About a week ago my car was hit in a parking lot. No one was hurt, i was hit by a car going maybe 15 miles an hour. But there's a decent amount of body damage to my car as well as some suspension issues.
Now I have an old car. It's a 93 Volkswagon Fox. It's got a lot of miles on it and not in the best condition. So, my problem is that the damages on the car totaled up to about $1900 which is actually more than the car is worth book value. So the other person's insurance company deamed the car totaled and is offering me a settlement of $1100.
This sucks. Cause basically the utility value of having my car in working condition is way more than the monetary value of the car.
As far as I know I only have two options. Take the settlement and try to find a replacement car for $1100! or i can take the settlement, minus the salvage value(about $100), and keep the car and try to fix it with that money. Which i obviously can't do.
Has anyone ever gone through this? Does anyone know what I can do to not get screwed out of a car and left without the means to get another one?
I mean technically it's the insurance companies responsibility to compensate me to the value the car was before it was damage, but realistically, that amount of money is worthless without a running vehicle. Any suggestions? Or am I screwed?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
dude, you got screwed.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Did they offer you a rental car. My car got totalled and they gave me a rental car.
I actually cheated the system on the price of my car. My cars actual worth was 1,000 dollars, but they gave me 2200 for it (the ammount of damage was 2300).
You can try to barter with them saying that 1100 is not enough, and all that jazz.
But thats just my input, and it's not very good.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
it's a local insurance company and they sort of suck i think. they would only give me a discount on a rental car.
i did read on a website that something i can try is telling them to try to find the same model car for the price they're offering me. Some guy did it and ended up getting a higher settlement when the company realized they couldn't get him the same car for anywhere near that price.
Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :
About 5 years ago---my stepfather was rear-ended at a traffic light. The truck--a 1983 VW Rabbit truck...had about $1200 damage to it. The thing was worth about $700-$900, so my parents settled with the insurance company. He still drives it, even with the smashed rear. It's also been hit 2 more times since then.
I really don't know what to tell you--It depends on how badly the thing is damaged (I hit a deer in May, which if I went to the insurance company, they would have told me it was totaled, but I didn't go that route). You may still be able to drive it.
If it's so badly damaged, driving it would cause more damage (ie---wore out tires, risking loss of a wheel because of damaged wheel bering or rotor), maybe you should think about getting another car....or doing all the work yourself to fix it (junkyards are your friend).I see a lot of Foxes in "boneyards," so finding parts shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I'm sorry I couldn't help you more.
Posted by fiazko (Member # 5812) on :
i managed to total two cars in a month (my roommate's and my own, neither of which was my fault). granted, i drove a metro, but i was able to find another metro (stupid stupid stupid) for no more than the insurance gave me. i can't remember how my roommate made out money-wise, but she went from an old celebrity to an old volvo. basically, if you look for a used car from a private owner as opposed to a dealer, it's possible to find a good deal on a decent car. definitely make sure the new car doesn't need any or much work. i made the mistake of letting my mostly deaf mother find the second metro. i asked her specifically if it made any funny noises, and she said no, so i okayed the buy. that car was crap from the get go, and i had to put way too much money in it for the six months i had it.
anyway, sorry about the accident, but you do have options. good luck.
Posted by Ethics Gradient (Member # 878) on :
Yeah, make the insurance company find another car at the amount they're offering...
...Or you could threaten the driver of the other car with legal action and get THEM to cough up the difference.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
Have you even tried driving it since the accident? Would you get pulled over by cops a lot because of the noticeable damage?
You should definitely tell them to find you a car the same value. Just do it. the worst that could happen is it could just not work. The best that could happen...Fox Deux!
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
I think I speak for Kira's subconscious when I say this: Forget the Fox! Get a car with a backseat! Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
LMAO
that's great, Eddie.
Greg, you know you can't get rid of the Fox until he's christened. Promise me.
Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :
Strider, you live in NJ, right? When my car got totaled there, the insurance company told me that they use "fair market value" to determine the amount of the settlement. I'm not sure of everything that goes into the calculations, but they offered us a settlement at least partly based on the cost of a similar vehicle for sale within a 50 mile radius of our residence, and gave us extra on top of that for low mileage...until the Husband slipped and said "Hey wait a minute, that's not 60k miles, that's 160k miles!"
The claims adjuster also told us that if we could find a similar car for sale for more, they would take that into consideration. So perhaps instead of telling them to find proof of your car's market value, you could do some digging and find a number more in your best interest, since the insurance company is naturally going to go with the lowest price they can find.
Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
Like all situations, this reminds me of The Big Lebowski. You know, the dude never gave up on his car, even though 1) It was crashed into a tree after a money drop went awry 2) Stolen by a high school kid and destroyed even further, and 3) The windows were smashed by a crazy fat bastard.
But alas, in the end, it was set on fire by a trio of crazy German nihilists.
In the words of Walter, "F--- it dude, let's go bowling."
Posted by Lime (Member # 1707) on :
My roommate totaled my car last summer... it was an '85 Camry with 120k miles on it and was in perfect condition. My insurance company gave me $1400 - of course, I wasn't able to find a car that would match the old Camry. I got an '88 Accord for $900, and it's a miserable POS. The transmission misses and grinds, the brakes suck, the body is almost rusted out, and the entire power steering system leaks (I dump about 3 bottles of fluid in a week to make it work). And just yesterday, I broke the plastic lever that opens the hood.
Good luck, Strider. I don't know what's best for you at this point, but if you choose to get a different car, I hope you can nurse it through until you can get a newer vehicle.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
You got three bids on the repair work, I assume? I think the insurance company would require that, but in case they didn't you may want to. Unless it has to be towed. Shops may also inflate bids on insurance stuff. I don't know how it would be in Jersey (which is why I don't live there) but here I know a little shop that is really reasonable.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
thanks everyone, i'll update you if anything interesting happens.
Fitz...you made my day.
Posted by pwiscombe (Member # 181) on :
I ran into the same low-balling problem when my car was totaled several years. They were offering me half of the blue book value based on two classified ads in a city 600 miles from mine.
They were using a company called CCC that provides the estimates to the insurance companies as to what a car is worth.
quote: Part of CCC's method involves sending Field Inventory Representatives to car dealerships nationwide and obtaining not the asking price, but the lowest possible price that the dealer would "take" for the vehicle. Consumers whose settlements are based on a valuation method based on the "take" price could find a sizable gap between what they receive for a totaled vehicle and what they need to replace it. (article here)
A second method CCC uses is to search local newspapers and trade magazines for auto prices, inputting its findings into the database. However, the newspaper and magazine ads can be incomplete, claims Ryan. The vehicle's history is unknown and the mileage and actual vehicle condition are unconfirmed. What's more, CCC will not use all vehicles found in advertisements as part of its database. According to Ryan, in one case, 10 trucks were found to be comparable to a policyholder's totaled vehicle. However, only two of the 10 trucks were used in setting the take price, and those two were the lowest-priced vehicles. Ryan subpoenaed CCC's worksheet on his client's claim to discover this.(article here)
It was this second "method" that got me. They were able to "prove" that the value of my car was $3500 even though identical cars (year, mileage, etc) were available at three local dealers for between $6900 and $8800. There is some more information about this scam by the insurance companies here: http://www.jl-site.com/TotalLoss/WhatToDo.html
[ November 12, 2003, 04:27 PM: Message edited by: pwiscombe ]
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
I very nearly had my Jeep totaled out last year, thanks to a very high estimate by the insurance company's preferred repair shop. I ended up taking to a different one who does better work cheaper, narrowly avoiding having to get 2 new cars at the same time.
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
Went through it. Got screwed. Got tempted to buy another 1991 Toyota Corolla Wagon for $1000, and call it even. Didn't.
So, I'm driving the 1993 Didge Caravan from hell, and my wife's driving the gently used 1998 Toyota Sienna minivan we got as the replacement.
Do note, however: the wife always gets the newer/nicer car. I think it's written in the insurance policy.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
My wife deserved it this time - replacing her unreliable 86 Ford Tempo with the rusted-through floor took priority over my super reliable 91 Jeep. I did try to pull that off - she always said she liked driving the Jeep - but it didn't work.
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