So I'm sitting in my room playing NFSU2, trying to beat it (..currently stuck at 50%) when my dad busts open my room and tells me that my little brother had crashed my '99 TL. So I leave with my dad and go to the scene, which is like literally a 3 minute drive from our house to see this..

* Sorry for the horrible pics. I didn't have time to adjust my digi correctly since they just started to tow the car when I got back with my digi.*




..the damage looks pretty bad, but we'll see tomorrow when the insurance person takes a look at it. My brother tells me that he was using his cell phone when he crashed into the street post. I'm not really mad that my brother crashed my car since I have my real baby sitting safely in my garage but but it looks like my winter car is completely totaled.

This sucks..

 

sorry to hear that but at least your lil bro is ok right.

 

Yeah, he's ok..a bit shaken up since this was his first accident.

 

Totalled definitely with 137.5k miles, but that's a long time to enjoy a car so you got your money's worth and at least your brother is fine, he couldn't be replaced but you have two TLs and you can buy as many as you want, anyway.

 

I'm sure it would've lasted another 100k (tranny had no issues except for a glitch here and there) .. you really think it's totaled? Damn..but like you said, it can be replaced..

 

thats what he gets for talking on the phone while driving ... just like ladies putting on makeup during rush hour. glad it was a pole and not a person or a motorcycle. i'm sure he learned his lesson.

 

Kind of cold, but true.

At least nobody got hurt.

 

Yeah, I had already told him that when I first saw the my car. The only reason why he isn't getting a beat-down from me right now is the fact that the first thing he did when I got to the scene was apologize.

..and Rob..someone did get hurt..my '99 TL.

 

It is definitely totalled. Isn't that the passenger airbag we can see in that picture?

 

wowzerssss. thanks god your bro is ok

 

ouch. i hope not to be in that position, i'll be leaving the TL to my lil brother in the next year or two..


good luck and be thankful no one (person) got hurt.

 

At least your bro is alright....now getting back to that beatdown.....

It should be totalled - front, right fender, right doors, roof. Man, those pictures hurt.

 

I totally agree. When people talk on their cell phones, they are distracted, and not paying attention to what they SHOULD be doing, which is concentrating on driving. Thank God he didn't kill anyone.

If I were the father is this matter, I would have taken away the cell phone.

 

Completely totalled.

 

man brian sorry to see your car. that sucks!!!!
as for totaled that will be up to the insurance, in all honesty it doesnt look too bad. it could be worse. guess you will have to wait to see what they say

 

Glad that everyone is okay.

But now that's out of the way -

Going to part it out?

 

Well, yeah. But nothing a little body work can't fix.

Good luck.

 

OOOOOooooooohhhh. SHAT!! I would have beat his ass.
I'm glad that everyone is alright. But I'd still give your bro a whoopin'. There is no excuse for putting a perfectly good Honda into a cement poll.

 

u gotta watch out cause sometimes those poles jump out in front of you!

good thing everyone is O.K

 

The A-piller is messed up pretty bad. You must be the nicest brother in the world because if he was my brother I would of been scrapping the ground with his face. Very fortunate that no one was hurt.

 

I would have to agree with fsttyms1. It really doesn't look that bad. Mostly superficial damage unless the frame is bent. I mean the front end is gonna take some body work but I have seen worse by far. I am glad no one was hurt and I hope it turns out however you want. I would say it will be close either way and you could sway the insurance adjuster somewhat by talking to them when they come out. May be worth a try anyway...

 

The car has high mileage, is 6 years old, and has several damaged body panels and blown airbags. It is totalled.

 

From what I know if the car is not brand new,Like one or two years old and there is a sunroof in the car if there is any roof damage its pretty much a total loss

 

what does the suroof have any thing to do with it?

 

Thanks to all those that replied..makes me feel better. And yes, I am a very nice person..and since he had already apologized and the fact that he was shaking with fear when he apologized to me, I think it's enough. What has happened..has happened..nothing you can do to change it. Well I'm off to work..then to the tow shop to check out the car with the insurance guy..will keep you guys updated. I'll also try to snap better day pics as well..

P.S. I forgot to mention that the cement pole was on top of the car before I was able to come back w/my digi..as you can see from the pics.

 

Sorry to hear that! I'm glad your bro is ok.

 

Not sure what you guys are smokin I got into an accident about 3 months ago (some 18 year old girl with a temp. license). Did damage to the right front quarterpanel, door, roof, and hood... kinda like the accident pictured, but not even close to as bad. You would have gone "no way, that's not totalled." Guess what? It was $500 from being totalled. My car at the time had 44k miles on it. There is no fucking WAY that this isn't totalled. If it isn't, I'll eat my hat.

 

yes you are nice

 

Ummm.... I'll watch him eat his hat. It's definately totalled.

 

I believe the decision to total or not to total is made thusly:

Find out how much it would cost to fix the car back like it was.
Find out how much out how much it cost to buy a comparable car (same kind, and close or less miles, runs good, etc)
Choose the cheaper of the two options. If buying another car is cheaper then total the first one.

There are special considerations made if the frame is bent or something similar and the car can not be put back into its original state.

My point is that the car is worth about 10k and I think the damage looks like less than 10k. Hard to tell really from the photos and not knowing what stuff cost. I bet it will be close. We will soon see.

 

Wrong on all accounts. First of all:

They will always fix it to the way it was. They will never do SOME of the work. It's all or nothing.

They compare the value of the car to THEM not to you. There is no KBB value in the insurance industry. It's valued way less. For instance, my 1999 Acura TL with 44k miles was only worth 10k.

They don't even care what is cheaper. They will either fix your car, until they LOSE money on it (this is done by bids, work orders, etc), or they will total it. Also keep in mind that their value of the car is decreased even more in some situations because the car has a value on it if they total it. This is called the salvage value. So for my 10k car, 2k of that was salvage value. This means that if my repairs totalled over 8k, my car was TOTALLED. They would pay me 10k for it, recover 2k + my deductable.

And again. The damage on that car is WAY over 10k. WAY over.

Edit: And when I say way over I MEAN way over. The parts alone to fix the car will be close to 10k.

 

agreed. yes there is alot of damage but none is severe. it comes down to how much the insurance comp is willing to say the car is worth. i hit a tree with one of my previous cars at about 40 and the damage was alot more than that and it was only about 6500 to repair.

there are alot of things to be considered. but looking at teh damage from those pics none is severe looking.

 

The A-pillar is toast. The hood is toast. The bumper, quarterpanel, roof, sunroof is toast. Dude. The bumper alone is going to cost a thousand at least. Internal damage + apillar + hood + quarterpanel.... my god the list goes on.... we'll see though. Like I said, if it's not totalled, I'll eat my hat.

 

im hoping someone may have a answer for me.

i have a set of groupbuy gauges (as seen in some other threads) well the inverter is out. i ordered a set of 6 color gauges hoping that the inverter would be the same, but it isnt. the question i have is does any one know where i can find a new inverter? the groupbuy ones dont have a name or any thing on them, all i know is that they are 6 color and reverse glow. the inverter has 3 wires going to the gauges and all the ones ive seen (including the one i have) has 2

PLEASEEEEEEEEEE some one help me

 

Ehh all that needs is a lil elbow grease. It can all be buffed right out . Glad your bro is ok and good luck with everything.

 

well i replaced my bumper and it was 400 painted so i dont know where your geting atleast a thoushand. i had my A piller removed and replaced and painted for 850 and that incleuded replacing the windshield (200.00).

I NEVER said it wasnt totaled, JUST that the damage WASNT that bad!

 

The whole bumper assmbly for $400 including cover and all pieces? And omg fsttyms1 you actually said "the" and not "teh" And BTW, this isn't taking into acount labor costs!

 

"Relax, alright? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it."

Sorry... I read this thread and couldn't help it....

 

If that was my car, I would want it totalled. Just knowing it was in a big accident like that, I just don't want to have the car back even if they fix it perfectly. It's a psychological thing for me I guess. And lucky there was no passenger in the front seat...with that pillar close to crushing the front passenger compartment, the likelihood of severe head injury or death to the front passenger is extremely high. But glad everything turned out OK.

 

Was your brother an eligible driver on your insurance? If not, prepare to bend over before receiving your next insurance statement.