tmk70

Hey Guys:

Anyone out there ever been in a wreck where the value of the damage is "a couple grand" short of a total? What is my next move? My advisor at Acura suggested that my lawyer go after the drunk's insurance company and make a stink about it, telling them that I planned to trade the car in and all....I have left messages with Acura of Boston, my lawyer, and my insurance company....now I'm just sitting here waiting...what can be done? Anybody know? Neither Acura of Boston OR my insurance assessor has opened the destroyed hood of this car to check for other damages....WHY NOT??????

By the way, my G35 arrived in port today.

I'm so fucking bummed right now.

tmk70

Somebody help me

foe

why didnt they?

foe

where is the car located now?

mattg

just have it fixed by a reputable shop, then trade it in.

whats the big deal?

foe

he will get a lot less for the tradein

tmk70

The big deal is that the entire nose of the car needs to be cut off and it will take at least 1-2 months, also...the car will be worth between 3-5K LESS due to the record of a major frontal accident.

foe

hmm take a hammer and hit hte wheels to dis mess up the cariage thats illegal though. Honestly I dont know legally what you can do.

tmk70

It's sitting at Acura of Boston like a dishrag whore in the gutter.

I guess I just have to wait to hear back from my lawyer about my next move. This is fucking bizarre. Thanks for the replies, guys...I'm just fucking completely beside myself. You would think that, given that MY insurance company knows that I wasn't at fault and that a drunk hit me would be cause to give me a nice estimate so the fucker would get totalled. Unbelievable.

CLASSYCLS

dude, get a sledgehammer and smash the shit out of the frame, engine block, a couple of door panels, etc, just use your imagination where there can be unseen damages!!

CLASSYCLS

illegal? YES!!, will it work? hey you never know!!

foe

if you get caught though your fucked and nobody is paying you a dime

Titand19

Go to the acura dealer, and ask them if you can look at your car for a while. Put leave all on the inside, and put a bottle of lighter fluid on the dash and light the leaves. DO not pour the fluid on the leaves. Ojnce the container is hot enough, it will explode and everything will be saturated in lighter fluid.

tmk70

Hahahahahaha....nice suggestions guys!!!

mattg

1-2 months, thats a laugh. who told you that?

and if it's not totalled, there will be no record of the accident, and no reconstructed title.

are the laws that different in Mass.?

Aegean_Blue6

How much damage are they saying there is? How much do they think your car is worth?

tmk70

They valued the damage (initial) at 10K, car is valued at 21K, but the Acura dealer said it will be more than that, and they don't have the equipment to do it, so they are referring me to a shop that they use. This all makes me fucking puke.

tmk70

Any major accident where airbags are deployed will be on record via the car's VIN. 1-2 months works this way...the car goes into the shop, probably sits for 2 weeks, then they start work by cutting the entire front subframe from the car, lifting out the engine, welding on a new subframe, dropping the engine back in, putting on all panels, completing all the painting and body work, then fixing the broken CD Changer, cleaning all the airbag shit out of the car, replacing all the restraint systems, sensors, and airbags. This is all assuming, of course, that the engine/tranny aren't damaged from dropping in the accident from the impact, which nobody will even venture a guess about. I don't think this looks like a 3 day job, Matt.

mattg

you're in a shitty situation my friend. do everything you can to get it totalled.

mattg

btw, i'm not talking out of my ass. i worked for over 2 years as an estimator and paint shop manager at a collision center. fixing your car should be a 2-3 week job. having said that i also know about hidden damage, parts delays etc. these unforseen problems could easily drag the repair out over a month.

i've never heard of the airbag deployment, marked VIN thing though. just reconstructed title for a total loss.

1SICKLEX

I;m with Mattg. 1-2 months for that is a big ole lie. 2-3 weeks tops if they got all the parts.

IS the frame bent?If not, they will try to fix it.

foe

make them give you a rental in the mean time

foe

how fast was the impact?

Fahad

I feel sorry for you man, that sucks.
from the pic I think your car is totalled, not worth fixing espically when it takes 2 months+ the free rental they will give during this time I mean that will cost them two much.and they would be surprice when they open the hood. I'm asumming $9k for parts+$5K labor, take it to the most expencive garage you know.

BigPimp

I dont know, it does not really looked totalled. It's front damage and the windshield is not even cracked. The doors are fine and even the lights are not damaged, at least from the angle of the above picture. It looks to be at most a 12k job, and the car is worth 21k. How do you figure they should total it?

Also, your title will be fine because mattg is correct. Unless the vehicle is totalled, salvaged and then reconstructed, there won't be anything on the title. I would say just keep this info away from the knowledge of the Infinity dealer and you should be just fine. Tops a months work and if not then find someone else to do it quicker.

Get the dealer to hold the g35, make sure the bodyshop does not f up too badly, wait a month and drive in a beatiful Cl-S to trade in on a G35.

Aegean_Blue6

If the engine and tranny dropped out, I'd expect there could be some reasonable damage there. I agree with BigPimp though - it doesn't look too bad from the front. If they can make it pretty again, just bring it to the dealer. "Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies". Now you just need to figure out what to tell the Infiniti dealer about why you'll pick the car up late.

Fahad

well I'm 100% sure its totalled, but I think there are some interior dameges the will drive the cost up high, like the frame of the car or the engine.

Doom878

What kind of under hood damage was there? I didn't see the original accident information.

I believe rule of thumb for insurance is that if the cost of repair is more than 80%, they total the car. Problem is 80% of what? Sometimes insurance companies have "blackbook" values that do not comply with what NADA or Kelly Blue Book would say. Not sure about subframes but I believe if the frame is bent the car is totaled.

If your lawyer is sitting on his ass about the case, then you need a new lawyer. He should be demanding a more accurate and maybe an independent estimator to judge the value of the car. That way you guys will know if you have a case.

Bluto

Are you trading or selling your car?

A correctly fixed car should not lose any resale value. Most buyers can't tell. Trade in value, I don't know. But I've never seen a used car discounted because it was in an accident.


I think your lawyer will give you the best advice.




BTW - Stop by the shop fixing your car with some cheesesteaks, it will be better than new in 2 weeks. :P

tmk70

Answers to Questions above:

1. I don't know if the frame is bent.

2. I have a rental car....a lovely Chevy Impala

3. The impact was 30 mph, me T-boning a drunk

4. The Infiniti dealer already knows about the wreck, I had to tell them as the trade was part of the deal.

5. The hood hasn't been opened yet. 10K was the initial assessment, no underbody or underhood damage has been seen yet.

I'll keep you posted. The car is en route to Acura of Boston's preferred body guy. I already have a call into him to tell him my story....hopefully he'll be able to find lots of problems.

ferizzo

Todd, find out what the insurance company is estimating for labor because when I had an accident earlier this year the insurance company was only giving me $35 an hour for labor initially yet the dealer charges 80!!!! I eventually got them to pay 70 for labor (AoB lowered their rate as well) so it ended being fine. Since you weren't at fault you should demand that Acura fix the car (they'll obviously recommend a shop) but make sure that the labor costs are correct. Initial costs are never final so make sure they are not fucking you! Oh and obviously ask for geniune acura parts because sometimes if not told they might estimate with replica parts.

I'm sure this has been considered but just adding my two cents. Good Luck!

Oh and I think 2 months is not off base because:

1) it'll take some time to fix everything,
2) they won't order parts until they are certain the car is gonna get fixed,
3)when they find more damage they have to have an appraiser come and look at the damage to estimate it and sign for it. Then the insurance company needs to approve the new charges etc.
4) everyone takes their sweetass time when its not their car!

tmk70

35 bucks an hour for labor.....who the hell works for 35 bucks an hour???? Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!

soopa

when i was involved in a 5 car pile up in my TL... the damage was 22K... the car only cost 28... but it was less then a month old.

so they didnt total it.


the car came out like shit... total absolute shit... drove sidways in fact


but umm... ya i just ended up getting fucked on that whole deal. im not sure what to do

LegendC

Has YOUR insurance estimator looked at it or was it the estimator from the person who hit you? You might want them to take another look....go there in person and have them pop the hood...if they find any non-goodness in there they will total it out for sure.

tmk70

It was my insurance company that looked at it, Ryan....cheap bastards. Insurance assessors never open the hood or lift the car, they wait until the car goes to a shop, then the AutoBody guys find stuff, call the assessor back in, and show him. I can only hope there's some major shit wrong under there.

ferizzo

you say its at AoB??? I can make sure there's major shit wrong...j/k.

tmk70

It's actually getting moved today to Newton to A.O.B.'s preferred shop for this type of shit. Want the new address?

fusionnv

I had rear end damage to my prelude (Semi-Truck hit it when it was park at like 40mph). They estimated that it would be around $4700, $4800 to total, I called the insurance company told them there might be damages with the transmission and engine, because I did drive it and man it ran like crap, got like 1 m per gallon. I told them, if the shop fixed it and the engine and tranny still had i problem, I was still going to continue to try to get the money and they would have to pay to repair it. They decide to not do that because there like 1-2 grand for damages unknown. But make sure nobody does any work etc on it!!!

GreenMonster

Your lawyer should be able to get some additional $$$ for "loss of value" on the car (in addition to the $$$ to fix it) since it'll never be worth as much as it would be if it was accident free. (diminished value, something like that, I don't know the laywer lingo).

Since you were planning on trading the CLS in anyways, this fact should help your case. Basicly, the drunk f'ed up your plans royally, and either he or his ins. co. should fork up the $$$ to make everything alright (fuck legalities, it's the right thing to do).

Like others have said, make sure that all estimates include genuine Acura parts (not aftermarket). You'll have to wait till the autobody guys make their inspection before you know for sure if it's totaled, ad the waiting must be killing you.

It'll take a lot to total a $30K car, but the guy in this tread had his 2003 (w/navi) totaled and bought it back from the ins. co. Pmail him to see if he can offer any advise on how to get your CL declared a total loss.

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...hreadid=104186

tmk70

Thanks man...just sent him a PM!! His car looks nowhere nearly as bad as mine!!!!!