@ifitry You may be able to buy your car back from the insurance company(sometimes for as little as $1) and keep the salvage stamp from going in the title. Did this with my old BMW in CT. Reiterating everyone else, talk to your insurance broker/agent(not at fault will likely show up on your record anyway), or ask the local DMV about the laws.
@caymele I’m sorry this happened. I would absolutely anticipate a phone call letting you know the vehicle is totaled. You can ask about owner-retaining the vehicle but you’ll get less of a payout but still get to keep the car and then you can just fix it if you so desire.
@caymele they will pay you for the value of your vehicle. it might be higher than you think or it might be lower
reality is 20+ year old car is likely gonna be a total loss. there is no preventing it from totaling unless you want to withdraw your claim and get paid nothing.
@bart23 i never said OP couldnt owner retain. i said there is no way to prevent the vehicle from being marked a total loss by the insurance unless OP withdraws the claim. Even then insurance may still report to the DMV it was totaled.
@occamsrazor18 But they can still get paid something. They have more choices than let them total or get nothing. They can let them total it AND still get paid something.
Idk what it’s like in TX—but in my state if there’s no frame damage and it’s drivable, you can get it re registered easily. If you do the repairs and show it’s back to normal, it’s not even hard to get it re-insured.
@bart23 it STILL will be marked totaled somewhere in the vehicles history attached to the vin is my point. there is no way to prevent it in the end. can you rebuild or reconstruct it and repair it sure-but theres typically tons of hoops to jump through to do so
@caymele Each Ins Co is going to handle this estimate differently and each adjuster will handle the damages differently. Some ins co may send out an adjuster and some may do a virtual estimate where you upload photos and they write the estimate and some may send you to a shop to have the shop write the estimate.
The photos you put up don't appear to be 8k in damages. I can not see under the car or through the bumper. Damages I see so far Bumper taillight and exhaust(left tailpipe appears bent) all need replacing. Bumper bar may need replace. 1/4panels look good. Trunk looks good. This doesn't present as a total loss.
If they total the car and you feel the value is low do some research. Find similar vehicles for sale on the internet and send them the links to those ads. They should submit them to the valuation company for review.
@caymele Depending on the insurance carrier and how your policy reads - insurance is intended to make you whole at the end of the day.
The first offer should/does not have to be the only offer - as long as you can support the disagreement with documentation. Even if you can’t there is no harm in attempting to negotiate…every adjuster is different..dont care what anyone says
It could very well cost more to repair especially these days with older vehicles. Little body damage could cost more so carrier just seems it totaled regardless if you decided to put $$$ in that trans am hon. It’s a win win when they do total in my opinion…least there are options…
If you purchased the insurance within 15 minutes and saved you 15% or whatever eh …strong chance you will get what you pay for….solely in my opinion ..not the case for everyone…
@caymele So you didn’t value your own car enough to carry full coverage? Then why should another insurance company value it more than market? Bumper discontinued. Steel reinforcement bar mounted under the bumper, discontinued. Rear body panel said reinforcement bar mounts to, discontinued. MAYBE parts can be found in a salvage yard. MAYBE. However, let me enlighten you….. the other insurance company doesn’t want you coming back after the repairs saying “it wasn’t doing X prior to the accident!” Even though we all know it most likely was. So they will definitely be totaling it out.
@caymele It's Texas so it's easier. I am guessing it will total however the estimate won't be 100% of the ACV so the title will remain clean and not salvage. Next I am going to guess the value will be roughly 12-15k but that's depending on the conditioning. It sounds like the mileage was high so it will be the biggest factor lowing your evaluation
