I have seen on 20/20 or a show that is similar about buying a spring-loaded device that you just place against the side window and release the firing pin. It is not really a firing pin but the same idea.

Where do you buy these devices?

 

I'm not sure about the spring loaded device, but the hammer, look on amazon, most auto parts stores. I bought mine from target for I think $10. Make sure it has a blade in it for cutting your seatbelt incase you can't get it off

 

ouch! that breaks my heart just looking at the pics.
'wasabe918'..., hope all works out with the insurance company. it seems like they are always out to get ya eventho you are paying them for a service...

keep us posted for sure, and again, my condolences...

 

Thanks, Kaister. Its been 4 days since the incident and the insurance company still havent had it towed away nor done anything to speed up the process. what the heck. It still sitting at the same spot where it was flooded. My coworker is right. Since I dont have any rental car coverage nor is the insurance company being charged for car storage, they are just taking their time. now I learned to get rental car coverage, 1-2 days of rental will cover a year of extra fee. It sure is not fun to drive my dad's big and dirty cargo van to work.

 

Wasabe, I was away in the netherlands when I read about all the flooding in norcal. I had no idea it happened this close to home, very sorry this happened to you!

I have one of those orange emergency hammers in the big armrest bucket. Now I will definately screw it down within easy reach! The only problem with those hammer is that I doubt they will work under water because of friction. A center punch is a better option in that case. Several years ago I was trained as a MERT responder for our company and the instructor gave one away as a 'prize'. Apparently first responders often carry these to quickly pop car windows to get people out. You can get them for cheap at harbor freight. There's a store in Newark right of 880 or get it online. Get the one with the broad end so it's easy to push down.

Ever since I got my first 100% electric car I've been worried about being able to get out of the window in case of emergency. Your experience has shown me that I'm not entirely paranoid and that precautions need to be taken. In many ways a hand cranked window is so much safer. Of course in my native Holland this is a real concern because of all the water everywhere. Here in CA the chances of a water crash aren't very high.

Anyway, best of luck dealing with the aftermath!

 

I spoke with the tow truck company since they were suppose to tow it away on Tuesday and didnt do it till late thursday. they told me they were backed up since so many cars got flooded in the area. after the they inspected the car, my insurance agent called me and let me know that the inspector left a note on my claim that it is a total loss, but i still havent receive the official words from the adjuster yet. Hopefully they can get this claim over with within this coming week so i can get my next car.

 

The adjuster finally called me today and confirmed that the car is a total loss and someone is going to me to let me know how much they are cutting me a check for. is this negotiatable if the amount is not enough to cover the cost of my car? and do they pay me back sales tax and license fees?

 

As to the first question, do you have GAP insurance? If so, this will cover the difference between what the insurance will pay and how much the loan was for.

As for your second question, you need to check state law. Here in Texas if your vehicle is under one year old, yes you will get re-inbursed for tax and title. Not sure about California.

 

Unfortunately, i dont have gap insurance. is that the additional insurance coverage that you pay to dealer at the time of purchase? I am not sure if tax is return in cali. but when the insurance company calls me back, i will found out eventually.

 

Yes you buy gap from the dealer at the time of purchase.

 

Sometimes the lender includes it in the loan. Check with your lender to see if they gave you GAP coverage. Acura automatically includes GAP with ALL LEASES, but comes as an extra expense if you get an auto loan.

As for tax and license reimbursement, I believe California does cover that during the first year.

 

Just wondering if this property is in a designated flood area on the FEMA flood map, or was this an unusual occurence because of all the rain you guys have had.

 

I believe its in the flood zone since the whole sacramento is in the flood zone, but that place has never been flooded since they moved there 8 years ago.


I got a problem here. I was told by my agent that they are offering my $40,000 back and i think thats including tax. which means i will lose a lot and i beblieve that is way too low and i will not accept this price. The blue book value shows at $47,500. Is this negotiatable? is there anyone who has experienced a total loss of their can tell me what i should be getting back?

 

Yes, you can negotiate the price. They will not go based on bluebook price generally. Some companies do. They will look at other RLs in the area and see how much they are selling for - and the RL has poor resale value. You should look at autotrader.com and also kbb.com edmunds.com and nadaguide.com. Take all the prices - retail only - not trade in or private party - and show those to your insurance company. They should give you tax ontop of the final number. But yes, it is negotiable.

 

The solution may be to find a comparable used RL in your area (if possible), show the price to your insurance company and then buy it with the money they give you. Without gap insurance, the best you might do is to be right back to where you started.

 

yes you can 'move the goalposts' and if the insurance company gets snippy, you can play your ace;
Let them know you do not find their settlement equitable, and DO NOT ACCEPT, SIGN, or ENDORSE any check or document.
Inform them you will be referring the matter to your attorney, and you can let them know you intend to get an attorney who specializes in insurance settlements, and this will nudge them to not dicker.

You see, if they are going to screw you, they wont care about this, and you will not get any more to the settlement.
However, there are plenty of case law precedents mostly against insurance companies who try to clip the insured, and they will not want to waste the time and money to fight your claim of which the additional monies you are looking for are less than the time and cost of fighting you, which you will also win because the lawyer will bring out the precedents to the court.

You have nothing to lose, and everything to get.
And after you get this claim settled, you can be pretty sure you will get dropped by that underwriter-so before they drop you, you should switch; getting insurance when you have been dropped is a real bitch.

 

I still havent heard from the settlement adjuster yet but my agent told me that will call me for the sales contract to see how much i paid for it. however, it was in the car when it was flooded so it got soaked in flood water so i threw it away. and even if i do have it i dont see why i have to show it to them. wont the blue book value and other sites pricing good enough? Man, its been almost 2 weeks and they still havent settle this yet.

 

It may be worthwhile for you to get a copy of the sales agreement from your dealership just to expedite things.

 

I wouldn't show them the sales contract. They will try to lowball the figure by saying that since you paid $xxxxx.xx for the car we will give you that much minus some more depreciation. A friend of mine has totaled three cars in three years (I don't know how he managed that) - but, each time he had bought new cars at less than MSRP. When the insurance company offered money, he ended up MAKING a few hundred bucks on each car. Showing them the sales contract will not allow you to get the most money you are entitled.

They should be able to go on current market value of the car - autotrader.com cars.com ebay.com (although, ebay is not the best indicator because they are usually sold closer to wholesale) and various other places.

Find out how your particular insurance company does the valuation. I know AAA Michigan uses CCC Valuescope to do their valuations - and if you try to negotiate, they will generally check autotrader and cars.com - but the CCC value is usually fair. With State Farm they go only based on what nadaguide.com says.

Now, if your insurance policy has an endorsement that says if your car is totaled within a certain time frame they will pay you the full amount you paid - then of course you would show them a sales contract - most policies do not have this coverage.

 

Sales contract is not relevant.
You are entitled to replacement value, whatever that may be.
In some instances, if the car is less than a year old and less than 12,000 miles, you are entitled to full pruchase price of that vehicle.
After one year, then its replacement cost of that vehicle for the model year you have.
You are supposed to get retail cost, not wholesale cost.

Sounds like to me they are really playing on you, and you will be better off getting your lawyer involved.
Just because you got a 'deal' on that vehicle isnt a reason to get less than replacement cost.
Remember, the adjuster is under tremendous pressure to cut costs, that doesnt mean he has to offer you the best deal to you, but he cannot by law force you to take less if you cannot get the vehicle at the 'deal' you got.
Its a free market, and they know what the range of prices are, they are just trying to get you to go and do the legwork to get a lowball deal.

 

I agree, sales contract is not relevant. Get a lawyer!!!!!!

Edit mod: vp911

 

This is pissing me off! i waited so many days for the next adjuster to called me when she is suppose to me by wednesday, and no calls, so i finally called her. and she was so freaking rude. i explain that i am suppose to get a call from her by wednesday and she didnt care to apologize or explain why i didnt a call for 2 weeks now since the claim started. she went straight to telling me how much i am getting a check for. I told her, thats way too lil and my car is worth more than based on kbb, nadaguide.com, and cars that are selling in auto.com and autotrader.com are selling $4 grand more than what she is quoting me. And she like, "nope thats all we are giving you! we cant change that! I was hella pissed with that attitude, so i told her, "ok, give me a similar replacement with the same mileage and color and etc. She was like, "nope, we cant do that! We are giving you this amount and we are not going to change it. you can get my own appraiser if you want to." Man, i was fired up. I told her i will not take this price since i paid so more than that price and will get a lawyer if i need to resolve this. she doesnt give a crap and told me do whatever i need to. So i asked for her supervisor but she said he wasnt there. so i got the name and # down and hang up. man, besides the price she is giving me that i am just cant believe she gave me that attitude. She didnt any space for negotiations at all. I really am considering getting a lawyer for this. what do you guys suggest??

 

What insurance company do you have again? I think you mentioned it earlier.

As far as this - I would tell the supervisor you want another adjuster put on the claim due to the rudeness of the person.

If it doesn't work out, I would consider getting a lawyer - but remember, you will have to pay legal fees. I would definately try to get a new adjuster and work it out yourself. I would consider getting an independent appraiser to value the car also. See what the supervisor says when you contact him/her.

Good luck.

 

I know how you feel. Once I had a similar situation with the adjuster who came to "adjust" the value of my fence broken by the Mayflower moving truck.

I believe the first question you need to ask yourself is whether the offer is fair or not. If it is fair, take it and move on. If it is not fair, follow the advice given by trying to fix it without getting a lawyer - the lawyer will cost you more in the long run. Remember you are fighting over a small figure - under 4K? If they are offering you $40K, that is probably fair because you could possibly buy this one for that much.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...e=&cardist=300

If they are offering you $35K then IMO this is not fair and I would fight it. Good luck!

 

my settlement adjusters supervisor called me up after my agents division manager talked to them. but he was firmed with the price and said they based the offer price on the recent sold records from dmv. is it possible for them to get sold prices from dmv? i thought that would be confidential.

btw, i am with farmers.

 

I was just about to switch to farmers. I was told that in determining the value of a car they use a company called CCC Valuescope to do the work (same as AAA). I would tell them you want a copy of the CCC Valuescope report as proof. If they are indeed using the CCC valuations - then I would settle. My experience with the totaled TL was that they gave me a pretty fair value. Sure, I wish I could have gotten more - but the value was indeed fair.

 

Examine your policy line by line.
Look to ascertain the facts on replacement costs-and how that is settled.
GET YOUR LAWYER INVOLVED.
or just resign to getting screwed and you cant do anything about it on your own.

 

Somewhat of an unusual occurence...last time this happened was back in the El Nino "time" of 1997...nothing like this in the recent years since 1997.

I'm in the Pocket area of Sacramento...which is clearly the WORST. Luckly, there was no flooding at all this year so I basically lucked out. FWIW, a new "escape map" put out by the gov't shows that my street has about 30 mins to evacuate before the streets fill with >1ft in the event of a levee failure, IIRC. I don't qualify for preferred rate flood insurance in the Pocket area and pay about 2x what people in Land Park (5 miles away) do.

I wonder where the flooding occurred during this event....

BTW, I'm guessing that this flooding occurred in North Sacramento (perhaps near the Sacramento State University and surrounding neighboorhood)...I heard that there was some bad street flooding in that area.

 

This article may provide you with some answers What To Do When Your Auto Insurer Totals Your Car

 

Man, I feel for you. I live on the eastern side of Sac off HWY 50 and could imagine the same happening to me. Anyhow, keep us posted on what's going on with your insurance. Natural disasters and acts of God...not quite as bad as dealing with insurance companies.

 

Thanks for the support. I went to the auction place to pick up some of my personal belongings from the trunk , and was hoping that they were able to get it open but unfortunately no luck. but they messed up my front bumper with a big crack on the bottom.,maybe from the fork lift as thats the way they move cars around there.

 

[QUOTE=maybe from the fork lift as thats the way they move cars around there.[/QUOTE]

That definitively totalled the car, as it should only be towed on a flate-bed.

 

my insurance finally settled my claim after 25 days. we have been negotiating back and forth for weeks now and they wont budge at all. i got this ass XXXX adjuster in the beginning but couldnt stand her attitude so had been dealing with her boss instead. but he says he couldnt do anything about it cuz of company policy and other craps which was bs to me. but since i was getting impatient and without rental car i just gonna accept the amount that they offered. they based the value on research call CCC valuescope, which is recent sold prices records from dmv and not the retail used car prices. it means that they are passing the negotiating part for me to deal with. anyway, i guess i can move on now and start looking for my next car.

 

Wasabe, you've got the right attitude. Take the money and move on. You probably realize right now that insurance is not a 100% safety net. When bad things happen you end up with inconvenience and cost. There are ways around this but of course your premiums will go up and who wants to deal with this? Insurance is about risk mitigation. You can cover a few thousand dollars yourself but not the entire car. That's why you have insurance. You take the risk of that few K. Same with medical insurance. I needed an ambulance a few years ago. Fun little 10 minute ride. Wouldn't you know it that I ended up paying almost $800 of that bill?

Anyway, it typically takes an unfortunate incident like this to fully appreciate the intricacies of insurance. I'm sure you understand your policy better now than you did a few months ago. Needless to say you should take your business elsewhere if you're unhappy with what you got for your $$.

Best of luck!

 

Nocturnal is so right.