Originally Posted by chia

Without getting under the hood, you probably have enough damage to total it. Now, a lot of people are going to come on here and give you misguided information about how to deal with the insurance company: get a lawyer, sue the bastards, don't take anything less than some inflated "blue book" value, blah, blah, blah, but I've been doing this for 17 years so this is what generally happens with the insurance company:

Insurance companies will total a vehicle if the cost of repairs exceed 70-80% of the value of the car. If it's close, they will probably favor totaling it because of the additional cost of a rental vehicle. How they determine the value of the vehicle varies from company to company. What we use is NADA retail value and two dealer quotes. We will call a dealer and ask them how much they think they would sell your vehicle if they had one exactly like it (because it would be difficult to find a vehicle exactly like yours). The insurance company does not locate a replacement vehicle. We are not in the used car business. We owe you what the market says your car is worth. Now, we take the average between NADA and two dealer quotes, then add sales tax and title fees. If you have mods, give them the original receipts and they typically will give you some consideration for those. You will not get the original cost of your mods because they have been used. If you recently did maintenance related work like new tires or a battery, forget about it. Maintanance related work does not increase the value of your car.

The thing that most people do not realize is that you will typically get a better deal from the insurance company than if you tried to sell the unwrecked vehicle yourself. Some companies will give you straight NADA, which is almost always higher than what you could sell it for. For example, a 2003 coupe with 10,000 miles has an average NADA retail value of over $35,000. There is no way you could get 35k for your car if you tried to sell it yourself. 2003 Z06's with half the mileage are going for less than that.

Once you get an offer from your company, it's generally not going to be a low ball offer with the anticipation that you will argue it. If the market tells me your car is worth 30k, then the value is what it is. But, you need to ask the adjuster how he determined the value of the car because he may have missed something.

The last and most important piece of advise I can give you is to be pleasant and respectful of the claim rep. If you get belligerent, the adjuster will most likely take a very hard line on you. If you plead your case in a diplomatic manner, they are more likely to exercise some discretion to "increase" the value of the car. If I have a pleasant customer, I will find a way to make him happy. For example, I may average in an "auto trader" quote to increase the value of the car, even though the quoted price on auto trader probably is no where near what the vehicle ultimately would sell for. Some companies do not allow their adjusters to use any discretion, but some do.

Now, if the car is repairable, this is a whole other issue. The major issue with a repair job is new vs. used parts. Insurance companies do not owe your for original brand new parts. If "like kind and quality parts" are available, they will put them on. You are not entitled to new parts for a used vehicle. This has been litigated to death with the same result so it's a waste of time arguing it. Now some states allow for diminished value of a repaired vehicle so you'll need to check around for that. In your case, the vehicle looks close to a total so if the repair cost is borderline, you can make the argument that the cost of a rental during a repair may exceed the threshold, not to mention that the vehicle as is will bring some pretty good salvage value for the insurance company if they total it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Originally Posted by chia

Without getting under the hood, you probably have enough damage to total it. Now, a lot of people are going to come on here and give you misguided information about how to deal with the insurance company: get a lawyer, sue the bastards, don't take anything less than some inflated "blue book" value, blah, blah, blah, but I've been doing this for 17 years so this is what generally happens with the insurance company:

Insurance companies will total a vehicle if the cost of repairs exceed 70-80% of the value of the car. If it's close, they will probably favor totaling it because of the additional cost of a rental vehicle. How they determine the value of the vehicle varies from company to company. What we use is NADA retail value and two dealer quotes. We will call a dealer and ask them how much they think they would sell your vehicle if they had one exactly like it (because it would be difficult to find a vehicle exactly like yours). The insurance company does not locate a replacement vehicle. We are not in the used car business. We owe you what the market says your car is worth. Now, we take the average between NADA and two dealer quotes, then add sales tax and title fees. If you have mods, give them the original receipts and they typically will give you some consideration for those. You will not get the original cost of your mods because they have been used. If you recently did maintenance related work like new tires or a battery, forget about it. Maintanance related work does not increase the value of your car.

The thing that most people do not realize is that you will typically get a better deal from the insurance company than if you tried to sell the unwrecked vehicle yourself. Some companies will give you straight NADA, which is almost always higher than what you could sell it for. For example, a 2003 coupe with 10,000 miles has an average NADA retail value of over $35,000. There is no way you could get 35k for your car if you tried to sell it yourself. 2003 Z06's with half the mileage are going for less than that.

Once you get an offer from your company, it's generally not going to be a low ball offer with the anticipation that you will argue it. If the market tells me your car is worth 30k, then the value is what it is. But, you need to ask the adjuster how he determined the value of the car because he may have missed something.

The last and most important piece of advise I can give you is to be pleasant and respectful of the claim rep. If you get belligerent, the adjuster will most likely take a very hard line on you. If you plead your case in a diplomatic manner, they are more likely to exercise some discretion to "increase" the value of the car. If I have a pleasant customer, I will find a way to make him happy. For example, I may average in an "auto trader" quote to increase the value of the car, even though the quoted price on auto trader probably is no where near what the vehicle ultimately would sell for. Some companies do not allow their adjusters to use any discretion, but some do.

Now, if the car is repairable, this is a whole other issue. The major issue with a repair job is new vs. used parts. Insurance companies do not owe your for original brand new parts. If "like kind and quality parts" are available, they will put them on. You are not entitled to new parts for a used vehicle. This has been litigated to death with the same result so it's a waste of time arguing it. Now some states allow for diminished value of a repaired vehicle so you'll need to check around for that. In your case, the vehicle looks close to a total so if the repair cost is borderline, you can make the argument that the cost of a rental during a repair may exceed the threshold, not to mention that the vehicle as is will bring some pretty good salvage value for the insurance company if they total it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Originally Posted by BWP 5P

Chia.....thanks for your expert advice. I really hope they take care of me. I expect they will get me a reasonable rental if they decide to repair? I would expect something in the neighborhood of a CTS since I'm driving a $48,000 car. Isn't that reasonable if they decide to repair?
Bruce

Originally Posted by PHPD7102

Good time for a new tigershark front end and a nice heat extractor hood!!

Originally Posted by chia

Without getting under the hood, you probably have enough damage to total it. Now, a lot of people are going to come on here and give you misguided information about how to deal with the insurance company: get a lawyer, sue the bastards, don't take anything less than some inflated "blue book" value, blah, blah, blah, but I've been doing this for 17 years so this is what generally happens with the insurance company:

Insurance companies will total a vehicle if the cost of repairs exceed 70-80% of the value of the car. If it's close, they will probably favor totaling it because of the additional cost of a rental vehicle. How they determine the value of the vehicle varies from company to company. What we use is NADA retail value and two dealer quotes. We will call a dealer and ask them how much they think they would sell your vehicle if they had one exactly like it (because it would be difficult to find a vehicle exactly like yours). The insurance company does not locate a replacement vehicle. We are not in the used car business. We owe you what the market says your car is worth. Now, we take the average between NADA and two dealer quotes, then add sales tax and title fees. If you have mods, give them the original receipts and they typically will give you some consideration for those. You will not get the original cost of your mods because they have been used. If you recently did maintenance related work like new tires or a battery, forget about it. Maintanance related work does not increase the value of your car.

The thing that most people do not realize is that you will typically get a better deal from the insurance company than if you tried to sell the unwrecked vehicle yourself. Some companies will give you straight NADA, which is almost always higher than what you could sell it for. For example, a 2003 coupe with 10,000 miles has an average NADA retail value of over $35,000. There is no way you could get 35k for your car if you tried to sell it yourself. 2003 Z06's with half the mileage are going for less than that.

Once you get an offer from your company, it's generally not going to be a low ball offer with the anticipation that you will argue it. If the market tells me your car is worth 30k, then the value is what it is. But, you need to ask the adjuster how he determined the value of the car because he may have missed something.

The last and most important piece of advise I can give you is to be pleasant and respectful of the claim rep. If you get belligerent, the adjuster will most likely take a very hard line on you. If you plead your case in a diplomatic manner, they are more likely to exercise some discretion to "increase" the value of the car. If I have a pleasant customer, I will find a way to make him happy. For example, I may average in an "auto trader" quote to increase the value of the car, even though the quoted price on auto trader probably is no where near what the vehicle ultimately would sell for. Some companies do not allow their adjusters to use any discretion, but some do.

Now, if the car is repairable, this is a whole other issue. The major issue with a repair job is new vs. used parts. Insurance companies do not owe your for original brand new parts. If "like kind and quality parts" are available, they will put them on. You are not entitled to new parts for a used vehicle. This has been litigated to death with the same result so it's a waste of time arguing it. Now some states allow for diminished value of a repaired vehicle so you'll need to check around for that. In your case, the vehicle looks close to a total so if the repair cost is borderline, you can make the argument that the cost of a rental during a repair may exceed the threshold, not to mention that the vehicle as is will bring some pretty good salvage value for the insurance company if they total it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.