Hey everyone,

Photos of car are here: http://photobucket.com/kath12TSX

I've owned my 2010 TSX for about 5 months and it was significantly damaged by hail in the Carolinas over the weekend. I desperately want the car to be totaled so I can get a new TSX because this one will never be the same after all the damages are repaired. I left it parked in a lot obviously unaware that the hail was coming, so after the back windshield was busted by the baseball-sized hail it continued to rain hard and damage my interior for 3 more hours before I returned to pick up my car.

The insurance inspector is coming within the next couple of days. Do you guys have any advice on issues I need to be sure to point out in hopes of getting this totaled?

Summary of damages:
- 65 dents on hood alone
- the only external panels on entire car without damage are 2 doors
- huge loss of resale value (not that I ever want to resale, but just in case...) - hail and water damage will now be on carfax
- chrome around all side windows dented and window seals possibly compromised
- who knows what all interior damage, the floorboards in the front are still damp today (48 hours later) - electrical damage as well??
- new car smell gone
- paint chipped from hail on trunk and already starting to rust
- 2-3" of water still stood in the trunk when I opened that for the first time today (again, 48 hours later)

Thanks so much for any advice!!!

 

So sorry to see and hear the damage to your car.

Hope the insurance company would total the vehicle so you can get a new one to replace it.

 

Very sorry to see and hear about this happening to your car. My advice based on my own past experience is just to be upfront and honest when talking with the insurance inspector. Try to develop a rapport with him/her and then just flat out ask if the car can be considered a total loss. Point out all the things that you listed in your post above, and keep asking. Example: "With all the water damage, including the 2-3 inches of standing water, would that be considered a total loss?"

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the comments!

Unfortunately this has been a slow process so far dealing with the insurance company and a lot of waiting since all local body shops are packed with other hail damaged cars.

An insurance inspector looked at the car over a week ago and came up with $8200 in external replacements and repairs. This included a new hood, roof skin, trunk, repairing all other panels, repairing chrome along the windows, and front and back glass.

He couldn't do an internal estimate so it was towed to the Acura dealer and has now been there for a week for their maintenance group to come up with an estimate. They weren't expecting it to take this long but also didn't initially think the damages inside were as bad as they actually are. They're supposed to be finalizing the estimate later today, but they told us the items to be replaced are the back seat, back speakers, all carpet, all trunk lining, back hand rests on doors, back panel lining, and back side airbag igniters (already started rusting when back windshield broke out), I think that's everything. If it's not totaled I'm going to push for new front seats too, because those took on some water as well and were starting to smell bad the last time I saw the car last week.

We've also lined up a body shop to take a second look at the external damages after Acura is done to see if the $8200 is fair. I'm hoping that number will bump up a bit and that the internal repairs will be close to $10K so we won't have any issues getting this thing totaled.

One additional note - my insurance policy requires OEM parts.

Thoughts??

 

Hopefully they can get it totalled. All of the small things add up. What policy do you have that requires OEM parts? What company?

 

I have Nationwide.

 

Hey everyone! I'm a happy girl - finally found out my 2010 was totaled and brought home my 2011 a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for the input!

This time I picked graphite luster metallic with taupe. A couple of pictures are here:

http://s1237.photobucket.com/albums/...rrent=Back.jpg

http://s1237.photobucket.com/albums/...t=Interior.jpg

 

Congratulations! Wow, sounds like it was cutting it close to *not* totalling it.

It would make me physically ill to look at alllllll the blemishes on a body shop hail repair...

 

I am a licensed claims adjuster and I would have totaled this vehicle at first look. Water damage is the turning point. The sheet metal is one thing but interiors and electronics are something else. That is why Acura had the car for awile and looking at it. There is also a Diminished Value issue to contend with. On the plus side, the salvage value was likely pretty high, so the insurer came out too. Good luck with wour new ride.

 

Congrats! Driving a new car home is always fun.

 

I hope your insurance company totals your vehicle so that you can replace it with a new one. Don’t worry though the resale value would be less I guess the insurance company would total it since there is severe damage to the vehicle. It also won’t affect you getting free auto insurance quotes in the market in future.

 

Bobby did ya bother reading up? Happened 2 months ago, and OP got a new car already