Chevy & GMC Vans

I got tagged by a red light runner on Dec 30th ( we were heading North into the intersection on a green light and she ran a red light from the east at about 90 kph clipping the front bumper. ( there was a row of trucks turning left as I approached the intersection blocking my view to the left so by the time I saw her it was too late ! ).
Unfortunately the whole family ( all 4 of us ) were in the van at the time. Wife and I are still a little bruised up from the seat belts retracting and the force of the impact but lucky everyone will be A-OK and the kids although a little traumatized will be fine.
The insurance CO. is dragging their feet about getting an adjuster out to inspect the damage to the van ( I drove it to Home Depot then back home afterwards BTW ).
From what I can tell the alignment is off, the rad cradle is shifted, and the coolant overflow has cracked, but otherwise it seems to be OK. Hoping to get an adjuster out to see the van but the fear is that they will write it off and I will be on the hunt for another van.

Enjoy the carnage !!






Bungee cord to hold the hood down and we were off to HD

That's a real shame. It was a nice van. I'm glad you guys are OK. Redlight runners should be hauled off to jail on the spot. Here in Florida it's terrible. When your light turns green you better wait. There's 3 more cars comming through the light.

I'd be willing to wager that the Nissan driver has all kinds of excuses.

Damn shame! You definitely came out on top though!

Wow, this could have turned out soooo much worse, glad to hear you and the family are o.k. Hope things turn out fine with the ins end of the deal cause they can be real $#%$%s

blacknome wrote:the fear is that they will write it off and I will be on the hunt for another van.

That would be sad. It's a good lookin van.

At least you got her better.

CaptSquid wrote:I'd be willing to wager that the Nissan driver has all kinds of excuses.

actually she came running over right away apologizing and saying how stupid she was to run the light. She is from GA visiting family in T.O. who are up from India. Car is a rental ( so at least I know they are insured ) and she was heading to the airport to catch her flight back home.

Smiliesafari wrote:That's a real shame. It was a nice van. I'm glad you guys are OK. Redlight runners should be hauled off to jail on the spot. Here in Florida it's terrible. When your light turns green you better wait. There's 3 more cars comming through the light.

not much better here !! I have become a very very passive/defensive driver over the last 10 years that I too wait 2-3 seconds before I proceed slowly into an intersection. I know the light was not yellow or orange even but solid red before she even got to the intersection and she said she floored it to try and sneak thru as she thought she was going too fast to stop in time . My wife is still upset that she didn't get out of the van and knock the biatch out cold LOL

It does look like you got her pretty good i hope they don't right off your van i'd be pissed the damage doesn't look to bad and your still driving it so that says something. I thought that intersection looked familiar i drove by it today not far from my work. Best of luck with the insurance company Zam pretty much summed up exactly what i thought when i saw the pictures

Good luck with the insurance co. I got side swiped on Dec 10th and am still dealing with their ins. Technically, mine is totalled, but that's because he stuck his nose into my lane and it dragged down the right side of the van, from front tire to rear tire, causing damage to many body panels.

Glad you could drive away from it, too bad it's probably totalled. Looked nice and clean.

BTW, I like the look of your wheels. Just need center caps, eh?

-Andrew

Nasty accident,Good thing all of you are ok.
The econo box looks munched pretty good.
I love the fact that you just "wrapped her up" & still drove on
to your destination.
-I dig your rims with rings....Who needs centercaps.

reaper wrote:Nasty accident,Good thing all of you are ok.
The econo box looks munched pretty good.
I love the fact that you just "wrapped her up" & still drove on
to your destination.
-I dig your rims with rings....Who needs centercaps.

I did "price out" centre caps....... I'll be rocking the blacked out look for now as they are just the winter wheels and tires.


Small update; I drove the van to the Body Shop tonight ( why does everyone ask why it wasn't towed LOL ). Estimator came out and confirmed that the rad crade has shifted, lower portion of the fan shroud is cracked. The impact bent the steel bumper support 90 deg to the frame. If ( big giant IF ) the frame is OK we are looking at appx $2500.00- $3k to get it back on the road. He figures that the fenders can be straightened and the rad support pulled back. Most of the $$ is for a new support, bumper fascia, headlights grill ect....

Maybe it's not a write-off after all. Waiting until Wed for a hard copy of the Police Report to flash to the insurance company and light a fire under their ass. I am pushing to have them commit to fix it or write it off by the 15th of the month or I will replace it and leave them the van to do with what they wish. It's going to cost me $6k to replace it and a rental will run me appx $500 / week so every week that goes by is costing someone some $$

My dad got rearended in is astro a while back, the insurance wrote it off and paid him the replacement cost. He was able to get it fixed pretty cheap and had the extra money.

Of course now he has to fight to get it registered every year. Damn salvage title. and CA>..

It's a writ off I think. Good luck fixing or replacing.

pics say it all, glad you're safe.