My wagon is very much driveable, and I've already gotten the door open and replaced the rear door, it was only jammed by the plastic of the bumper cover. FALSE: you have structure damage/distortion But it doesn't fit right yet b/c the door sill got shoved downward. DING DING DING! Here's that pesky structural damage. Keep digging, there's more! I've got a cut-off sill from a junkyard wagon ready to potentially weld into position. Will never fit properly.I also have the plastic bumper cover already too - other than the door sill, there was no other body damage beyond the door. You got hit by a 6000 lb truck at 15mph. Trust me, there's more.
Here's the conundrum: His insurance wants to total the car b/c it has 411k miles on it.Just as anyone else in their right mind would do. I can keep it, but they are insisting on branding the title as "salvage"YES. Because it's been significantly damged and then I have to get it inspected and the title re-issued as "rebuilt."YES. As a measure to confirm that it has been repaired properly I don't necessarily care about the branding BUT - Has anyone dealt with this themselves? YES. Many times. What does it mean for the value if it is hit by someone else in the future? It would be worth considerably less, just as if it would be worth less on craigslist with a wrecked past. I seem to keep being hit while not moving (this makes the third time just for this car including while in a drive-thru) I know how you feel. I've been struck at red lights 3 times (including once on my motorcycle) and I don't know how the potential future payout (if any) would work if the "total loss" has already been paid once. Getting an answer on this helps me make an informed decision.
Probably won't be able to have full coverage insurance on it, nor would there be much reason to, and if it gets smashed again, it's been paid off previously. Or if it gets hit again, IF the other insurance would pay out it would be at a reduced amount because of the "salvage" title.
you've got a 15-year-old car with 400K+ miles on it. Despite its admirable track record, everyone else who looks at that car sees a 15-year-old car with 400K+ miles on it. At this point, though the car is worth a great deal to you sentimentally, it's only worth a couple of grand to pretty much anyone looking to buy it or total it. Insurance is supposed to be for those losses you can't easily handle yourself. I wouldn't worry about how much less you'd get out of a future payout from a future "incident" -- at this point you're not talking much of a delta.
Oil Hammer recently posted a wrecked wagon, but rear corner hit was so hard, I understand the doors wouldn't open This tends to happen when the structure ripples and distorts. I'd let it go if that were the damage, or do the buy-back and remove the engine/trans for transplant.
The fact her company allowed no 'salvage title' to get this car back on the road was huge. If you can avoid that, you save yourself a lot of hassle. Sometimes, they make a title "Non-Repairable Salvage Title" and then you got a big bucket of parts that cannot be put on the road as a licensed vehicle. Don't let them do that! See if they will allow a buy-back with payout, no salvage title BS. That would be best for you assuming the rest of the frame is straight.What frame???
Fix it. As others have said make sure you do your research since they will lowball you. And when you negotiate price negotiate it as a non salvage title.Usually not possible...for obvious reasons
Frank's approach is the only way to go here. Insist on a cash settlement. Do not allow the title to be branded.See Above. Then fix the wagon yourself, you may well come out ahead.
Depending on the state law there probably will be no choice whether the title will (and should) have a "salvage" title label. In MN, as well as some other states, after an insurance company pays off on a vehicle that has incurred a percentage of damage repair cost vs it's worth, it's marked as salvage. If you repair it so as to pass a very basic (at least again, in MN) inspection the title will be re-issued with a "Prior Salvage" label so any future buyer will know that the vehicle has incurred substantial damage, even though it may appear "normal".
It took a few months, but in the case I had, the final cash settlement was satisfactory. The first several offers were ridiculous.
To answer the questions... Here are the numbers they have proposed:
Taking the car (which isn't happening) $3400 ishThat's about 5x what I expected them to offer. Take it and run.. That includes sales tax and a transfer fee.
Keeping the car, $2800 ish. This would be under a salvage title, canceling the plates and it would need to be inspected before new plates and a new "rebuilt" title could be issued, with an additional fee for the inspection. Their buyback is only $395, and that is factored into the $2800 already, so that is basically the total number. I'd love more of courseReally???? How much more could it possibly be worth???, just not sure how much more there is available.
They are using one sedan and one wagon as "comparable" vehicles in their bull****, and reducing the number by $1200 because my vehicle has 160% of the "average" mileage according to their tablesWHICH IS COMPLETELY LOGICAL AND FAIR. One of the comparable vehicles was an auto (as is mine) and the other (the sedan) was a manual. I think I need to find other comparison vehicles to fight them though. They are basing everything on Georgia law where the vehicle is titled.
What I have been told by them and by my insurance is that I would not be able to get full coverage insurance for it again, and the answers about future damage have been vague at best. I don't have full coverage on it anyway b/c of the cost / benefit.SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS...THE CAR ISN'T WORTH IT TO YOU TO PAY EXTRA FOR FULL COVERAGE INSURANCE They have said that any future incident where I am hit and it is another total loss, the branded status of the title would be factored into any future payout, but haven't been able to tell me by how much. I do not trust insurance companies b/c they weasel out of things with amazing skill.
This thread deviated somewhat from what I expected.
Jettawreck is spot-on the money with this one.
So a couple of things...First of all, I'll state my background. I've been in 3 major not-at-fault accidents. 2 of them I got plowed into from the back at a red light, and the 3rd was someone merging into my lane, contacting my motorcycle.
The first one, I was driving a 1991 Volvo 240 wagon (pictured below). I was hit from the back by a SUV (Tahoe or whatever) at a red light. I can only guess the driver was going 20-25mph at the time. The car LOOKED to have very minor damage. The bumper was a bit crooked, and the taillight was broken, but the tailgate still opened fine, and it drove great! Unfortunately, "it still drives great!" doesn't mean crap in terms of
actual damage. Here are some pictures:
Damage "doesn't look so bad". So then we look here:
Ahhhh. We've got a nice 'ripple' from the
structure (remember, passenger cars are unibody, so the body
is the structure. There is NOT a frame).
But wait! There's more!
Ahh. We've got a crease in the body. This will never straighten out properly.
And saving the best for last:
The floor has split and separated. Walking by, you'd never guess that the inner structure of the car had deformed so much, but the energy has to go somewhere so that it DOESN'T go into your
spine. This is the purpose of crumble zones.
Again, I repeat, this was a relatively minor collision, and I drove the car 180 miles home at 80mph with zero drivability issues.
This was minor, and I had no injuries. Just some minor whiplash that lasted 2 days.
I got the car from a family friend who owned a Volvo specialty repair shop. He only did Volvos. I took the car to him as he had good relationships with insurance adjustors. They totaled it (obviously) and I got a fair price for not doing the negotiations myself. Then I offered him the opportunity to buy it at the buyback price ($250). He said "lol no thanks." and pointed out front, to where he had 4 identical wagons, in much better condition than mine, that he had bought from auctions for parts due to front/rear damage.
"This would take so much time and money to fix, it will never be worth it."
So your car has additional damage whether you want to admit it or not. This happens ALL.THE.TIME. with body shops. A car comes in with "$5,000 in repairs". Then they start pulling parts off...and the damage just doesn't end. You pull the bumper off, and it goes from bad to worse. You start pulling suspension parts off, and "oh look! The control arm
didn't contain the crash! It got into the strut tower as well".
Suddenly it's $10,000 in repairs, and the car is totaled.
Secondly, I'm actually in disbelief at some people saying things like "do not allow the title to be branded."
As much as I hate salvage titles, I admit they DO exist for a reason, AND HERE IT IS!
This car (irreparable in my opinion) is gonna be slapped back together, and eventually passed onto some unknowing individual.
Again, I hate salvage titles - I have a MINT 2005 Toyota Tacoma, with 47k miles. Top of the line, garage kept since day one. Salvage title because original buyer couldn't afford payments, and left it in a McDonald's parking lot and fraudulently reported theft. NY picked it up, impounded it, and auctioned it off. Salvage branded even though it's a 10/10 truck. Salvage title drops market value from $20k to ~$13k. MEANWHILE, there's 400k mile cars bouncing around with 2-3 wrecks with "clean" titles.
This is why Carfax is a ruse.
This is also why there are additional inspections to "rebuilding" a salvaged vehicle. Which, as annoying as they are, I mostly agree with.
As for negotiating with the insurance, company - what are you expecting here? $10,000?
Them offering $3,400 is extremely reasonable. You can buy a 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI with 150-200k miles for that. They pop up about once a week in my area. You're free to build a case of "comps" and argue for more, but you're being quite silly IMO.
BTW - other 2 accidents, I fought myself. Totaled my 1987 Kawasaki Ninja 500. Ins offered $800. I settled for $2850.
Totaled my 1995 Yamaha XT350. Ins offered $1300 (I believe?) and I settled for $3500. I also broke my wrist in this collision, and eventually settled for $17,500 after medical expenses - fought and settled completely by myself. Of course, I'd prefer it never happened as 3 years later, I still have inflammation.
Both bikes were in exceptional condition, and exceedingly rare models. Volvo wagon was a dime a dozen beater.
