Frosty288

So the preliminary report from my insurance is that my car is considered a 'total loss'.

Here's the long story short - 95 degrees about two weeks ago, temperature dropped to 70 in about 10 minutes, rained harder then the lord holy jesus. It started to let up, and when I accelerated, the rear end got loose and that was it. Hit a steel guard rail and no more front bumper. Turns out I had next to NO tread on the tires due to a horrible alignment, that I had gotten fixed about a week prior. Ah, unlucky me..

So I assessed the damage, car was and IS still driveable, I drove it the other day just to recharge the battery and get everything lubed up. There is no mechanical damage, though the passenger side oil cooler got banged up. What had happened was, the front of the car hit the rail at maybe a 140-150 degree angle, and it hit a nice spot on the guard rail (really, just really thick steel cables) and pulled the bumper under the wheel. No damage to the headlights or hood.

So I lost the entire front bumper, but the headlights, hood, and everything behind was fine. The rear bumper right by the tire on the passenger side was a little messed up, and the front fender can either be fixed or replaced. Probably cheaper to replace (250ish dollars from Mazda) and paint. The undertray, fender liner, and front right wheel need to be replaced as well. I counted about, $3600 in parts (only because the nickle and diming for the front end is a little ridiculous. FYI, the $3600 estimate is based on OEM Mazda prices). The car has 83k miles, and every option available for the 8, minus the appearance package. Also there are paint scuffs along both doors on the very bottom.

Market value for this car suggests about 9-10k. Paintwork I would expect to be about 1500, so let's say 5k. Even though I and others can paint the car myself, so I wouldn't consider taking it to a shop. Like I said, drives fine. But my insurance company is viewing this as a total loss? I don't understand how 5k dollars worth of damage (let's say if I WERE to take it to a shop) equals KBB value of 8800, or market value of 9-10k.

Is there anything I can do to have my insurance avoid declaring it totaled? I had talked to my insurance company about having me fix the car and having paint taken care of independently and it sounded like that was fine, in which case I could repair the car for 4k or less, and then some. Unfortunately, it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of the person handling my claim at the insurance company and waiting for a response is absolutely agonizing. I JUST boosted the car and i've been working towards this almost ever since I bought it, less then a year ago.

I've never been in an accident, much less totaled a car - so any information is valuable!!

EDZRIDE

iTrader: (1)

One possibility is buying back the car after they total it.

ken-x8

If they total it, you should get retail value plus sales tax. Research that value as well as you can. They base totaling on the economics, including salvage. The difference between what you think repairs would be and book value is mostly salvage value.

What Ed says is usually the case. You might be able to do one transaction, getting the settlement less salvage value.

Think long and hard about rebuilding a wreck.

Ken

StacyT

Usually if the damage to the vehicle is equal to 50% of the KBB value then the insurance will total the vehicle. Only thing you can really do is get the appraisal for repair below that number. IMO it's not worth buying it back because it will have a salvaged title.

hollistar_4

i worked at a body shop in MN, its different everywhere, but in MN insurance will total out a vehicle if the damage amount(the amount in parts, material, labor, etc.) is more than 70% of the total value of the car(what its worth, not sure what they use to figure it out) so that being said, reason they are totaling it out is cause they are going off of what it would cost at the shop, im sure if you fix it they shouldnt(doesnt mean they still wont) total it out, and you will be safe, i have a salvage vehicle, and mechanical works great, and nothings bent(frame) or anything else, its a clean car, i would keep it if your in love with the car, at least then you know they history of when you owned it and whats been done to it,

sorry if this doesnt make sense lol, as i worked ALL night and am still up

Frosty288

It's okay guys I appreciate it.

From what I can read in VA, a car is 'totaled' when the cost of repairs etc are over %75 of the market value of the car. I can't seem to find my car below $9k. For $4k in repairs, the car would have to be worth only 5400 dollars or so, which is beans, considering it's a fully loaded GT and in great condition.

I'm trying to decide if my insurance is trying screw me or not

laythor

let them total the car.

First you come up with a number they're going to give you as a check. DO NOT tell them you want to keep your car.

This can take awhile because they'll low ball you. Just figure out what number you can live with and wait till they hit it.

Once you have reached that number, then tell them you want to buy back the totaled car from them. This will involve another round of "what is the car worth", they should let it go for fairly cheap.

You will, at the end of this, end up with:

1. a car that has a salvaged title, kills the resale but you're basically getting that now in the form of...
2. a check from the insurance company for the difference between your salvaged car and what they were going to pay out in the beginning
3. Money for parts to repair the car and since you are going to be painting yourself you've now saved that cash for your pocket.


If the money you have left over from what it will cost to repair is enough to make you happy, then let them total it and buy the car back. If anywhere along the way you see the money you'll have left over become to small, just cancel the deal and go another route.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

Recently had to go through the process of finding that information. There's a fair amount of information on this kind of stuff online if you search around. I don't particularly remember any one source though.

As you've already found, it varies by state laws, but also by the insurance companies policy. They should tell you what the percentage is and they should be nice enough to at least give you an idea of what that means for you as far as compensation etc.

If I remember correctly, you can choose to have the car repaired even if they do declare it a total loss in some cases, though that might also vary by state. You can have it brought to a shop to have someone else appraise it as well.

What year and mileage is the car? If you have a 2004 and even remotely high miles, you might be surprised at how low the value can get.

zoom44

i had a car stolen once that was stripped to the bone. insurance company paid more than I owed AND more than it was worth to repair it because there was no frame damage- just missing parts.



did they give you cost estimate on the repairs AND the value they gave the car? they have to give you that before you accept.

zoom44

i had a car stolen once that was stripped to the bone. insurance company paid more than I owed AND more than it was worth to repair it because there was no frame damage- just missing parts.



did they give you cost estimate on the repairs AND the value they gave the car? they have to give you that before you accept.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

A mod double posting?!?! This is bigger than watergate!

So does that little safety thing built into the forum not stop a mod from making the same post within whatever time period it's set to?

ken-x8

Does your estimate of repair include labor? In your original post, other than paint, you seem to be just adding up parts cost.

If it's totaled and the insurance company does not cover the value of your additions (turbo, etc.), you'd be removing it all since it's yours. Could be less work to take it off the wreck and install it on your replacement 8 than to do all that body work.

Ken

zoom44

yeah i double posted

what?

Frosty288

Well apparently it's been declared a total loss, and I only learned this because my parents got a message on my home phone (I don't even live there). I guess we'll see what the next 30 minutes holds..Got a lot of discussion to go over.

Arhg......Someones gunna get punched.

I still owe like 11 on the car.

EDZRIDE

iTrader: (1)

Looks like you should remove your mods before they take the car.

cjkim

post some pictures. I can run it through CCC to give you an idea

cjkim

btw, my 2004 with 72k miles was totaled for 14.5k in November 2009.
But they rated my car's condition as "excellent" for most categories.

It was GT, appearance package, no navi.


I know you tried to assess the damage yourself, but unless you know what to look for, it's kind of hard to say whether or not your assessment holds any water.

Frosty288

So, Got the final word today.

Car is NOT totaled, and they're sending me and my leinholder a check for $6200 to fix it.

Krazed_Rx8

iTrader: (5)

Good to hear! I see a lot of new mods coming your way

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (3)

Anytime you have an issue like this you can take it to a different body shop, and tel them to estimate it a little "under" because you dont want it totalled (or vice versa the other way). Body shops can work the quote over or under a few hundred bucks as they see fit depending on which way you want it to go. And I've always been told 70-75% of wholesale value is what they go off of.