by mba7838758 » Fri Nov 07, 2008 09:31 am
My car has been in an accident and was only hundreds of dollars away from being totaled. There was structural damage to the frame but Insurance insisted it could be repaired. Right now, the current repairs are at about 70% of the ACV. I had gone to get the car the other day and found problems not fixed as well as an unacceptable paint job. After meeting the adjuster at the repair shop, he agreed that paint had to be blended better than it was...but it is still not going to be a perfect match. I had posted questions about paint on another website and I have been told that even after the repairs are made, if I can prove to the adjuster that the CCC value of estimate is wrong, then I can still get car totaled out using NC's 75% law. According to Adjuster, my car is worth $10,008. Right now, body shop has charged $5,800 in repairs plus $1,200 in hail damage repairs and $182 in rust spot repairs. So far $7182 total repairs. There were some other things I found they had not fixed with the car so don't know if the shop will be charging any more for the new paint blending and the other minor nicks and bends.
I live in Eastern NC and have called and spoken with the DOI. They said that I could include the hail damage repair into calculations so I am roughly at 72% in repairs so far for a $10,008 car. They suggested that I bring the adjuster proof from local dealers what their retail would be on the car in its pre-accident state. I have serviced the car well but it is not in excellent shape. My two large dogs have left scratch marks on the outside doors and the inside on the trim. Windows were left down during rain once and although no visible damage, the cloth panels on 2 of the doors have a scrunchy sound behind them. There is rust on the trunk carpet. There was previous hail damage that I had reported but hadn't fixed yet. There was hood damage I didn't know about that had rust in it and it was made worse during the inspecition of the car. I opted to pay for the $182 to fix that spot - insurance covered the difference. This was the basic Montero Sport XLS model, cloth seats, 2 wheel drive and only extras are attached running boards, towing package, and luggage rack.
I have called and spoken with Car Max and another local dealer and have tried to get a pre-accident value on the car. They are much less than the CCC value and would actually put me in the totaled zone. There are other NC dealers who have cars listed online that when adjusted again has my car at less value than the CCC has given. Edmunds also agrees Dealer retail $7,220 for average and $9407 for excellent. I've gone to Kelly and they say my car is $9,655 if excellent and NADA says $11,025* Clean retail to $7,125 Rough Trade In. I don't see how to adjust Kelly or NADA Retail for less than excellent condition. The tires are about a year and a half old and still have 20,000 miles left.
Any suggestions you can give me would be most helpful.
Thanks for your help!
Not quite totaled out,
MaggietheGeek
I live in Eastern NC and have called and spoken with the DOI. They said that I could include the hail damage repair into calculations so I am roughly at 72% in repairs so far for a $10,008 car. They suggested that I bring the adjuster proof from local dealers what their retail would be on the car in its pre-accident state. I have serviced the car well but it is not in excellent shape. My two large dogs have left scratch marks on the outside doors and the inside on the trim. Windows were left down during rain once and although no visible damage, the cloth panels on 2 of the doors have a scrunchy sound behind them. There is rust on the trunk carpet. There was previous hail damage that I had reported but hadn't fixed yet. There was hood damage I didn't know about that had rust in it and it was made worse during the inspecition of the car. I opted to pay for the $182 to fix that spot - insurance covered the difference. This was the basic Montero Sport XLS model, cloth seats, 2 wheel drive and only extras are attached running boards, towing package, and luggage rack.
I have called and spoken with Car Max and another local dealer and have tried to get a pre-accident value on the car. They are much less than the CCC value and would actually put me in the totaled zone. There are other NC dealers who have cars listed online that when adjusted again has my car at less value than the CCC has given. Edmunds also agrees Dealer retail $7,220 for average and $9407 for excellent. I've gone to Kelly and they say my car is $9,655 if excellent and NADA says $11,025* Clean retail to $7,125 Rough Trade In. I don't see how to adjust Kelly or NADA Retail for less than excellent condition. The tires are about a year and a half old and still have 20,000 miles left.
Any suggestions you can give me would be most helpful.
Thanks for your help!
Not quite totaled out,
MaggietheGeek
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 09:33 am Post Subject: forgot to mention this is under my collision policy
My daughter had the wreck and there was no ticket issued so this is being repaired under collision and can not get dimenished value calc.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 09:38 am Post Subject: 48,747 miles...low mileage credit
oops forgot to put in miles..48747
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:42 am Post Subject:
I've heard that at times when the car's repair costs are only few dollars less than its totaled value the adjusters may consider it as totaled loss. You might have to wait for lori or tcope to be around to your rescue.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:30 pm Post Subject:
Ain't this a switch, an insured that wants their car worth 'less' :lol: it happens some times...just gotta love it when it does....ok, honey I come up with 11,400.00, then you would need to take a percentage (probably 70-80%) of the Unrelated Unrepaired prior damage...off of this figure...meaning if you were paid for that hail claim, subtract that amount INCLUDING your deductible, then there would be deductions for your other condition problems...should be estimates written on this damage then the appropriate percentage taken, (ie dog scratches interior problems etc)...this probably is what brings it down to that 10k the adjuster came up with...
What is the salvage value? Have you ask the adjuster that? You'll need to subtract the salvage value from the ACV that is the amount they can spend to repair it (also the 75% rule if that is what your state has)....sounds to me like this pup ain't gonna' total...make sure they make good on all the repairs as far as quality...then just sell or trade it...I think you might be fighting a losing battle...by my calculations they still have about another 2k or better they could spend before it bones...sorry.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 01:48 pm Post Subject:
Thanks for your replies. Do you have the CCC system? Is that how you got a starting price of 11,400? As for the hail, it was $1,200 and has just been fixed by the same shop. Check is made out to both shop and me. I don't have written estimates on fixing the other dings and scratches and don't think the repair shop that has it will be very interested in helping me to total the car with expenses.
One of the local dealer's sent me a copy of the black book estimate on the car. If the car was in excellent condition 88745, clean 7725, average 6375, and rough 5125. From there add $1000 for margin and $300 for low mileage. So that makes the range 10745 to 9025 to 7675 to 6425 and he thought it would fall in the rough to average category. Car Max guy said it would begin to retail at $8099.
Have you ever heard of success when evidence of local dealers' prices support a lower price? Guess the opposite could be asked, when local dealers' show a higher price? The reality is that in the past few months, the SUV have had an incredible slow down in sales. I sold real esate for many years and was taught to do a market analysis on actual sales, not what someone has listed as an unobtainable price! I still like my SUV and would probably replace it with an SUV but I do have limited finances.
I wouldn't mind selling it but I suspect the diminished value will be so low, that I won't be able to get half of what I still owe on it. I'm willing to take a hit but can only physically afford to lose a thousand or two since I still have a loan balance on it. I can afford to make my monthly payments but just the thought of making monthly payments on a car that is worth next to nothing just makes me sick! My brother once had a car that had been all but totaled and had a suspension hit and he could not keep a set of tires on it afterwards. Having once had the expense of replacing a simple O ring on a car that hadn't had a hit, just scares me what will come up later on that wasn't caught since it was an internal issue. Yes, the repairs that I have are guaranteed for life but who knows what will go wrong that they will tell me wasn't found in the original estimates so won't be fixing it now. The car took a big hit and had been turned 180 degrees in the accident. There have been questions on why the air bags didn't deploy and I worry they won't deploy again if there is a worse accident. If I do have to accept the car, I do plan to take it to the Mits dealer and have the mechanic I met this summer, whom I do trust, to go over it and see what he thinks. There are already differences in the car such as a very loose steering system but their mechanic assures me it is ok. It just doesn't feel right to me so will get that second opinion!
On the up side, my daughter walked away from this accident with only a few bumps, not a single cut or scratch. If keeping a car that will continue to have problems for the rest of its life is the cost I have to pay to have a beautiful, healthy and safe child, I will pay that expense any day! Kudos for the Montero in being so strong and absorbing the pain so my daughter didn't have to!!! It definitely took the hit...
Thanks,
MaggietheGeek
P.S. Have you ever heard of proving that if the amount of repairs equals more than the current value after repairs that it could still be totaled using Constructive Total Loss? How much is my car going to be worth when it drives away from repair shop?
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