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The other gentleman was on his way home from work, we both had greens but he decided to sneak in a left turn at the last second. I slammed on the brakes, but still smacked him going ~25mph. His rear axle was the "ground zero" of the impact, so my car took most of the damage:
Any guesses on what the adjustors will say? It's a 2002, 123k mileage, KBB is ~$12k. The front bumper, hood, and both fenders were damaged. The car leaked all of its coolant onto the road, and it sputtered and died when I tried to move it out of the intersection.
Gee I feel your pain. It would seem in my opinion they will total it. I wish you good luck
I can't tell if your air bags deployed, but the other party's side bag did deploy. Your car has a lot of visible body damage and apparently some engine compartment damage. Judging the results of what is seen in the pictures your car will likely exceed damages you quoted to salvage it. Best of luck.
Been in the industry (insurance) for a really long time so best guess is that it's borderline. Helpful eh?
If it's worth 12K they'll go about 8-9K of damage before they total (different companies have different thresholds but 75% is about normal). Some companies will cut you some slack for a special or hard to replace car - but you have to be vocal about it. So if they tell you it came in at 9200 and they're totaling it give them grief. Remember, you had an operable and perfectly nice SC430 not just a car before the accident so you want an operable and perfectly nice SC430 afterwards. He's at fault and they're responsible for making you whole. Technically you could force them to pay 11,999 to fix it if that's what you want (their right to total his car at less than full value is in his contract with them, you don't have one - you have the right to be made whole).
If the airbags went on yours, it's bad - the dash, bags, etc are all very expensive and all by themselves can often exceed the value threshold. Your engine not running could be something simple like parts pushing into the fan & preventing the crank from turning or some electrical connections that got mangled. Or it could be worse - frame damage crushing critical components that will jack the price again.
Be prepared to argue with them about the value of the car. Have different listings from online (cars.com, etc) sales available. But, start looking for a replacement - if you find one with similar mileage, condition, price you might want to argue for a total decision so you can get it replaced - cars are not often the same after getting major damage fixed.
Your first reaction might be why the heck so much damage after a relatively benign crash but remember the car did exactly what it was designed to do - crumple so you wouldn't. Old days the car would have suffered a bent bumper, the hood, etc but otherwise been fine...you might have ended up in the hospital. The insurance companies much prefer paying you for the car than paying for your medical for anything serious. A trip to the hospital can easily cost 50K with injuries sustained from that kind of crash in a 1970 era Oldsmobile.
So sorry that this happened to you rapyoke. It is bad enough to have an accident normally but when it is a special car like the SC430, it hurts a little more. Best of luck to you resolving the issue.
I am glad you are ok. I had worse damage from a deer last year - broke the rt headlight and front and rt. side truck and roof had to be repaired. The hood, light and front supprt beams were replaced and the chassis was straightened. No damage to engine or radiator but all but the left side and rear bumper had to be painted. Cost was about $10.5k. Repair was slow but ended up great - I'd say 99%.
Call your insurance company as well - we had a car totaled a few years ago, when the other insurance company (other driver at fault) wouldn't pay what we wanted (they used this appraisal service, values were horrible) - we used our own company, paid NADA minus deductible. They got the $$ from the other company, then reimbursed our deductible.
Hope it springs in to a renewed life. What do you want? Whose fault was it? Hope you are well.
Thanks! Completely his fault, luckily the police report and numerous witnesses corroborate this (as now he's stating that I ran the red). I decided to bite the bullet and let my insurance company fix it and go after his- from experience a little while back, it's much better for peace-of-mind knowing that your car will be fixed/totaled and the insurance companies will deal with the rest.
Originally Posted by mandyfig
Just for your reference, this was mine 3 years ago...
But fortunately after $12K later, it is back to original!
Glad to hear it! I hear back from the adjuster tomorrow
10-13-14, 06:15 PM
Totaled or not?
