Brutalized by a Dodge! -- need advice

[treed2 at wsu.edu (T. Reed)]

Dang it.

Night time, headlights on.

I was stopped in a parking lot, and so was this guy in a 2000 black Dodge 
Dakota. He was talking on his cell phone.. and he was on the wrong side of 
the road, about to turn left (on to the road I was coming from).  I sure 
as hell saw him, but he didn't see me. He stepped on the gas, and..

Crunch.

Here's the damage:
http://www.wsu.edu/~treed2/pic1.jpg
http://www.wsu.edu/~treed2/pic2.jpg

I was livid that someone could be so careless as to not look in the 
direction they were turning.

After I chilled out a bit, I got his license and insurance info. My buddy 
suggested that I should call the police so I could have a third party 
witness and a police report to reference. So I did. The officer showed up, 
took a report and some photos of the damage, gave the guy an breath test 
so his insurance couldn't accuse him of being drunk, and we all parted 
ways.

I'm obviously pissed about the whole incident, but at least the guy 
was cool about it and didn't try to drive away or claim that I hit him 
(amazingly, there was no damage to his car.. just flecks of my paint 
stuck to the underside of his bumper).

I haven't filed a claim yet, but I will soon.

The damage is more extensive than it looks in the photos. The whole hood 
is slightly bent in a V. It's touching the passenger side fender and the 
front cowling (the metal section under the windshield), where it cracked 
the paint and exposed bare metal. In order to fix it right, that piece is 
going to need to be repainted (which, unless you're Earl Schieb, means 
removing the windshield first).

I couldn't open the hood until I removed the grille clips through the 
gap with my pinky fingers and yanked the grille out, then monkeyed with 
the release mechanisms a bunch. Only one side would release at a time. 
Then I figured out that if I held the release lever away from the latch 
while pulling the hood up really hard, I could get the hood to pop open. 
What a pain in the ass, I hope I don't need to open my hood any time 
soon.

Looks like at a minimum, I'm going to need a new hood, new euro light 
bracket, new adjusters, new euro light mainbeam, new core support, and 
paint for the hood, core support, and the metal section under the 
windshield.

I don't know how much all that stuff is going to cost, but I really hope 
it's not enough to total my car. I don't need to deal with all the 
associated "salvage title" and "here's $700 for your 17-year old car" B.S.

I've put a lot of money and hours in to this car.


So I'm asking the list.. what should I do?

I guess I need to go find some body shops that can prepare estimates for 
me. I don't know whether to go to good shops or cheap shops (obviously, 
good, but they might just decide to total it if the quote is too high, 
right?)

I'm not sure if they're going to send a "damage inspector" to look at the 
car (haven't talked to the insurance company yet). His insurance company, 
by the way, is the "Financial Indemnity Company" in Van Nuys, CA.

I just want the car back to the way it was before this jerkoff hit me.

I don't want a $200 paint job, however, nor do I want a hood that will 
never close right again (or one that will fly open some day).

I figure the euro lights are going to be my loss, because the insurance 
won't pay for them unless they cut me a check for some reason. Any advice 
here?


Damn, I knew I should have just stayed home tonight.

-Toby


(I'm looking for a used euro mainbeam for the driver side, if anyone has 
got one. Actually I'm interested in both sides since my other one was 
already cracked.)