Oh yeah, and see how much they're willing to let you buy the car back for. If you have time and are looking to make some money, if the buyback price is right, keep the car and sell it as-is or part it out.
Maybe i missed it, but why aren't you just taking the money to get it fixed, if they do deem it repairable? Do you not have any other shop you trust? You should have money left over, if they just cut you a check for repairs.
Sorry, but this is a flat out myth. Most reputable insurance carriers will write the same estimate whether it goes to a dealer or not. Dealer's don't charge more for parts or labor than an independent shop does. Also, whether it goes to an OEM or not, has no bearing on whether a carrier will figure for aftermarket or used parts.
Again, several myths here. We don't use a program, but rather, an actual 3rd party company (either CCC or ADP) who compile data on vehicles sold and for sale that help us establish a baseline value. Also, insurance carrier's don't intentionally "lowball". Rather, when an evaluation is done on a vehicle, it factors in options and conditioning and their affect on value in the local market. Point is, the initial evaluation can be quite subjective unless you are comparing apples to apples, which can be pretty hard to do, unless it is a high volume vehicle like a Camry or Accord. So essentially, there is room for negotiation, but that shouldn't be construed as "low balling). The practice of having a range and low balling is highly illegal for insurance companies to do (at least in Texas) and can get them in major trouble (google "bad faith" in Texas).
As stated before, unless he has room to store the vehicle, the means to disassemble and salvage the good parts and a way to dispose of what can't be salvaged, this is a flat out money looser. I have rarely seen someone come out ahead on something like this. The only ones I see who do it and succeed are gearheads that one to have a rebuild project and want to keep the car due to sentimental value.
Trust me, I have no experience in salvaging and will never even contemplate salvaging the vehicle myself.
I just had my car totaled and yours looks way worst then mines. Luckily I took it to my friends shop and he talked to the adjuster and had it totaled because the adjuster wanted to fix it. I received double from the insurance company for what I would've got if I sold the car myself.
My Dad is in town visiting right now and I showed him the picture since he works in auto claims with All-State so he has dealt with countless insurance claims and seen many different types of damage. He said just looking at the picture he can't tell if it is totaled or not. So basically it sounds like it could go either way depending on what a shop tells you I guess.
Question: The OP said he called his insurance. Shouldn't he have called the insurance of the person who hit his car and filed a claim against their client.
Its called Subrogation. You can use your own insurance to pay for a loss that isn't your fault. After I receive my compensation either through repair or check my insurance company Liberty Mutual will then seek out the party at fault's insurance company for compensation. This method is usually quicker since you personally never have to deal with another party's insurance company.
I know what it is but personally I would never do this if the person at fault has insurance and they are cooperating. I would want to keep my insurance out of the loop if possible. A few years back I got rear ended on 610 by some guy in his work truck (Clean Harbors). Its a pretty big company so I didn't figure I would have any issues but there was a huge issue with their insurance so I did the subrogation. Paid the deductible, got the car fixed and let my insurance go after the other party. Two months later, my insurance (Geico) were not able to close this matter. I finally got this resolved myself by writing to the execs of Clean Harbor. Only after I did that, they cut me a check directly and reimbursed me for the deductible I had to pay and rental car fees. They also sent Geico what they were trying to recoup even though I did all the work. Subrogation sucks
It can be fixed buy a decent body shop but the value of the car vs the cost for repair will determine if the insurance totals it or not.
LOL Liberty Mutual. Well 4 days after the set appointment to have my car towed to the body shop and appraised I had received no updates. So I decided to call this morning and the claims rep told me "oops, there has been some miss-communication and your car is still in the lot." So it hasn't even been looked at yet. This can only help more towards the car being a total loss because that's 4 extra days of fees racking up for storage of the car and my rental. After only one night of my car being at that lot the lot owner told me the current fee was 124 dollars. That was only one night... Liberty Mutual ****ed up.
UPDATE: Vehicle is a total loss. Receiving a 11,000 dollar check. My replacement? http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=114379216&listingRecNum=8&criteria=prMx%3D22000%26sf1Dir%3DDESC%26prMn%3D0%26mkId%3D20089%26stkTyp%3DU%26mdId%3D21183%26rd%3D150%26crSrtFlds%3DstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-pseudoPrice-transTypeId%26zc%3D01845%26rn%3D0%26PMmt%3D1-1-0%26stkTypId%3D28881%26sf2Dir%3DASC%26sf1Nm%3Dprice%26sf2Nm%3Dmiles%26isDealerGrouping%3Dfalse%26transTypeId%3D28113%26rpp%3D50%26feedSegId%3D28705&aff=national&listType=1
