I was broad-sided by a drunk driver on a brand new motorcycle a number
of years back....a hit and run. Yes, it definitely sucks. Thanks God for
thick skulls and hard heads

I had that happen to our 91 F-250. Hit by a lady making a left turn at
an intersection.
I had eye contact with here right up to the impact; her excuse was
that I had a yellow light, and she thought I should have stopped to
let her by. The truck was in the shop for over 2 months, with the
totla bill (to her insurance company) of over $7,000. She took out the
entire left side of the truck, from front to rear bumper, including
both wheels/tires, and bent the frame.
Bell Ford in Phoenix did the repairs, and it came out very well,
except they forgot(!) to clearcoat the paint.
In the 8 years we owned that truck, it was hit hard enough to put it
in the shop seven times, with the other drivers' insurance paying each
time; we were very lucky there were no hit & runs, and all had
insurance. I never did find the target that was obviously painted on
the truck somewhere.

there was an article in the newspaper recently about 'diminished value'.

it seems that drivers who had an accident and were not at fault can claim
that their automobile, even though completely repaired by a body shop, is no
longer worth as much because it has been involved in a collision.  a
potential future buyer may not pay as much for an automobile that has
previously been damaged, then repaired.  perception is the car will never be
the same.

drivers are going back to the paying insurance company and sometimes
collecting additional monies to compensate for the auto's 'diminished
value'.

Picked up my new '05 Explorer XLT on Monday.  Yesterday a lady ran into it
at 154 miles.  ~$2,700 in damages.  I know the autobody guy pretty well and
he will replace all damaged parts with new...so technically my new XLT will
be new again.  I never in a million years would have figured that this would
happen to me especially at 154 friggin miles.  Gotta get the tears out of
the keyboard now.

Al in Poughkeepsie :-(

I feel your pain. A woman backed up into the driver's door of my brand
new Hyundai Sonata (my other car is an Explorer) yesterday. I got one
estimate so far; $1,552.  She left a note so I guess she'll pay but she
didn't hear the estimate yet...

I had that happen to me in my first new car. Was a1974 Toyota Celica,
Fortunately I had enough time to beat the drunk driver sensless before the
police arrived. I guess the bloody/broken nose, missing teeth must have
happened in the wreck officer....Honest!