Major accident...is this even fixable?

[Swedefish]

Sorry to hear zerf , but glad you`re ok. I`m with OS everything can be fixed,the hard part is to keep the spirit up.
But I`m sure you can do it.

[Steve]

Glad to hear that you are in one piece! Everything else is cake...even if it's cake you don't like.

1. The perp appears to be "judgement proof". What this means is that a judge can award a judgement to you, but you won't be able to collect. In the state of Florida, judgements have to be renewed by the plaintiff every seven years. With a judgement against him, he won't be able to get a decent loan or sell titled property (i.e. a home).

2. You'll find that an attorney won't touch this on a fee for recovery basis because there is likely no one (i.e. big insurance company) to collect from. Last lawyer I priced out was $350 an hour!

3. I don't believe that you can garnish someone's wages for this type of situation, even if you were to win a judgement against him. You can take him to small claims court and get the judgement for your state's maximum amount and it is up to the judge to help you collect on that judgement.

4. Believe it or not, consider suing this guy in The People's Court. Here's why: the show covers some of the judgement. In other words, you will be compensated for being on the show and, if you win the judgement, you will receive at least part of the judgement value from the show. Good luck getting money out of this dork any other way.

5. Part out the car...better to start over than to section the rear of that thing.

[Alaskan_TA]

Ouch! Glad you are OK, I hope everything goes well at your check up.

Barry

[4Cruizn]

Curious . . .what happened to the bumper??   

[miketyler]

Hopefully you can find a decent roller and transfer your stuff to it.  Man that must have been some impact. Looks like it was enough to rip the pass leaf spring shackle from the frame! Not too much left holding the rear end under that thing now.

REALLY glad to hear you are ok. You are lucky to be walking away from that one. Had the GEO been a heavier car instead that guy might have kept going and ended up in the passenger seat next to you.

[Street_Challenged73]

Zerfetzen, foremost I'm glad you're okay after an accident like this.  Secondly, as much as I hate to see another 'Cuda get sent off to the graveyard, that thing would take some serious sheetmetal work/fabrication to make it resemble a car again.  Your best bet would be to see what your lawyer can work out with this guy then as a replacement look at transferring your interior and front end components over to another shell.  I had a similar situation about four years ago with my '69 Charger, except it was a one person accident. (The car somehow jumped a gear and smashed into my dad's truck that was parked perpendicular to my car in the garage.)  Anyways, I was put into about the same situation as both quarters sustained massive amounts of damage as did the frame and taillight panel.  Hopefully your check-up goes well and you'll be able to find another shell to continue working on.

[whitesatinmopar]

Sure glad you didn't sustain any apparant serious injuries, but your right in following through with the physical, sure hope all goes well. As far as your Cuda and legal situation is concerned, I think Steve hit everyting pretty much right on. Not fair to say the least but pretty much the facts of the matter. Just so sad to look at what obviously was going to be a great piece of restoration. But staring over isn't the worst thing to consider, you do have some other good usable parts to begin a new project. Best of luck, and personally if I couldn't get any money out of this guy I sure would do what I could to see him locked up for as long as possible. It would be interesting to hear of this storys' progress, if you don't mind please keep us posted. Somehow look for a positive, other than that your breathing and walking.

[Tropicalcats]

Just reading your story made me sick to my stomach.The pictures I can't get over I have had that thought cross my mind several times with all the work going into the car what would happen in the event of an accident. Its hard to remember its just a material thing when you have put so much time and effort into it. Just glad your ok and fixing it will continue the labor of love and you will have another very good story when your done. Good luck.

[JCWCuda]

Sorry to see what happened  I don't know if that happened to me if a stretcher would have been needed for the guy who hit you . I was thinking more along the lines of a BODY BAG Cause i would have gone off.
As far as repair it is possible to section it ,unfortunatley i think the odds of finding a rear clip in good enough shape to actually do it are very slim.

[moparnut]

Man I feel your pain,Sue the guy sheesh he deserves it,right is right.Be glad your not in calif,you would have to worry if the guy even has his green card,not living off of the government(Us) and has no money.That has happened to many of my friends.My prayers are with you.

[torredcuda]

Wow!At least you don`t have any injuries from it.Any good body shop can pull that out and the easiest way would be to rear clip it if you can find a decent donor car.Whether it`s worth it depends on how much you can do to save paying the shop rate for all that work.

[Moparmatt]

Well, Zerf... first and foremost is that you are okay. Your car can be repaired - you cannot.

That aside, while I am not one for suing people... sue that guy's sorry a$$ for all he's worth! Not only was he breaking the law, but he caused physical damage to your vehicle, injured you phyiscally, and caused great emotional pain and suffering (that pain and suffering bit always works ). Plus, get a background check done on the guy, it can't hurt. Besides, any info you turn up could be useful in court, or in collecting money from this jerk.

[Prowler Orange Challenger]

Sorry to hear of your loss on the Cuda. But, the important thing is you're still alive so the car done it's job in protecting you. I hate to seen another one gone. As for a Geo doing that damage its possible especially if he was going at the speeds he was going. Say Geos can only top 90 mph anyways can't they? As for saving the car it's going to take a lot of work. It's going to have to back-halfed and even then you'll have too much into it. You're best bet is finding another car and stripping the one you have of the parts and either keeping them or selling them. If you can't get into an E-Body the closest thing is 71-74 B-Body since they are somewhat identical in the pieces they use. At least the front part anyways. Just my two cents.

[daves70]

OH MY GOD!!!! Good Luck!!!

[js27]

I'am sorry to hear about you car. I think this is everybody's nightmare when they are out for a little joyride with their mopar. Let me tell you what happened to me as I am going through the same problem. I also was rear ended on an interstate here in South Carolina before Christmas. Lucky it was in my Subaru. Anyway the car got totalled . I didn't feel bad at first but the next few day i was sore in some pretty crazy places. The doctor said that was normal and all should be well in a week or so. Well I started having pain in my right leg when ever i drove my car. So I went back and my Dr.and she wanted to do a  MRI of my back because she thought I might have a herinated disc. The insurance company said no unless I have physcial therapy first. So I went through 10 sessions of physical therapy and still have the same problem. Finally the insurance company agreed pay for the MRI..and guess what I have a herinated disc in my lumbar spine between L4 and L5
The neurosurgen said It was caused by the accident and that I will most likely have this problem for ever. He said that surgery is a last resort if I am in extreme pain all the time. Anyway to make a long story short YES I am not sue happy either but I now have a couple thousand in medical bills. The worse part here in S.C. is that the law only requires you to have a mininum of $ 15,000.00. My lawyer told me of a case he had that a young 16 year old girl was almost killed by a drunk 18 year old and he went to trail and he won a 1.5 million dollar verdict but the client only got $ 15,000.00 because that was the law. He tried to sue the person but it was a 18 year old kid lived at home and didn't have anything to take.  In my case the guy who hit me also only has the $ 15,000 in coverage so my atty. is going to have to sue my insurance company because I have underinsured coverage to get what ever I need for medical bills. So check your state laws and don't be in a hurry to settle anything because it was about two weeks after my accident that my pain started and the doctor said that was perfectly normal. The car insurance adjuster offered me $ 500.00 to settle  the week of my accident----nice guy ....
GOOD LUCK !!
JS27