In the meantime it would be wise to do some research on what the Actual Cash Value for a like car would be. Check out the book prices and listings of cars for sale. Let them make the first offer and go from there.

I hope you get pleasantly surprised. It isn't always bad. I have seen and heard cases where the insurance paid quite well on total losses. I had a customer with an older Cadillac a dealer friend got him a deal on. He totalled it and ended up making about 5 grand on the deal. Just do your homework and be prepared. In todays market sale prices and book prices don't seem to jive. You may well be able to replace it for less than your check is. Best wishes.

 

I have had the frames repaired before on them but it was by a dealership and it cost an arm and a leg. It was on the rear though and with the rear bumper on my est was only $700 ish then when we saw the frame damage it was over 5k for very minor damage. With this you also will probably need 2 headlights which are extremely expensive, hood, fender and judging by how much the hood is buckled and the fact the airbag sensors got hit enough for the bags to go theres something going on under the hood that isnt good. My guess is a total, Airbags alone won't total it but they do add 3-4k to the repair cost. The frame damage I think is what will total it

 

again I agree lol

I recently totaled a z06 and was told it was much more then he could have gotten for it and he was happy. I totaled a pontiac a while back the guy only had for about 6 months and paid him 2k more than he paid for the car. It is far more common for me to hear a surprise of how high the check is than how low.

 

Thanks for the great advice guys. This forum is awesome .

@Fendermender, Go Steelers!

 

Sorry to hear about your mishap, I feel your pain.

&&&###@@$!! damm careless drivers!

 

That's tough to see.

I have that exact car '01 'vert oak over pewter with 38k miles. I'd hate to think of losing it.

Good luck with however it works out.

 

Owch!...I hate when that happens!

 

Glad to hear yall are alright. I would hope they would total it. You would probably never feel the same about the car if it was repaired, not to mention the diminished value of the car. If the insurace company is not going to total it I would ask them how much they are going to pay me for the diminished value. My neighbor was successful at having his car totaled, even though it didnt meet their guidelines, by using the diminished value issue.

When it comes to finding the value of the car if they do total it. My experience has been they look at local online adds to see what kind of price is on similar cars. The last time I dealt with this they had found 3 similar vehicles and used those prices to make the offer. Of course it was 3 lowest prices they could find. I found 3 similar vehicles with higher prices and we wound up settling in the middle.

In another case dealing with insurance on my daughter's car they offered her what I thought was a very low price. It was an older car and not many of them around for sale for comparison. I live in central Arkansas and they had used a car located in San Antonio, Texas to establish their price. When they would no budge on giving her more for her car, I simply told the guy we would take the car and told him where they could bring it. He acted confused for a minute, then said "you want us to bring you the car from San Antonio?".....I said if it's the one you are using to make your offer, yes.....we will take it, just bring it to us. He said "let me call you back".....after about 15 minutes he called me back and said he had found another car to base his price on and offered 150% of what the first offer had been.

Don't get in any hurry to deal with them and do your homework. Hopefully they will make you a fair offer from the start, but know what fair is and be prepared to argue if it's not.

 

Yikes!

 

I seen TOTALED with less damage. Good luck.

 

An adjuster has finally gone out to look at the car and says from what he can see, there is $6400 worth of damage. He says it will need to be taken to a body shop so they can tear it down to further asses the damage. He says the number will get signficantly higher from there. $6400 is still a long way from totaled. I would imagine that number would have to triple. I hope he wasn't making his estimate based on used parts. The company is Liberty Mutual and it is not my insurance company. We shall see I guess. I've done my homework, I'm ready!

 

I had Liberty Mutual for several years, until it took them from May till October to pay for $1000 in hail damage. First they sent a independent adjuster out and low balled the price, then since the same car had hail damage repaired 6 years ago they claimed it was the same damage and didn't want to pay. I had to prove it had it ha been repaired although the estimates were $1000 different and the dents were in different places. All that for $500! ($1000 claim $500 deductible)I finally got a check and switched to State Farm.

I hope you have better luck than I did.

 

I am going to say yes...I was recently rear-ended and the damage didn't look bad at first glance, but once the adjuster started going over the car it turned out to cost far more than the car was worth to the insurance company. I hope not, but I am not going to be surprised if it is. Sorry my friend!

 

He should be able to see plenty just by opening the hood.

Around here you won't get any Vette parts from the ordinary auto wreckers. There will be additional labor if going used for cleanup, reconditioning ect. Air bags, module, seatbelts, steering and suspension are always replaced new for liability issues and manufacturers reccomendations. I'd say he's way off target with 6 grand.

If you aren't satisfied with their handling, you can always have your company get involved. I've had several cases where the owners company appraised and paid the claim then subrogated payment from the liable company. You have to pay the collision deductible initially but get that back once the case is settled.

 

Sorry to see the car damaged. This is the downside of having such reasonably priced used Corvettes around.

They are cheapish to buy, cheapish to run and insure but so easily totalled by the insurance carriers as repair costs don't depreciate over time the way values do.

 

State Farm repaired some floor damage i had when a car cut me off and forced me on a curb. Damage was $8k and they almost thought about totaling it. They appraised it at $21k last year, 2002 coupe with 60k mi, so you should get good money cuz the car is toast. I wouldnt want it back anyway, way too much damage.

 

R.I.P. My Friend let her go to another place you can buy a better car now and glad to hear you and your Wife are okay.

 

Ouch!!!!! Damn hard to take that it in...Im sorry to see what happen with your car. I hope everyone is ok...I would try and get the shop or your insurance adviser to write it off as totaled. A car with an accident on its record are a pain in the a** to sell and are worthless because of it...not to mention all the headaches if the repairs arent done correctly...If it is totaled you are only going to get the stock value of the car. Any upgrades/mods are not covered and are usually allowed to be removed by you and sold separately or saved. Thats just me though

 

Definetely hoping for totaled. Their insurance company has been slow to react and the holiday has also slowed down the process. I'm about to request a rental even though I don't need it, to try and motivate someone and get the costs up.

The estimate has a used hood and bumper cover in it (not happening). Also repainting the fenders (thought they were a little more damaged than that). I don't think he could get the hood off to see inside. It'll be towed to my body shop on Monday, and I'll get my own estimate.

Does any one know if there is a set pecentage insurance companies use for the diminished value?

 

so thats how you get the front license plate cover off...


in all seriousness, I hope you get your total. you dont get much of a say so in what kind of parts go on the car as far as new/used/repro hood or fenders. the impact zone looks high, and everything should straighten out but id be prayin for a total personally. get a new one, and install some better brakes on it. hope the rest of your wkd goes better and glad you are ok!