Car accident - Totaled or Nah?

[boostedguy05]

all of that. have your place inspect it. ASAP.

[cap42]

Way to low of a estimate, with the damage shown there are a few more areas I would think need work or replacing.

All the interior crumple panels, the interior door structure of the right rear door and possibly the door and hinge system as well. The cars are designed nowadays for the energy to travel inward from the point of impact. So it's really hard to say where the damage stops on these cars.

I'd be asking for their parts and labor quote in a detail list, things like the trim in the bumpers, the backup sensors which panels and interior structure need to be replaced. Supplies for the paint and labor are probably 3-4k alone. What color is the paint, is it a metallic? If it is the blend will be a PITA especially doing both front and rear at that point they are better off repainting the whole car.

Add in the quarters, trunk lid and bumpers you are looking at another 3-4k in parts. Just that can bring you to 8k, and we all know it's the little things that nickle and dime it.

Talk to your insurance, get 3 quotes from places you want the work done and don't sign or accept anything until you've done that.

[Yaj Yak]

i in a sense wish the bags had gone off in the car, it'd have really helped get the car to totalled amount...

[Chester Copperpot]

When I had my accident in the Mustang where I ripped the bumper and core support off the car and the driver side axle got slammed into a curb, they initially quoted 12.5k to repair it. After they started digging in, they saw the front crash bars were fucked and the total went up to 15k. I had ZERO quarter panel work, just a hood, driver fender, core support, bumper, and new axle. No fucking way your accident is "only" 13k.

[Yaj Yak]

unless they are buying a complete used back half of a car... which they could be....

[cap42]

Originally Posted by Yaj Yak

i in a sense wish the bags had gone off in the car, it'd have really helped get the car to totalled amount...

with that much of a impact those bags should have done off, I'd be looking into why? Are they non functioning was their a electrical issue.

[Grabber]

Looking back when I had my accident with my wife's 07 GT thanks to a cunt that had no license being on the road: rear ended a Dodge Ram, front bumper, hood, headlight, fog lights, radiator core support, windshield, trim pieces, the supercharger. Damage came out to a little over 13K with no frame damage. Car was repaired, looked amazing after.

Your wife's car has WAY more damage to the rear than we had to the front, plus you've got front end damage too.

[1MEANGT]

Another important thing to fight for is depreciation if they do fix it.

You will be stuck with an expensive car that was in an accident. And their insurance will report it to carfax. Which will then make it more difficult to trade in/sell for what the car should be worth.

[Yaj Yak]

Originally Posted by cap42

with that much of a impact those bags should have done off, I'd be looking into why? Are they non functioning was their a electrical issue.

as i've said elsewhere on here, or maybe in this thread as well, when i was at the body shop i became very surprised at just how infrequently air bags went off, and the random times they did go off.

[Grabber]

FWIW - Rear airbags do not deploy unless the hit is over 55 MPH from what techs told us.

When my wife was first rear ended in her Volt, a cockbag in a minivan hit her while she was just taking off from being at a light doing 45+ MPH and her bags did not deploy, but, both of his did. His minivan was totaled. She needed a new bumper, bumper support, camera and minor paint blending.

[Yaj Yak]

Originally Posted by Grabber

FWIW - Rear airbags do not deploy unless the hit is over 55 MPH from what techs told us.

When my wife was first rear ended in her Volt, a cockbag in a minivan hit her while she was just taking off from being at a light doing 45+ MPH and her bags did not deploy, but, both of his did. His minivan was totaled. She needed a new bumper, bumper support, camera and minor paint blending.

i know i come off as picking you apart sometimes, and i really try not to, but i really don't think i agree with that portion.

airbags going off are so fucking random from my small experience window.

[Grabber]

Originally Posted by Yaj Yak

i know i come off as picking you apart sometimes, and i really try not to, but i really don't think i agree with that portion.

airbags going off are so fucking random from my small experience window.

No worries.

Considering we've been rear ended 5 times, both at high rates of speed, the airbags in both my 07 GT, 2012 Volt have never deployed.

I know what you're saying about randomly going off, I've seen it happen once or twice.

This would align with what happened to Izzy's wife in her car. She was hit HARD buy a much larger/heavier vehicle at a high rate of speed, and the air bags did not deploy.

[Yaj Yak]

Originally Posted by Grabber

No worries.

Considering we've been rear ended 5 times, both at high rates of speed, the airbags in both my 07 GT, 2012 Volt have never deployed.

I know what you're saying about randomly going off, I've seen it happen once or twice.

This would align with what happened to Izzy's wife in her car. She was hit HARD buy a much larger/heavier vehicle at a high rate of speed, and the air bags did not deploy.

we had a guy hit a light pole concrete portion- without the pole- in a parking lot in his full framed pickup truck, at barely 10 mph, cutting across a lot... and bags went off

[Grabber]

Originally Posted by Yaj Yak

we had a guy hit a light pole concrete portion- without the pole- in a parking lot in his full framed pickup truck, at barely 10 mph, cutting across a lot... and bags went off

Front of the truck?

Could be how the sensors are laid out.

I think there are more crash point sensors in the front of cars/trucks than there are in the rear. Could be wrong.

That's pretty funny though. Who woulda thunk it, bags deploying at such a low MPH. Definitely sucks, though.

[IZZy]

Spoke with the adjuster from my insurance and they agreed to have someone look at the car to compare estimates, also went and talked to a body shop that was recommended to me, I have also seen the work this body shop has put out.

I talked to the body shop guy for a while to try to get a sense if they are in bed with the insurance company since obviously there is always some sort of relationship between adjusters and shops in the area. Did not pick up on anything too telling so I went ahead and authorized them to have the car towed there.

Body shop guy said he will start off of the estimate that Farmers provide but he will supplement as needed, ultimately the goal is to have the body shop come up with a true estimate after taking everything apart and once I am given a number I can make a decision to either have the work done or say NOPE my lawyer will be in touch with you.

[cmntmxr57]

WHolly shit! $13k. That's a scratch on the fender or rear quarter panel anymore.

If this is the guilty party's insurance company who is having one of their shops do the inspection, DO NOT ACCEPT. Do NOT accept them issuing a payment to you.

Get it to a reputable shop of YOUR determination. Have them along with YOUR insurance company do their due diligence. If they deem it repairable and not totaled, pay YOUR deductible and have the car fixed to YOUR standards (OEM level). Then let YOUR insurance go after THEIR insurance. They'll handle everything and once the guilty party's insurance ponies up, you may get your deductible back.

Do NOT accept anything from them.

I went through this on my GTP years back when I got rear ended on 90. Their insurance claimed $1,100 of damage and wanted to issue payment right away. I told them to fuck off, took it to Cliff's, and had MY insurance sort through it. Ended up being nearly $7k worth of damage... I paid my deductible, had State Farm and Cliff's get 'er done, and then State Farm took the guilty party's 3rd world, late night TV advertising insurance company to task.

[IZZy]

Originally Posted by 1MEANGT

Another important thing to fight for is depreciation if they do fix it.

You will be stuck with an expensive car that was in an accident. And their insurance will report it to carfax. Which will then make it more difficult to trade in/sell for what the car should be worth.

I will definitely be asking how I will be compensated for diminished value

[Yaj Yak]

Originally Posted by Grabber

Front of the truck?

Could be how the sensors are laid out.

I think there are more crash point sensors in the front of cars/trucks than there are in the rear. Could be wrong.

That's pretty funny though. Who woulda thunk it, bags deploying at such a low MPH. Definitely sucks, though.

yeah front of the truck. on full framed vehicles like that- typically they are near the frame rail behind a bumper/crash bar...

ever seen how small a sensor actually is though? i mean shit, this is for an 07 silverado... if this sensor survives an impact completely intact- no bags goin' off.





ive said it before on here, and i still feel that the cars are primarily designed to score well on the regulated, constant, unchanging collision tests, and a distant second is making sure people live/are safe.

[Shawn1112]

Originally Posted by cmntmxr57

WHolly shit! $13k. That's a scratch on the fender or rear quarter panel anymore.

If this is the guilty party's insurance company who is having one of their shops do the inspection, DO NOT ACCEPT. Do NOT accept them issuing a payment to you.

Get it to a reputable shop of YOUR determination. Have them along with YOUR insurance company do their due diligence. If they deem it repairable and not totaled, pay YOUR deductible and have the car fixed to YOUR standards (OEM level). Then let YOUR insurance go after THEIR insurance. They'll handle everything and once the guilty party's insurance ponies up, you may get your deductible back.

Do NOT accept anything from them.

I went through this on my GTP years back when I got rear ended on 90. Their insurance claimed $1,100 of damage and wanted to issue payment right away. I told them to fuck off, took it to Cliff's, and had MY insurance sort through it. Ended up being nearly $7k worth of damage... I paid my deductible, had State Farm and Cliff's get 'er done, and then State Farm took the guilty party's 3rd world, late night TV advertising insurance company to task.

I did exactly this when I was with AmFam. Basically told the insurance company of the driver that hit me to fuck off. I'm taking my car to my guy not yours for the repair. They stated they wouldnt cover it, paid my deductible thru AmFam, had my car repaired at my choice of shop. AmFam went after them and I eventually got my deductible back. Think it took 8-9 months to get it back.

[Bitter]

I don't understand why anyone would expect FRONT and SIDE impact air bags to go off when being REARended. The force with which the vehicle struck the one it was pushed into may have not been sufficient to set off air bags if that's what the gripe is about. The sensors measure deceleration in a specific range of angles and directions. A front or side airbag going off when rear ended would do little to nothing to keep occupants safe and may in fact harm them by striking passengers rather than cushioning them.

Expecting front air bags to go off when rear ended is like expecting your snub nose 38 to make a great moose hunting rifle.

[cmntmxr57]

Originally Posted by Bitter

I don't understand why anyone would expect FRONT and SIDE impact air bags to go off when being REARended. The force with which the vehicle struck the one it was pushed into may have not been sufficient to set off air bags if that's what the gripe is about. The sensors measure deceleration in a specific range of angles and directions. A front or side airbag going off when rear ended would do little to nothing to keep occupants safe and may in fact harm them by striking passengers rather than cushioning them.

Expecting front air bags to go off when rear ended is like expecting your snub nose 38 to make a great moose hunting rifle.

I've always had to explain this to people too on many car forums...

On a car that doesn't have side/curtain airbags..."I got T-boned, but my airbags didn't go off, I'm suing "Insertnameofmanufacturerhere"..."

Umm, yea, dumbass, you didn't get hit on the FRONT of your car where the sensors are.

[boostedguy05]

But all you have to do is shoot the bumper like they do in the movies and they go off. Right?!?!?!

[LikeABauce302]

I was just in a pretty hard rear end collision a month ago in a 2016 Chrysler 200. Mine doesn't look nearly as bad, but this was still $10k in damage. Oddly when I was hit the cabin filled with white smoke and the message center said "airbag deployed". None of the airbags came out.




Edit: I tried posting a picture but it won't show up. I hosted with imgur and put image tags around the link but nothing shows.

[Angus]

Originally Posted by LikeABauce302

I was just in a pretty hard rear end collision a month ago in a 2016 Chrysler 200. Mine doesn't look nearly as bad, but this was still $10k in damage. Oddly when I was hit the cabin filled with white smoke and the message center said "airbag deployed". None of the airbags came out.




Edit: I tried posting a picture but it won't show up. I hosted with imgur and put image tags around the link but nothing shows.

Could it have been the seatbelt tensioners/whatever they are called?

[LikeABauce302]

Originally Posted by Angus

Could it have been the seatbelt tensioners/whatever they are called?

It could have been. As soon as I felt impact, my seatbelt got really tight. It was so tight that it hurt and it was difficult to unlatch. The seatbelt wouldn't retract. When I saw the body shop invoice, the drivers side seatbelt assembly was replaced.