I'm afraid she might be dead Jim

Well my fiancee got tangled up in a heavy fender bender this evening... The car is at the body shop and hopefully they can take a look at it tomorrow.
Thankful my fiancee is just fine!
From what I can see the car will need hood, both fenders, radiator, several parts under the hood were damaged etc but I couldn't really tell exactly what, it's leaking coolant, both headlights, bumper, both doors are creased, radiator support and who knows what else...
The scary thing was that when she hit the air bag light came on right away and she got a message on the display that said airbag error and she smelled something "odd"... When I got there I powered on the car to see if the message was still displayed and it wasn't but there was a hissing sound coming from the airbag.... So I'm assuming the airbag failed and was defective.
With the decreased value of the car right now due to the diesel gate fiasco, the value of the car has dropped significantly in the last few months, nada says it has a value of maybe $12k, I'm almost sure that with 5 body panels, radiator, radiator support, airbag system, and every thing else under the hood, I would be shocked if it's not totaled :-(
Here is the album http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=115103&title=img-20151117-195756&cat=6525

Glad she wasn't hurt.

I would say totaled...

That's a bummer. If there is no frame damage maybe buy the car back from the insurance company and salvage it?

totaled for sure.

I'm guessing it will be totaled also now with the value of our cars dropping as much as they have in the last few months we'll be lucky to get enough to pay off our loan We still owe just over $10K on the car.

At least she is OK. It sucks that the values are depressed and it is not really a great time to be buying a TDI since many of them are being held up at VW dealers.

Thats not bad, a little baling wire and some silver duct tape and you're good to go.
Seriously I'm glad no one was hurt.

"That will buff out......." Jeremy Clarkson

redbarron55 said:

"That will buff out......." Jeremy Clarkson

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That was my hope too

OUCH I was talking to my agent and asked what they have for a value of the car in case its totaled... she listed off the KBB private seller $$ of just over $8000!!!!

I'm doing research now to see what similar cars are actually selling for in the area and it looks like closer to 10 to 12K this might get interesting.

What is a fair price for a 2010 JSW with all standard features and 127K miles? NADA lists dealer price at between 10 and 12, kbb dealer price is between just under 9 and almost 11K I found one with a few less miles in the area at a dealer that is asking about $12500. I know that to an enthusiast TDI's always sell for more than the pricing guides say, but I also know that VW has screwed us over with the who TDI issue right now

Bill

take the cash payout and part out the car maybe be enough to break even

I dont want the work of parting it out! I have done way too much work on cars recently and unless I "need to" I really am sick of being under a car right now.

Sorry to break it to you......Your valuation is a bit unrealistic. My 2011 was only worth $10,000 before the scandal. It is still worth about the same.($9800) The insurance valuation is not market value. If you still owe $10,000 on a 5 yr old car without gap insurance, then you will probably be upside down. Maybe you can work with the adjuster to get it to break even.

I'm glad she wasn't hurt. Sorry to be so blunt with the values, but that is how car values work. I hope you can get the $10000 you need.

Donald

Generally in my experience, when the airbag deploys you can spell totaled. Take a look at the tail lights and rear quarter panels. If they're sprung, then the frame is bent. Now it's time to wait for the adjuster to get done.

There is a somewhat simple answer to the value problem. It may still involve some fighting, but it should put you in a better position overall:

Tell the insurance company you want them to replace your car. You have that right.
They are supposed to put you back to where you were before the accident.
So they should get you a car with similar mileage, same equipment, and same condition.

Yes, there may be some things that you cannot quantify, such as the care you personally put into the car, or something to that effect. Those you cannot expect to be considered in the replacement, but it is something that you can argue for.

This will get around the current value vs. replacement cost issue.
The insurance company loves to find the cheapest "similar" cars in your "area" to base their values on. If you tell them to replace your car instead, they will not really have that option. You will have to do your due diligence to ensure their comparable replacement is in the same condition as the totalled vehicle, but you will still be looking at a TDI Sportwagen with about 125K miles.

Just so you know, most of the people from the insurance company that will be talking to you get paid commission on how much they save the company. Their job is to give you as little as they can get away with, so if they can justify a lower value that is the first thing they will do. Try to keep in mind that they are just doing their job, but have a good, solid argument about the value you expect, and you should be able to come out okay.

Glad everyone is okay, and good luck.

Glad your GF is ok, with the takata airbag recall going on spraying shrapnel about your car perhaps its lucky you had duds, but I would definitely report that to the NTSB, I'm a firm believer that most airbag deployments are unnecessary to prevent injury past what your seat belt protects you from, but it would be nice to know when/ if you have the big one that they will work properly..

ihatespeed said:

Glad your GF is ok, with the takata airbag recall going on spraying shrapnel about your car perhaps its lucky you had duds, but I would definitely report that to the NTSB, I'm a firm believer that most airbag deployments are unnecessary to prevent injury past what your seat belt protects you from, but it would be nice to know when/ if you have the big one that they will work properly..

Click to expand...

Having recently been on the receiving end of an airbag deployment (not the JSW but a Hyundai Elantra) when I hit a culvert at something over 50 mph (totaled the vehicle, basically everything from the headlights down was gone) all I can say is that I'm glad I had it. I walked away with bruised ribs and abrasions on my left forearm. Who knows how it would have turned out otherwise?

Sorry to hear. Keep us posted on the airbag. That's bad it did not deploy.
Glad your GF is OK.

Coming home from work yesterday, merging onto freeway at the end of
the merge lane, a guy passed me on shoulder and cut into me. I swerved
into the other lane, fortunately there was room. If not it would have been
bad. I have awesome dash cam footage. It was close....

Well body shop #1 did an estimate, WITHOUT looking at teh airbag system, and WITHOUT looking under the hood, and came up with $6500 in damage, when I talked to the body shop he didnt think they were even close to totaling it out, he made a comment that they werent even at 60% but then he also said they had 7 or 8 thousand to play with... I spoke to my insurance and they did a quick search and found a value of about $12000 and using the body shops comments we estimated their value at about $15000, but the body shop cant even start to work on it til mid December. I have it being towed to a different shop today, they are actually going to pop the hood, do at least a scan of the airbag system, and check it over top to bottom and then write the estimate, so hopefully by this afternoon or early tomorrow we should have a much better idea what is going on, and they can start work pretty much as soon as they get the blessing from the insurance co.

So no it is a waiting game to see how close to the magical number the estimate comes, In MN it is required to be totaled at 80% the insurance does a review of any repairs over 70% so if we go off the $12000 value the rep gave me the repairs would need to be $8400 or more... if you add around $1000 to the original $6500 estimate we are getting very close...

Just an update, first body shop estimated the damage at $6500, but didn't open the hood or scan the airbag system, and couldn't even start repairs till 12/15!!! I had the car towed to a 2nd shop and they did a though estimate and came back with an estimate of $just shy of $10K but said that was only 63% of the value?!?!? so they are claiming the car is valued at $15K... maybe to a private seller in August but not today... The insurance is now reviewing to see if it is totaled.

with $10K in repairs I'm am pretty sure she will be totaled (pretty much entire front of the car is toast, 5 body panels, bumper, painting almost the entire car, all the mechanical bits on the front of the car IE Headlights, radiator, AC condenser, core support, all bumper bits under the skin etc). Iam hoping to hear from teh insurance co today so I can start looking at replacements this weekend.

Personally I am very Leary of the car due to the issue with the airbags not going off when they were supposed to! I don't want to risk them not going off when they are really needed.

Regarding the airbags: I don't know if the airbag error light is from the car deploying the 'bag, or if it is from an actual error. You should have a light now.

Something to keep in mind: The airbag is only supposed to go off if the collision is severe enough. Depending on where the sensor is, where the hit was, and how much the crumple zones have done to soften the hit, you might not have needed the airbag. That picture shows the damage above the bumper, so the car did not take a big impact. A lot of damage? Yes. A hard impact? Not so much. Does your fiance have a bruise from the seat belt? If not, she didn't need the airbag.
Oh, and there is a sensor in the passenger's seat. If there is no passenger that airbag does not deploy.

I do wonder what happened with the 'bag though, since the car displayed an error. You should be able to scan for codes. You might want to send a letter to the NHTSB. They should want to know if there was a failure, and maybe they have some answers for you.
Replacing an airbag is kind of expensive, but very easy.

The shop scanned and said the airbag system has an error in it, so who knows exactly what is happening.

The insurance co just called, she is totaled and they want to give me just over $10K including all taxes, tabs etc... I have found quiet a few other JSWs in my area that are selling for between 11K and over 12K so now the fight begins trying to get the INS Co to pay what I would be paying for a replacement.

at least the 10,700 they are offering covers my loan.

Bill