Car Advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the currnet Blue Book value of the car (if it wasn't smashed up)?

I need to look it up but I honestly expect it will be like $0. I own a 2000 Mazda protege ES.

It takes less than 2 minutes. Look it up, post the value, and also tell me how many body panels are damaged and I"ll tell you if they will total it or not.

Usually a sideswipe is at least 3 -- both doors on that side, and the quarter panel before/after the doors.

Trade in value says between $58 - $659. From what i can tell two doors need replacing and the mirror.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A car that old is probably worth less than the cost to paint it so don’t count on them repairing it. File a police report, make a claim against uninsured motorists and expect them to tota the car.

Op here - that is my fear. Sigh. I filed the police report this afternoon. I expect statefarm will be in touch on Monday to start the assessment process. Do you think they will even send me to a garage or just call it totaled right off the bat.

If it’s not drievable the adjuster will come out to appraise, and yes they can total it without sending it to a shop.

It drives just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the likelihood that insurance will not want to repair it given how old it is and just total it? It's not a fancy car so I recognize that it's worth pretty much nothing at this point to anyone other than myself.

Kind of a tangent, but why do you have anything other than liability on a nineteen-year-old car?

Dropping to just liability is one of the areas where you can really save money by driving an older, lower-value car.

You're probably looking at around $100 a month difference for a small car in leasing versus buying, if you buy on a five-year term, with comparable money down for either option.

[Anonymous]

Op - sometimes, you can convince the insurance company to let you keep the car if they total it. It involves a restricted title, so you can’t sell it. Not entirely sure how it works, but a family member did it. May be an option if it’s driveable and you don’t care about cosmetics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the likelihood that insurance will not want to repair it given how old it is and just total it? It's not a fancy car so I recognize that it's worth pretty much nothing at this point to anyone other than myself.

Kind of a tangent, but why do you have anything other than liability on a nineteen-year-old car?

Dropping to just liability is one of the areas where you can really save money by driving an older, lower-value car.

You're probably looking at around $100 a month difference for a small car in leasing versus buying, if you buy on a five-year term, with comparable money down for either option.

Op here - I was just thinking a long those lines today. Why am I paying so much in insurance costs if my car is worth nothing. I will look into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - sometimes, you can convince the insurance company to let you keep the car if they total it. It involves a restricted title, so you can’t sell it. Not entirely sure how it works, but a family member did it. May be an option if it’s driveable and you don’t care about cosmetics.

Op here. I will look into it. I was ok driving an old rusty car for years but not sure how comfortable I am driving with the doors smashed in. I'm going to take it to the body shop next week just to see how much it would cost to repair the doors.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if you could find spare doors at a junkyard? If you could, that would probably be much cheaper than fixing the current smashed in doors. The junkyard doors could be painted to match the rest of the car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy a brand new Chevy Spark or Cruze for about $17k. Your payments will be under $200/month:

https://www.koonschevybuickgmc.com/new-inventory/index.htm?make=Chevrolet&model=Spark

Parts are cheap, and the cars are solid (in particular the Cruze). They sell at a loss because they help pump up GM's average fuel economy ratings and GM offsets that with their highly profitable SUVs.

Get a Buick encore instead. Everyone hates them bc they look funny, so you can score a great deal on one. They are great for the city and surprisingly practical and nice on the inside.

The cruze is terrible. It's like a fat American was put in charge of making it drive like a European car. lts both stiff and numb at the same time. Awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the currnet Blue Book value of the car (if it wasn't smashed up)?

I need to look it up but I honestly expect it will be like $0. I own a 2000 Mazda protege ES.

It takes less than 2 minutes. Look it up, post the value, and also tell me how many body panels are damaged and I"ll tell you if they will total it or not.

Usually a sideswipe is at least 3 -- both doors on that side, and the quarter panel before/after the doors.

Trade in value says between $58 - $659. From what i can tell two doors need replacing and the mirror.

$58

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the currnet Blue Book value of the car (if it wasn't smashed up)?

I need to look it up but I honestly expect it will be like $0. I own a 2000 Mazda protege ES.

It takes less than 2 minutes. Look it up, post the value, and also tell me how many body panels are damaged and I"ll tell you if they will total it or not.

Usually a sideswipe is at least 3 -- both doors on that side, and the quarter panel before/after the doors.

Trade in value says between $58 - $659. From what i can tell two doors need replacing and the mirror.

$58

OP here - thanks for the encouragement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if you could find spare doors at a junkyard? If you could, that would probably be much cheaper than fixing the current smashed in doors. The junkyard doors could be painted to match the rest of the car.

Op here - will look into it. I presume the doors would have to be for the same model year as my car right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - sometimes, you can convince the insurance company to let you keep the car if they total it. It involves a restricted title, so you can’t sell it. Not entirely sure how it works, but a family member did it. May be an option if it’s driveable and you don’t care about cosmetics.

Op here. I will look into it. I was ok driving an old rusty car for years but not sure how comfortable I am driving with the doors smashed in. I'm going to take it to the body shop next week just to see how much it would cost to repair the doors.

It may even be worth spending a little and fixing up the doors to keep the car for a few more years, to get you past your large expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - sometimes, you can convince the insurance company to let you keep the car if they total it. It involves a restricted title, so you can’t sell it. Not entirely sure how it works, but a family member did it. May be an option if it’s driveable and you don’t care about cosmetics.

Op here. I will look into it. I was ok driving an old rusty car for years but not sure how comfortable I am driving with the doors smashed in. I'm going to take it to the body shop next week just to see how much it would cost to repair the doors.

It may even be worth spending a little and fixing up the doors to keep the car for a few more years, to get you past your large expenses.

Op here - I am thinking the same. I will look into the junkyard option for the doors as well and ask the body shop what both scenarios would look like. Luckily We know of a good body shop that we used recently for some work on my husband's car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if you could find spare doors at a junkyard? If you could, that would probably be much cheaper than fixing the current smashed in doors. The junkyard doors could be painted to match the rest of the car.

Op here - will look into it. I presume the doors would have to be for the same model year as my car right?

Junk yard door suggester here again. I am not an expert on this kind of stuff. According to Wikipedia, your is an 8th generation Mazda. Generation 8 was for the years 1998 to 2003. Therefore, I think that any doors you can find at a junk yard for cars that were manufactured for a four-door Mazda protege should work. But please ask your body shop buddy as he surely would have more expertise than I do.
Here is the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Familia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if you could find spare doors at a junkyard? If you could, that would probably be much cheaper than fixing the current smashed in doors. The junkyard doors could be painted to match the rest of the car.

Op here - will look into it. I presume the doors would have to be for the same model year as my car right?

Junk yard door suggester here again. I am not an expert on this kind of stuff. According to Wikipedia, your is an 8th generation Mazda. Generation 8 was for the years 1998 to 2003. Therefore, I think that any doors you can find at a junk yard for cars that were manufactured for a four-door Mazda protege should work. But please ask your body shop buddy as he surely would have more expertise than I do.
Here is the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Familia

Op here - you are too kind. Thank you for researching and sharing this info with me. I will definitely speak to the body shop about it. State Farm is asking me to select one of their body shops for the assessment so I'll be going to both theirs and mine next week. I am feeling hopeful that I can figure out the door thing and continue driving her for at least another year or two. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I'm also planning on researching my options for keeping my car after they total it. Apparently I will have to meet my deductible of $500 first even if they total it so I am not expecting anything from my insurance. It almost makes me wonder if I should even follow through with my claim but my agent seems to think I should...