Well, it was bound to happen sometime I guess. After 3 beautiful years of accident free driving bliss, my car was hit.

On the drive home from work, I approach a T intersection with a stop sign. As I'm slowing down, I see a car coming on my left. I decide to stop and wait for it to pass. Right after coming to a complete stop, I took a momentary glance in my rear-view mirror, and see a gigantic SUV approaching fast behind me, with the driver looking off to the side, out of his driver's side window. In the fraction of a second it took him to slam into me, I remember thinking "wow I hope he brakes really soon..."

Well, here's the "after" pic.

So then he gets out of his SUV and yells at me "why'd you stop?"

Anyways, his insurance is assuming responsibility for the accident, like they should, and I'm waiting to hear back about the damage assessment. The claims adjuster thinks that it's going to be a close call whether they declare the car totaled or pay for repairs. KBB put the car's retail value at $11,000.

So here's my question(s).
1) If you had the choice of taking the money, or retaining the car and taking only the full payment - salvage value of the car (whatever that may be), what would you do?
2) It's approaching winter here, and I'd like something with AWD for the snow. I was thinking a Subaru WRX (non-sti) or Legacy GT. Has anyone driven one? I was also thinking about the IS250 awd, but it's too pricey for what you get.
3) How does it compare with the SC?

 

Damn that sucks to see

 

uhg. sorry to see that.

 

dump the sc once your car has salvage title its worthless and once the car is totalled its just not worth keeping but since i can see the car in person i'm not too sure on it being totalled but would be close

 

ouch man...those tails

 

if the damage comes all the way to the gastank... oh boy, most likely salvage but doesn't look like it'll be.
if its worth 11k on kbb, then i dont think it'll be salvaged.
keep us posted.

 

Ouch and i thought it was bad when i scraped my bumper

 

it shouldnt be that much to fix and nowhere near the totalled borderline.

since you are worried about the winter and all i would just have them give you a check for the car and get rid of it. go out and find an evo. 2004-2005 evo can be had for 20k. you can put down a really nice down payment. you will get a lot more of a tuner friendly platform that is fast out of the box. you can be at 350whp with exhaust, drop in filter (dont do intake, stock airbox is great), reflash, and 22psi. its also a lot cheaper to mod it. reliability with evos is not really a matter either. its not "just" a DSM.

i drove the legacy gt and its really nice. comfy and still quick

 

ble, that looks like it could be repaired just as long as there aren't any suspension or frame components that are damaged. How exstensive is the damage on the inside (trunk space)?

as for a winter car i would go look for an old two door Impreza or older legacy. My friend has an old legacy he uses for the winter, no mods justs keeps it up to date and likes it for what he uses it for. Not a ton of fun driving in the snow but reliable enough for him to keep.

good luck and hope the car doesn't bite the dust...

 

sorry to see this, depending on frame damage, damage relationship comparison to the gas tank, suspension, etc...it may be worth saving? I'm with cbrasian, if your SC gets a "salvage title" this will scare potential buyers should you decide to sell it in the future. Hmmmm, with the money-you could get you something AWD and still make some decent power, along with performance...WRXs are nice, but I think EVOs are a bit better-plus a little more room in the EVO. Your decision, compare to two:

WRX- smaller room, AWD, if built right-a dynamic rally car.
EVO-larger room, AWD, if built right-a street bruiser.

one last thing, look at reputable shops in your area and what they can work on there.

 

no necessarily a salvage title, usually those only come when the damage exceds the total value. and if the air bags didn't go off then you might be ok

 

damn- It doesnt look totaled though- alothough i cant really tell if the quarterpanel is dented from that shot- if it is on boths sides- it may be

 

Damn!, how's your neck!???

 

I'm feel just fine. As you can see my poor car took most of the punch.

 

Well, the insurance decided to total the car. I can either take $8,800 and run or $7,000 and keep the car. Right now I'm leaning towards keeping it.