Yep. You read it right. This is the second time someone has backed into my Red Insight while it was parked. I wasn't even in the car either time!

The current incident happened while I was coaching my son's soccer team. A woman in a hurry backed into the hood and drivers side headlight. AAARRRGGGHHH. I barely had it out of the shop a month from the when my neighbor backed into me when I was parked in my driveway!

I got one estimate today...$1435 in repairs. Hard to believe. New Hood. New light assembly (even though it looks ok to me).

It's totally driveable and the hood opens and closes just fine. You can barely tell the headlight assembly is moved.

Oh well... I guess it'll be another round of rental cars and body shops for me. This is really going to make my Carfax look bad if I ever choose to sell.

 

That sucks, I'm sorry. As I was walking out to my car last night, I watched a guy in a quad cab F150 nearly back into mine while he was backing out from the other side and talking on a cell phone. He must have missed by 2 inches :o Hitch cams should be required on trucks that size.

 

Cover your car's surroundings with metal spikes.

You spray them around the car when leaving it and use a magnet to pick them up.

A simpler thing to do would be to put nails through a piece of wood (like the Fahkirs have).

You leave the part you stick under your tire free of nails in order to recover this low cost "car protector"...

Just an idea like that...

 

My neighbor suggested I put up some tall orange flags, like you sometimes see on bicycles. He also suggested I get a bunch of traffic cones to put around it!

 

Eric, tell him about the spikes, I'm sure he'll approve...

Maybe a driving class would be more effective...

 

Hi Eric:

___I am really sorry to hear about your Insight getting banged up. So far, it all sounds like minor external body panels so you aren’t trying to straighten or mend an aluminum frame or worse … Is there anywhere else you can park your Insight so as to make it less vulnerable? Maybe farther up in the drive or farther out in the parking lot possibly? I never park the Insight, MDX, Corolla, or Ranger anywhere near anyone when I can help it. As an additional incentive, it saves fuel as you are not fighting traffic into and out of the lots.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

I'm not sure if he made this in a joking way to break tension etc....but I thought it interesting that they put the responsability back on you.

As the others I am sorry about your car but we can also look at the bright side:
It is a good thing that it wasn't one of the soccer players tying his shoes in the wrong place?
Not sure if soccer players would carry orange flags & cones for the occasion.

Anyway better luck to you in the future!
(Ever considered rabbits foot, garlic or salt dangles?)

 

I'd park it somewhere elese if I could.

the first time I was backed into it was IN MY OWN DRIVEWAY!! I had moved it off the street because I was worried someone might damage it while parked.

This second time it was at soccer practice and, unfortunately the park has a small parking lot. It is chaos as the fields are turned over to the next set of teams at the top of the hour. I think I'll have to start biking down instead.

So far it has only been very minor damage to outside body panels. No frame damage or anything serious. It is amazing how much it costs, though.

I'm looking forward to having a new hood, though. the old one had quite a few stone chips that had been "touched up" when I bought it.

 

Eric,
Is it just a new hood and light assembly? The price seems really high, i wonder how much of it is labor.
Cheers,
Steven

 

From the 1,433.99 grand total, here's the breakdown:

Replacement parts:
$257.19 L FRT combination lamp assembly
$310.67 Hood Panel
$31.92 Hood Emblem
$4.75 Inform emission control label
$9.74 Inform label SRS caution
$3.02 Inform label coolant notice
$2.94 Inform label battery
Total = $620.23
Total with tax = $654.34

Labor
$190 Body 3.8 units
$350 Refinish 7.0 units
Total = $540
Total with tax = $569.70

Paint and materials
$196 Paint
$3.00 Hazardous waste disposal fee
Total = $199
With tax = $209.95