My 2009 TDi SportWagen Totaled by Insurance

[Chacko]

Hopefully a few perspectives on what I should do.

5/7/2016 a tree fell on the car while parked in my driveway. The damage is 100% cosmetic and the mechanicals on the car are fine and 100% safe to drive. Just a bunch of dings in every panel excepting the passenger front quarter panel.

So insurance gave me two options: Total at $9100 which tracks with www.buybackmytdi.com as current value (they list the 08/2015 value at $12,200).

Or $7400 and I get a salvage title.

Which leaves me with what is going to happen with VW and how is VW going to interact with customers that have been in an accident between 08/2015 and when the buybacks are supposed to happen.

Interested in your thoughts.

 

[BuyMeBackSoon]

Can you delay decision to past next week? Impossible to make a reasonable decision at this point.

 

[Chacko]

I don't think it will be a problem to wait it out past the 28th.

I know my luck and when I initially heard about the settlement I parked the car and started driving my other.

Figures a tree that stood for 120 years would fall over on it.

 

[Jimmy Coconuts]

If VW does not distinguish between salvage vs clean titles, and buys them both back according to the same value tables, we should all be looking for a tree that might fall down lol.

 

[Chacko]

I'm sure all possible contingencies are covered...

 

[Ol'Rattler]

It's your lucky day. Really. Take the total and DO NOT buy it back. There are just a ton of folks that would be overjoyed to be in your position..........

It could be that the fair market value will take a nose dive after the settlement and you could get a lot less payout for your totaled car.

 

[Chacko]

I'll wait for the 28th. I don't want to take the total until I know what VW is planning. If totaled I sign the title over to the insurance company. No way I want to do that right now.

If the plan is the August 2015 value (~$12,200) and another $5K then that is the route I want to be able to go.

I would also do salvage at $7400 and VW can make up the difference plus another $5K.

I doubt they are going to give full value on a salvage title but I could wish and wouldn't that be sweet. Effectively I would have been paid to drive the car.

 

[JohnQ]

So i hate to burst this bubble, but reading through the proposed language i came upon this.. my reading of it brings me to the conclusion that people in your/our position are going to be swept under the rug unfortunately. We need to make sure our comments are heard when the time comes.

 

[JohnQ]

Fyi.. my buyback of my totally vehicle was a no brainer @ 500$.. your position im not so sure.

 

[tjsadler]

So i hate to burst this bubble, but reading through the proposed language i came upon this.. my reading of it brings me to the conclusion that people in your/our position are going to be swept under the rug unfortunately. We need to make sure our comments are heard when the time comes.

I don't think this section will apply since his vehicle wasn't a salvaged title on 9/28/15.

I'm in a very similar situation. My son rear-ended someone on 6/23 and the insurance is totaling it. It's a 2014 Passat SE 6M. The salvage buyback is only $2500. I can buy all the parts to get it fixed completely for about $2,000. I can't for the life of me figure out how our situations are being handled. It seems that since we aren't excluded specifically we can get the full buyback. That would be awesome since I'm essentially getting paid for the car twice that way but that seems WAY too good to be true. I think I'm going to keep it and fix it and drive it if I'm somehow excluded. I've also emailed the lead attorney's office and we'll see if I get a response. This seems like a pretty big loophole. Basically there have to be more than a few people who have salvaged their totaled TDI's in the past year.

 

[tjsadler]

Ok WHOA! I just re-read the info above. There is a HUGE discrepancy between two of the documents. The one quoted above has this paragraph:

2.10 “Operable” means that a vehicle so described can be driven under its own 2.0-liter TDI
engine power. A vehicle is not Operable if it had a branded title of “Assembled,” “Dismantled,”
“Flood,” “Junk,” “Rebuilt,” “Reconstructed,” or “Salvaged” as of September 18, 2015, and was acquired
by any person or entity from a junkyard or salvaged after September 18, 2015.

The OTHER documents say this:

(c) Owners whose Volkswagen or Audi 2.0-liter TDI vehicle (i) could not be driven
under the power of its own 2.0-liter TDI engine on June 28, 2016, or (ii) had a
Branded Title of Assembled, Dismantled, Flood, Junk, Rebuilt, Reconstructed, or
Salvage on September 18, 2015, and was acquired from a junkyard or salvage yard
after September 18, 2015;

2.50. “Operable” means a vehicle that can be driven under its own 2.0-liter TDI engine
power. A vehicle is not Operable if it had a Branded Title of Assembled, Dismantled, Flood,
Junk, Rebuilt, Reconstructed, or Salvaged on September 18, 2015, and was acquired by any
person or entity from a junkyard or salvage yard after September 18, 2015.

• Owners whose Volkswagen or Audi 2.0-liter TDI vehicle (i) could not be driven under
the power of its own 2.0-liter TDI engine on June 28, 2016, or (ii) had a branded title of
assembled, dismantled, flood, junk, rebuilt, reconstructed, or salvage on September 18,
2015, and was acquired from a junkyard or salvage yard after September 18, 2015;

II. “Operable” means that the vehicle so described can be driven under its own 2.0-
liter TDI engine power. A vehicle is not Operable if it had a branded title of “Assembled,”
“Dismantled,” “Flood,” “Junk,” “Rebuilt,” “Reconstructed,” or “Salvaged” on September 18,
2015, and was acquired by any person or entity from a junkyard or salvage yard after
September 18, 2015.

(3) Owners whose Volkswagen or Audi 2.0-liter TDI vehicle (i) could not be driven under the power of its own 2.0-liter TDI engine on June 28, 2016, or (ii) had a Branded Title of
Assembled, Dismantled, Flood, Junk, Rebuilt, Reconstructed, or Salvage on September 18, 2015,
and was acquired from a junkyard or salvage yard after September 18, 2015;

So one of them says if it was salvaged at all and the others only address cars that someone went to a junkyard and purchased and rebuilt. This is a BIG difference! It's only the "Partial Consent Decree" that lists the first wording. ALL the other documents have the other wording. I'm definitely going to try to submit a question/comment to the court about this and you should also!

 

[LRTDI]

http://jalopnik.com/heres-exactly-how-much-volkswagen-will-pay-you-for-your-1782745097

Calculate your cash payment from VW with this link

 

[tjsadler]

Having re-read this a few hundred times here is what stands out in the paragraph that is different from the others:
2.10 “Operable” means that a vehicle so described can be driven under its own 2.0-liter TDI
engine power. A vehicle is not Operable if it had a branded title of “Assembled,” “Dismantled,”
“Flood,” “Junk,” “Rebuilt,” “Reconstructed,” or “Salvaged” as of September 18, 2015, and was acquired
by any person or entity from a junkyard or salvaged after September 18, 2015.

That AND is a huge word because it still links the requirement to the cars ALREADY having been branded "Salvaged" before Sept 18, 2015. I think from everything I read on this and I've literally been through every single document from the court that we will still be paid full value if we still own our cars regardless of the title status at the time of the buyout. They just have to be "operable" which is a pretty wide range of conditions. See the "art car" thread!

 

[Freeze Plug]

I would buy back the salvage car and swap the drivetrain into a gas wagon. You'd be good to go for the life of the car

 

[Chacko]

Thanks everyone. My reading is that I will get the full buyout plus the salvage $$ from my insurance provider.

Just need to work on getting the difference in trade in vs private party value (~$2000) that VW is trying to get over on owners.

 

[redbarron55]

IF you buy the car back from the insurance company it may have a salvage title from them??

 

[Chacko]

Correct I get a Salvage Title and the car runs. So I should be good to go with what I read in the proposed settlement.

Trade-in vs Private Party Value is another issue that I'll go to small claims court over.

 

[Chacko]

I spoke with the firm handling the settlement suite on behalf of proposed class members and while I didn't speak with an attorney they are cautioning me on moving ahead with the salvage title. They believe that the wording in the 1606 document has some ambiguity as it relates to salvage title even though I and others clearly see it as a conditioned statement.

Just an FYI.

 

[GetMore]

The wording someone posted is rather vague, since there are two different versions of it. You really have to wait for the final ruling to know how that one is going to go.
I would ask the insurance company for lots of time, so you can wait for a finalized version of the court ruling to be published. The insurance company might be okay with the wait, maybe not.

I really would not want to have a salvage title right now.
On the other hand, if VW or the courts decide that it does not matter, since it occurred after Sept. 15, you technically would get paid twice for the car. You'd collect the insurance value minus your buying it back, and then you could drive it to turn it in to VW, and collect the full amount from them. There would not be a partial payment from them, unless the insurance company filed as a previous owner. (They would have bought the car from you with their payment, and sold it back to you, even though the title and vehicle never actually change hands.)

There is someone on the 'board that would probably tell you that VW knocked the tree on your car so they won't have to pay for it.

It's a good thing you don't need the money or car right now, and can wait it out.
Good luck!

 

[tjsadler]

I spoke with the firm handling the settlement suite on behalf of proposed class members and while I didn't speak with an attorney they are cautioning me on moving ahead with the salvage title. They believe that the wording in the 1606 document has some ambiguity as it relates to salvage title even though I and others clearly see it as a conditioned statement.

Just an FYI.

I actually spoke with Elizabeth Cabraser (The lead attorney on the document) and several other actual attorneys in the case and they ALL were very clear that unless the terms are amended prior to final approval you are golden. The key is that the title can NOT change hands. So if it was totaled and the title went to insurance and then you later bought it back then you're out but if the car is totaled, you keep the car, the title stays in your name, and it can be driven into the dealer for the settlement then they will buy it back.

 

[Chacko]

I actually spoke with Elizabeth Cabraser (The lead attorney on the document) and several other actual attorneys in the case and they ALL were very clear that unless the terms are amended prior to final approval you are golden. The key is that the title can NOT change hands. So if it was totaled and the title went to insurance and then you later bought it back then you're out but if the car is totaled, you keep the car, the title stays in your name, and it can be driven into the dealer for the settlement then they will buy it back.

Thanks for that. I will call my State Farm Agent tomorrow or better yet just pop in. They have the paperwork for this so I have to look at what the process is.

Yes folks I'm trying hard to double dip. So I would be at $20,850 for a car I paid $16,900 out the door with tax title, not to mention blown turbo, cracked DPF, replacement half axle, and the AC is intermittent and the ignition switch needs replaced.

I'll be glad to be done with this particular vehicle. It does a lot right but the carrying costs are just too high. I'll do a bit better than breaking even if it all works out.

 

[Chacko]

This is the first I've seen any mainstream publication write about the fact VW is screwing owners over with Trade-in Values:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a30118/vw-emissions-settlement/