Hit! Totaled?

1372 Views 29 Replies 14 Participants Last post by gobluetwo, 26 m ago

adr5

Discussion Starter · 9 d ago (Edited)

Hi,
well, I was cruising along in the right lane on the interstate getting ready to exit when out of the far left lane a Toyota Corolla cuts in front of me practically perpendicular to the direction of travel. I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could, but we did not slow enough and the left front corner of my bumper, you can see the other cars wheel mark on my bump, hit their right rear wheel. The impact pushed me off the road and I went straight into a tree. Front airbags went off as soon as we made contact with the other car. Just like in the movies my car horn was wailing away. After checking ourselves, we were a bit beat up, we checked on the other folks, they seemed ok, I looked the car over. It does not look good.

We haven't heard from the insurance company yet, but I get the impression it is going to be totaled. They said the car was going to Copart and it would get inspected there. The car still ran and drove, the tow company drove it up onto the tow truck. We were planning on getting a new car later this year, but we really need a minivan for the next few months, so we don't want to buy it now when we really need the bigger car. So we are not sure how to proceed. My car, '12 EX-L with 121k miles, was running great. I did all the regular maintenance myself, so I knew the car really well. I did the timing belt, using the Aisin kit from RockAuto

, about a year ago. We felt comfortable taking it on long trips with no worries.

Any tips on dealing with the insurance companies? We have full coverage, but with a $1k deductible. This is completely the other person's fault, so their insurance should cover our deductible as well rental car. I want to make sure that I get enough money back so that we can get a similar car that has similarly been well cared for, but I think that is going to be tough. Any tips on where to look for a car like that? I don't think a Honda dealer would have a car of this age on their lot.

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Car Land vehicle Wheel Vehicle Tire

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dvpatel

· #2 · 9 d ago

I can’t see the photo. Sorry to hear. Glad to hear you all made it out relatively unharmed.

Reactions: 2

WiiMaster

· #3 · 9 d ago

I can't see the photo either. Sorry to hear. Losing a car sucks, but it's better than losing people.

Remember that you can find similar listings to show to the insurance company to negotiate on what fair market value would be.

Outside of that, hard to say much without the photo. IMO if you have all 3 of the trifecta (body work, interior work, engine/suspension work), a total is likely. Usually you can get away with any two but not all three.

As for finding a similar replacement, I won't lie, it might not be a quick process, but my recommendation would be to search on AutoTempest. After my 2010 Accord was totaled, I searched on AutoTempest for nearly a year and a half before I found my beautiful low mileage well-maintained 2012 Accord. I'm getting closer to a year since I got it, and it has filled in for the 2010 excellently and then some. It feels better than the 2010 in every way while still being familiar.

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2011.2017.odyssey

· #4 · 9 d ago

Damn Toyota drivers, in these parts they are a public safety menace.

Cant see the photo either, suggest you screenshot and paste it in your post.

If the airbags went off, if either frame rail was tweaked or the subframe, its going to be totaled out.

start researching your year and mileage and get your list of replacement costs compiled.

if you kept meticulous service documentation, keep that handy as well for your negotiations with the adjuster.

Reactions: 3

phattyduck

· #5 · 9 d ago

WiiMaster said:
Remember that you can find similar listings to show to the insurance company to negotiate on what fair market value would be.

Yup, this right here. Expect the first offer for a settlement to be $1-5k low. Good luck!

-Charlie

Reactions: 2

brybo86

· #6 · 9 d ago (Edited)

100% agree with the advice to haggle with claim adjuster.

They will conveniently leave out the high value mint comparables. And include all the beat up comparables with ripped seats.

They will also dock you for all sort of stuff on the "condition" of your car. When a well maintained, clean car should be dealer ready in reality. (Meaning it looks like the other cars sitting on used car lot.)

Ask me how I know.

My accord was recently totaled by a stop sign runner and I got them to increase the value from $5500 initial to $8000 final.

They said the engine and transmission had "major wear" specifically oil leaks and I asked for proof of the alleged oil leaks. They could not provide any proof of any oil leaks... 🤦‍♀️.... And ultimately gave me credit for "dealer ready" condition.

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brian3

· #7 · 9 d ago

Glad everyone is safe. It will be tough though to get a well maintained replacement with this vintage as the ones you will find for sale most likely are being traded in for issues like the VCM, bad cats, or oil leaks at the spool valve etc..

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davedrivesody

· #8 · 9 d ago

adr5 said:
we don't want to buy it now when we really need the bigger car

Sorry for the needless collision caused by a careless driver. Glad nobody was seriously injured.

Go ahead and search for a replacement minivan even though you need it only for the rest of the year.

You should have no trouble selling it for at least what you paid when you are ready to buy a new car. The used car market is still very strong, in my area at least.

Reactions: 2

adr5

Discussion Starter · #9 · 9 d ago

WiiMaster said:
I can't see the photo either. Sorry to hear. Losing a car sucks, but it's better than losing people.

Remember that you can find similar listings to show to the insurance company to negotiate on what fair market value would be.

Outside of that, hard to say much without the photo. IMO if you have all 3 of the trifecta (body work, interior work, engine/suspension work), a total is likely. Usually you can get away with any two but not all three.

As for finding a similar replacement, I won't lie, it might not be a quick process, but my recommendation would be to search on AutoTempest. After my 2010 Accord was totaled, I searched on AutoTempest for nearly a year and a half before I found my beautiful low mileage well-maintained 2012 Accord. I'm getting closer to a year since I got it, and it has filled in for the 2010 excellently and then some. It feels better than the 2010 in every way while still being familiar.

I think I fixed the picture problem. The interior is fine except for the two front airbags. As far as body work goes, at the very minimum I see both fenders, hood, grill, bumper cover, all the stuff under the bumper cover, AC condensor and the radiator. Not sure about suspension, I didn't look. I will check autotempest, thanks for the tip. Unfortunately time is important, so I can't take months looking for the right car.

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adr5

Discussion Starter · #10 · 9 d ago

brian3 said:
Glad everyone is safe. It will be tough though to get a well maintained replacement with this vintage as the ones you will find for sale most likely are being traded in for issues like the VCM, bad cats, or oil leaks at the spool valve etc..

Thanks. I figure at this mileage a few cars will not have had the timing belt service done, and I don't want to do it again nor do I want to pay big bucks to have someone else do it. I am familiar with VCM misfires as my car had that expensive ring work paid for by Honda back around 50k miles. I did not know cats were an issue with this car. I did know about spool valve leaks killing alternators. I will check to see if the alternator is a Denso, if it looks newer.

2011.2017.odyssey

· #11 · 9 d ago

both frame rails will be tweaked after that hit.

not an impossible repair, but we are talking about an 11 year old van.

someone handy will pick it up at the auction for a bargain and put it back together, but it wont be an insurance job.

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WiiMaster

· #12 · 9 d ago

Yeah, it honestly doesn't look quite as bad as I was expecting given your description.

Airbag work = interior work and that will add an extra layer to this job. With that level of front end damage there is almost certainly mechanical work to be done with the AC condenser/radiator. With my Odyssey, I got lucky that out of the 3 collisions it's been in, 2 of them saw no airbags deploy and the one where the airbags did deploy, there was little to no body damage. Otherwise mine probably would have been totaled.

Seems repairable with some work but not by you unless you want to take on a decent sized project.

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adr5

Discussion Starter · #13 · 8 d ago

WiiMaster said:
Yeah, it honestly doesn't look quite as bad as I was expecting given your description.

Airbag work = interior work and that will add an extra layer to this job. With that level of front end damage there is almost certainly mechanical work to be done with the AC condenser/radiator. With my Odyssey, I got lucky that out of the 3 collisions it's been in, 2 of them saw no airbags deploy and the one where the airbags did deploy, there was little to no body damage. Otherwise mine probably would have been totaled.

Seems repairable with some work but not by you unless you want to take on a decent sized project.

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately I am not in a position to do the work myself. I am in the process of selling our house, so that takes priority and will keep me busy for a while. If the rails are not tweaked, it looks like just replacing bolt on parts. I figure hood, fends, bumper cover, grill, bumper reinforcement bar, AC condenser and radiator. I could do all of that except for the AC condenser that requires special machinery. But who knows what other hidden damage is under there?

jiantao

· #14 · 8 d ago

Given what you've told us, I don't think it's ideal for you to try to repair.

As others said, at this point, your best course of action is to determine what is truly a fair value for your van, and negotiate with the insurance company to get to that amount. Remember they need to pay for tax, title, and other costs associated with purchasing a vehicle too. If you are looking at comps at dealers, add the dealer processing fee in there as well. I see you're in NY so it's capped at $175, but add it in anyways.

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dvpatel

· #15 · 8 d ago

Its not as bad as I thought. This can be repaired but you need a body shop guy for work and if you get it professionally done, it will be expensive. Which is why the insurance will total it due to the bags plus the front end work needed and the fact that the vehicle is fairly old.

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2011.2017.odyssey

· #16 · 8 d ago

dvpatel said:
Its not as bad as I thought. This can be repaired but you need a body shop guy for work and if you get it professionally done, it will be expensive. Which is why the insurance will total it due to the bags plus the front end work needed and the fact that the vehicle is fairly old.

with the front beam smacked like that, its likely worse than it looks.

its joined to the frame rails and will most certainly have pulled them inwards, the question is how much, maybe a small pull maybe a big pull with some heat.

It wouldnt be bad enough to need to change them from what I can gather.

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WiiMaster

· #17 · 8 d ago

There's also parts availability to consider. Remember that thread from a while back with the guy who was waiting for a radiator support for months on end?

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adr5

Discussion Starter · #18 · 6 d ago

I just got confirmation that the car will be deemed a total loss. The adjuster said his preliminary estimate is for $9000 to fix the car, but there could be hidden damage that would not show up until they started to take the car apart. The adjuster confirm sub-frame damage, which makes me think the front rails are also damaged. So now I need to go car shopping. I think I will try to get a similar car, an Odyssey with about 120k miles that has been well serviced, to tide us over till the end of the year. Let's see what they offer us, but I think the preliminary offer is going to be around $10k which is low based on the cars I have seen advertised for sale.

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WiiMaster

· #19 · 6 d ago

i ran a quick autotempest search and found some listings in your area:

Here's a link to the search I ran with the exact filters:

Honda Odyssey - AutoTempest.com

AutoTempest used car search engine results for Honda Odyssey

www.autotempest.com

It looks like there are a number of them in your area.

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adr5

Discussion Starter · #20 · 5 d ago

Thanks, I'll check them out. I just got the adjusters comps and they are all on the low side. I will use some of these in my response.

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