:bang: You're lucky you were hit by a pickup and not a small car that would have been damaged.

You'd get tossed in the clink for that around here whether it was your fault or not. and rightfully so...

damage is pretty minor, all things considered. having a hard time seeing $4k there. a rear clip with tail lights and finish panel is under $1000.
I wouldn't admit to not having liability insurance on an open forum, especially with all the other personal info that is easy to get from your posts.

in GA, you would have gone to jail and your car would have been towed to impound. (and I don't have a problem with that at all)

Pay for an appraiser to value your car.
Also, most policies have a clause whereby the insurer or the insured can request an independant appraisal when there is a value discrepancy.

On the 6th of June this year, I topped a hill and hit a tree that had blown over in the road.

Two repair estimates stated $6500 and $6700 to repair the car.
The insurance company said the car was worth $4700 and by the time they took out the deductable and buy back, they offered me just over $3000 for my car.
After I threatened to take them to court, they paid for and sent an appraiser.

The appraiser valued my car in excess of $10700. Less than two weeks later the insurance comapany sent me the cost of the repair estimate.

Most Insurers HAVE to pay the actual cash value at the time of loss, but it is often up to you to prove its worth.

If you have any questions, PM me and we'll talk via phone.

Otherwise, Good luck to you.

Errol

If any of you do this, you are costing yourselves a lot of money! You can beat the insurance companies at their own game if you read your policy, and do a little research!
I have never ever, been beaten by an insurance company. And have never had to settle for their first offer.
Remember, the adjuster works for the insurer, NOT for you.

Errol

I think either I or the OP missed something here...please correct me where I go wrong...this is good to understand..

The solution that was given more than once was to:

1-Have the car totalled and take THAT money...Then buy it BACK from the salvage back from them for very little. (leaving you with cash+damaged car and parts)

2-Buy another Miata with the money you got from ins+maybe a lil more out of pocket
(leaving you with a good car and the damaged car+parts)

3-Swap all parts onto the new Miata, and partout sell whats left of the salvage+whatever you remove/dont want from the new Miata
(leaving you with a clean titled car, all your parts, and no out of pocket..maybe even some leftover $)

I know the OP said he doesnt want 2 cars, but seemed the larger concern was the salvage title. If I understood correctly the 2 cars would be temporary (not even if you part out the salvage and THEN go buy the new miata), and the final result would be a new car with all his parts...

PITA I know, but am I missing something else?

Again I wanted to clarify for myself as well as this is def the 1st car I won where the parts amount to more than the value of the car itself!

PS--when I added the Miata to my ins policy I was forced to have the same coverages (100k/300k) as my new financed vehicles. Is this right? I was told there was liability on the ins company's (Geico) end if I wreck someone with my Miata...that the person I hit could go after the coverages I have on my other 2 cars, and they would ultimately have to pay. therefore I have to pay the premium...sounded very "off" to me, but since I constantly remove/add the Miata according to downtime, I haven't gotten into it yet...

Paramour, WTF are you talking about? Did you read the whole thread?

He's got a 135k mile 13 year-old Miata. The math on what it's worth isn't hard. Without a COMPLETE stack of receipts proving exactly how much he spent on each individual aftermarket part, the "appraiser" won't be able to tell shit, and the insurance company won't care. Insurance companies won't cut you a check for $10k for a $3000 car and $7k in aftermarket, especially if those aftermarket parts are performance oriented, unless he's got a specific rider on his policy... which he not only doesn't have, but he doesn't have insurance. He's dealing with the other insurance company. If the adjustor for that company decides the cost of repair exceeds a specific percentage of the value of the car STOCK, it's a total. He'll get what fair market value is for the car STOCK. End of story.

The insurance company would laugh in your face if you got rear-ended and then expected them to spend $5k to fix your $3k car because you've got a $5k motor. They'll laugh twice as hard when you want them to pay you $8k in the settlement.

I had my first 90 Miata backed into in a church parking lot by a Mercedes SUV and it pushed in the finish panel and metal behind it, scratched the top of the bumper, also dinged up the trunk lid and driver side tail light. The girl's father is a doctor and paid out of pocket after the estimate to the tune of $3100 and change. I fixed it myself for less than $700. 3 years prior I sat through a hail storm in it and insurance totaled it out, drove it home $2600 richer and swapped the hood and trunk lid out for $400.

As for you not having insurance, you suck as a person and make my rates higher!! Why don't you take care of that before you hit someone and screw the other person and us honest paying people over??!!

Part of why I carry a baseball bat in my car is in case some idiot without insurance hits me and I have to keep him from leaving the scene.