Un-FREAKIN-beliveable!!! - UPDATE - post 38

[lynxstch]

$30,000 for repairs????? I think the car is totaled and they need to write it off and pay you to get a new one, that's ridiculous!

 

[taylor1293]

Update: Here it is, almost 3 months later. Repair estimates are near $30,000 and we STILL don't have the car back.

What is the hold up?

 

[DizBelle]

$30,000 for repairs????? I think the car is totaled and they need to write it off and pay you to get a new one, that's ridiculous!

Not totaled. It has to be a certain percentage of the car's value before it is "totaled". And even if the repairs go into the "totaled" amount, they've done too much to repair it to not finish repairing it.

Ridiculous - agreed....

 

[DizBelle]

What is the hold up?

I'm not entirely sure but apparently there are delays associated with the shop finding previously undocumented damage and waiting for the insurance adjuster to show up and take a look to determine cost and coverage.

 

[DizBelle]

Yikes!! Did you have a new car? will they even cover the cost or just total it and give you the current value?
My car is paid off but when I did have a loan, I had my insurance add the extra portion to pay off my loan..not just the current value.

We had the car about 18 months when he was hit.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Update:

Here it is, almost 3 months later. Repair estimates are near $30,000 and we STILL don't have the car back.

Are you freakin kidding me?!?!??!?! Thats a write off! Totalled!! Not even worth repairing!!!!

 

[DizBelle]

We've already decided that we're not keeping the car. It's a performance vehicle and it will NEVER be the same. Even so, we have to get it repaired in order to determine what the diminished value is so we can recover that we well.

 

[DizBelle]

Are you freakin kidding me?!?!??!?! Thats a write off! Totalled!! Not even worth repairing!!!!

Nope - not totaled. It has a bit to go before it is "totaled". And, as I said, even if the repair cost reaches it, they've probably put too much into it already to total it.

 

[mmackeymouse]

So sorry, OP.

Isn't it sad that people who do the right thing end up paying (by having to carry extra insurance), instead of the people who do the wrong thing (by not getting auto insurance)?

If I were loaded, and money were no object, if something like that ever happened to me, I would be tempted to, instead if going through my own insurance company, taking the driver at fault to court. Even knowing that I would probably never see a dime, it would be worth it in principle.

If I were in an accident, and the other driver were at fault, and they seemed responsible, had no problem with calling the police or exchanging info, and they asked me if we could not go through insurance, because they didn't want to effect their policy, and they would pay out of pocket, I would absolutely consider it.

But, when someone is belligerent, starts begging not to call police, starts begging not to call insurance, refuses to share information...no thank you.

 

[barkley]

In my state, it's illegal not to have insurance.

it's illegal in most states-but in some the penalty is not severe enough to convince people to carry insurance.

in California I think the current fine is still less than $1000 which for some is far less than they would pay for insurance, so they 'play the odds' and hope they either don't get in an accident or don't get stopped and told by the police to show proof. I have an idiot relative who was stopped and found to have an expired license, an unregistered car and no insurance. it's a misdemeanor and the court case was scheduled for almost 10 months later-plenty of time for him to get his license renewed, get insurance and get the car registered. once the charges are dropped or reduced he'll just turn around and stop making the monthly payments on the insurance he's a jerk but despite this being a recurring situation he's never been subjected to any real financial or legal ramifications

 

[DizBelle]

Coming up on 5 months and the car is still in the shop. Bill is probably near $40K by now.

 

[HM]

Coming up on 5 months and the car is still in the shop. Bill is probably near $40K by now.

Your insurance company never should have authorized repairs if it was going to come to that. That was a totalled car. Sorry it's been such an ordeal!

 

[lynxstch]

Coming up on 5 months and the car is still in the shop. Bill is probably near $40K by now.

YIKES! That's nuts!

 

[DizBelle]

Your insurance company never should have authorized repairs if it was going to come to that. That was a totalled car. Sorry it's been such an ordeal!

Not our insurance company. The other guy's.

 

[DizBelle]

Your insurance company never should have authorized repairs if it was going to come to that. That was a totalled car. Sorry it's been such an ordeal!

"Totalled" depends on the car.

I think if they knew it would cost this much, they probably would have totalled it. Unfortunatly, the original estimate was for about half this and "things" kept being found that added to the cost.

DH does have his new car now. We decided a while ago that we weren't going to keep the wrecked one.

 

[cabanafrau]

"Totalled" depends on the car.

I think if they knew it would cost this much, they probably would have totalled it. Unfortunatly, the original estimate was for about half this and "things" kept being found that added to the cost.

DH does have his new car now. We decided a while ago that we weren't going to keep the wrecked one.

Doesn't matter. I'm certain this is far beyond reasonable & customary practices & I'm certain they are now well within the window of owing compensation for denial of use and possession of your property.

Letting it ride may backfire as the repair facility may start dunning storage fees, etc. There may even be some type of fine print with a timetable for considering your vehicle abandoned.

 

[Maridw]

I am surprised that your insurance company did not total the car. Our insurance company was the one to total mine when I was rear-ended (by the local city attorney ). It wasn't up to the other driver's insurance. Their insurance must be really good to cover $40K+ of damages.

My DD rear-ended a car once because the car stopped in the middle of the road and she could not tell they had stopped. They were traveling at a low rate of speed and the car in front of her had black out covers on the rear/brake light area. Come to find out they didn't have insurance (let it lapse) and no driver's license. Her car was totaled. Thankfully we had Gap insurance to cover the difference between what we still owed and what it was valued at. Another thing to be thankful for was that a cop was behind her and knew she wasn't speeding and also didn't see any brake lights on the front car. She wasn't ticketed and the other driver was arrested for driving without a valid license.

 

[DizBelle]

6 months later and we have the car back... Well, not entirely, we have it to check it out to see if anything is wrong with it. We've had it and sent it back a couple of times now. Hopefully, this is it.

The repair bill is in the neighborhood of $30000 (sorry, I was guessing at $40k before). Of course, the guy at fault had a limit of $25000 so some of that will have to come from our under insured coverage. AND we still have the diminished value to get.

This whole thing has been a pain.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

6 months later and we have the car back... Well, not entirely, we have it to check it out to see if anything is wrong with it. We've had it and sent it back a couple of times now. Hopefully, this is it.

The repair bill is in the neighborhood of $30000 (sorry, I was guessing at $40k before). Of course, the guy at fault had a limit of $25000 so some of that will have to come from our under insured coverage. AND we still have the diminished value to get.

This whole thing has been a pain.

Ugh. I'm sorry. I can't imagine waiting 6 months to get my car fixed and having to deal with all of this. Hang in there.

 

[Disneyland1084]

6 months later and we have the car back... Well, not entirely, we have it to check it out to see if anything is wrong with it. We've had it and sent it back a couple of times now. Hopefully, this is it.

The repair bill is in the neighborhood of $30000 (sorry, I was guessing at $40k before). Of course, the guy at fault had a limit of $25000 so some of that will have to come from our under insured coverage. AND we still have the diminished value to get.

This whole thing has been a pain.

If the repairs were that much, how come your car wasn't totaled? A couple of months ago my SIL bought a brand new car around $32,000. THREE WEEKS later she was in a wreck that wasn't her fault. Thankfully the lady who hit her had insurance. The repairs would have cost more than her car, so it was totaled and she got a new one. Either way, car accidents are a headache to deal with. I'm glad your DH is ok.