They want to "total loss" the 535 WTF!

[BFEINZIMER]

Suchhhh ********. ****ing day before my birthday this asian chick just ****s all **** up. Anyways now that I got that out. So I went to the bodyshop today, which comes highly recommended, I sit with the girls (Farmers) adjuster and he writes up an estimate for repairs on this "CCC" computer program. It comes out to 3000 something, and thats not including the suspension damage and some extra painting they would have to do to fix and match the color of the rear door scrape. Anywho, so the car is not worth fixing. What a load of BS. Yea maybe according to some cheap ass who comes along but a straight E34 with throwing stars, pilot sport ps2s and euro trim, smoked hellas, hid's, a rebuilt tranny and regular maintenance i mean dam they quoted me as of this point, ~$3400.. I bought the car two years ago for $3200 and have put well over $10,000 into it, my dad has all the figures. I mean dam, they said I can find similar cars in the area to compare it to, so I need to find good condition E34's int he socal area with trowing stars and great tires, next to impossible....I'm at such a loss.

They offered to make it a salvage they pay me liek $175 less then their final quote (hopefully alot more than ~$3500) and I keep the car, but I dont know how I could sell it in its current condition. What a load of crap. I need help in any way shape of form, ideas anything. But the next car won't be able to be a BMW :(

[Ross]

$3400 for an eighteen year old 535 ain't out of line. All your improvements really do little to enhance it's value to anyone else looking to buy. Have a look at the for sale ads here and see what gets sold at what remains.
Having said this the insurance company is obligated to defend their insured if you sue.
Sue the woman who hit you for what you value the car at or demanding the car be repaired, be prepared to document your claim. Farmers is obliged to defend her, she will have a fit when sued and complain to Farmers. They likely will settle at a higher figure to avoid a nuisance.
If you aren't ready for a fight don't bother, if you persist you can win.
Good luck.

[BFEINZIMER]

If I fought, how much do you think I could go for?

[Omega]

If I fought, how much do you think I could go for?

One gazillion-gabillion dollars!.... </mu-ha-ha> :p

Seriously, where is the car at the moment and can you get the wheels and other stuff you've added to it off?

You have to consider that it's an 18 year old car with 150k on the clock. Basically it's frag feed, no matter what value you have added to it it's only worth what an 18 year old, 150k mile car is worth. However the value you have added to it (the new parts)you should be able to get back.

This is what I would do: Fight them for a bit - never take the first offer from an insurance company they always pitch low at first. Settle when you think you have a good deal and then buy the scrap back.

With their insurance payout buy another e34. Strip the valuable stuff off the damaged one, flea-Bay what you don't want and scrap the damaged shell.

You then have a new car with all the valuable stuff off the old one and a clean title.... And you get to keep your throwing stars and tyres.

My 2p worth........ HTH

[Paul in NZ]

or take the salvage title and fix it .With the resources on this board and some nice second hand parts and a good body shopit will be as good as before,prolly better....

[Ross]

Do you want it totalled or to repair it?
Personally I would let them total it but insist on a higher figure or less $ to buy it back salvage without title changing hands so that it becomes "branded". $3000 isn't a lot of damage and the phrase total loss applies a stigma undeserved in this case.

Remember they are OBLIGED to restore you to a pre loss condition. Writing a check for an average book value and forcing you go car shopping with an amount that may or may not buy a comparable car isn't the same.

I would insist upon proper repairs and a rental for the repair period. If you are firm about this they will recognize you must be satisfied. Your own insurance company may assist. A small claims case against the other driver would also get their attention.
If a total at your figure is what is desired then give them the choice to fix it, be responsible for the repairs which they are if you use a recommended shop and provide the loaner OR come up with a better price for your car as a total. Remind them that market price is determined between a willing seller and a willing buyer, willing being the operative word here. You have no intention of selling your precious car and can document the thousands spent on it.
If you are rediculous they will just tell you to f- off, sue if you must.

[Russell]

Do you want it totalled or to repair it?
Personally I would let them total it but insist on a higher figure or less $ to buy it back salvage without title changing hands so that it becomes "branded". $3000 isn't a lot of damage and the phrase total loss applies a stigma undeserved in this case.

Remember they are OBLIGED to restore you to a pre loss condition. Writing a check for an average book value and forcing you go car shopping with an amount that may or may not buy a comparable car isn't the same.

I would insist upon proper repairs and a rental for the repair period. If you are firm about this they will recognize you must be satisfied. Your own insurance company may assist. A small claims case against the other driver would also get their attention.
If a total at your figure is what is desired then give them the choice to fix it, be responsible for the repairs which they are if you use a recommended shop and provide the loaner OR come up with a better price for your car as a total. Remind them that market price is determined between a willing seller and a willing buyer, willing being the operative word here. You have no intention of selling your precious car and can document the thousands spent on it.
If you are rediculous they will just tell you to f- off, sue if you must.
excellent response. We all should be very aware that our cars can be easily totaled because they are older and the value has dropped a great deal in the past year or so.

For example, I had to work with the body shop & insurance company to keep my e28 on the road after being hit on the same quarter panel two different times. Each time, they wanted to total the car.

So drive carefully.

[Dave M]

Went through this my 525 when it sustained > $6,000 in front end damage by another driver.

At the time, it had 480,000km on it (~250k miles)!!!!!!! They first said TOTALLED. After listing off, in writing, all the work I had done to it and being very nice to the autobody shop providing the estimate, they decided to send in a third party appraser (this is the key). This guy had experience with luxury vehicles and took into account the lack of corrosion, the interior and the mechanical state of the car (near perfect).

In the end, they threw >$6000 at a 13 year old car with 480,00 kms on it. I was resigned to finding another car and couldn't believe they fixed it.

You never know................

Dave

[tim eh?]

Went through this my 525 when it sustained > $6,000 in front end damage by another driver.

At the time, it had 480,000km on it (~250k miles)!!!!!!! They first said TOTALLED. After listing off, in writing, all the work I had done to it and being very nice to the autobody shop providing the estimate, they decided to send in a third party appraser (this is the key). This guy had experience with luxury vehicles and took into account the lack of corrosion, the interior and the mechanical state of the car (near perfect).

In the end, they threw >$6000 at a 13 year old car with 480,00 kms on it. I was resigned to finding another car and couldn't believe they fixed it.

You never know................

Dave

that is a really good story - i've been trying to find out what my car is worth (got a hint (http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5897&stc=1&d=1220546707)the other day) so as i can decide if it's worth paying the insurance but noone will say squat - my insurance company says ask the provincial insurance board and the board says ask my insurance company.

can't offer advice, mr. feinzimer, just support i'm afraid.

[whiskychaser]

Went through this my 525 when it sustained > $6,000 in front end damage by another driver.

At the time, it had 480,000km on it (~250k miles)!!!!!!! They first said TOTALLED. After listing off, in writing, all the work I had done to it and being very nice to the autobody shop providing the estimate, they decided to send in a third party appraser (this is the key). This guy had experience with luxury vehicles and took into account the lack of corrosion, the interior and the mechanical state of the car (near perfect).

In the end, they threw >$6000 at a 13 year old car with 480,00 kms on it. I was resigned to finding another car and couldn't believe they fixed it.

You never know................

Dave

They paid out £3K? What value did you have it insured for Dave? Thought they would only pay out book value as a max.

[Dave M]

They paid out £3K? What value did you have it insured for Dave? Thought they would only pay out book value as a max.

Well, believe it or not, I had NO collision insurance. However, since the other party was 100% at fault, I didn't need any :D As I've always driven older used vehicles, I've been in the habit of not carrying collision ins. When your vw is worth $1000, you don't care what it looks like and you can do your own repairs, there really isn't much point.

I believe the repair costs were very close to book value (of which they'll only pay a certain percent), but I believe it was up to the 3rd party appraiser had the power to influence their decision.

Dave

[filmy540i/6]

Remember they are OBLIGED to restore you to a pre loss condition.

Absolutely. If you can produce receipts for what you've spent on it, they're obliged to get the car back to that condition - minus some pro-rated amounts of course. In that case, they'd be resistant to total it at the higher value and will probably fix it. Or maybe even offer you a higher totaled price for it.

On the other hand, if you let them total it and you buy it back and fix it yourself, you'll still be ahead. After all, a totaled/rebuilt title doesn't devalue these (stock) cars much lower than their market value.

Either way, if you keep it you can buy another E34 and swap parts over to the new car and then part out what you don't need. It always sucks for this to happen but it doesn't have to be a nightmare. You'll probably come out ahead after all's said and done. GL with it.

[Derek A.]

These cars are simply not worth anything from a book value perspective anymore. If you have invested a lot in a car , then you should obtain an agreed value policy from your insurance company. Both of you will agree on a value for the car - and you will be charged premiums accordingly.

I just talked to my agent on my Volvo 940. Paid $1700 - car is worth more than that, but not much. Have collision on it so I can get something if it gets whacked. Michigan is a no fault state, its tough to get a lot in a settlement over the value of a car.

[Qube]

$3400 is a bit. Depending on condition (no rust, etc) and if you can show you recently put new stuff in there (new tires, batt, etc) you can haggle up.

Pics?