bryanlow

iTrader: (10)

This sucks. Just when my car was pretty close to being sorted out I was rear ended by a pickup truck. Anyways the trunklid is trash, both taillights are trash, the rear finish panel + sheetmetal support is trash. I need to deal with the insurance company and I know they may try to total the car out so I need to get comparables to bump up the value. Does anyone know of a car listed for sale with similar specs, preferably in Norcal?

Here's my specs:
'95 M Edition 135k miles + hardtop
BBS wheels
Leather seats
ABS brakes
A/C, PW, PDL
Alarm
Power trunk release
3k miles on rebuilt & balanced motor
Wiesco pistons
ETD Rods
IJ crank scraper
ARP head & main studs
BP4W head & intake manifold
SI valves w/+1 intakes
BEGi s3 w/GT2860 & 3" DP
Racer coolant reroute
MSPNP
AEM UEGO
Knocksense MS
ACT streetlite flywheel
ACT 6 puck clutch disc
Exedy Stage 2 pressure plate
all new hoses & belts
Enthuza 3" race exhaust
200 cell metallic cat
hard dog ace bar
2k miles on Azeni RT615s

turbobluemiata

iTrader: (8)

let em total it and buy it back

18psi

iTrader: (76)

thats a good idea. and make a crapload of money in the process

turbobluemiata

iTrader: (8)

just make sure the company is okay and knows thats what you wanna do before they take the car.. or write the check (so you dont lose all that time and effort and parts that would suck)

bryanlow

iTrader: (10)

I may be mistaken, but doesn't the insurance company total a car when the cost of repairs exceed the value of the car? How will letting them total it then buying it back help me if this doesn't leave me with enough to fix the damage?

BTW, there may be other damage. I really haven't had the time to go over it thoroughly. Strangely, the hardtop popped off the frankenstein bolts. Not sure how that happened, but it seems to fit ok now.

Also I've got a pretty good lump from my head hitting the rollbar pretty hard, and my GF now has an aching upper back.

turbobluemiata

iTrader: (8)

they give you what the car is worth the "totaling" it out so you have that check and you buy back your car for hardly anything usually, and you have a car with all the aftermarket stuff you put on and the cash leftover from buying yours back.... if you don't do it that way all you get is your wrecked car fixed or a check for a "stock" miata which cant be much and you will be stuck with little money for anything, doing it this way make the repairs yourself and you can make money off of this deal

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

do what i did. total it, buy it back, but a new one, swap all the parts into the new one, sell everything let over, end up with another solid car and lots of cash money.

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to accomplish. Do you want a check or do you want your parts back? That looks like about a $3500 car and around $8k in aftermarket.

Realistically, you could start around $9k and take $8k or less in the classifieds. But that doesn't really apply to a car as extensively modified as yours when the insurance company looks at it. They might compensate you a little for a set of tires/wheels, but not something that has been completely gone over.

You need to do as Brain said. Work a deal with the insurance company to pay you what it's worth if it was stock, and then buy it back from them. Unless your policy is very clear about how they handle aftermarket pieces in the event of a claim (ie, 100% reimbursement for anything you have a receipt for), you will always lose if you just let them take the car and cut you a check.

I hope you kept receipts for everything your purchased.

jwarriner

Here's why, they may total the car giving you $4500, then they'll sell it back to you for $1000, you take the other $3500, buy another Miata, swap the parts over to it and then sell of anything that's left.

EDIT: Just saw this. Pretty much this:

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

Bryan, one thing some people never quite grasp when they get into an accident and start dealing with the insurance company is this:

IT'S YOUR CAR! You own it, not the insurance company. YOU have the final say in what happens to the car. If they decide to total it, until you have a check in-hand and have handed over the title, it's still yours. Those parts attached to it are also yours, and the insurance company won't give you 100% re-imbursement even if you've got receipts for everything.

I've got an "in" in the insurance industry... and one thing that's always been good adivice is that if you have a highly modified car and it's an obvious "total", have it towed to your house from the accident site, not to a shop. That way the car is under your control, and you don't have to worry about anything disappearing, or the shop or insurance company doing something to the car prematurely or without your permission. A quality insurance company should be able to send an adjustor to you. With the car at your house, it also never needs to be towed a second time.

Unless they're ready to cut you a check for $10k, you'll absolutely lose your *** if you just give it to them... and they won't give you $10k and let you buy it back for $1k because they're only going to give you what it's worth stock. They also won't give any weight to what you tell them it's worth based on your internet homework... only receipts for your parts and the NADA/KBB of the car stock and only if you've got a rider on your policy that spells that out.

As Brian and J have said, YOU need to contact the insurance company and tell them YOU want it totaled, and YOU want to buy it back. If it's at a shop right now, it might be in your interest to have AAA tow it to your house now... it belongs to you after all

Toddcod

iTrader: (8)

Get full stock value for the car, and you can probably buy it back for 400-650.
I love to barter.LOL

BamBam

The threshhold for totaling out a vehicle is if the repair cost exceeds 70% of the "market value" of the car. Also known as actual cash value (ACV)

Yes you have the right to the "salvage" which they will determine that amount and subtract from the ACV.

If the vehicle is incurring storage fees, and you decide to keep the salvage the Insurance Co. might try and say those cost of picking up the vehicle etc you will have to absorb.

everything is negotiable and they dont want your Miata. It would cost more for them to process the salvage than what the salvage is worth. Reciepts and stuff is all good and dandy unfortunately Insurance co. is going to consider pennys to the dollar on those items.

YOu have a 3rd party claim against the party that rearended you is that correct? Or you injured?

They also order you loss of use on your vehicle, you ARE LEGALLY ENTITLED to that, and the average is $25.00 per day until you get check in hand.

I hate insurance.... been a non standard and Commercial General Liability adjuster for years. I have seen and heard it all.

Buck

PS: are you injured ?

Ben

iTrader: (33)

Need pics to judge damage. Doesn't sound severe enough to warrant totaling the car. Repair of the "rear body panel" area isn't tough and won't effect how the car drives.

Have your ins adjuster contact me and I'll hook it up with new OEM finish and tail lamps on the low low. Too expensive to freight the body panel tho.

BenR

iTrader: (2)

This is what I did. Fixed and painted myself. Ended up with some cash and a salvage title after the deal. I don't care much about it being a salvage title becasue I don't ever plan to sell it and the car will be focused to more of a track only car after the first of the year.

disturbedfan121

iTrader: (5)

in most states you can still drive a salavage title as long as its not disrupting traffic, aka the door is blocking a lane. and even then once you've fixed it you can get a title adjuster to look it over and he can change the title to rebuilt/reconstructed.

bryanlow

iTrader: (10)

Thanks for the input guys.

I don't think I have any injuries besides a lump on my head from the impact with the rollbar and I haven't gone to the hospital yet because I'll be paying out of pocket. That being said, if it would benefit my case in some way, going to get my head checked out is still not out of the question -- it still hurts.




Buying a second car would really not work given my postage stamp sized condo garage, and I really don't want a salvage title.

The car still drives fine so I don't think there is any damage to the structure.

I've gotten a couple estimates to fix the damage. One was for ~$5000, and the other was for ~$4400, both using all OEM parts. According to one shop I talked to, the KBB value is between $3500 and $5000.

I haven't contacted the insurance co yet because I want to collect all the info I need in order to put my best foot forward and I've never dealt with insurance before so someone please school me on how this works. I was under the impression the insurance co would give me at least enough to make me whole; i.e they would fix the damage, or give me fair market value for the vehicle. To this end, I was trying to make a case that the car is worth more than KBB value. While I realize aftermarket mods do not add value in their eyes, I would think the fully rebuilt motor and new tires should add to the value, no? From what I'm hearing though, it sounds like they will give me 60-70% percent of what they think it is worth. I don't see how this is fair.

If anyone has thoughts on the best way to handle this, any input is appreciated.

BTW, I will be dealing solely with the other party's insurance company, not mine.

RotorNutFD3S

iTrader: (33)

Do you not have medical coverage on your car insurance? It allows you to go to the hospital or doctor(s) to get stuff checked out, you pay nothing out of pocket, your car insurance coverage covers it up to a certain amount. If you don't have that, the other person's insurance company should give you a Claim # that you can use to be seen by a doctor/hospital and they cover the bills as they should since it was the other person's fault.
You both will want to do that for sure, even if you think that there is nothing major wrong. I thought I was fine after my accident (was rear ended while I was sitting still and the guy that hit me was doing about 45mph), but a few days later, not only was I having whiplash migraines, I had a messed up nerve that was causing me to have twitches in my eyes and arms, and I had compressed cartilage in my knee. I normally don't go to the chiro, but I ended up being able to go to the chiro all the time, have massage therapy, MRIs, and physical therapy, and nothing came out of pocket. Then they settle for pain and suffering, separate from the car settlement.
I'm not in anyway saying take advantage of them, I'm suggesting you take advantage of the fact that you might be hurt and someone else will pay to take care of it for you.

Stitches

Why won't you be dealing with your insurance carrier at all? Do you not have insurance?

If the damage is only around 5k and you are comfortable with the company who would be repairing the damage I might suggest that you call your insurance company and tell them what happened and how much it will cost to fix. In many cases your insurance carrier will give you a check or pay the body shop to fix the car per your estimate and then go after the other guy's insurance company for reimbursement. It may be helpful to provide your receipt for that begi system and show that your car + what that's worth is more than repair.

I would call my insurance and have it fixed if this is the case and be done with it.

bryanlow

iTrader: (10)

I know it's stupid, but I let my insurance lapse while it was laid up for 4 months and never got around to reinstating it. The other party did not ask for my insurance, so they are unaware of this fact.

RotorNutFD3S

iTrader: (33)