F14Scott Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 My daughter's wonderful (not sarcastic; he's a gem) boyfriend was driving her car on a Houston highway, this morning, when a woman hydroplaned and spun out next to him, eventually regaining enough traction backwards to shoot across the lanes and put them both into the wall. His airbags, front and side, deployed, and he walked away, unhurt, thankfully. The car, a 2016 Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium CVT is mushed in pretty good. The police found the woman at fault, and her insurance, GEICO, is handling the claim. It cost between $25,000 and $30,000, new. We owe just under $10,000 on the note. It's probably worth about $20 to 22,000, based on a quick carmax.com search. I'm worried that if they choose to fix it, it goes from being a low-mileage, near perfect car worth $20K+ to a carfax "severely damaged and then repaired" albatross. Knock on wood, I've never been in a bad wreck, so I'm curious how the determination of "fix" or "total" gets made. Anyone with experience in the automotive arena care to chime in? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F14Scott Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 One more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar_ml Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 From all the videos I've watched on youtube of car accidents, and other stuff, I'd say it's a good candidate for being totaled. I was once told each airbag was something like $1500-2k to replace, if the frame is out of alignment at all it's very likely totaled. About 5 years ago I had someone fail to yield at a light, I clipped them with the right front corner of my car. Insurance company totaled it out for about $18k, had 60k miles on it (5 year old VW jetta sedan TDI) and that was only at 30mph when it happened. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F14Scott Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 6 minutes ago, Cougar_ml said: From all the videos I've watched on youtube of car accidents, and other stuff, I'd say it's a good candidate for being totaled. I was once told each airbag was something like $1500-2k to replace, if the frame is out of alignment at all it's very likely totaled. About 5 years ago I had someone fail to yield at a light, I clipped them with the right front corner of my car. Insurance company totaled it out for about $18k, had 60k miles on it (5 year old VW jetta sedan TDI) and that was only at 30mph when it happened. One of my wife's co-workers made a similar comment about the airbags. Great data; thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 My son and d.i.l just crashed one of those. Also low miles. They were hoping it wouldn't be repaired. It wasn't, and it didn't look as bad as this one. I'm saying, 'totaled.' 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASH Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 (edited) do not settle for repair , period . it will never be right , you hear rattles and squeaks and door gaps and sagging **** . ive been in a few wrecks i was hit everytime . like i said never settle for repair . and if you have to bluff the hell out of them . insurance is for things like this . back in 87 old lady pulled out i t boned her in my 87 grand national . they wanted to fix , the friggin motor was in my lap , i told them look this car will never depreciate in value ever , it will go up in price . and i was right , they cost more now then they ever did new. i pay a high rate to cover my ass, my vehicles and my family for a reason. my daughter came up from florida to visit few months ago , retread flew off TT hit her lower bumper and headlight now that was repaired . but anything body and wise and undercarriage hell no that crap is made to fold like paper now . decipate energy makes you safer but also totals your **** Edited April 19, 2019 by ASH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar_ml Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 yup, modern cars are designed to crumple like beer cans and absorb all the energy. Anything more than superficial damage to the car and they're pretty much toast, as even if you straighten out a piece of metal, once it's been bent it's lost a lot of it's structural integrity. Cars are safer than they have ever been before, but the trade off is you only get one decent accident and they are toast. Sure, they can straighten things out, line them back up, but unless they replace every single piece that was affected, it will never be as good or as safe as it was before the accident. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Good that your your daughter's beau is well, amigo. I have no advise to offer other than insurance companies and their behavior are more mysterious than Shirley McCalin's forty-four lives. I had a Porsche destroyed by an inattentive driver. Traffic on the interstate slowed and stopped. This driver didn't slow or stop. My automobile stopped him. Yes, you can hit a 911 with a Ford station wagon at 40 MPH and the Porsche guy walks away uninjured. The guy worked for Allstate, it was clearly his fault (smacked in the rear,) and as I was in the emergency room being evaluated, an Allstate representative showed up pressuring me to accept a ridiculpus settlement. Every time I called to see what progress was being made on my claim, the guy handling that was on vacation, out of the office, please leave a message. I eventually had to engage a lawyer and sue their asses and even after the lawyer claimed a third I got enough to pay off the lien and pay for a new Porsche outright. Yeah, I was in the good hands of Allstate and both of them were in my pocket. Not saying this will happen to you, but keep in mind who the insurance claims adjuster works for and whose interests they represent. Best of luck. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borg warner Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 I had a 2012 Jeep patriot with the off road package that I bought new and paid cash for it and I had just put larger tires on it after a year and some little old lady pulled right out in front of me from the center lane and I T-bone her car on the passenger side going about 30 mph. My Air bag went off and I was temporarily unconscious and was just coming out of it as the air bag was deflating. The Patriot has a traverse (sideways) mounted front engine and the engine was knocked off it's mounts and the transmission was jammed in gear. There was no way it could been fixed. Traveler's insurance gave me a good price for it but I really liked that car and it was good on the highway and good enough off road and the 4 cylinder go good mileage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 My Kenworth drove over a Ford Explorer several years ago. I wasn't driving, had a guy driving for me. Quite a debris field. The damage to my KW was way over her insurance limits. I took notes during every conversation I had with anyone involved. Cops, drivers, both insurance companies. It turned out o.k. but took many months for it to all sort out. Had some young insurance dude about 2 weeks into it started blowing smoke up my ass. I said, "Wait a minute here, let me check my notes. When I spoke with so and so from your office at this time on this day, here is what was said." He asked if I could hold on a minute. After waiting a bit, someone else took over the call, and the attitude was 180. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricordo Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 What I've heard from folks with personal injury practice in Florida is that the car is totaled when the cost of repair is 50% or more of the value of the vehicle. Even though that statement seems pretty straightforward, there's a lot of meat in it, e.g., CarMax valuation vs. Blue Book value, etc. HTH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moshe Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 (edited) It's done. Hopefully, the other driver has insurance. Between yours and theirs it is time for another vehicle. It is totaled. I am just glad no one was hurt. Edited April 19, 2019 by Moshe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&P15T Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 That vehicle is very totaled. Completely totaled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 1 hour ago, M&P15T said: That vehicle is very totaled. Completely totaled. Yugely totaled. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenoF250 Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Toast. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duluth Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 I had a similar crash in a Honda Element. The airbags did not go off but the frame was bent. They totaled it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjack Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Color me shocked for the lack of a "that'll buff right out" comment from this crowd...? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar_ml Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 54 minutes ago, blackjack said: Color me shocked for the lack of a "that'll buff right out" comment from this crowd...? If the car was built 30 years ago, it might have buffed right out, but I'd also bet on a hospital trip for the driver as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holyjohnson Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 totaled. looks like its into the crumple zones. Glad He`s Okay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Punched it's ticket. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 On the Seward Highway in Alaska the press releases often tell about the horrific accidents. Seems like every other time it's a Subaru tangling with any other regular vehicle. The Subaru occupants are dead. The folks in the pickup walk away. I wouldn't own one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borg warner Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 (edited) Bottom line: Cars cost more to repair these days than it does to build a new one. Even routine repairs are more expensive and harder to do. Back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, I did all my own work on every car I owned and that included engine rebuilds and Transmission swaps. Edited April 20, 2019 by Borg warner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueiron Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Hondas and Subarus lack frames. They are unibody construction. Photos of external body damages can be misleading as to totality of damages. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norton Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 As soon as they say "repair" tell the adjuster your almost SIL has noticed pain in his neck and back. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F14Scott Posted April 21, 2019 Author Share Posted April 21, 2019 As soon as they say "repair" tell the adjuster your almost SIL has noticed pain in his neck and back. Good luck. As it turned out, the next morning he actually was in a lot of pain. His neck and back had stiffened up and he showed all the textbook symptoms of whiplash. He'll see a doc before the adjuster is done.Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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