by mburkinshaw4 » Thu Apr 14, 2011 06:49 am
I was driving my car though a flooded intersection and my intake took in water which in turn went through my entire engine and into the oil. I had my car towed to the dealership and they told me my engine was totaled. They found an engine that was comparable to my engine before the accident but it was sold before I could call them back to give them the go ahead. Since then no engine can be found that has as low miles as my engine and my insurance company is only offering me the amount of that engine although it's looking like it was one-of-a-kind. The money my insurance company is offering me now does not cover all the repair costs and they are telling me I need to pay almost $2,000 out of pocket to cover the gap in repair from what they are offering. Since the initial accident I have since accumulated 22 days in rental costs at $40 a day. I feel all these costs are getting close to the totaling of my car yet my insurance is being stubborn and only offering me the amount initially found on that extremely rare engine. What can I do to have my insurance call my car a total loss and just take my money and look for something else? My car is a 2004 Mazda 3S with 82,000 miles on it and the price my insurance initially gave me was $6,000 for a new engine which they said would total the car. The engine that was found had 60,000 miles on it and would be swapped into my car for $4,500.
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 01:05 pm Post Subject:
First, don't put those stupid CAI's on that suck up water from every puddle you drive through.
A vehicle is usually considered a total when the cost to repair is 80% of it's value. Rental does not count toward this and rental is usually limited to $600 or $1200.
If you don't want the car, take the money for repairs, sell the savage and buy another car. Then leave the intake stock on that vehicle and you won't have this problem.
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 05:51 pm Post Subject:
I've had the CAI for 5 years no issues there was just an absurd amount of rain in Southern California four weeks ago and the streets where I live flooded.
Is a vehicle considered a total if a comparable engine can't be found to swap out my old one? What happens when insurance can't find parts to replace what I currently have? Can they force me to pay for brand new parts?
Did you mean sell the salvage or savage? haha I couldn't tell if it was a typo or a joke.
It wouldn't be salvaged even if I took the repair money and sold the body and such as-is. It would just be a rolling body, complete without engine. I'm not sure I could get 5k for it.
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