The airbags deploying aren't a deciding factor in whether a car is totaled or not. It is about the cost they add to the repair. Say you had a driver bag and seat belt deploy, you would probably looking at an additional $1,500 on the repair. Since they did not deploy on your vehicle, the repair v. TL decision will be close. If I walked up to your car to assess it, my gut feeling would be total loss before I knew all the numbers. Looking at the photo and angle of impact, I am not surprised the airbag did not deploy. Airbags deploying are mostly about angle. The angle of impact was clearly from the side, not the front. If you give me your year make and model, I can look up the salvage value through a local auction for you. Based on my experience, it will probably be in the 25%-30% range. Also, your agent is wrong (most agents erroneously assume this for some reason). Unless they have changed, Liberty Mutual does not pay book value. They will either use CCC or ADP to determine the local market value. The reason most carrier's don't go by any sort of book values is that they are just recommended pricing. The way I explain it to folks is, if you go to Sony's website and look up a certain TV, it will have a suggested retail price. But if you go to Best Buy, Fry's, etc, they usually will sell it for a lot less. Basically, the insurance company owes you replacement value. So if the book value is $11K, but on Autotrader, you have several listed for $9.5-$10K, then the insurance company is going to give you $9.5-$10K plus TTL minus whatever you have left on your car loan (if you have one). Definitely do your research on Autotrader and other similar sites. Keep in mind though those prices are asking price so as long as they come in close to it, then you are good. Don't expect the same price you see or over.
This is a listing of pretty much the exact year, model, trim, and color of my car but mine has 15,000 more miles in my area... asking price $11,990. I did upgrade the audio receiver in my car also. http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...[]]&listingId=340316258&listingIndex=15&Log=0 My car is a 2008 jetta se silver with 85,000 miles.
That is assuming a 40% salvage value, which few vehicles bring. I've never heard of any insurance carrier automatically totaling a car with only a 60% repair to value ratio. All insurance companies are different, but the vast majority consider repair plus rental v. market value +TTL minus salvage as a general guideline.
Two things. 1) The 15K difference in mileage may not seem to have a big affect on the value, but it does. If you have an 08, normal mileage should be around $60K. Anything over that will start to reduce the value. 2) Keep in mind that is asking price. It is a used car so you know that dealer will sell it for a bit less. My opinion, I would think you car's market value is around $10K plus TTL. Check out Carmax also as a baseline. Since their prices are firm/not negotiable, it will help you rule out the whole asking price v. take price difference.
The salvage value on your car is right at 30% based on 62 comparables I found through a local auction site that were sold in the last 12 months. All had front end damage. So, let's say your car is worth $10K, then the repairs plus rental would need to exceed $7K to consider your car a constructive total loss. I feel once all hidden damage is addressed on your vehicle, more than likely, you would exceed that $7K figure. It is really going to come down to the front lower unibody rails and how bad they are though. I just can't see enough in the photos to determine that.
Thanks... you're a big help. Wish I could give you more rep. Should I have legitimate fear if they deem it repairable? Because I was planning on selling the car soon. Wouldn't my resale value significantly drop with a major repair such as this. BTW you seem to have some real insight in this subject? Do you work for an insurance agency or a body shop?
The car can be repaired, there is no doubt. I would only be fearful depending on who will fix it. What is the name of the storage lot it is at? The reason I ask is, most storage lots have an affiliated body shop they do business with that will pay them a bounty to move your vehicle there. My personal opinion is, the avoid those type of facilities as they will normally take the bounty they pay our of the repair. Again, depends on who fixes the car. There is a good chance your car will at least have to be disassembled to determine the full extend of the damage so if your carrier asks you to do authorize a shop to do that, then you'll definitely want to cooperate on that.
Liberty Mutual pointed me to the body shop. I live in Massachusetts but this is the storage lot my car is in now. http://coadystowing.com/ Tomorrow morning it will be towed to the body shop Liberty Mutual pointed out for me.
Ah, since they are not in Houston, I would not be familiar at all with them. Unless you are familiar with other body shops in the area, it's not a bad decision to go with their recommendation. Since they recommended one, I would assume it is one of the "approved" facilities, which means if you have a problem, the insurance carrier will typically back you up on it, which they normally wouldn't do on a non-approved facility.
From the looks of the picture it's going to be a total loss. I was in a very similar incident but with a new Mitsubishi Ralliart. At first it was deemed repairable after an adjuster went to look at it, but once it got in the shop and started looking deeper, they found a lot more wrong with the car. The wiring harness had to be completely replaced and that was the final drop in the bucket it needed. Honestly if you can choose a shop, I would choose a dealership just so the cost of labor goes up and more likely to get OEM parts to repair any damage. I took mine straight to the dealership once I couldn't convince them to total it out. This whole ordeal took about 2 months. Good luck you will need it. Picture of my damage of the car. It was a month old valued at 28,000.
Good suggestion. My father actually just suggested sending it to a vw dealer also. If this body shop does deem it repairable then I'm going to send it to the dealer. If for some chance they can repair it I would trust them more to put in new OEM parts.
Another indicator that makes me certain it's a total loss is that everyone who has physically seen the vehicle says it's definitely a total loss. The police officer who dropped my mom home told me the car is a goner. The person who owns the lot who towed my vehicle told me it's gone also. He told me the engine block is literally dangling for dear life.
I have had a few accidents, involved in a few others, and been passenger in others. I would just have it repaired; find out from the repair shop how much it will be, and then the insurance will take care of it, but it seems to me to be a total loss. Get a couple of estimates, though. Even if the cost of the vehicle goes down, are you more afraid to sell it later? Why not just use it until it's beyond usage? I sometimes don't understand why people want to buy new cars when theirs are still working. Use something until it is no longer usable. The word is correct, but YES, you can fix it (for future thread titles). GO to the BBS Hangout listing for the first page of the threads. On the table cell where your title appears, double-click on an empty area of the title. It will convert to a field where you can re-type in the correct spelling.
Yeah, but for Asian cars only. And what's cool is he named it after you: K-Auto 1118 Montrose Blvd The owner is Jimmy (but he's from Japan, so must have changed his name). He used to be a floor manager at a factory (either Honda or Toyota). He knows his ****. Awesome dude, and high morals regarding price and estimates. I'd say tell him I sent you, but it's been a long time.
Any adjuster will claim that car as totaled. Make sure to research your cars worth and how much they're selling for in your area. That's how insurance companies determine your cars market value. They use a program that looks up the same model car and year and see how much they're selling for. Don't accept the insurance's first offer if you feel like they're low balling you. Their practice is to always offer the lowest price possible to see if you take the bait.
