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Totaled car questions

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magichelmt View Drop Down
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    Posted: 30 March 2018 at 7:08pm
Ok I’m hoping somebody may know about this stuff as I do not. Allstate wants to total my car for hail damage. The damage is light, but there are dimples on the roof, hood, & trunk. Not a piece of broken glass. Adjuster said there was $7000 worth of replacement costs. I’m being told that to retain the car I need to repair the vehicle to condition before being totaled in order to get a salvage title. Is there not a hail category in Alabama?   I would hate to get rid of a perfectly good car. It is an 07 Honda Accord with 138000 miles. Always maintained and serviced. Other than the hail dents it is in excellent condition. I would drive cross country without a worry. They are offering me $6800 to give them the car which is KBB value. Maybe I’m just a cheap SOB and cannot see scrapping a car. I will contact the state of Alabama Monday to ask them. I just thought I’d see if anyone had any expiriance with these things.
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Ray
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98TJ View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 98TJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 March 2018 at 7:34pm
If they total it and pay you, its their car.
 
Many years ago my dad wrecked his Scout.  The same one I sunk by the Tennessee River and had to swim to high ground, but that is another story.  State Farm gave him an estimate of $2000 to repair.  My dad bought a case of Bud, two cans of Bondo, some sand paper, some rattle can and "fixed" it himself figuring he would clear  about $1,900.
 
My dad was a navy radioman, a stockcar driver, a gold miner, an electrical engineer and a half-ass carpenter, but he was no body man.  When SF inspected his "repairs", they only gave him $1,000 for his efforts.
 
So, if it still works that way, the insurance company will only pay you for the VALUE of the repairs.  So with some insurance companies, you can negotiate a lesser amount than the "totaled" amount and keep the car......at least it used to be that way.
 
 
 
 
 
.


Edited by 98TJ - 30 March 2018 at 7:41pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote alabamatoy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 March 2018 at 6:29am
My understanding is that you can keep a salvage title vehicle, but it cannot be tagged until you go through the inspection process and get it re-titled.  This is what I did with Kaylee's 87 4Runner that Nick Baugh now has.  But the difference there was she got hit by some idiot on I565 and that person's insurance company was doing backflips to KMA and convince me not to sue them into the dark ages, The damage was their underwritten's fault, and the accident was witnessed by a Hsv cop.

If you go through with the insurance company, you will have to surrender the existing title and tag.  The title will be reissued and will retain the salvage annotation for any future transfers.  You can tell the insurance company to forget the whole thing and you get nothing, keep the car, drive on with no $$ and no affect on the title either.  Once its salvaged, you can fix it and pay one of numerous authorized inspection stations to inspect it and if it passes, you can restart the tag process.  But the title will retain the salvage notation somehow.  Heath did this with one of his cars, he can probably give more insight.

The $$ that you state dont work, though.  If there is $7000 worth of damage, and the vehicle value is $6800, it can be totaled and you should get to keep the car because it has negative $200 value.  But where is your deductible?  Please tell me you didnt have zero deductible coverage on an 11 year old Accord.  Most people have $500 or $1000 deductible on comprehensive insurance, and on a 10 year old car with low value (dont be offended, I mean its not a Ferrari or something) most folks would have no comprehensive at all.  If you have something less than $1000 deductible, look at raising it, as it will substantially lower your insurance cost.

The Tacoma that I bought through copart was (IS, i suppose...) a salvage titled vehicle.  It has a title just like any other, but the VIN is somehow IDed as being a salvage, so I cannot get a clean title or tag the vehicle.


Edited by alabamatoy - 31 March 2018 at 6:37am
"If you didnt buy your 1st gen 4Runner new, then YOU are a newbie!!"

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote unlblkrubi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 March 2018 at 6:35am
If they are going to give you $6800 for a 11 yr old  car with that many miles why argue, you'll never get more than that for it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote alabamatoy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 March 2018 at 6:43am
Originally posted by unlblkrubi unlblkrubi wrote:

If they are going to give you $6800 for a 11 yr old  car with that many miles why argue, you'll never get more than that for it.


A profoundly good point.  Do like Steve Miller sang, "take the money and RUN"
"If you didnt buy your 1st gen 4Runner new, then YOU are a newbie!!"

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote magichelmt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 March 2018 at 7:34am
I’m mostly in the give them the car camp, but my wife and her dad are in the keep camp. $500 comp/collisions deductible.   I never raised the deductible. An oversight on my part admittedly.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 98TJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 March 2018 at 8:29am
If you negotiate a lower repair payment and you keep the car, you keep the same title, no salvage title.

Our Camry has 250k and still runs great.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote muddin'metal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 April 2018 at 2:50pm
Call me at my work and I can explain some of this process to you. Ask for Tyler
 
 
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