jplevine

My 2005 TSX (31k miles) was involved in a pretty hefty accident yesterday (other driver's fault, acknowledged by the other driver's insurance company). While I am thankful I walked away with nothing more than soreness throughout, I cannot say the same for the car. The entire passenger side of the exterior will need replacing, including 2 new doors. Both side airbags went off. The rear wheel on the driver's side is out of kilter. There is other damage also. As much as I like my TSX, I am hoping it is considered to be "totaled" as I don't think fixing it will ever make it right.

I cannot find what low book is, but most sources say trade-in value is about $20k. My understanding is they will total the vehicle if repairs get to 80% of low book. There seems to be a delay in getting an appraisal as there have been numerous accidents in the northeast lately (weather related). What are the odds this will be considered totaled? Is there anything I can do to convince the other driver's insurance company to total the vehicle if they choose not to?

Sclass88

Is it as bad as this?




That wasn't totaled but did incur $14,000 in damage...

Post some pictures up but it sounds like it might be totaled.

bz268

usually when the air bag pops, they will total the car.

tony4311

I needed two doors, quarted panel, f. bumper,fender, side skirts, wheels, headlight, f.lip.
$9500 no airbags and the car was about a year old, fixed.


(station wagon in the back caused it.)

EuRTSX

^ Yikes, glad you fixed it. That's a great looking car

jplevine

How do I post pics?

jplevine

OK...I figured it out. Here are 2 pictures, although they probably do not do justice to the extend of the damage. Keep in mind in the second picture, it is hard to see, but the wheel is askew (axle bent?). Also, you will see 2 airbags deployed. Lastly, not shown in the picture is that my front air dam is gone. Thoughts?

LuvMyTSX

I don't think that will be totaled, but maybe there's more damage underneath that we can't see from the pics. It's hard to tell until they take a closer look at it.

Sclass88

I don't think it's totaled but ther is probably significant structural damage to the suspension...

offsight204

i dont think thats totaled .... mayb if the driver side front airbag then i would believe... but who knows may it is or mayb is not.....good luck man.. thank god u safe also

LukeaTron

I think it's all going to depend on what happened with that rear wheel. If the suspension parts bent it'll probably be repaired but if the force of the impact went straight through the control arm and into the frame, it's going to get a lot more expensive.

jplevine

If they bend back a suspension part, do I need to worry about it being weaker?

visuelz

They need to replace the bent part.

slickrab

If more of the damage where towards the bottom of the car I would say that its a strong possibilty that it can be totaled. If there was an impact relative to that that ripped through that door than it would be a strong possibilty that the main frame is bent.

curls

Judging by the impact on the front passenger door, especially so close to the handle, I'd suspect there is some B-pillar damage, which would require frame pulling and will be hard to get perfect so that panels will align (specifically, the new doors they will have to put on).

Front air dam -- like the plastic fake grille thing? If so, that's probably a super cheap part, no real worries there. They pop in/out so easily.

What happened such that the passenger side took all the impact, but the drivers' side rear wheel has tipped inwards (negative camber-like) ?? Seems strange...

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

so this was a rearend accident it wasnt totalled.
I came out of the car wash and the car in front stopped pretty hard and i didn't see in time, so the brakes basically failed.

cost about 8k in damages.
airbag and dash were the bigges. (800) Headlight and hood. 400 each

jplevine

What happened in my accident was I was in the left lane of a 2-lane northbound highway. The car in the right lane just in front of me slammed on its brakes, fish tailed to the right and then somehow rapidly moved to the left lane, striking my car right at the B-pillar hard enough causing the passenger side of my car to slam into the concrete barrier in the median (hence damage on both sides and both side curtain airbags deploying). I still am not sure what happened to the front air dam to become damaged.

I heard from the appraiser that there was pretty significant damage to the B-pillar that it would need replacing (don't know about the rear passenger wheel issue).

Tumby

I don't think this is a totaled.... at least not in Ontario, Canada.... It is so hard for you to make a totaled claim here..... from the pic.... it seems all the damages are costmatically. Glad to know you are safe through.... that is more important.

jplevine

I know at a minimum there is structural damage to the B pillar and to some part of the suspension or axle at one wheel or more. I have not seen the report yet.

One question I have is how much leeway does an appraiser have in these situations? Is there an advantage to the insurance company to total it so they can sell the usable parts as an offset to the claim (as opposed to fixing it where they get no offset)?

jplevine

One quick update as I went back to see my car today. It turns out 4 air bags deployed instead of 2 - each overhead curtain and each front seat airbag. I hopefully will hear the verdict on Wednesday.

Any advice in speaking with the insurance company in case I need to be somewhat persuasive would be most appreciated.

aznriceball

got into a accident yesterday, totaled the other car and i got about 7k worth of damage to the front

tony4311

Totaled over only 7k? What year and mileage were on the car?

nj2pa2nc

the other car was totaled-not his tsx

tony4311

lol doh
reading > me

Reach

I like how this thread is progressing into "Show me your worst accident"... ugh.

jplevine, unfortunately you have about 0 leeway / negotiation room with the insurance company. They will make their judgment based solely on their appraiser, and you have to either allow them to fix the car, or take a check worth the amount they deem it would take to fix it minus your deductible. I feel for you, but its going to be best to get your car repaired if they don't total it. I don't think they will total it.

What you do afterward (sell the car) is entirely up to you.

jplevine

Well, I hope to find out tomorrow. The car did have frame and axle damage as well as other items to both sides of the vehicle (including 4 air bags deployed). I would hope the fact this accident was the fault of the other party would give me some advantage. I am leasing a vehicle that if fixed will be worth much less than prior to the accident, yet my lease payment will not go down with the car's value (unlike depreciation which is factored into the lease already). That is something that will not sit well with me and I will let the insurance company know it. Perhaps they have a way to compensate me for that. Also, I will need to continue to pay my TSX lease payment (~$500/month) while it is being fixed (would assume to take several weeks in the best case), while driving a loaner that would cost about $200/month to lease - again that does not sit well with me either.

The proceeds from selling the car after such an accident would not get me anywhere close to the payoff and I'm not about to shell out $5-10k or more just to get out of the car damaged by someone else. So, that will not be an option.

We'll see. Any other words of advice out there when talking with the adjuster?

jplevine

Not to respond to my own posts, but I ran across a term called Diminished Value Claim. This basically entitles someone who's vehicle was damaged (usually only if the other driver's fault) to collect on the loss of market value as a result of the accident. I read a report directly from my state's general assembly report saying that state law backs this up. While coming up with the amount of diminished value can be a bit of a challenge, I am hoping this premise along with repair costs and rental car fees would convince the insurance company to total the vehicle.

Have any of you heard of the term or collected as a result of making such a claim?

jplevine

For those of you following this, I received the appraisal of the repairs today - $11,225. This would seemingly not be enough for it to be considered totaled. The appraiser said the car is worth $23k. If that's the case, let them buy the car from me for $23k and I will walk away - the point being that even before the accident I could not get $23k for it, never mind after. I'm still going to see if I can get any traction with a diminished value claim.

Reach

Sorry, I've been down this road before with a previous vehicle and it never gets you where you'd like it to. Obviously they are not going to buy the car from you. You'll never get the full value back, and diminished value claims are generally only for things than cannot be fully repaired. If they get your car back to near factory condition, and really, body shops are pretty damn good now-a-days, you'll be denied DVC just as I was.

My incident had about $7k of damage to a $10k car, non-totalled then repaired, and I was only able to sell it for just over $4k a year after that. Just try to get this to stay off of the vehicle's carfax report (no police reports if possible), tho it may be too late for that.

jplevine

There is already a police report as this was a pretty serious accident, so I can't imagine this not getting onto the system that carfax accesses. I guess the DVC filing is a long shot, but I have nothing to lose. There is pretty specific wording in Connecticut for DVC, so perhaps that will help as opposed to the laws in other states. It just irks me that they throw around a value of $23k, although they know full well there is no way to get that (pre or post accident).

jplevine

Well, a turn of events today. I decided to have my insurance company perform an appraisal. They found much more damage than the original appraiser from the other party's insurance company. The reason... the first appraiser never opened the doors to see the damage behind them! He just guessed at the damage. There was also more damage to the suspension and air bags than originally thought. The outcome - over $16k in damages and as a result, the car was totaled after all ($16k + $7k estimated salvage already equals the estimated market value of $23k). So, I guess the lesson I learned is that even if an accident is the other person's fault, go through your own insurance company so you have someone representing you, not just the other guy.

LuvMyTSX

That is exactly right - always go through your own company. Glad it worked out for you afterall. Now it's time for a new ride.

jplevine

Yes it is. I think I am leaving the Acura family though as I would like an AWD sedan and I can't afford the RL (and the AWD TL is not here yet). It looks like I will be going for the Infiniti G35 AWD.

Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions.

LuvMyTSX

^^ Best of luck to ya, then. Too bad you can't wait till April for the new TSX to come out.

JayRoam

if you wanted to stay with Acura, but can't wait for the 2nd gen TSX or 3rd gen TL, you could do a short lease on the g35 awd. just a suggestion

jplevine

Infiniti has a deal on a 39 month lease of the G35 AWD - need to see the specifics to see how good of a deal it really is. I must tell you that it was really fun to drive - 306hp! I punched it on the highway and it felt like the front wheels came off the ground a little. Even with the premium package, woodgrain interior and NAV, the sticker is <$40k, so I think this will the route for me to go - looks like with this offer you can get it below cost.

JimDaugherty

Please let us know how you like the Infiniti G35 AWD and how it compares to the TSX in real life.

I am particularly interested in the comparison as I considered the G35 AWD myself, before I bought the TSX. I appreciated your sharing your travails and I am glad it worked out as well as it did you.

$23 grand. Thought the aggravation was great, it appears that your did ok in the end (not counting your time and frustration).

Godspeed, jplevine

Jim

Earlier life: 1966 Datsun 1600 Sport, 1972 BMW 2002tii, 1973 Volvo 142e, 72 Datsun 240Z, 72 Mercedes 250, 73 BMW 2002, 73 Datsun 260Z, 73 Volvo 164e, 71 BMW 2800cs, 77 BMW 320i, 82 Mercedes 300D, 84 BMW 325e, 86 Acura Legend, 90 Miata, 00 Acura TL
Current life: 06 TSX 6sp, 05 Mercedes SLK 350 7sp, 03 Toy RAV4
A car is an expensive PITA; get one you like.

club_euro2

Good Luck with the new car. I am glad things worked out in your favor.
Best Regards,
Umair

npolite

Well one thing you could also do is take it to an Acura dealer for a free estimate. Even if you decide not to have them repair it, the estimate will give you a rough ballpark if what the other person's adjuster is telling you is correct. Then you could argue that the adjuster missed something.

jplevine

Once my insurance company's appraiser deemed the car as totaled, that made it a done deal. Besides, that was the outcome I wanted as I had thought there was more damage than I would want fixed in a car I drive. My insurance company will work with and subrogate to the liable party's insurance company. I think there are laws (at least in CT) that once an appraiser deems a car totaled, that is the final determination (i.e. someone else cannot "untotal" the vehicle). I'm not sure, but I thought I read something to that extent. My insurance immediately gave me the green light to get another car.

Anyway, I picked up my G35X yesterday (black w/graphite interior), premium package, nav and woodgrain. I actually got a better deal than the promotional lease being advertised. I drove it quite a bit today and I love this car. It is everything I am looking for in a car. It has amazing acceleration at startup and when you are already cruising on the highway. I love all of the gadgetry and it is super comfortable.