The insurance company totaled our car

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from when husband was rear-ended last week. Of course, that means we only get blue book value which isn't even close to paying for another car, nor can we afford one at this point. I'm just not sure what we're going to do. I really felt like 2011 had to be better than 2010 but now I'm not so sure. Sigh...Ah well, this too shall pass...

I'm sure glad husband and I manage to keep our sense of humor through everything. However, I don't remember seeing husband this down in a long time.

I'm trying to see the positives in this but I'm having a hard time with this one. I guess one positive is if we can't get a new car we only have to pay insurance on the one we have left!

 

[Lothlorien]

Just shaking my head for you Sharon. I hope that you are able to finance something new and better than before.

 

[DammitJanet]

I missed your other post so I had to go back and read it. Gosh Im so sorry. I take it that the mini van was paid for? Hope so. I guess no one was hurt? Not to be sue happy or anything but as a cautionary tale for just this sort of thing, if you are ever in an accident that is not your fault, always go to the doctor or ER just to be checked out because then you can at least get a modest amount for a bit of pain and suffering which will help you add to your blue book value to get another car. Just a been there done that. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Heck, honestly its not too late now. Billy was in a very small fender bender almost 2 years ago where he was at fault. He was going no more than 15 mph and the road was starting to get wet so he was way back from the car in front of him. They stopped, he put on his brakes but he had a junker that from time to time would cut off when he applied the brakes and the whole power brakes, power steering etc would just go out. He slid into the guy who was in a Jeep Cherokee. Billy was driving a POS 94 Nissan and the guy had a beat up 2000 Jeep.

The guy gets out of his car after Billy called the law. Thankfully Billy snapped a picture of the cars on his cell phone...lol. Guy tells everyone...cops and Billy...how he is this minister, he is fine, he was in another wreck three weeks ago...blah blah blah. There was barely any damage to the jeep. Cop estimated it to under 500. Cop estimated Billy's damage to about 500 or so too but heck, it was all hood damage and Cory just beat it down. Guy refused to be seen by ambulance, refused to go to ER, said he was fine.

Now guy is suing up a storm. Said he is badly injured. Said jeep has all these dents and frame is bent...blah blah. When he took jeep to be looked at, there were tail lights broken, dents way up high, much higher than the nissan could have even reached.

Billy has had to deal with this for well over 18 months. He just had to go take depositions the other week. The guy wants to sue for well over 25K in damages and personal injury. He is nuts. All its gonna take is that one picture Billy took showing what the guys car looked like the day of the accident and the guy is done.

 

[Shari]

what year is the van?

if possible, talk to a mechanic and see what it will take to make it driveable again, even if its not pretty. you dont have to accept the ins company's offer....you can keep the van and they'll pay you a portion of the "total" price and it may be enuf to get it road worthy again.

 

[DammitJanet]

Thats true to if the frame isnt warped. They totaled out my Buick when I got hit in 97 and just gave me 100 less and let me take it home. I couldnt drive it again because the frame was warped but we used it for parts and as a place to store stuff. Yeah we are country. We removed the seats and put them in the woods to sit on...lmao.

You might be a redneck if you have a car up on blocks with the seats removed and chicken feed stored in the back seat!

 

[Wiped Out]

Loth-Thanks.

Janet-No one was seriously hurt. The day after the accident husband did go to the doctor who prescribed him pain killers and a muscle relaxant. He's been having headaches and some neck pain but should be fine. Unfortunately, husband can't take the medications during the work week because they knock him out too much. He will only take them on the weekends. I'm sorry Billy has had to deal with someone like that since the accident. Great thinking on his part to snap that picture.

Shari-The van is fine; it only took $300 to fix. It's the 2006 Hyundai Elantra that was totaled. We thought about what you said but the frame is not in good shape at all and the trunk seems ready to fall off. Still, it's worth a try, I"ll have husband check into it today. It's either that or we may very well be down to one car for quite a long time.

 

[Shari]

If you can find someone with a frame machine, often they can even fix the frame these days.

Thats what happens to most newer cars, anyhow. They are bid on by salvagers, rebuilt, and sold on salvage title. If you don't mind driving a car with cosmetic damage, often times thats the most expensive part of getting it "fixed" by the ins company.

 

[DDD]

I don't want to be a naysayer but when our insurance company (they are highly respected in the industry,by the way) decided to total our Jeep five years ago we couldn't believe it. We had sentimental attachments to that Jeep and wanted to get it repaired. We believed it was fixable and eager to do it.

We were shocked. The insurance company would not allow us to keep the Jeep. The policy is/was that once a vehicle was identified as "totaled" it could not longer be considered road worthy. I'm quietly assertive and decided to make it my mission to "save our Jeep". Not! Could not make it happen. Even if we added our money to the settlement to make the repairs it could not go back on the road. I talked to all kinds of people that were not part of the insurance company and only found one man who had been able to finally fight that policy with his insurance company. It took a very long time and threats of law suits etc. etc. for him to get his truck back and retitled. That guy has owned his vehicle repair business for over twenty years.

So...fixing it often is not an option. Can you believe it?

The one thing I did successfully is get more money for the car than the insurance company had offered. I went on various web sites and found similar Jeeps that were on the market for considerably more than they offered. I faxed those to the
agent and they gave us fair market value...thousands more than blue book. We still miss our Jeep. DDD