I had an accident in my '06 TL recently. It was the other driver's fault, and no one was seriously injured.

The front end of my TL was pretty heavily damaged (both front fenders, hood, all lights, engine leaking coolant, etc.). Neither of the front doors open properly, and there is also some damage on the drivers side rear quarter panel where the other car spun around and hit it. Also the airbag deployed.

At this point, I'm not sure if the insurance company will want to repair it or not. If they DO repair it, I'm concerned that the resale value of the car is in the crapper! Especially because of the airbag deployment. BTW, the airbag deployment made a BIG mess, with lots of smoke. The interior smells terrible! I also got a burn on my hand from it. The good news is the TL seems like a really safe car!

So, my question is - if they decide repair it, what recourse do I have? Am I basically just stuck with a reduced resale value and a car with a crap load of paint work and replacement parts? It just doesn't seem fair!

As you can tell, I'm pretty bummed. I REALLY pampered this car… ::sigh::

 

I know how you feel man. When I was 19 a girl blew a red light & broad sided me in my first new car a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am GT that I really took care...I cant imagine how u feel seeing the babied TL look like that. Insurance companies are always the bigges A-holes when you need them most. Good luck!

 

Honestly, If u ask me I would jus trade it in... I know I would not be happy driving that car.GL

 

glad to know ur doing ok man and there was no injuries to people in the cabin!!!! i feel you wrt to accident and feeling the car is never gonna be the same....

after major front end hits (like yours, where the radiator is gone....coolant leak and all) i would rather trade it in than getting it repaired....repairs just dont cut it !!!!

again sorry that this mishap happened and glad you and the passengers are doing ok !!!!

 

Glad to see you are okay
Thats sounds like a lot to repair. You sure they are going to fix it?
Is this your damage report or a mechanics because it sounds like under inspection it going to be additional issues. Do you know the KBB of your car?

 

everytime someone says they have a accident they always say this ". It was the other driver's fault, " lol i believe u tho....i guess its never no ones fault

 

You joined December 07 and this was your 2nd post?

Well welcome BACK to Acurazine

I'm sorry to hear about your car, but I'm glad that you are okay. It sounds like you would rather recieve a check from the insurance company than have them fix it? Personally I don't blame you. I just wouldn't feel right driving a car that was in a severe accident, no matter how good of a job the shop did fixing it. Good luck and keep us updated

 

the body shop has to evaluate all the bent parts and give an estimate- then total loss or not is decided
You can argue higher value if there was recent maitenance or non removable improvements
Airbag deployment is often enough to put the decision to totalled
Its not just the bag that has to be replaced- all those sensors and triggers are not cheap

Glad you suffered only minimal airbag damage- a lot of people get severly mashed face and powder burns
It a real explosion of 2 chemical containers mixing that inflates the bag in a millasecond

Anybody know the deployment speed- about 100+ mph?

 

typically they will go to about 60-75% of car's value when they repair them.

Don't worry about what other people say about the car not being right. I just got my car back from the body shop after my accident and other than a little sag on the right bumper cover (will be fixed on thursday) my car is 100% back to the way it was and it drives even BETTER than it did before I was in the accident. paint is matched perfectly car drives straight and all of the looseness in the front end from 90K miles is gone as well.

want to see the results of the repairs made to my car? look here

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/well-after-3-weeks-i-got-my-car-back-755744/

 

Don't make statements to the other person's insurance company concerning the crash. Consider hiring an attorney if you feel you are being pushed to settle or want to pursue diminished value on your car. Demand Acura OEM replacement parts.

Most important of all, research a good body shop that will be YOUR advocate. I would not go with the ones insurance companies recommend because they tend to cut corners to save the insurance company money.

 

Glad you're okay. Sorry to hear about the accident. I wouldn't worry so much about the airbag, but more so the frame. The airbags can be replaced along with the fenders and hood. I wouldn't even worry about the coolant since that would be easily replaced with another radiator( just replaced mine last week ). I would however be concerned about the engine and what kind of damage it took. If your insurance agency claims it as a salvage title the resale value will be affected.

 

Thanks for all the responses!

I still don't have an official estimate or any word from the insurance, so I don't knew if the car will be totaled or not. People that have seen the car seem to think it will be a close call as to repair/total loss. I doubt that there is serious engine damage, and I know the coolant leak isn't really that big of a deal.

An average retail price for my car in this area would be greater than $20,000. It would take a lot of repairs to add up to that cost.

If it's repaired, I'd probably want to trade it, as several have mentioned. The problem is, I think the car's trade in value will be significantly reduced, even if it doesn't have a salvage title. The first thing they'll ask when looking at the trade is "Has it ever been wrecked?" I assume that an airbag deployment is listed on the car history report?

As far as who was at fault, it's true, it's "always the other persons fault". LOL! But in this case it is very clear.

BTW, I'm a big fan of the forum. I've been lurking here regularly

 

carfax will show the payout for accident and have the insurance pictures of before and after plus a reasonable amount of info on what was repaired~

there is a thing called Diminished Value due to accident
They dont look at full value to determine if worth rebuilding,
much past 50% and its a loss- and like I said before those airbag parts are not cheap

 

Glad your ok. From the damages you stated, I have a feeling the insurance company will claim the car a total loss, than to fix it. Airbags are very expensive, who knows if the frame is bent as well...wont know until the car hits a shop. Most likely what will happen is they will have certified shop give them an estimate, and they will make a trip out to see the car psysically as well. Depending on the percentage of damage, they might claim it as a total loss. If they do, you should be able to buy it back for around 25% of it's value. Also, I've seen insurance use autosource or some other means on determining the used value of the car instead of NADA, or Carfax FYI, and it will be lower than the latter.

 

do u have pics? id like to see how the TL held up. what kind of car hit u?

 

Negative ghost rider, Carfax may or may not have your car's accident history. My Car showed up as clean with no accident history but my insurance company found that the car was involved in 2 minor accidents the first on 4-12-02 and the second on 6-15-05 a few months before I bought it.....repairs were listed as $7XX and $5XX respectively.

Carfax may not even show the accident that I just had and that one cost a good amt to repair....

 

im glad your ok man. from the damage you stated i think they might just total the car. air bags and modules are expensive. what kind of car hit you?

 

Well, I got the initial estimate from the body shop. It's $15,000+ and they said that their system flagged it as a possible total loss. I haven't heard definitively from the insurance company yet, but a total loss sounds likely.

Assuming they total it, I'll obviously want to verify that the offer from insurance is fair. So, how can I determine a fair value for my car? There aren't many direct comparisons on the retail used market in my area. I've checked the retail value on kbb, etc. Can I really expect retail value, though?

I'm sure not looking forward to shopping for another car...

 

they will try for low book or trade in value section of kbb
Look on the internet for similar car for sale- doesnt matter about where- just compare!

If they try to lowball you there are options to get higher value approved- its a company based on saving and making money- and your agent should do the work to get max value from other company

Make sure you get checked by a doctor and a chiro- spinal damage doesnt always feel bad right away but can plauge the rest of your life

 

insurance companies normally report any payout to carfax- or so I was told but it may not get things under 1000 dollars- those are pretty minor accident repairs

 

sorry to here that man, got any pics

 

A fair payout would be average of KBB/Edmunds/NADA retail value + applicable Tax in your area. You can find out all the above easily online. They might try to use the lower value but definitely push to get the higher or atleast the average.

When My car was totalled, the other parties insurance company didn't low ball me, but still I was able to provide all the numbers and was able to raise the offer by 5%. You could also cite that to replace your car you would still have to pay a customary dealership & DMV fees which needs to be added to the deal. I did not have success with that but given that I requested close to 9 - 10% more (with valid reasoning and documentation) than their offer they settled for 5% more.

 

Generally speaking in order for an accident to show up on a title history report such as Carfax or Autocheck, the accident would have to be reported to a State agency. Usually, law enforcement. So if you reported the accident to the police, and they actually came out to the sceen and filed a report, than a accident history will show.

However, with all the damage that was sustained in the crash, any appriaser will be able to tell the work was done, such as paint work, and frame damage

Glad your OK!

 

Sorry to hear about the accident and glad you were ok.

But.......



By the way on the Diminished Value. I used to be an insurance agent and basically if the accident was NOT your fault, and they end up fixing your car the other insurance company will issue you a check for diminished value since like you stated, the car will never be worth the same. GL