if my body shop will use all OEM parts!

[newtorin]

Thank you guys for all the inputs!

As the whole thing happened on Saturday, I wanted to bring the car to body shop right after the accident. Brought it to german car body shop which had good reviews and some references from this forum. Looked like they work more with Porsche, but I figured if they can fix Porsche, they probably can fix a bimmer, too.

As for the damage - yes. The car needs a lot of new parts!
one wheel, door shell, quarter panel, wheel house, pillar reinforcement, bearing, hub, shock, shock mount, knuckle, trailing arm, control arms, track bar, crossmember, bumper.

Total car's purchase price was around $60,000. I am thinking the DV claim should be at least 10k.


Thank you everyone for support - makes me sleep at night a little better

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

OMG you need a hug. *hug* *there there * haha you Have a great attitude!

My car really needs one!

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by newtorin

Hurts me to see damaged BMW's. I hope it drives the same afterwards!

Same as new, right as rain

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by newtorin

Thank you guys for all the inputs!

As the whole thing happened on Saturday, I wanted to bring the car to body shop right after the accident. Brought it to german car body shop which had good reviews and some references from this forum. Looked like they work more with Porsche, but I figured if they can fix Porsche, they probably can fix a bimmer, too.

As for the damage - yes. The car needs a lot of new parts!
one wheel, door shell, quarter panel, wheel house, pillar reinforcement, bearing, hub, shock, shock mount, knuckle, trailing arm, control arms, track bar, crossmember, bumper.

Total car's purchase price was around $60,000. I am thinking the DV claim should be at least 10k.


Thank you everyone for support - makes me sleep at night a little better

Go to a BMW (dealer) shop, especially given you’re not at fault. Don’t chance it with an Indy shop if you want it to be fixed back to OE.

DV is tough on common cars like this because it’s incumbent on you to prove that value was lost, and typically that’s only going to happen if you’re actively selling the car - I.e you have existing offers for your car pre accident and you are now getting diminished offers post accident. I would get the car fixed by BMW back to spec and only after that would I make a DV claim. Very unlikely that insurance will bite, but in the off chance they do and they throw you a little extra (likely to be much less than you expect) I would just take the money and move on.

[Keebin]

Our 718 gts was damaged in brake in. The shop
You took your m4 to did a great job paint looked flawless! They are also a Porsche certified body shop.