Accident: totaled decision & new car timing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy a new car instantly unless your plan is to pay whatever one dealer asks. It'll take a little time to gather quotes from multiple dealers, which is the way to get a good price. You may also want to expand your universe of potential replacement vehicles, as some brands and models will represent better deals. But, if you're set on a used Volvo and find one you like at a price which seems reasonable, go for it.

She needs to be doing the shopping now because once it's officially totaled the clock starts running on the rental car from insurance.

wrong, if she is not at fault the offender must pay the rental and then when that's exhausted her rental benefit kicks in.

[Anonymous]

I would wait until Monday. I don’t think it is likely to be totalled, it is not that old and damages from rear ended accidents are usually not that bad. Go on one of car buying sites like cars.com and check what cars like yours are selling for. That is what your insurance company is going to do on Monday. They are going to look how much it would cost for you to replace the car, if you buy a similar one from a dealer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a "salvage title" if the scamsurance company wants to total it, and fix it enough to be drivable and use it as a spare, commuter, backup vehicle.

when our car was totalled we went to a few places to sell it for salvage and it wasn't worth it vs the insurance payout. cashforcars offered 4k and insurance offered 19k

I didn't say sell it for scrap, I said get a "salvage title" what is what you get at the tax office when you register a vehicle that was officially "totaled" but still legally drivable or has been repaired.

Completely different scenario.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a "salvage title" if the scamsurance company wants to total it, and fix it enough to be drivable and use it as a spare, commuter, backup vehicle.

if you live in Virginia, prepare for a potential FOUR MONTH wait for your car to be street legal unless your car is, or will be, paid in full. The salvage office needs a title to create . . a new title. You can't drive the car until you get it

"Legally" but who would know unless you advertise. Also, it could take any repairs a month or two be scheduled, so sorta moot point, but good to get the ball rolling if they are that bad at it. Typical VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a "salvage title" if the scamsurance company wants to total it, and fix it enough to be drivable and use it as a spare, commuter, backup vehicle.

if you live in Virginia, prepare for a potential FOUR MONTH wait for your car to be street legal unless your car is, or will be, paid in full. The salvage office needs a title to create . . a new title. You can't drive the car until you get it

"Legally" but who would know unless you advertise. Also, it could take any repairs a month or two be scheduled, so sorta moot point, but good to get the ball rolling if they are that bad at it. Typical VA.

If you drive an illegal car, your insurance will not cover you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy a new car instantly unless your plan is to pay whatever one dealer asks. It'll take a little time to gather quotes from multiple dealers, which is the way to get a good price. You may also want to expand your universe of potential replacement vehicles, as some brands and models will represent better deals. But, if you're set on a used Volvo and find one you like at a price which seems reasonable, go for it.

She needs to be doing the shopping now because once it's officially totaled the clock starts running on the rental car from insurance.

wrong, if she is not at fault the offender must pay the rental and then when that's exhausted her rental benefit kicks in.

I wrote that from experience with multiple totaled cars with both sides at fault on different ones. No one's going to fund the rental more than a few days past when they officially total it because then she's going to have the money to buy the car so she has no more need for a rental. OP is wise to figure out what car she wants now so she can buy it as soon as it's official, assuming it does get totaled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a "salvage title" if the scamsurance company wants to total it, and fix it enough to be drivable and use it as a spare, commuter, backup vehicle.

when our car was totalled we went to a few places to sell it for salvage and it wasn't worth it vs the insurance payout. cashforcars offered 4k and insurance offered 19k

I didn't say sell it for scrap, I said get a "salvage title" what is what you get at the tax office when you register a vehicle that was officially "totaled" but still legally drivable or has been repaired.

Completely different scenario.

Cost wise it may not be worth fixing. Our older car wasn't worth fixing and a safety expert advised us against it as given the repairs they could never guarentee it would be as safe as it was prior to the accident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy a new car instantly unless your plan is to pay whatever one dealer asks. It'll take a little time to gather quotes from multiple dealers, which is the way to get a good price. You may also want to expand your universe of potential replacement vehicles, as some brands and models will represent better deals. But, if you're set on a used Volvo and find one you like at a price which seems reasonable, go for it.

She needs to be doing the shopping now because once it's officially totaled the clock starts running on the rental car from insurance.

wrong, if she is not at fault the offender must pay the rental and then when that's exhausted her rental benefit kicks in.

I wrote that from experience with multiple totaled cars with both sides at fault on different ones. No one's going to fund the rental more than a few days past when they officially total it because then she's going to have the money to buy the car so she has no more need for a rental. OP is wise to figure out what car she wants now so she can buy it as soon as it's official, assuming it does get totaled.

We got $5K for a really good older car that had zero issues. We couldn't afford to replace it with that amount. No car came close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy a new car instantly unless your plan is to pay whatever one dealer asks. It'll take a little time to gather quotes from multiple dealers, which is the way to get a good price. You may also want to expand your universe of potential replacement vehicles, as some brands and models will represent better deals. But, if you're set on a used Volvo and find one you like at a price which seems reasonable, go for it.

She needs to be doing the shopping now because once it's officially totaled the clock starts running on the rental car from insurance.

wrong, if she is not at fault the offender must pay the rental and then when that's exhausted her rental benefit kicks in.

I wrote that from experience with multiple totaled cars with both sides at fault on different ones. No one's going to fund the rental more than a few days past when they officially total it because then she's going to have the money to buy the car so she has no more need for a rental. OP is wise to figure out what car she wants now so she can buy it as soon as it's official, assuming it does get totaled.

We got $5K for a really good older car that had zero issues. We couldn't afford to replace it with that amount. No car came close.

That has nothing to do with my post. She has a ten year old car, she's definitely not getting enough money to buy a similar model new/CPO car like she's planning to buy. The point is, if she relies on having a car, she's going to have to buy it in a very short timeframe after insurance decides to cut their check. Therefore she should research what car she wants now, which it sounds like is what she is trying to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a "salvage title" if the scamsurance company wants to total it, and fix it enough to be drivable and use it as a spare, commuter, backup vehicle.

when our car was totalled we went to a few places to sell it for salvage and it wasn't worth it vs the insurance payout. cashforcars offered 4k and insurance offered 19k

I didn't say sell it for scrap, I said get a "salvage title" what is what you get at the tax office when you register a vehicle that was officially "totaled" but still legally drivable or has been repaired.

Completely different scenario.

Cost wise it may not be worth fixing. Our older car wasn't worth fixing and a safety expert advised us against it as given the repairs they could never guarentee it would be as safe as it was prior to the accident.

LMAO. I want that job. "Imma safety expert!"

Levity aside, it varies. The point was don't overpay to fix it at a detail body shop, as they strive to return to factory like condition. Which is why most small accidents result in a "totaled" sticker, not because the car is unsafe, but because the bodywork is outragiously overpriced. A facny multi thousand dollar paint and body work job is not needed for a driver vehicle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a "salvage title" if the scamsurance company wants to total it, and fix it enough to be drivable and use it as a spare, commuter, backup vehicle.

if you live in Virginia, prepare for a potential FOUR MONTH wait for your car to be street legal unless your car is, or will be, paid in full. The salvage office needs a title to create . . a new title. You can't drive the car until you get it

"Legally" but who would know unless you advertise. Also, it could take any repairs a month or two be scheduled, so sorta moot point, but good to get the ball rolling if they are that bad at it. Typical VA.

If you drive an illegal car, your insurance will not cover you

No such thing exists. Only illegal operation of a vehicle.

[Anonymous]

If you’re in Virginia, NADA is used, not KBB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a "salvage title" if the scamsurance company wants to total it, and fix it enough to be drivable and use it as a spare, commuter, backup vehicle.

Bad advice. You can’t get insurance for salvage titles in this area (at least not in MoCo).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here; thank you for the advice! For KBB, I assume the insurance company would try to use the trade-in value as their anchor (vs private party, which is a higher estimate)? Just trying to set my own expectations and try to be conservative when pulling forward the car budget.

They need to give you the amount for you to buy the same car, so trade-in value isn't good enough because you can't buy it for that.

Get the valuation report and make sure they have all of your packages and options reflected correctly. You can also submit receipts for recent repairs. They should pay for tax, tags, and registration on top.

That is only if you have replacement value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here; thank you for the advice! For KBB, I assume the insurance company would try to use the trade-in value as their anchor (vs private party, which is a higher estimate)? Just trying to set my own expectations and try to be conservative when pulling forward the car budget.

They need to give you the amount for you to buy the same car, so trade-in value isn't good enough because you can't buy it for that.

Get the valuation report and make sure they have all of your packages and options reflected correctly. You can also submit receipts for recent repairs. They should pay for tax, tags, and registration on top.

That is only if you have replacement value.

No, it's not in Virginia. I'm talking about the value of replacing the car you have. In a first party claim in Virginia the insurer has to pay taxes, tags, and registration. So if the car is worth $10k, they'd pay you the amount of sales tax on $10k and the amount to get tags and registration for a car. For a third party claim it apparently depends on whether the policy says they have to.

Might be different in Maryland or DC.

Also by "same car" I mean same car, so for instance a 2015 Volvo V60 with 100,000 miles on it if that's OP's mileage and all the same features and packages. Now, they might have to model the value or estimate how much higher (lower) mileage decreases (increases) the value if there are no same model/page/year/mileage/condition cars for sale locally, but that's why you need to look at the valuation report to see if you're receiving what the car is worth.

I've gotten more money for submitting receipts and correcting the vehicle package and features. You can also try to find better comps. It's negotiable and as long as you have reasonable support they will probably agree to close your case.

Oh, also, get paid for the car seats if you had any in there.