What level of damage do insurance companies consider a car totalled? Frame damage I suspect. How do they determine what then to pay you?

Seems like you would get hit hard in the pocket if you vehicle was 1 year old and considered totalled. Of course I suppose you could buy a 1 year old replacement for about the same price then.

 

Insurance companies total a car when it costs more to fix it than it would to pay out the market value of it. Plus they have to take into account that they will be insuring a 'rebuilt' car if they dont. Bending the frame makes the car weaker in some, most, cases.

My appraiser stopped counting repair costs at 22 grand. They tore down the back end of the car to find the frame royally bent out of shape. They put it on a frame machine but couldnt bend it back into place. Considering that that meant a whole new frame and rebuilding the car, they decided to pay out instead. In addition, there is a law now that states you are entitled to the depretiation of your car due to the accident.

My car was 6 months old with 9000 miles...market value of 29500 (there is a database with this info). I bought it for 31000. So I actually didnt do too bad on the money and i have found the exact same car, new, for close to the amount they gave me.

 

wow, that's a crazy hit green slinky. glad everything worked out for ya. as for me, i went over to the the collision center today and saw that they already ripped off the door and front fender. the thing is, i never told them to start working on the car.... my insurance company had the car appraised yesterday and it came out to be 8800 and some change. and my insurance company is pushing me to fork out my $1000 deductable so the car would be fixed faster, it seems like their worried about putting out the $20 a day for my rental.. . i mean shouldn't the at fault's insurance company take care of my deductable? and if they will, wouldn't they have to see the car before it is being worked on, or send out their own adjustor. i hope that mazda deciding to start working on the car won't have any negative drawbacks towards me... it's my first accident and i'm still learning the ropes..
thanks everybody for their help~

 

eastaznboi, i totally don't understand what's your insurance doing, the insurance company from the other side should send someone out to look at the car before YOUR insurance company contact the shop for repair. and without your permittion, the bodyshop can not touch the car , if they do, you can argue and don't pay them. i mean, what if you want to give the job to another shop while you're waiting for insurance's response? you 100% have to right to choose where to fix the car, the insurance company can't. and if you're sure you're not at fault, then it'll be no deductable charge for you. because the other side should cover all the damage and medical and **** which your insurance company won't get into. so all your insurance company should do is come check the car, make a report, and fight for your right, the fixing part have nothing to do with them. you should ask your insurance company to see what they are doing, because if they're asking you for dedutable, that means they're assuming you're at fault.

 

this is my first accident as well but the rents had a dealership for a lot of years so ive seen cars come and go...

from other people's experience, it is always easier to deal with your own insurance company. it probably wasnt your fault (hope your idiot was insured since mine wasnt) so you would be billed your own deductible, then it would be voided out when the other company accepted liability. As soon as they accept liability they are on the hook for your loaner and the repairs and all that junk. so at this point i would be worried about the other company not having seen the original damage. hopefully the tear down wont make them too upset.

another thing to remember is that generally the bill goes up after tear down. from experience, a 'good' body shop will locate EVERYTHING underneath that needs tweaking...driving the bill up a bit. mine was appraised at 14500 from the outside, and totalled when looked at underneath the paneling. they stopped counting at 22k (the point where they found out the frame had to be completely replaced because they couldnt pull it back into place on the frame machine).

if for some reason they dont have insurance...i hope for you sake that you have UIM coverage. usually they waive the deductable and then all of your normal coverage applies. so if you are me and you dont have rental coverage...you have no car for an extremely long period of time. i return to tx in a month...which is when i finally get to buy my new car.

something to remember tho: you have to authorize all activities regarding your car. you have to release it to be towed or driven anywhere and you have to sign off on any work done on it (productive or destructive). and no matter where it was towed to, you always get to choose who fixes it and insurance must cover it (its their job to duke it out if they disagree with the shops appraisal).

oh yea! you are entitled to money if your car depritiates significantly due to the accident. get quotes from a few dealers and report it to the insurance company, once approved you get the money. i think that is the case everywhere (new law). hope so, not sure tho.

hope that is informative...but im just a chick so dont quote me

 

green slinky, you owe yourself a lot more credit than you give yourself :D you know a WHOLE lot more about this than i do, even if you are a chick :p

Ryan

 

I stumbled on this thread and had completely forgotten that I'd ever replied in the first place, but that isn't the point.

In a stupid stroke of bad luck, the second RX-8 I bought (after moving back to Texas) was in almost the exact same accident that started this thread. Traffic was stopped and the drivers were nice enough to wave me through. Too bad that old day-labor-esq truck decided he'd just cruise down the shoulder for a few miles. It was just me in the car and he only managed to smack my rear bumper, but I was PISSED. He also wanted to pay me cash and not file any kind of report.

After those 2 accidents I was really starting to question my driving abilities... 5 years later though, I'm accident free and back to remembering that I actually am a good driver. And I still LOVE my 8!

Happy (Safe and Speedy) Driving!

 

Good to hear you got another 8. I think I would stay away from turning left when cars waive you in if I was you.