I need sympathy from people..<p>My 97 A4 1.8T was rear-ended the night before. The impact was so great that the whole trunk was smashed in, both back wheels couldn't turn and even the roof was bent! It was caused by an idoit lady trying to make an turn into a driveway in the center lane right in front of me. I was able to stop in time but the truck behind me didn't even know until he hit me!! I found out yesterday that both driver was cited, one for making an illegal turn and the other driving too close.<p>Any sympathy/inisurance/repair tips are all welcome.<p>Q: should I push the insurance to have my car total because of the structual damage?<br>Q: any good body shop in the San Gabriel Valley area of LA?<p>regards,<br>cyril

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I had a similar dilemma several years ago. I tried to get the car totalled but the insurance co. said no way and tried to settle before I even got an estimate. Obviously I refused. I had to bluff them with the highest estimates I could find (dealer body shops) and we finally settled for a much larger amount. You might want to talk to your dealer re a high estimate in return for a trade in. I did that but found that they offered nothing for the trade. I ended up selling it to a guy who ran a body shop after I settled with the insurance co. I lost money but I didn't want to risk having a car that neither I nor anyone else wanted.<br>Good luck,<br>Pete

Sounds like you were lucky to avoid injury.<p>Here's my recommendation -- Try to get the car declared a total loss by the insurance company. If unsuccessful and the car has sustained frame damage, trade it in after getting it fixed. Frames are rarely restored to manufacturers specifications, so most people find themselves having problems after frame repairs.<p>Best of luck. Overall, it sounds like a nightmare.<p>Paul R<br>San Diego

8 days ago a dumb old lady pulled out in front of me and I couldn't get out of the way or brake in time so I ended up rear ending her doing little damage to her Plymouth Breeze while my A4 now has 4100.00 worth of damage to it.<p>Jake

Cyril,<p>I am sorry about what happened to you. One of my earlier cars was totalled from behind and it took some convincing of the insurance company to get it accepted as such. A friendly dealer confirmed that the frame was too squashed for repairs.<p>Today at noon I was merging from Lawrence onto Stevens Creek. Pretty much no traffic, just this brand new BMW 328 in the left lane and me in the right one. As we were making the turn, this Camaro appeared out of nowhere, running the red light. We missed him by just about an inch...<p>Good luck with your insurance claim!<p>- Stan<br>

Cyril: That's a bummer about your fine automobile. But I really hope that you made out ok, and do not have any injuries. My experience with body work...on autos is that has been less than great - I hope that the ins. co. will TOTAL it for you. If not, be thrilled that your Audi protected you from serious injury. Good Luck.

After it is repaired, consider filing a separate claim for "diminished value". In other words, even though it may be repaired, it may not be worth as much because of its accident history. My neighbor had his '98 BMW 540i front ended, and after the repair was complete, he filed this type of claim and received $4,000., reflecting the car's decrease in value. His is a more expensive car, but it may be worth looking into.

Most dealers at trade-in require you to sign a disclaimer as to what accidents the car has seen.<p>If you lie and the car develops problems after being sold to the new owner.....guess who is liable? Get the money up front and invest it for the next car!

You're saying if you're trading in your car to a dealer, you need to sign a disclaimer<br>as to what accidents -your- car has seen? And if you lie and the new owner develops problems it's you who's responsible? <p>Gus<br>

You must sign a realease that the car never had damaged to the frame, that the air bags didn't pop, and one other item that I can't remember. In a way it covers the new owner from getting a questionable car. How would you like to be in an accident and find out that the air bags didn't deploy because they popped before, replaced with new ones, but no one checked the system for proper future deployment. I can see the $$$$ that the dealer would pay out in a lawsuit because the past owner tried to cover this up!<p>Again, if the accident is your fault, then you must absorb the depreciation, you screwed up, you get screwed. If it's someone else's fault then it is realistic that they or their insurance company should pay for the depreciation that will haunt you down the road!<br>