Can I avoid this car being totaled?

[Anonymous]

I’ll try to make a long question short:

Someone ran into me and did some decent yet minor (no frame/radiator/line/engine damage) damage (just body damage). The car is older (2005) and we were debating keeping full coverage, but alas, it still carries full coverage. They may total it, we will find out today. The body shop we had it towed to thinks it’s easily fixable, no more than $2000. But he thinks the car is worth less and they’ll want to total it out. It’s older but in good shape! Only 90k miles and looks great. $2000 is nothing to fix it. I’d spend so much more on a new car and this one still has a lot of life.

So what happens if they total it and I want to get it fixed out of pocket instead? Can I refuse the total and just have it insured somewhere else?

[Anonymous]

The insurance company makes the decision and they aren’t spending more of their money because you want the car repaired.

If you really love the car then after the settlement you can buy the car from the insurance co (with a salvage title) and repair it with the money from the settlement.

Unless the car is rare or has sentimental value it’s just not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The insurance company makes the decision and they aren’t spending more of their money because you want the car repaired.

If you really love the car then after the settlement you can buy the car from the insurance co (with a salvage title) and repair it with the money from the settlement.

Unless the car is rare or has sentimental value it’s just not worth it.

This is often very difficult to do, FYI. I know when my aunt wanted to do this, she was told she had to attend the auto auction where it was sent and bid on it. There were not outright "buy backs" with her insurance agency.

And yes, they will probably total it. Sue the person who hit you to cause the damage for the 'suffering' you'll go through in buying a new car. My parents had a perfectly good (under 100k, always had regular maintenance by my mechanic dad, just used by my mom to drive around town) SUV that was totaled in 2011 when it was hit because it was a 2001. No major damage to the frame or anything under the hood. All damage was to the door and front wheel well area. My dad knew he could have a friend who does bodywork fix it for around $1,000 but no, the insurance totaled it out. So my parents sued the person who hit them since they then had to purchase a new car, taking on a 'hardship' unnecessarily and won. The new car was fully paid for by the person who hit them with some left over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The insurance company makes the decision and they aren’t spending more of their money because you want the car repaired.

If you really love the car then after the settlement you can buy the car from the insurance co (with a salvage title) and repair it with the money from the settlement.

Unless the car is rare or has sentimental value it’s just not worth it.

This is often very difficult to do, FYI. I know when my aunt wanted to do this, she was told she had to attend the auto auction where it was sent and bid on it. There were not outright "buy backs" with her insurance agency.

And yes, they will probably total it. Sue the person who hit you to cause the damage for the 'suffering' you'll go through in buying a new car. My parents had a perfectly good (under 100k, always had regular maintenance by my mechanic dad, just used by my mom to drive around town) SUV that was totaled in 2011 when it was hit because it was a 2001. No major damage to the frame or anything under the hood. All damage was to the door and front wheel well area. My dad knew he could have a friend who does bodywork fix it for around $1,000 but no, the insurance totaled it out. So my parents sued the person who hit them since they then had to purchase a new car, taking on a 'hardship' unnecessarily and won. The new car was fully paid for by the person who hit them with some left over.

Don't set unrealistic expectations or give legal advice if you're clearly not a lawyer.

OP can consult some sleazy personal injury attorney and the at-fault driver's insurance will give you a few thousand dollars to go away. If OP wants a normal, new car and was not seriously injured in this accident the settlement is not going to cover it.

[Anonymous]

Where are you located? In Virginia once the cost of repairs reaches 75% of the https://www.nadaguides.com/ value, the insurer will total it. You may be able to “buy it back” which means the insurer will deduct the salvage value they would have received from auction and issue you a check. But then your title will be stamped as a salvage title and you’ll need to get the car repaired on your own, and if the repairs continue to add up, the insurer will not pay you more.

[Anonymous]

Can you get the body shop (i assume it was just cosmetic damage) to go lower on the the things that need to be done - like maybe forgo replacing all the panels and live with the scratches, for example, and just have the "must have repaired like bumper and taillights? That would bring your total damage to, say $1k, and maybe your insurance will likely cover that instead of deeming it totaled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are you located? In Virginia once the cost of repairs reaches 75% of the https://www.nadaguides.com/ value, the insurer will total it. You may be able to “buy it back” which means the insurer will deduct the salvage value they would have received from auction and issue you a check. But then your title will be stamped as a salvage title and you’ll need to get the car repaired on your own, and if the repairs continue to add up, the insurer will not pay you more.

I worked as a claims adjuster years ago and from what i recall this is how we handled things. Keep in mind that it may be harder to get insurance coverage for a total loss vehicle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you get the body shop (i assume it was just cosmetic damage) to go lower on the the things that need to be done - like maybe forgo replacing all the panels and live with the scratches, for example, and just have the "must have repaired like bumper and taillights? That would bring your total damage to, say $1k, and maybe your insurance will likely cover that instead of deeming it totaled.

This is OP and this is what I want to do. But we’ve already in haste filed a claim. Can we now drop the claim if they want to total it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get the body shop (i assume it was just cosmetic damage) to go lower on the the things that need to be done - like maybe forgo replacing all the panels and live with the scratches, for example, and just have the "must have repaired like bumper and taillights? That would bring your total damage to, say $1k, and maybe your insurance will likely cover that instead of deeming it totaled.

This is OP and this is what I want to do. But we’ve already in haste filed a claim. Can we now drop the claim if they want to total it?

you can always stop the claims process... or let the insurance company do its thing and see what they say. and if you don't lke what they say refuse and tel them you changed your mind...

my daughters 2004 honda civic is like this before she had it my MIL rubbed against a concrete pillar. got an estimate on my own saw that it was really close to 75% so didn't file claim. opted to pay out of pocket and took it to macco to get some cheap repairs work done on it...

insist on used parts to help keep costs down... ot if you are feeling brave, and are mechanicaly inclinec try to do some of the body panel repalcement yourself and then take to macco to get painted...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you get the body shop (i assume it was just cosmetic damage) to go lower on the the things that need to be done - like maybe forgo replacing all the panels and live with the scratches, for example, and just have the "must have repaired like bumper and taillights? That would bring your total damage to, say $1k, and maybe your insurance will likely cover that instead of deeming it totaled.

This is OP and this is what I want to do. But we’ve already in haste filed a claim. Can we now drop the claim if they want to total it?

you can always stop the claims process... or let the insurance company do its thing and see what they say. and if you don't lke what they say refuse and tel them you changed your mind...

my daughters 2004 honda civic is like this before she had it my MIL rubbed against a concrete pillar. got an estimate on my own saw that it was really close to 75% so didn't file claim. opted to pay out of pocket and took it to macco to get some cheap repairs work done on it...

insist on used parts to help keep costs down... ot if you are feeling brave, and are mechanicaly inclinec try to do some of the body panel repalcement yourself and then take to macco to get painted...

Was wondering the same. Your insurance contract does not require you to make a claim, why couldn't you withdraw it rather than the more complicated buy-back?

[Anonymous]

If you decide to keep your car, it will likely have a Salvage Title on it which will make it tougher to insure and/or sell it one day.

Can you negotiate w/an adjuster?
I have heard that you can.....

I would just negotiate the highest amount they will offer for a totaled vehicle and sue the person who is at fault for the accident for both the deductible owed + any other expenses then buy a good, used car.

[Anonymous]

It is hard to negotiate if the cost to repair is 75%+ of the value of your car, OP. I know you don't want the aggravation of being a new car, but the insurance company is telling you that is what the car is worth, and reinsuring it for a decent price is slim, so you should probably listen to what they are trying to tell you.

[Anonymous]

We had something similar with our 12 year old minivan -- more extensive damage so it did need to be fixed, but the cost of fix was pretty much exactly the assessed value of the car. They gave us the choice of whether we wanted the money to fix it, or to get the money towards a new car. We debated but decided on the latter, figuring that the car's engine would maybe die soon anyway. Our kids cried to see the old one go.

[Anonymous]

We did this with a truck. It ran fine. Was easily fixable. The ins co just deducted the salvage value from our settlement and we got the car back with the new salvage title and had the repairs needed done. We still came out ahead. We still have the truck 4 years later.

[Anonymous]

Oh. And we still have full coverage for the same cost as before so I don’t think the pp is correct on that point.