Greetings all...
Yup, it happened. The single most undesirable event that each and every G35 owner on this planet fears the most.

Please, let me share this experience with you. First off, like many, I adore my G. Her lines are electrifying, yet simple. Her attitude is fierce and at the same time, gracefull. I pamper her everyday of the week, with attention, admiration, and love... My wife calles the g35 my "Sancha" (woman on the side). I can't blame her for that! Without excuse, we all share this same admiration for our partner of the road.

It was Monday, Feb 14th, Valentines day!!! It was late in the afternoon, around 4:50pm. I was following behind a 95 chevy berreta on my way to pick up my son. I was traveling about 35mph with a draft of about 3.5 car lengths. This ungratefull, paranoid, and obviously ignorant driver slammed on his breaks fearing that a car in the left lane was about to come into his lane. He came to a complete stop. Brembos or not, I couldn't stop quick enough. I slammed into him as he started to accelerate, but it wasn't quick enough. I hit him hard enough to do some pretty bad cosmetic damage to my front bumber, grill and the leading edge of my hood. I followed him about 1/4 mile where he pulled off the road. I got out, controlling my temper and asked him what the hell he was thinking. "When slamming on your breaks like that, do you have any concept of the person traveling behind you?" Of course, all this was my fault, and I take responsibility for it, but it was as though my hands were tied! His reaction was, "Did you hit me?" I just shook my head, chose not to say another word. It was Crystal to me, the mentality of the person I was dealing with. So now, he gets his "Piece-of-s**t-car" fixed on my dollar.

I am now in the market of a new front bumper, grille and possible a new hood. I have been looking at a lot of different front ends, But perhaps an entire kit is in order. I guess now I have a ligitimate reason to put on a body kit. I like the Ken Style body kit, but not sure at this point. I am a bit worried about a fiberglass kit. I want an aggresive look but don't want to lose that "Elegant" touch. Any Suggestions?

Lastly, I go in tomorrow to see the Insurance Adjuster. He is going to evaluate the damage and cut me a check minus my $250 deductible. Do you think they will replace my hood with that little damage or try to bend or bang it back to original shape and repaint it? I hope they replace it.

I am just so suprised that my airbags didn't deploy and the little amound of damage to my care compared to the other guys car.. All I can say is that Infiniti make a qualilty car. "Take my word for it!"

Despite the guilt and anger I have at myself for doint this to my G, I will be strong.... I will choose the best parts and select the finest paint and body shop here in Corpus Christi (Suggestions)... I am sure my Sancha will forgive me!

 

OUCH!!! that sux...makes my little new door ding seem really small.

 

That stinks! What a sad story....

I hope you get a new hood, because it looks like theres a decent crack in it.

Have you considered the OEM Aero Kit? I think it looks awesome.

 

I have not seen the OEM Aero Kit. I am open to all suggestions. I will have to check it out. Do you know of a good link where I can see it? Thanks.

 

OEM aero kit? isn't that just the front lower Labia, the mud guards, and the rear wing?

well, i've seen lots of damaged G's come in and out of the shops here, and I'll tell you you're gonna need a new bumper cover, grill, and a hood, with possibility of replacing the absorbent pieces behind the bumper cover. i'm estimating about $1500-$2300 tops with a good bodyshop for OEM.

sorry to hear man. even though it was your fault, i believe a.holes like the one in front of you should get taxed!

 

I think senjen has a obsesion with labias!!!!

j/p sen!

 

ROFLMAO! I like labias too!

 

It's really unfortunate what happened... But....
If the guy in front of you slams on their brakes, and you hit them, you were either following too close, or you weren't paying attention, plain and simple. You even admitted it was all your fault. How were your hands tied?

You can't really get mad at the guy. If he had enough room to come to a complete stop, why didn't you?. If someone/something were to actually have crossed his path, you expect him to hit it/run it over, so as to not inconvenience you?

I don't mean to be harsh, I just get irritated at stuff like this, becuase I've been on the other end of that stick before. One time I got rear-ended at about 35mph. The guy actually got out of his car, and had the audacity to say it was all my fault and yell at me, because the light turned green and I didn't go. He even threatened that he was going to sue me. Nevermind, I was stopped because there were still people in the crosswalk in front of me. In fact they witnessed the whole thing, and were quite upset, because the impact pushed me forward, almost causing me to run them over.

I know your case is different, but I always assume the people around me are idiots, so I don't count on them to save me for anything. I've seen people signal for a turn, and turn the opposite direction.

 

I feel your pain. My baby is still in the shop, I didn't even get to spend Valentines day with her.

 

This is about the 5th time I've heard of G35's being hit (or hitting) on the front and the airbags not deploying. At least one of the wrecks was pretty severe. Kind of makes you wonder if they really work at all. At what speed/force of impact are they supposed to deploy?

 

They are supposed to deploy in impacts > 35mph

 

It boggles my mind that people will let their insurance adjusters tell them what they need. You were the victim of an accident, your fault or not, not the insurance adjuster. Last time I checked, you probably pay your insurance bill and have paid it for the length of owning your car and any other car on it.

My point being this; It's your car, it's your insurance and you should get what makes you happy. I would never settle with someone saying they will try and fix a damaged part. Make it very evident that you care for this car and are meticulous with it. If I were you I would make sure that all damaged parts are replaced in full in the estimate and no "labor time to fix" is placed next to any parts. Make sure you pick your own body shop too, someone that will be able to match white paint is hard to come by and insurance companies don't usually care that your paint matches.

Just my 0.02, sorry to hear about your misfortune.

 

When I dealt with this, I didn't even have the insurance adjuster in the picture. You don't have to go see their insurance adjuster. You only do that if you don't want to pay for it. They'll let you get your own estimate if you don't mind paying for the estimate yourself. But a lot of places don't even charge for estimates anyways.

 

TurboMaxima - I have GEICO insurance. They are the best and have been taken care of me for the past 14 years! What will happen, I go for a visual estimation. They review the car and assess the damages. They have a list of part expenses and estimated labor charges. They calculate the total price and cut me a check made out to me. I deposit the check. I choose my own body shop and pay to have the damages repaired. If the amount of the repairs ends up costing more than the amount GEICO cuts me a check for, then the bodyshop contacts the the Insurance Company and collects the addional charges.

AVS007 - I too have been on the receiving end of a rear-end accident. So I fully understand what it is like. If you read my initial post, you can clearly see that I take full responsiblitiy for this. I did not get pissed at him. I again, clearly said I was "guilty and angry at myself". When I said I had my hands tied... That is what you call an "Analogy". Can we all say that together... "Analogy". I had nowhere to go. Period!

The rule of thumb is that when you travel behind another driver, an estimated safe distance is a car length for every 10mph you are traveling. Of course this varies for the lenght of said vehicle and is a safe distance when you estimate that when the person in front of you brakes, they do so in a gradual and safe manner. At a speed of 35mph, 3.5 car lengths is considered a reasonable safe distance. Lets take a closer look at the math, shall we? A car traveling at a speed of 30mph covers a statuate mile (5280 feet) in exactly 2 minutes. Therefor, a car at 30mph covers 44 feet every second. The G35 is roughly 15 feet long or 182.2 inches long to be exact. That means I was traveling at a distance of 52.5 feet behind him. That give me just over 1 second to stop my vehicle or I will carry beyond the threshold of the 52.5 feet. If I hesitate even .5 seconds I will hit him. You have to understand that in order for me to avoid hitting him, I must MATCH his stopping intensity. With NO side streets, Stop signs, lights or drivers in front of him, I never expected him to stop so abruptly. Why would I? I hit my brakes, just not that intensely at first.

Perhaps I wasn't clear in giving all the fact, as in location of the accident and surrounding elements. Didn't feel it was neccessary. But you proved this wrong.

Normally this kind of feedback doesn't bother me too much. See. I have been in the US Navy for 15 years. Been all around the world, Served in Desert Storm, Bosnia, and off the Coast of Somalia. I have seen things that can dull a man's senses. Not to mention I have an Ex-wife to whom I share two children with. So I guess you could say I am pretty impervious to negative feetback. But what irritates me is there are individuals on these chat sites that hide behind the safety of the internet and firewalls and feel they can say whatever they wish to whomever they choose. They have such little respect for other people or what they are trying to convey. My attempt was to help educate and share an experience so that others don't experience the same fate. I hung my pride out and clearly pointed out to the entire G35 community that I was at fault. You obviously don't respect that.

 

They deploy at less than 35 mph.....personal experience. By the time he hit the guy figure he's going maybe 15 mph to 20 mph?

Anyway, I think the damage to the hood is not extensive enough to warrant a new one. They'll probably pound it out and repaint that section. Now as far as the body kit goes, I'm partial to the Impul kit.