my wife got into a pretty bad accident last thursday morning(1/27/05) at beltway 8 and 45 on the north side of town. some @sswipe ran the light and almost t-boned her going an estimated 55 mph. The tahoe if fuct......bad. both fenders, hood, grille, bumper, core support, radiator, evaporator core, air box, coolant resovoir,etc. I should get pics sometime this week. Had she not slammed on the brakes he would have center punched the tahoe dead center and probably rolled it. truck is already in shop and they are quoting min. 6k+ in damage.

My wife has been better too. of course her neck/back hurts still and her foot is all messed up. she has to hobble on it. I took her to the doctor the day it happened and had her checked out. I then took her to get x-rays on Friday. we should know the results today. The insurance company were total *** clowns until they assumued liability Friday afternoon. At this point I am entertaining the idea of a personal injury attorney. I was wondering if anyone had any personal recommendations........

The tahoe was such a clean ride I don't know if it will ever be the same. the guys I left it with have done lots of business with me in the past and I trust them but it always little crap that drives me crazy.......like a damn rattle in the dash or something post-accident. We tried soooooo hard to keep that truck nice and in 3 years I can honestly say there was not so much as a door ding in the side of it or a scratch anywhere. It stayed in the garage at home and one at work. the cops couldn't believe it was an '01. I guess it just goes to show the harder you try to take care of one the more they get fuct up.

I know the important thing is my wife is okay.......Lord knows it could have been worse. the other guys were okay also. It was a team of mexican framers. they were in one the infamous white vans with no windows. there were 10 of them with only 2 being in seats. my wife said they were piled up on the dash board after the wreck. they had all kinds of circular saws, saw horses, extention cords, etc so I can only imagine how those guys felt.

Just needed to vent a little and maybe get some personal recommendations on Houston area personal injury lawyers. I would prefer recommendations on folks that have actually used them and not an ad they saw on TV. I will attach photos when I get them.

 

Damn shame about the Tahoe, But the most important thing is that the wife is OK. You can replace the Tahoe, but not life.

 

I hate to hear about your wife's accident but I am glad everyone is OK. I too am like you about the little stuff after a wreck. I just had the frame replaced in my truck and it just dosn't 'feel' like id did before. Everything looks ok but it is just different.
I have a friend that is a good personal injury lawyer but he is here in MS so that probablly dosnt help you much. I will ask him if he can recomend some colligues in the Houston area though. *edit* Sent you a pm with the info.

 

Sorry to hear about the tahoe, but glad the wife is ok.

 

I am glad your wife is OK and I hope it all works out well for you.

 

Here's what I would do on the Tahoe. Find out which body shop it is in for estimates or if you have the choice send it to the best and most expensive shop. Make sure you call every few hours after they tell you when they are going to get to it and don't be afraid to tell them if they can't make it as it was before, just to total it. Be persistant about calling, but not too pushy. This let's them know that you are going to be very picky about the finshed product and that it might be in their best interests to go ahead and total it. Go ahead right now and go to NADA and KBB and get the value of your vehicle. Get retail value for NADA and go from there. Retail is what you will have to pay to replace it, or at least that's what you will tell the insurance company. Take nothing less than full retail value, and do not settle on your wife's injuries until you feel like you are duly compensated. Don't let the insuarnce company try to lump your wife's injuries with the vehicle damages. In other words, dont let them try to hold it over your head that your wife has not settled her medical claims when it comes time to fix your Tahoe.

 

damn Kris, that sucks man!
glad the wife is ok. tell the bodyshop to deploy the airbags so they can total it!!

 

you are a baddddd man! I am actually surprised they didn't deploy. I really don't want them to total it cause I know I won't get what I want for it. they operate off of 'replacement value' and not book value. they only have to find 3 vehicles similar to it in order to establish 'replacement value' I know they would find the cheapest shitboxes they could find for that.

As for the body shop I am more than confident with their skill and abilities and they are definitely on my side. my family has been doing business with them for 40 years. I just really hate dealing with insurance companies. Thanks for the advice and I definitely plan to take time to settle on the personal injury. the lasting effects may be permanent, who knows. pictures will follow as soon as the body shop guy downloads them off his camera.

 

sorry to hear about that bro

 

Glad to hear your wife came out OK. Like Jerry said, she is irreplaceable.
Most vehicles never return to their former glory after a crash like that. In addition, the book value will automatically go down even further since it is now logged as being in a significant accident. I would push for the insurance to total it and pay you dealer list cost as a replacement value, not book or average. Since they are liable and at fault they will be much more willing to negotiate unless you do pursue the court/lawyer route. If the law comes into play just add the lost vehicle value to the suit and let them squirm....