[ACCIDENT] 2020 Corvette Totaled the Day After Delivery

Apr 4, 2020

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[ACCIDENT] 2020 Corvette Totaled the Day After Delivery

What should have been the first of many weekends enjoying ownership of a new 2020 Corvette suddenly came to an abrupt end for “June Bug” and his new Stingray on Saturday. A black sedan apparently ran a traffic light at the intersection of North Tamiami Trail and Imperial drive in Sarasota, Florida, and was subsequently T-boned by the new Corvette. Fortunately, June Bug reported on Facebook that he and his passenger, Ruby, are okay with only minor head and hand injuries.

Just 24 hours earlier, Joel Curto, Internet Sales Manager at Cox Chevrolet in Bradenton, Florida, had shared several photos on Facebook of the new Sebring Orange 2020 Corvette being delivered to dealership and later to June Bug and Ruby. Curto posted, “Wow awesome day for you June Bug…it finally came in…think like you said this is #7 between you and Ruby…thanks again for your friendship and business all these years.”

June Bug and Ruby picked their 2020 Z51 Stingray up at Cox Chevrolet on Thursday, April 2. Photos of the new Corvette parked in the driveway were also shared Thursday evening. The accident occurred on Friday afternoon, just 24 hours after delivery. Today, June Bug posted, “Guess it wasn’t meant to be. Thanks for all the support and outreach. Facebook is amazing.”

Apparently, the driver of the black sedan doesn’t have insurance, but June Bug is confident his auto policy is going to take care of everything. In a video walkaround, he says “maybe I can get another one next year.” With Corvette production halted as a result of COVID-19, it may very well be quite a while before a replacement becomes available. We certainly hope that June Bug and Ruby find themselves back in the seats of a new Corvette sooner than expected.

You can see more photos of June Bug’s 2020 Corvette and the resulting aftermath here. We hope his insurance company takes good care of him and wish him the best of luck!

Source:
June Bug / Facebook

22 COMMENTS

Denyce Codoni Apr 4, 2020 At 8:30 pm

so glad they are ok. The sedan driver should be totally ashamed of himself. I’d probably be in jail as I would have killed him
767dave Apr 4, 2020 At 8:47 pm

Would love to see PDR video!
Michael Panasuik Apr 4, 2020 At 9:06 pm

I hope he had his PDR on. I understand that on the C8 you can make “ON” the default setting. I have to engage it every time I start up my C7. If something like that happens to me I want video proof the other person was at fault. If the SD card goes missing you know what happened. Pretty sad to see that new C8 wrecked. Good luck.
Kenneth Gutwein Apr 4, 2020 At 9:13 pm

The engine probably isn’t too damaged which is a positive. Glad to see the owners walked away from the accident unscathed.
Shawn Apr 4, 2020 At 9:35 pm

Hope he sues that jackass sedan driver into oblivion. No insurance, what a joke.
Arlie Apr 4, 2020 At 10:06 pm

Even at the price of a well equipped F150 a damaged C8 as this will
not be totaled. The frame is fixable and so is the Body Work. The front end alignment wasn’t even damaged. Fix it and trade it for a Z06 when they come out. Now you don’t even need to worry about having a wreck. You been there and done that! Or you can probably trade even for a 2019 ZR1! Just don’t expect for it to handle like a C8!
Craig M. Bryda Apr 5, 2020 At 1:12 am

Thats enough to piss off the Good Humor man. Glad that they weren’t injured too seriously.
J Apr 5, 2020 At 7:35 am

If the black sedan T boned the Vette, then why is there no front end damage on the sedan? The way it looks to me by the pics is the Vette caused the wreck.
767dave Apr 5, 2020 At 8:07 am

Reread the article.
J Apr 5, 2020 At 8:40 am

Yes you are correct.
Charlie Mango Delta Apr 5, 2020 At 9:08 am

Proof yet again that some people should not own these types of cars. PS. I hate Facebook. That is all.
Ronnie Apr 5, 2020 At 1:52 pm

Sure frucked up the frunk……….
Steve Apr 5, 2020 At 3:03 pm

If that is “totaled” either the insurance company is lazy (and generous) or the C8 is pretty fragile.
TJ Apr 5, 2020 At 7:21 pm

Been in car insurance 30 plus years. Not even close to a total, but might take awhile to get all the parts
Matt Kase Apr 5, 2020 At 7:31 pm

@ Steve & Arlie
Keep in mind that contrary to common belief, being “totaled” doesn’t mean that a car is unrecognizable after an accident. It only means that the estimated cost to repair exceeds an arbitrary threshold contrived by the insurance company (usually 70%) in comparison to the vehicle’s current depreciated value. Given that the C8 is a brand new and extremely complex, high-end model, there are no parts available in the salvage or aftermarket pipelines, and the OEM parts that are needed will be extremely expensive. Add to that the cost of the specialized labor required to properly rebuild this type of vehicle, and it’s not hard to see why such a repair could easily exceed the insurance threshold to total.

However, that’s not to say the car isn’t eminently rebuildable as a salvage titled vehicle. I would expect to see this car in a Copart auction within the next 60 days, and likely some YouTuber will snatch it up, rebuild it, retitle it with a branded title, and post a video documentary of the process for us to enjoy.
Mike Apr 5, 2020 At 7:36 pm

Yah.. that’ll be on CarFax. I think the insurance company will total it. I’ve adjusted a ton of exotic cars in my day and had to consider not only the cost to repair (the airbags alone could run upwards of 6 grand), but time to get the parts, possible hidden damages, plus the possible salvage value – which given the limited number of these produced today’s – would be quite high. Of course, the exact model and options would be a factor in that value. The salvage company would have this all over the inter webs.
Matt Kase Apr 5, 2020 At 8:02 pm

@Mike
Great points on accounting for time to repair as well as salvage recoupment. With the assembly lines frozen and the coronavirus mess in general, I can imagine it would be near the end of the year before a repair of this magnitude could be completed. That’s a lot of rental car time. Lastly, something we both overlooked is the diminished value claim that any C8 owner should be entitled to under these circumstances, if it was to be repaired.
Mike Apr 5, 2020 At 8:09 pm

Agree… while not all states allow diminished value claims, for those that do, it’s a consideration. In this case, I would imagine that claim would be fairly substantial.
Kevin Williams Apr 6, 2020 At 11:28 pm

No Ins, I hate people.
Rene Rmz Apr 9, 2020 At 11:42 am

In his ‘live’ walk around video, it shows he has regular Florida license plates. How did he get real plates in 24hrs?
In Texas, it takes like 30 days to get real plate – we drive around with paper plates.
Matt Kase Apr 9, 2020 At 5:44 pm

Some states stockpile them at the DMV offices, and hand them out at the time of registration. If I recall correctly, I believe Florida is one of those States.
Craig M. Bryda Apr 10, 2020 At 7:16 am

@ RENE Rmz & Matt Kase, New York issues license plates at time of registration also, like Florida. I suppose its a state by state deal.