My 2011 Yukon Denali Totaled Sunday Evening

[gooffeyguy]

As some of you may already know from the "What have you done with your NNBS today" thread, I was in a pretty serious accident Sunday evening with my Yukon Denali.

Me and my two kids were stopped at a red light less than a mile from home. After the light turned green and I got about halfway through the intersection, another vehicle traveling from right to left ran the red light and basically T-***** me, causing me to spin clockwise diagonally through the intersection and coming to a stop after hitting a telephone pole/guy wire on the other side/corner of the intersection.

The vehicle that hit us was probably a 2000-2005 Yukon or Esky, the front end was smashed in almost to the windshield. I wasn't paying too much attention to that other vehicle or driver, I was more concerned about my kids. All the side airbags and side curtain ones that drop from the headliner covering the windows deployed.

I don't remember if we actually hit the pole or just the guy wire cable that was about 10 feet past the pole and angled from the ground up to the pole. The cable was cut into the front about 2 feet and you can see where the hood buckled around it.

Here are a few pics I took the next day from the tow yard when I was there getting belongings out of the vehicle

My insurance estimated a cost of $21,676 for repair and has deemed it totaled and offered $23,000 to me. I just purchased this in early March with 110k miles on it and it currently just hit 115k. It is (was) in immaculate condition, both inside and out, and had every bell and whistle option and everything worked.
I paid $21,500 but also got the 3yr/36k mile extended powertrain warranty that brought the total to $23k

Here are some pics I took about a week ago

 

[PG01]

Sorry again. How are the kids doing?

 

[gooffeyguy]

Sorry again. How are the kids doing?

The 17yr old is fine except for a little bit of bruising/abrasions in the neck and hip area from the seatbelt.

My 9yr old has a lot more going on. She was released from the hospital last night. She has bruising/abrasions on neck and abdomen from seat belt, and also has bruising on back of right arm, fingers, and lower back. She's wearing a neck brace and has pneumatocele of lung and a rib fracture. The right leg and hip are very sore and is hard for her to walk. The hospital gave her a walker and she had physical therapy a few times at the hospital to help her learn to use it. She was in the 3rd row on the side that was impacted, so she took more of the hit than us two in the front.

Also, it was verified today that the driver was DUI. The police contacted me wanting copies of the kids discharge papers so his charges can be raised because of injuries. He also doesn't have insurance, or at least they said they didn't find any in the car and he wasn't real cooperative and and just took the ticket for no proof of insurance.

Thinking I should get a lawyer


2001 Yukon SLT
2011 Yukon Denali

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[sumo]

Daym man. Sorry to hear but you got your family and that’s whats important.

 

[PG01]

The 17yr old is fine except for a little bit of bruising/abrasions in the neck and hip area from the seatbelt.

My 9yr old has a lot more going on. She was released from the hospital last night. She has bruising/abrasions on neck and abdomen from seat belt, and also has bruising on back of right arm, fingers, and lower back. She's wearing a neck brace and has pneumatocele of lung and a rib fracture. The right leg and hip are very sore and is hard for her to walk. The hospital gave her a walker and she had physical therapy a few times at the hospital to help her learn to use it. She was in the 3rd row on the side that was impacted, so she took more of the hit than us two in the front.

Also, it was verified today that the driver was DUI. The police contacted me wanting copies of the kids discharge papers so his charges can be raised because of injuries. He also doesn't have insurance, or at least they said they didn't find any in the car and he wasn't real cooperative and and just took the ticket for no proof of insurance.

Thinking I should get a lawyer


2001 Yukon SLT
2011 Yukon Denali

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Definitely get a lawyer.

 

[04Huck]

Damn man, sorry to hear. Glad you guys are mostly alright but I feel for your youngest. I would definitely be getting a lawyer, in a 9 year old's eyes at least, she's in for a long recovery. Hopefully because she's young, she'll rebound pretty well though. Prayers to you guys

 

[Miami-Dade]

Sorry to hear. Prayers sent.

 

[swathdiver]

The truck did her job, sacrificed itself to protect y'all. A camry or impala would not have fared so well. Go get another one, an XL next time! We'll keep your family in our prayers to the Lord.

 

[gooffeyguy]

Agreed! As hard as it was hit and the amount of damage it sustained I am quite sure if we were in a car/sedan the injuries would be much, much worse!

The truck did her job, sacrificed itself to protect y'all. A camry or impala would not have fared so well. Go get another one, an XL next time! We'll keep your family in our prayers to the Lord.

2001 Yukon SLT
2011 Yukon Denali

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Gurrzt]

Happy to hear that you and your family are ok. Back in 2012 I had a driver on a learners permit jump the curb and t bone my Denali parked in the driveway. Vehicles can be replaced, people can not.

 

[steve34459]

Damn those reckless drivers. I hope your little one has a speedy recovery.

 

[gooffeyguy]

Friday was the kids last day of school for the year.

Oldest boy is doing fine. His high school graduation is next Saturday and he only missed Monday. He had rehersals and stuff the rest of the week.

My daughter missed all week. The kids in her class made her cards and a gift bag filled with candy and her teacher stopped by after school on Wednesday to give to her. Reading some of the cards from her friends made her laugh and giggle, which has been the first time she's done that since the accident.

She's getting more mobility with her walker around the house, but still needs help sitting down and getting up. She has appointments on Thursday to see how the rib fracture and punctured lung is doing and possibly get the ok to remove the neck brace.

Her birthday is tomorrow (Sunday). She's turning 9, and we really can't go anywhere for it so we just have a cake and a bunch of her favorite board games planned.

We hired a lawyer and talked with their investigator Thursday afternoon.

I also found out from the dealership I bought the car from that since it's only been 2 months I can cancel the GAP and extended warranty coverage I purchased and get those costs refunded to me. My loan payoff is $23,300 and my insurance is paying them $23,000 for the vehicle. My GAP insurance cost $899 and the extended warranty cost $2500. So even though I will have to pay $300 to clear the loan, I will come out with about $3,000 by not making a GAP claim and get it and the extended warranty canceled and use that for a down payment on another Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/XL once I find one I like.

2001 Yukon SLT
2011 Yukon Denali

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[tsuintx]

Wow... Hope it all works out for you. And speedy recovery for the little one.

 

[08grey]

Wishing you and yours a full speedy recovery.

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[09_4WD_YUKON]

That sucks, but it can be replaced. Glad you all escaped it. Praying for y'all.

 

[mountie]

In an accident, as they say, " The bigger car wins"..... We all pray for your kid's recovery....

#1, NEVER settle on injuries (yet)
#2, Get a police report ( to study accident-scene sketch for correctness)
#3, If the driver had no car insurance, have your insurance adjuster check for other 'value' the DUI guy has ( house , boat, motorcycles, pension, etc, for settlement money..
#4..... If your wheels are 17", can I buy them??
#5, If your insurance company does a complete job, that's good, then sue civilly for additional pain/suffering.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Thank God everyone was wearing a seat belt. As a dad myself, I'm so happy the kids are basically ok. The younger kids are, the easier it is for their recovery. This story could've had a worse ending.

 

[Rocket Man]

I'm glad everyone is doing OK, it definitely could have been worse. I just went through dealing with an uninsured at-fault driver who pulled in front of me on my Harley and I t-***** them. Keep in mind what an honest attorney told me (I ended up not hiring one): if he didn't have insurance he probably doesn't have any money so if you hire someone to go after them, the attorney fees may be more than what you recover from the other party. They can also file bankruptcy to get out of any big settlement if you get that far. Your uninsured motorist coverage is what will pay you for medical, lost wages, etc so find out what those limits are. Mine was only $50 k per person and medical expenses pile up fast. They will want you to have it done through your health insurance in order to get the price breaks and then when all is said and done there will be a lien on your claim. The health insurance will be paid direct from your car insurance and if there's anything left over you can get reimbursed for out of pocket expenses like medicine and co-pays. It's a long process and you won't get anything until your medical part of the claim is done and you sign off. (They will pay for your vehicle fairly quickly though) They have 2 years to settle the medical part. It's BS dealing with uninsured a**holes and I feel for you. I'm hopefully going to be released back to work after nearly 10 months and if I didn't have disability pay and savings I'd be screwed. Now my auto insurance (Allstate) just told me they won't settle on the medical part until every medical bill is processed and I'm released back to work, and then they settle the lien with my health insurance. I'm trying to get my health insurance to waive part of that lien. Good luck.

 

[Doubeleive]

glad everyone is OK, I didn't see anyone mention also any type of major work you have had performed on the truck and possibly any Upgrades with receipts within the last year should also be applicable to the value, for instance I have a new engine and front and rear diffs rebuilt in the last year for a total of almost $14k (even though it was paid by insurance) it would up the value that much more. I would just dig up any receipts and tally it all up and say "hey" what about all this? some stuff is legally added other stuff is negotiable. and as mentioned above don't sign anything until your satisfied.

 

[Rocket Man]

glad everyone is OK, I didn't see anyone mention also any type of major work you have had performed on the truck and possibly any Upgrades with receipts within the last year should also be applicable to the value, for instance I have a new engine and front and rear diffs rebuilt in the last year for a total of almost $14k (even though it was paid by insurance) it would up the value that much more. I would just dig up any receipts and tally it all up and say "hey" what about all this? some stuff is legally added other stuff is negotiable. and as mentioned above don't sign anything until your satisfied.

Good point. I had a ton of money into my Harley, over $40 k total and they wanted to give me nada for a stock bike, which was about $20 k. I ended up hiring an appraiser who valued it at $45k, then they hired an appraiser and the 2 settled on $43k. My insurance Co had to pay my appraiser fees and the $43k. If you have receipts it might be worth a shot.