I had a ins. adjuster come and look at the S today. I was at work but left the garage open for him to take a look. He estimated about 18K to repair but I don't know if he took into consideration of the pearl paint. That's easily looked over until paint day. He also said it needed to replace the motor/tranny b/c it was locked up. He came to this decision b/c it could not start. He told me $5,600 for a motor/tranny with about 1K miles on it.

He told me that in his opinion, it is totalled. But he has to speak to his surperiors to make a decision.(Claim adjusters)

I am not sure how my ins.(State Farm) handle totalled vehicles but will find out soon.

 

I'm an insurance noob. How would this work if I have to take the money that they pay me to pay off what I owe on the car which is 22,000? I would only be left over a couple of thoudands.

 

I'm crossing my fingers for this.

 

I forget what the cutoff is but 70% seems to ring a bell. That is if the cost to repair exceed 70% of market value (ie what you could have sold the car for the day before the accident) then it will be deemed a total loss in which case they owe you market value. The insurance company never owes you more than market value. One thing to remember is that this is not an exact science and if it's close to being a total you can often argue with the adjuster to either get it repaired or totalled depending on your preference.

 

Most insurance companies will total a car if the cost to repair exceeds a certain fraction of the value of the car. A usual example is 2/3. On a "total" the amount they pay you SHOULD be an amount sufficient for you to go out on the used car market and buy an identical car. This is the area where disputes happen. Can you find an identical used car in your area for what the insurance company is offering? If so, the company is offering a fair amount. If not, you may have to come up with statements from people like your dealer as to what one would have to pay for a car exactly like yours.

Hope this helps,
Richard

 

You should look into Allstate Insurance for your next car. Allstate has what they called new car replacement availalbe withe their platinum or gold plan. With these 2 plan, if you ever get into and accident, Allstate will give you full retail value ffrom 3 years the date you purchased your car. Also your rates wont go up if you file multiple claims ( up to 2 within a period of time)

 

make sure you get the sales taxes figured into what you get paid from your insurance ----they WILL NOT mention it and won't offer it--it's up to you to request (demand) it.
Basically your insurance company owes you what it would take to put a similar car with similar miles in similar condition back in your driveway--if that's $27k for the car then it's $27k for the car PLUS any state sales taxes you would have to pay--in my state it's another 6.5%.
I've had two totals in my lifetime and both times the insurance paid the added sales taxes without question but I had to request it.

 

in my example--in my state the 6.5% tax on $27k would be $1755.00 so it can be big bucks

 

you have to consider the 10k as payments for having the car for how ever long you had it for.
it sucks
just put the 3k down on a new S

 

You currently have a $24k loan. The insurance gives you $27k. Pay off the loan, and use the $3k left as a down payment on a $27k S2000. Finance the remaining $24k.

In other words, you end up with the exact same car and payments as before. That's what insurance is designed to do.

(A co-worker's wife recently was in an accident that totaled his Integra. The insurance company paid him the value of that car, plus sales tax. I don't know if that's standard operating procedure or if he has additional coverage, but it does happen.)