Paul G

About 2 AM a drunk driver smashed in to my daughters 99 Cougar. It was parked across the street right in front of our house. My son and his gf were awake watching tv and heard the crash. They called the pd and then woke us up. The drunk was driving a brand new Escalade. He ripped the front wheel off of the Caddy and wedged it underneath it. He tried to run but the Caddy only made it about a block down the street before it would not move any further.

He lives in our neighborhood right around the corner. I didnt know him though. He refused to take a breathalyzer so the cops put the bracelets on him and took him to jail. He was so drunk he could barely talk. He had a hard time just getting out of his Escalade.

I wonder how much the repairs will be to our Cougar? Or if it might be totaled?

OneFastC5

dang!!! still had the temp. plate that sux

Paul G

Yes it does. We just got the paperwork from the dealer last Wednesday to get the title work done. My daughter was in tears over this. She saved her summer job money to buy this car.

YLWFVR75

that sucks. Time to pay him a little visit at house if he lives around the corner.

I hate drunk drivers.

yankee0304

In a way, I feel terrible for your daughter for working so hard to have something like that happen to something that she earned and was proud of. I know that I'd have been in tears if I was in her shoes, too.

What I'm thankful for, though, is that there was only property damage.

Hopefully, this situation will be resolved for your daughter in an expedient fashion, and I hope that azz will get tossed in jail for a while to help him get his sh*t straight.

VetteTech81

That really sucks... I wouldn't be suprised if they total it.. looks pretty bad.. atleast everyone was ok...
-=Rick

tommyn

Total loss, start looking for a new car.

Midwest Vette

At least the guy did not get away.

CAP94

That sucks!! I'm a fire fighter and we respond to lots of drunk driver calls. Gets old seeing people and property damaged becuse of it.

I have NO respect for drunks, glad they caught him...

shoribs

Sorry to hear about your Daughter's bad luck with her new car Paul, and as far as this guy doing jail time, that is very unlikely, he probably has a suspended license for doing the same thing on a previous occasion, no Insurance, false or fictitious plates (new Escalade with 1985 Chevy plates on it) prior conviction for DUI, wanted on a warrant, or all of the above, and the only jail time he will do in Lake County Indiana is the time it took for someone to post his bail. He was out and on his way home before the Cop was done with his paper work .I worked in the legal system for 30 yrs in this County. You can not believe how frustrating it can be to get these same guys over and over again because the Court system doesn't do anything to stop them from going out and doing it again. There is a reason he didn't stick around after the crash.
I hope I'm wrong, and the guy is insured and everything goes well for your Daughter and you, let us know............jim

Jammer

SimonStern

I am glad everyone is OK (well, I wouldn't have lost any sleep if the DD had been injured)

If I am not mistaken the Cougar is FWD, right? If so, then there is a good chance the insurance will want to repair the car. If I were you, I wouldn't WANT them to. I'd MUCH rather get a good settlement and get a different car.

Good luck with the insurance company.

Jonnymac

Sorry about your Daughter's car, but it sounds like your son was having a good time. Watching TV at 2AM

KARLDDS82

Plentyfast

Hopefully he had insurance … if so, looks like a great opportunity for your daughter to upgrade at that A-Hole’s expense.

blackvetterzo6

Its called alcoholics anonymous. There's to many smucks out there that still think they can do it there way. This bastards lucky he didn't kill somebody.

vettecop1125

Sorry to hear Paul. I'd be very interested in the outcome of this.

Paul G

On my way home from work I picked up a copy of the police report. It had his name and address on it along with the name of his insurance carrier. I checked on his insurance, he has State Farm. He has not reported it to them yet.

I got his phone number from whitepages.com and gave him a call. He said he will either write me a check tomarow for the damages to our car or turn it over to his insurance. He wanted to wait till morning to discuss it with his lawyer.

Next call was to the repair shop I had the car towed to. Damage to our car is going to be between $10 to $14 thousand. KBB retail is $6010, NADA puts it at $5825. That car is totaled.

During my conversation on the phone with the "drunk driver" I told him the cars value was around $6000. He seemed shocked but so be it. I got the impression he did not want State Farm to find out about this. I gave him the benefit of waiting till morning. I could have reported it to State Farm myself. I have all the info needed to start a claim.

We have a lot less than retail price in that car, but the way I see it is we spent all summer looking for a good car at a good price. We eventually found it. I am not doing that again. I want the car replaced ASAP at whatever the going price currently is. No shopping, no waiting. Find a good one and buy it.

Am I wrong expecting to get retail price from him?

MegaAir

if he doesnt want to go through insurance get way more than retail for it



the ***** in your court

BMcD-Z06

Get the money from him in cash!! If he balks remind him how much his insurance will go up or even be cancelled if he pursues through the insurance company! Good luck and glad no one is hurt.