Our baby is smashed up

The insurance company would probably get the cost of repairs and then determine whether or not to count it as a total loss or not. That looks like it would be pretty expensive to fix. Remember your insurance company will also have a say in the matter.

If they fix it, then yes it will impact the resale value. I think the insurance company is suppose to also compensate you for that. It is factored in whether or not they count it as a total loss.

I have only dealt with a stolen vehicle through insurance (counted as a total loss) so not sure how they do it.

 

OUCH! jayselle, and double ouch! for your wife. I hope she recovers quickly and completely. If your car isn't considered totaled and is repaired, it must be restored to the way it was before the accident. Since it will never be the same as before the accident, since it was repaired, be sure to get compensation for it's diminished value. That way, the person responsible for the accident, or their insurance company, takes the hit for the lower value at trade in, not you.

 

I can understand why you might say that you hope they fix it. I hate to see anything I love end up in a junk yard, but honestly, if you were planing on upgrading next year, I don't see how you would get any better trade deal than to force the insurance company to pay you full replacement value for Like Kind and Quality car. That would be Full Retail Kelly Blue Book, plus maybe a little extra if local cars for sale support it. If you trade it in, you will get Wholesale Blue Book. Sell on your own to an individual maybe about 1/2 between wholesale and retail. Unless you are too upside down in the car, I don't think you will get a better opportunity to upgrade than right now.

 

Be sure to get an injury lawyer and have your wife visit a chiropractor. I was rear-ended, it was 100% their fault, and I saw a chiropractor and had a weekly one-hour massage for 5 months at no cost to me. We got the entire thing paid for and had some left over to cover the cost of replacing the car I had (you never get enough money to replace your car, just a similar model - the car I replaced mine with was three years newer and still needed more than $1000 worth of maintenance to get it up to the condition my old car was in).

A good chiropractor will get her fixed up. I couldn't believe how much better my back and neck were after a few weeks.

The lawyer is just there to make sure you get reimbursed for your medical expenses. If you don't get a lawyer, you'll get about 10% of what you are owed. Their insurance company will hound you *daily* about it otherwise. Watch out!

 

A few things to prepare for...

You won't get Kelly Blue Book value, you'll get NADA Blue Book value, if that. The insurance company's profitability is based on paying people like you as little as possible, so they're going to try to screw you. If you don't like the price they quote, then you can often request a local market analysis to see if you'd get more.

I did that when my last car got totalled, and I think it was something like a 30% difference (which served as my down payment for my Prius)!

Chances are that the bruises your wife has are going to be the least of your pains for the next few weeks.

Not to make light of the situation, but I've always wondered how the Prius would do in a real world crash. If she walked away from a 40 MPH wreck, I'm guessing the car did pretty darn well!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ Jul 13 2007, 11:03 PM) [snapback]478534[/snapback]</div>

I agree. What I really meant was after they low ball you and then you ask for a Market Analisys, and then if need be, you domand that they show you exactly where you can buy a coperable care of like kind and quality, that you can get close to Blue Book.

I had not heard of NADA Blue Book. Is that Spanish for the Blue book that gives you Nothing?

I agree you should have your wife go to a Chiropractor and Massage Theropist to avoid lingering pain six months later. Keep going until you are convinced you have no more residual pain. You should get a lawyer and the going rate is a contingency fee of 33.3 % of your Pain and Suffering award, but read the agreement with the lawyer carefully before you sign up with them. One sleezy lawyer I used cut himself in for 33.3 percent of my actual medical payments which came right off the top of the 66.7 % that was rightfully mine. About an extra $850 he did not deserve because they do no work at all to secure you medical payments. The Chiropractor will bill the insurance company direct.

The pain and suffering money will go a long way to compensate you for the way the insurance company will try and jerk you around which will cause more trama than the 40 MPH impact did.

 

Glad your wife is ok. It looks like the car worked exactly as it was designed to do - the front crumpled to absorb energy from the impact while the passenger compartment maintained its shape to protect your wife.

 

If they fix the damages you dont get a compensation or depreciation of value check. The insurance company will state they will fix the car back to new order and the car will be the same and fight with you

The best thing is to get a lawyer. I wish I had. I got in a wreck back in 2006 and My poor Hyundai Tiburon was rear ended and the car was practically cut off and put back on. well no car dealer wanted to give me more than 4995 for it because the damage. I kept calling the insurance company of the other driver and they said they would just fix it again.

Its just a struggle... it takes forever and they are soooo pushy on the phone to get you to not make claims.

WHEN you speak to the other insurance do say there is a injury claim but dont state the injury. This way the claim is open and they cant say "well you didnt open one"

 

I'm glad to hear that everybody is OK, considering the damages.

If you are thinking about repairing the car, be sure to have an independent party to examine the car before anything is done. The front of the car (not only the bumper) is designed to absorb and distribute the force of the crash, once it has done that, it is used up and won't be able to do the same thing again. If the car is to be repaired, and those parts are not taken care of, you will wind up with a car that might look as nice as it did before the accident, but in reality it's much more dangerous than it used to be since it's not capable of protecting the passengers at the same level anymore.

 

Glad to hear your wife is doing OK.

I would guess that the car is maybe close to totaled, if not totaled. Looking at the type of damage that your car has and comparing it to the type of damage that our car suffered back in January (in a MUCH more minor accident), it seems like it's going to cost a lot to repair your car. Our much more minor accident cost close to $5K to fix. Just starting with replacing the airbags will already cost a bundle. Of course, no one knows the extent of the damage until the adjuster takes a look.

I agree with most other folks here in that you should actually push for it to be totaled if it's anywhere near that threshold. The insurance companies almost always will give you a lowball estimate the first time they come out to look at the car. It will always cost more to repair than they first guess, so keep that in mind when you're deciding between repair and totaling.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayselle @ Jul 14 2007, 09:37 AM) [snapback]478620[/snapback]</div>

I've heard vastly different reports of negotiating with claims adjusters. Some seem completely reasonable and are working to get a fair settlement; others (maybe most) are trying to give you as little money as possible. One option (perhaps the best) would be to go through your insurance company to get the money you deserve and then have them fight it out with the other insurance company. You should be a little careful with this to make sure that your rates don't go up, but since the other person is clearly at fault (and received a ticket), there is no doubt who should be paying for the repairs/medical bills.

 

Wow, that sucks. I'm surprised it didn't take *more* damage if the
impact was 35-40 mph, though -- it doesn't look that pushed in. Did
the engine/inverter/transaxle get involved? Or the subframe near
them? If not, I'd think you have a better chance of like-original
restoration if it's just outer bodywork and a bumper.
.
Your second picture, by the way, is an excellent shot of the coolant
storage bottle and how it's so easy to get whacked in a frontal.
Not to play off your misfortune, but would you mind if I incorporated
that pic in some training material at some point?
.
_H*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayselle @ Jul 13 2007, 11:52 PM) [snapback]478486[/snapback]</div>

Thank God your wife was not hurt worse! It looks like the car did well. WE had a Subaru Outbacl get hit a month ago. Other driver at fault. Our insurance said car should be totalled out. Many times companies dont know the extent of damage until car is torn down....lots of hidden "stuff"....anyhow the other insurance co. deemed it repairable. At that time you have an option of having your insurance total it, pay you and subrogate against the other carrier. That is why you pay your premium, your carrier will know how to chase them a lot better than regular people would. Bad news for us was we lost our Subaru, good news is we were introduced to a 2007 red Prius! Good luck with the claim.

 

Glad you both are OK.



Please be careful if the other insurance company wants you to sign something. They don't like to pay out money and will come out and say we'll fix your car and take care of your immediate medical needs and if you sign you might be releasing them from any future liabilities. Seek out the advice of a good personal injury lawyer. You guys sound young and any of these "minor" injuries could come back to haunt you later in life.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayselle @ Jul 14 2007, 09:31 AM) [snapback]478668[/snapback]</div>

If you're not at fault, your rates should not be affected. I think you said you had State Farm, which is a reputable insurer.

I've been hit a number of times, and my insurer (Allstate) really went to bat for me in numerous situations. I don't thing any of it affected my rates. In fact, there was one time when the cop on the scene found me at fault (but didn't give me a ticket). Allstate disagreed it was my fault (I was hit by a flatbed truck that was backing up across the driveway I was exiting from). They went to bat for me and took it to arbitration. Eventually, each party was found to be responsible for half the damage, but Allstate STILL did not raise my rate OR ask me for the deductible I normally would have had to pay.

So I think you'll be fine. Subject, of course, to the laws in your state. BTW: You can always ask your agent whether any of this will affect your rates.