Total loss

abkdt41

abkdt41

Well-known member
Need some help dealing with the insurance company

Was in a recent fender bender that caused some damaged to the front passenger side of my car

I drove it home from work and had no issues

Took it to the collision centre and they declared it a total loss

What are my options at this stage?

Car only has 180,000 and runs great
I still have money owing to the finance company

Repair estimate is $8,000
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How the hell is there $8g's worth of damage?!! HA!
I think this is where I tell you to get a second opinion.....
 
Who's "they". The collision center on their own is not qualified to make that judgment. Did an adjuster from your insurance company look at it? Is that where the repair estimate came from? What's the killer line item on the repair estimate?

Is it an at-fault collision or was it someone else? If it's a single-vehicle collision you can probably just fix it on your own independently of insurance ... but the fact that you went to the collision reporting center suggests that there's more going on. If there is another party involved in the claim then there's going to be a claim on your policy no matter what.

From what's visible in the photo: Fender, bumper cover, headlamp assembly, hood. IF that's the extent of the damage - Fixable with parts from the junkyard. You should have the option of buying the car back from the insurance company (i.e. they give you what they think the car was worth before the collision minus what it's worth wrecked). It will probably have a salvage title at that point but talk to your insurance agent (one of my motorcycles was in a situation like that almost 10 years ago, and I still have it and it's clean-title). If that pays off your car loan then this might be a viable option. Even if it becomes a salvage-title but roadworthy vehicle, it isn't worth much with at least 7 years and 180k on it (which is why they're declaring it a writeoff). Usually you can't put collision coverage on a salvage-title vehicle, but it might not matter at this point.

The concern is that the front wheel may have taken a hit and bent suspension parts or the subframe.

Personally I'd make some rough measurements, e.g. with wheels straight ahead measure the clearance between the tire and the back of the front fender, or some symmetrical hard point underneath if you can get to it, and check that it's the same left to right. If it's measurably out of kilter at that point then she's toast. But if that's OK and it drives straight down the road and the steering wheel is still centered then a good alignment shop should be able to officially tell whether it's actually bent or not.
 
abkdt41 said:
Need some help dealing with the insurance company

Was in a recent fender bender that caused some damaged to the front passenger side of my car

I drove it home from work and had no issues

Took it to the collision centre and they declared it a total loss

What are my options at this stage?

Car only has 180,000 and runs great
I still have money owing to the finance company

Repair estimate is $8,000
0804fb7bd2eb510457f2c87efa00e12e.jpg


Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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IME, as soon as the hood has damage, repairs are ~$8000.

How much do you owe on the car and what is insurance offering you?

Using theoretical numbers, presumably the process is the same as a bike and they will give you $10,000 and they get the car or they give you $5,000 ($10,000 minus the salvage value of the car) and the car. The catch is, before you can get insurance on the car again, you need to show them that the damage has been repaired. Unless you are ridiculously underwater or have a friend that does body work for cheap, you are normally ahead to let the vehicle go.
 
IMO something sounds fishy. Quarter panel, bumper cover, headlight and hood plus labour and paint don't reach $8k especially on a vehicle that has been sold by the hundreds of thousands. There must be a ton of options for aftermarket parts. Of course, we can't see beyond that.
 
It was an at fault accident involving another vehicle so one of the reasons I decided to get my car fixed through insurance

Body panels that they want to replace on the vehicle include the hood, bumper, front grille, mud guard, and right fender

There is also damage to the suspension so the hub bearing and tie rod need to be fixed

The collision centre have already started the tear down :(

If they do offer me a buy back option, how much can I expect to pay?

Since it's mostly body damage would a regular safety after the repairs have been complete be sufficient to insure it for the road?

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Yeah, front wheel drives are bad news in a frontal collision. Likely a bent frame. Take the money and get something else.
 
Roadghost said:
Yeah, front wheel drives are bad news in a frontal collision. Likely a bent frame. Take the money and get something else.
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My daughter (17 years old) slid her car into a curb on the first crappy, slippery night back before xmas... Typical new driver mistake she had the wheels turned to enter a driveway/entrance started to slid, hit the brakes and... continued to slid (with wheels turned right).. Hit the curb.
To me it didn't look too bad, but damage to the A-arm on the drivers side was obvious. Body work behind the front drivers tire was buckled a bit causing the door to bind when opened/closed. Couldn't drive it as the wheels couldn't be steered.
Without taking anything off the car the adjuster was already at over $4500 to repair when he stopped and that was with using as many used parts as possible. Given the totality of the situation and the value of the car, a POS 2009Chevy Equinox... I didn't even bother putting in the claim.
The car went to the scrap heap.
In my case the car was certainly repairable... It just didn't make financial sense.
When it comes to ins. I think they write off a lot of cars purely from a money perspective.
I mean if the book value on a car is $5000 and it's going to cost $5001 to repair... It's a write off


*In another case... My brand new F150 was hit/side-swiped a few years ago...
It didn't "look" too bad, but... That impact eff'd up a lot of stuff. Vehicles are fragile
In the end... The bill was well North of $17k.
 
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Wow it's crazy how criminal the collision industry is. Even with the suspension damage, it wouldn't be difficult to keep this job under $1k DIY before paint. And if you're dilligent enough you could avoid paint all together if you scour the internet for the right color parts.
 
JTR said:
Wow it's crazy how criminal the collision industry is. Even with the suspension damage, it wouldn't be difficult to keep this job under $1k DIY before paint. And if you're dilligent enough you could avoid paint all together if you scour the internet for the right color parts.
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But how much is the time required to do that worth? He can't drive it until it is fixed now that insurance knows it is damaged. That means a rental car for weeks or more.

As an aside, you can find a fender, hood, headlight and bumper cover and replacement suspension parts for under 1K? That seems impossible.
 
Insurance would NEVER agree to a rental car for weeks. When my last vehicle was written off, they made to offer, to the finance company AS soon as that was accepted I had to return the rental. I said it has been two days, I haven't even found a replacement vehicle. I said even if I had it likely wouldn't be ready at dealership. Insurers reply was too bad, if yo keep rental past 5 pm today your paying for it!!!

The only time you get a rental for more than a couple of days is if the vehicle is being repaired.

GreyGhost said:
But how much is the time required to do that worth? He can't drive it until it is fixed now that insurance knows it is damaged. That means a rental car for weeks or more.

As an aside, you can find a fender, hood, headlight and bumper cover and replacement suspension parts for under 1K? That seems impossible.
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hedo2002 said:
Insurance would NEVER agree to a rental car for weeks. When my last vehicle was written off, they made to offer, to the finance company AS soon as that was accepted I had to return the rental. I said it has been two days, I haven't even found a replacement vehicle. I said even if I had it likely wouldn't be ready at dealership. Insurers reply was too bad, if yo keep rental past 5 pm today your paying for it!!!

The only time you get a rental for more than a couple of days is if the vehicle is being repaired.
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We are on the same page. I was just commenting that fixing this outside of insurance for $1000 likely involves some magical fairies. You likely aren't allowed to continue driving it until repaired (now that insurance has been notified) so you have to source, obtain and install all of the required parts while driving a rental vehicle that you are personally paying for.
 
People that always go to shops to get work done, have no idea what parts cost. I've always done my own repairs, so I know that I could have a fender for $50, bumper cover(grill attached to it) and foam reinforcement under $300, hood for under $200. Brand new tie rod kit(inner and outer, both sides) for $60. New hub bearing $40. Alignment $100. All of these parts are relatively easy to change and the whole job could be done in a driveway in decent weather or on a garage floor year round. Parts gathering could take a couple days, once started work could be finished within a day easily. Ofcourse this doesn't account for painting mismatched body panels. As an aside, if I was lucky enough to find the car I need at my cheap local yards I'd have all of the body parts in one day and pay $45 for the hood, $35 for the fender, $37 for the bumper cover and $22 for the foam reinforcement. Here's their price list.

Now obviously not everybody has the means to do their own repairs, that's how shops survive. This is just to show that the collision industry takes serious advantage of your insurance policy, and that's one of the things that drives rates through the roof. The estimate would have been quite a bit different if you tell the shop it's out of pocket. Now they may end up owning the car. First they give you a ballpark estimate and say they won't know for sure until they take it apart. Once you agree to letting them disassemble the car, it's a hostage. If insurance agrees to the final estimate, then they'll fix it and give it back with the repair bill paid. If the insurance company doesn't like the estimate, too bad they have the car and it's in pieces and racking up storage fees for every day that 's been in their possession. So maybe now we're at the point where the car might have been fixed cheaper elsewhere, but it could cost a couple thousand dollars just to get it out of that shop. So they'll write it off, then maybe they pay the storage bill and send it to auction, or they relinquish the car to the body shop who then sends it to auction or flips it themselves.

Whenever you have a collision with a car that you want to keep for whatever reason, ALWAYS take it home. Let the adjuster come to you(they do that).
 
JTR said:
People that always go to shops to get work done, have no idea what parts cost. I've always done my own repairs, so I know that I could have a fender for $50, bumper cover(grill attached to it) and foam reinforcement under $300, hood for under $200. Brand new tie rod kit(inner and outer, both sides) for $60. New hub bearing $40. Alignment $100. All of these parts are relatively easy to change and the whole job could be done in a driveway in decent weather or on a garage floor year round. Parts gathering could take a couple days, once started work could be finished within a day easily. Ofcourse this doesn't account for painting mismatched body panels. As an aside, if I was lucky enough to find the car I need at my cheap local yards I'd have all of the body parts in one day and pay $45 for the hood, $35 for the fender, $37 for the bumper cover and $22 for the foam reinforcement. Here's their price list.
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Thanks. Those prices are much cheaper than when I looked in the past. When I looked before, junkyards were roughly trying to charge MSRP/2 (so roughly 5 to 10x the price of picnsave.)
 
They're becoming more competitive, especially in a global marketplace. car-part.com is another resource I use, that indexes the inventories of every yard in north america that's connected to it.
 
It is a very expensive learned
My thought process was if there is already a claim going on my file might as well try to get my car fixed
Didnt realize it would end costing so much

Thanks for the websites... I'll look tomorrow to get an idea of what the the car parts are worth

I really wish I could hit the reset button and get my car back without notifying the insurance

Does anyone know how much the buy back price is or how they calculate it?

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abkdt41 said:
It is a very expensive learned
My thought process was if there is already a claim going on my file might as well try to get my car fixed
Didnt realize it would end costing so much

Thanks for the websites... I'll look tomorrow to get an idea of what the the car parts are worth

I really wish I could hit the reset button and get my car back without notifying the insurance

Does anyone know how much the buy back price is or how they calculate it?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

In my case, a few buyers looked at the vehicle and bid on it, the insurance company presented the highest bid as the salvage value. On something common like a civic, they probably have enough data to calculate the salvage value without outside consultation.
 
You car is just a file to the insurance company. From their end, they are looking at their options and taking the least cost route:

1) Pay $8000 to fix the car - total cost $8k
2) Write off the car, pay you out, then recover 1/2 at auction. Worst case $8k payout less $4k recovered at auction = $4K .

My guess is the payout is less than $8K which makes the decision even easier for the insurance company.
 
Roadghost said:
Yeah, front wheel drives are bad news in a frontal collision. Likely a bent frame. Take the money and get something else.
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This is the issue: Is the "frame" bent?
This car doesn't really have a "frame", it is "unitized construction" made from components that cannot be straightened or replaced. If ANY of those components are compromised the car is a write off.

They are making "A" pillars out of 0.050" steel that is preheated before it goes into the die to get the right shape, creating a very light sturdy piece that is also quite brittle.
Good fuel mileage, but you can't fix 'em.
 
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