SW17LS

Sorry to hear about the misfortune. You were having so much fun too, hopefully you can get back to having fun.

Just st look forward to your search. I would consider the 2013+, styling preferences aside there are a lot of upgrades, especially inside.

williakz

Does it make sense to anyone that a car with a few crunched suspension components would run 11 GRAND to repair? Surely there's a hulk rotting away somewhere with a blown engine but a perfectly good salvageable rear end. Some kid with a few grand to spend wouldn't take on that project to end up with a nice LS he could run for years? I just don't get this. We could use a bit more Cuban know-how in this country and a whole lot less of the BIC disposable mindset.

SW17LS

That's not how insurance companies work. Certainly you could buy the car back from the insurance company and repair it for far less than $11k, and somebody will. But I would much rather my insurance company total it and give me that option than force me to accept a used suspension off of a "hulk" in the back of a yard somewhere.

williakz

I guess it makes SOME kinda sense to fix 9-year old cars with brand new parts instead of 9-year old ones, but it makes no sense to me...

greg3852

If the insurance company authorized a repair with a used part that then failed and caused me injury, I would imagine that would cause them quite a lot of money.

But the reason it is a total loss is not only the cost of the repair, but also what the salvage value of the car is. They can sell the remaining vehicle for quite a bit of money. That coupled with the parts and repair costs doesn't make financial sense.

SW17LS

The issue for the insurance company is that they need to be able to insure the safety of the vehicle after the repair is made. it's that they don't want to have to continue to insure it after the work is done because of the potential damage to the suspension and frame of the car. Coupled with the additional economics involved like Greg mentioned above.

In any event, as a consumer I don't understand the desire to allow insurance companies to stick me with used salvage parts instead of totaling my vehicle and letting me decide whether to buy it back and repair it how I see fit.

williakz

So you can get a check for the FMV (less deductible) of the totaled car and THEN buy it for salvage price and fix it yourself? How would those numbers work? Check for $17k, buy for $6k ($17k less $11k), fix for $3k-$4k? Seems like you'd end up over $10k to the good. What am I missing here?

(You were happily riding on "salvage" parts before you crashed the car, right?)

teedub21

I'm still curious how you hit a curb and have this much damage. It looks like Tokyo drifting around a wet corner and sideways slide into a curb! Crazy damage.

SW17LS

Yes you can do that. Bear in mind you will now have a car with a salvage title, have to insure that, etc. It will also not be worth $17k when its repaired because it has a salvage title, so you're not really "to the good" necessarily.

You also don't know what goes into that $11k estimate. Is there frame damage? Is there damage to the unibody mounting points for the suspension components? Even if you used salvage parts to replace the damaged components that is likely not the extent of the damage with an estimate at $11k.

The parts in my car have not been involved in an accident, they have not been removed from a car and then reinstalled on another car, and I know their history, I don't know the history of salvage components.

You've paid a lot of money for insurance in your life, why you would want your insurance company to force you to accept used salvage suspension components vs new, or vs totaling out your car is beyond me...

williakz

The current insurance system works for you and for me. It no longer functions effectively and efficiently work for the growing masses who can no longer afford full damage and liability insurance. I'm curious how the system will survive ever higher premiums levied on ever fewer people in "papering over" more sensible (read cheaper and more universal) modes of damage recovery. It seems to me the domestic market for salvage parts is likely crippled by the current system. Who are the buyers for parts from totaled vehicles, and what is their purpose in doing so? I suspect such parts are largely cycled out of our system entirely and into ones that operate more on the "Cuban model" elsewhere in the world. Does anyone know how the high(er) end salvage market operates?

SW17LS

Did I miss the headlines about the car insurance crisis in this country? If you can afford a car that is nice enough and new enough to worry about full coverage, you can afford to buy car insurance.

Car insurance companies are doing fine, and my premiums have been pretty consistent over the last 7-8 years or so.

Insurance companies pinching pennies doesn't benefit us. If they thought they could save money by using salvage parts in a situation like this, they would do so. You can trust that the insurance company chose the path that cost them the least. We don't even know, the $11k estimate may very well have included using salvage parts.

greg3852

Only way I'm driving around in a car with salvage parts in it is if something broke and I go buy the parts. I pay a lot of money to the insurance company to allow them to use OEM parts to repair a vehicle. No way am I giving them all this money every year for used parts.

As for the car, I'm sure the amount to repair it at a regular mechanic would be quite lower. I took it to a dealership in Vegas. I'm sure that has a lot to do with the high estimate which is actually good for me. If there is so much damage how am I to know the car would ever be right? I'd rather be done with it and get another.

No tokyo drifting. It hit a rather high curb and broke the aluminum control arms which appears to have damaged the shock. Not sure but I can tell you it did.

williakz

Agree on the money you pay for insurance. Question: would you accept guaranteed salvage repair parts for a significant reduction in your collision and comprehensive premiums? You're paying for your vehicle to be made BETTER than it was when the damage occurred; that costs extra, I guess. What if you're only interested in replacing what you had? Funny that no options exist for that.

Like you say, who wants USED parts on a USED car?

You realize you WERE "driving around in a car with salvage parts in it" right up until the point you trashed them, yes? Just prior to the crunch, those same right rear aluminum control arms and shock were 9-year old parts which had seen constant use, just like the same parts in 2007 LS460 that was flooded out in Louisiana last week or one in Texas that had an engine fire or one in Virginia that was stolen, joy-ridden, then stripped of its wheels, airbags, cats, stereo and then torched.

SW17LS

Again, this is not the case. The parts in his car were not from a vehicle that had been involved in a serious accident, they were not removed from that car and reinstalled in another car.

Theres a difference between driving a used car and driving a car with a salvage title. If you're so keen for the savings, instead of buying a new car next time why not buy a used car with a salvage title, rebuild it and pocket your savings?

Fact is insurance companies try to use and do use salvage parts all the time. If you get an estimate from an insurance company and you read through it, almost always it calls for the use of salvage parts and aftermarket replacement parts. Good shops and informed owners insist on OEM new parts and sometimes it takes some back and forth but they typically relent. My business partner just had a $6k repair to his 2015 GS350, the estimate included aftermarket parts and the shop pushed for new OEM and was successful.

There are riders out there from various insurance companies that guarantee new OEM replacement parts you can purchase, but even without those riders you can get the insurance company to spring for new OEM.

And where the car was makes no difference in the shop's decision to total or not. The insurance company came out to the dealer and did a damage assessment, the dealer did not provide the insurance company a quote. Wouldn't have made a difference where you took it.

williakz

I still don't get the distinction you're making on used vs. salvage. What is wrong with the OP's now "salvage" engine due to his right rear kissing a curb? Or his NAV system, Levinson amp, driver's seat, front rotors, etc., etc.?

I've seen the aftermarket parts clauses in insurance policies (and successfully fought them!); I've never seen salvage parts mentioned, and I've never heard of any dealer or collision shop using them on insurance work. Are you sure their use is widespread (and legal)?