ThumperPup

So earlier this month i was in a bad accident and the insurance company has just approved the front rail to be replaced so
they will be removing the Engine and Transaxle assembly
the car has 61k and its an 07
i have had no issues to date runs fine
when they remove the transaxle do they have to take the belts and water pump and that out or do they just remove the assembly as a hole to then replace the rail ?
like anything i should insist on having done that should be done every time they are out ?

all togethere there is over 12,000 in damakge i think its around 12,600 so i know its already way past thre threshold and i don't want to really push it to much further befores another 1000 dollars and it will be over the states automatic total out of 80% value damage or higher in florida

jagtoes

With that much damage I would just have them fix it without doing anything to the engine/trans. and then sell it. These are unibody cars that for all practical purposes have a sheet metal frame sections. To fix them they cut out the bent part and re-weld in a new section.Then they put it on the frame straightener and verify the factory dimensions. The welds are strong but the metal around them tends to weaken. I find it hard to believe the insurance company didn't total the car. What is the value of a 2007? Can't be more then $20K so $12K in damage is more then half the value. I would sell ASAP.

LexBob2

I agree. The car has been on the road 7 years 61k miles and now has had a serious accident. I recommend to resist the temptation to put any additional money into it. Best to just drive it or better yet move on to something else at this point. I too am surprised that it wasn't totaled.

garsarno

Ditto above comments. My 2004 Lincoln LS was hit major on the driver's side. Never ran right after. Traded it in within a month after repair. No Carfax report on the accident that soon.

ThumperPup

they treid to do just a sectional the extension to the rail and then also pull it but it wasn't working out
the insurance company is so much into the car already they would loose even more money totaling it out
the dealer gives a lifetime warranty on all repaire and work
so i know that it was running great no issues before the accident 2 days before the accident it was in for service and they have it on the record where the mechanic
even asked the service advisory why did you even ask me to check the car out its perfect nothing wrong with it
so if there is something that goes wrong after the repair
then they will have to make sure its good

it has a market value in this area of 17-19k

Geico i like for one reason they won't total a car out unless its absolutely necessary and they will approve up to 100% of the value in repairs if its worth it to them

i am planning on keeping the car untill it dies i always get my use out of a car so it will be with me until 300k or the wheels fall off wich ever comes last lol

so ill hope that someone can give me some suggestions on what i should have them do
should i insist on any specific parts that should always be replaced whne they have it all apart ?

i have had 2 cars that i bought with rebuild and salvage tittles due to major collision issues a 2002 continental

and a 05 Maxima
neither of those had any mechanical issues after the repair and drove fine untill i decided i just didn't like them anymore

iceblast

First, I would ask the insurance for full value write-off and then tell them to sell it for salvage. Go buy yourself a newer ES or something else.

Otherwise, if you're going to keep it, change the water pump while the engine is out. That is like a $1000+ job normally. Change all belts too.

ThumperPup

i get that everyones opinion is to do a full wright off on it and get them to total it out
not sure why
but i guess maybe if anyone ever had this type of work or the ones who have had bad experience from this type of repair went to shops that cut corners to save money

well i have never had issues so i am not going to get them to write it off

ok cool so ill talk to the shop and make arrangements for the W/P and belts to be changed also

ThumperPup

just got a text about 20 minutes ago this picture from the shop drivetrain out
i went yesterday and was really upset when i saw nothing was done in over a week
so i said a few things to get them to move there asses

LexBob2

Hard to believe the car wasn't totaled...

ThumperPup

I have found out over a few conversations with people on other forums that Geico is known to sometimes go up to 100% of the value of the vehicle and repair it

also i have heard where geico has been known to total a car out at 50% of the value
it all depends on what they can get at salvage auction for it how much they have to pay to replace it
the true market value on this with my options in the postal code that its registered to is between 17-19k so they would end up paying me probably 18k to total out plus the taxes since i would be replacing the car they have to pay the taxes plus plate transfer fee

where up around 20,500 21,000 also before they tore down into it and found that the rail needed to be replaced they had already had the collision shop order the body parts so there was about 6000 in parts that had already been ordered between body and some mechanical parts they would have had to pay a restocking fee on the parts they said like 15 to 20% so thats about 1200-1500 if my math is correct and then
shipping cost to return the aprts probably another 500-600 in freight if not more

also they would have to pay the dealer there 25 per day storage fee for anythng past the first 3 days and around 1000 in tear down fees and other stuff they had done
so
they decided its in there interest to fix it because it would cost them all together about 25k at the end of it all if they had paid me off and totaled it
cheaper for them to spend 13k or just under to fix it


also they said i won't have a rebuild or salvage tittle it will be the Oringianl clean tittle that i have now

also im planning on driving it till the thing is dead i don't really trade in thats the reason i got the lexus i had preatty much known i could probably drive it into the ground and get atleast 6 years 300k on it no problem

mspearl95

how do they get around the reconstructed title? I thought any time that insurance had to pay to repair a car, it resulted in a salvage/reconstructed title. It would be misleading to sell it with a clean title after an accident like that anyway.

ThumperPup

i asked them about that
they said because
The Car was not tottaled out they did not total it out an id id not buy it back at salvage price or anyting like that

they said only time it will ever get a rebuilt or salvage is if the cost of repairs go over the state value of 80% or more and if it is actually totaled out than bought back

bassicaly they are saying the cost of repairs have to reach about 14,000 for my car in the state of FL
or they have to have decided to total it out but since neither of those are the case than it does not get a rebuild or salvage