sidekick

How fast were you going when you hit the other car? It seems the RX8 gets damage easy.

little666devil

45mph

Navybeardbb

Damn california drivers, they all suck in CA man. Everyone but me! haha

Air Force RX8

It's called crumple zones and they did their job perfectly in this wreck.

little666devil

They sure did.

I talked to the claims adjuster yesterday and gave her my report, hopefully hear something in the next few days about whether or not it is indeed totalled, after that, hopefully I will get a new 05 :D

Gambit

You better hope it's totalled...otherwise you'll be without your car until they manage to fix it

loyed

Do you have any pics of what the interior was like after it was all over?????

little666devil

I have a few pics of the interior, I would have to load them onto the computer, when I get a chance I will.
-Matt

c.mark@ntlworld.com

sorry to hear your bad news, I know I would be the same way, but your still breathing,not your time yet!

little666devil

These are the longest days of my life!!!! I HATE IT...How long is it going to take for them to tell me it is indeed totalled?!?

dknv

Glad you are physically ok. Physical injury is a much worse penalty to pay.

I believe insurance companies by law, have 30 days to respond to claims (may vary by state, though). But if you're wanting to know, call the insurance claims people and ask.

afaik, if the other party is at fault in an accident, then you should be able to recover all your expenses, and be 'made whole' again. That is, you shouldn't have to settle for kelly blue book, or ADP values, if those values are lower than what it would take to get you back in your same car with around the same mileage. Then, there is also 'loss of use' (and maybe the Ford you are driving is a rental, which is being reimbursed?). But, to be able to recover this you will probably need to negotiate a bit with the other insurer. Just remember - this wasn't your fault. The disruption to your life happened because of the carelessness of the other driver. Keep this mindset if you are talking with the other insurance company.

As far as considering the car totalled -- most insurance companies, in conjunction with state laws, use a formula to determine whether they'll total out a vehicle. I think in my case, it was 60% of the value before they would consider it totalled. The damage estimates finally got to over 60% after I was able to argue with the insurance adjuster that frame damage had to be repaired back to factory specs (which in my car's case would have been prohibitively expensive). I did not want a car with frame damage repaired otherwise, because I found some research materials that indicates unibody cars are not meant to withstand multiple impacts to frame members and have the same reliability.

Gambit

Can take a long time...when my old car got totalled it took the police station 3 weeks to get the report to the insurance agency, then another week before they told me it was totalled and they'll pay me for it

little666devil

^wow that is a long time to wait. dknv, thanks for all the information! It is quite helpful, the people at the body shop my car is at keep telling me that it will get totalled, because of how much damage there is...I called the insurance company and the lady told me she thought the car was totalled but that it would be really expensive if it was, so her supervisor wanted to check the car out. He looked at it this morning and hopefully I will get an answer soon.

I have a question...How do they take care of the money issues...If I am to be put to where I was before the accident, I would need tint and bulbs...I was told they will reimburse that. What about the downpayment on a new car? Do they just give you a check with everything, or seperate checks or how does this work???
-Matt

StphNieuw

Normally they appraise the value of the car before the acccident and send a check to the bank (lein holder), if applicable and the remainder goes to you. You can then take that and use that for a downpayement or a new car. How you spend it is up to you.

Aratinga

When my 8 was rear-ended (hard) on the freeway, I was told that the repair estimate would have to be 85% of the car's retail value before it would be considered a total. Just for reference, here's a couple pics of my car. The repairs took over five months, the final bill was over $17,000, and it was NOT a total, even though I begged them to total it.

The other party was 100% at fault, but I was NOT "made whole again". In fact, the other party (the city of Pasadena, CA -- one of their city vehicles hit me) still hasn't paid a cent -- my insurance company had to pay for everything. Where before the accident I was driving a brand new RX-8 in pristine condition, five months and two ruptured cervical disks later I'm driving an RX-8 that has major paint, body, and frame repairs that isn't even worth close to what I owe on it. I was not reimbursed for five months' worth of loss of use, or diminished value, or anything else.

SilverEIGHT

Trust me on this one... it is totaled. If you need varification I can supply it. Tell your insurance company to call me if they have any question and I'll make sure they understand! They don't want to go the rought of fixing this one and you certainly wouldn't want it if they did.

- You will receive one check for anything over the amount of the payoff, based on something in the $28 to $30K range.
- Your insurance will then transfer to the new car with a minimal transfer fee. Mine was $7.
- Your tag should transfer as well.
- Your title will go to the insurance company.
- If you have gap insurance with your loan, it will help you out if the Insurance Co. doesn't pay the full amount.

Mine was less damage than yours and it was over $30,000 before they finally gave up and totaled it. Then paid me as well. There is no question on yours. You should receive a check very soon.

sidekick

Now we know why the rx8 insurance is so high. It seems people cant drive and wreck their cars.

Photic

Yikes, that is a long wait for you guys, when I totaled my mr2 they told me the next day.
I wonder if the lady got a failure to yield ticket. I hate it when people pull that kind of crap, especially when there isn't anyone behind you and they would only have to wait a 1/2 a second longer. Glad to hear you are ok, best of luck.

capitolgator

there are no hard and fast rules for totals but 70% is the general rule of thumb; but there is often hidden damage that cannot be assessed until the car is torn down so anything over 50% can be deemed an economic total loss- the bottom line is that after rental costs during an extensive repair, the total costs can go well over the 70% threshold, so most insurance companies would rather total a car than repair it- with this type of front end damage.

p.s. the fact that you are honest and have not claimed a bogus bodily injury claim speaks volumes to your character... I want to show your pictures to every scumbag ambulance chasing lawyer I have to deal with... of course they don't struggle with higher insurance rates like the rest of us poor slobs!

little666devil

Well, yesterday the news came in...THE CAR IS TOTALLED!!! Didn't think it would not be but the wait was more than horrible.

I went to my local Mazda dealership to take on the deal that my salesman told me he could get..."the same deal I had on the 04 but on the 05." We took him up on it, but added Navigation. The payments went up 100 dollars which is ridiculous, he did not give us the deal we had on the '04, he was basically just saying he could, so now I cannot get an RX8 due to the fact that I got really lucky lasttime with my '04 So I had to walk away, depressed, sad, and rx8-less.

I went to Dodge to check out their Magnums, and found to like the RT a lot. It was beautiful, plus a huge pleasure to drive, those things have power. I knew I could never afford that becuase the sticker on those is 37k and the RX8 was 33k and I could not afford it. I told him my numbers (the ones I had for my '04 RX8) and to my suprise he was able to match them!!! And with adding navi my payments went up 15 dollars, so I took it.

I am going to miss my 8 more than anything, it was definitely a huge part of my life, and in the future I want a car like it, but for now my needs are different. I am in a band, ride bikes (freestyle) and as you know you can barely fit golf clubs in the trunk!! so this new one will help that factor. The biggest thing I am worried about is rx8club. I am going to miss this site and all the people on it.

You guys are great people, and it was definitely a pleasure talking with everyone!!!

-Matt

SilverEIGHT

Matt, I wish you the best of luck and hope you enjoy your new ride. Post some pics so we can see what she looks like.

little666devil

^ I definitely will!!!

As for Aratinga, I am sorry to hear about your car, That is a nasty accident, it is pathetic they did not total it. Cars just are not the same after a collision like that, it is sad

SilverEIGHT

Aratinga, mine was a nightmare. I cannot imagine what you have gone through. I keep hoping to here from you that all is well but every time I see another post, I'm saddened. I know you have an attorney working on this now, right?

Have you thought of writing “The Governator”? I'm serious!

capitolgator

a Dodge? goodluck!

little666devil

^ I am hoping