Car Accidents and Insurance (looking for advice)

This is what our car looked like when I got home on Monday after work:

Christine was rear ended by a large SUV.  She was stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for a pedestrian, and the SUV didn't stop and plowed into her.  Luckily Christine only had minor injuries, but the car is a mess.  Basically everything rear the rear tires is bent or broken somewhere, both inside and outside of the car.  The trunk and rear passenger door don't open. 

The SUV driver's insurance took the car to their body shop on Tuesday and we got a call from them today.  They didn't declare the car a total loss and are going to fix it.  However they did say that the frame is bent, so they need to cut out part of it and weld it back together.  The amount of damage is about half of the car's value.  I'm pretty nervous about such repairs both because I don't know if the repairs will give us as reliable and safe a car as we once owned, and because I'm sure it will diminish the value of the car.

Our car is a VW TDI and has unusually high value for it's age (it is a 6 year old car, but the blue book value is about 80% of it's original purchase price, on craigslist it is probably worth even more) due to being a diesel and a station wagon.  We don't drive much, so the mileage is very low for a 6 year old car.  It's a rare combination.

I'm hoping that someone out there has been in a similar situation (close to totalled car) and can give me a little advice.  Here is what is running through my mind right now:

  1. Insist that the car is moved to an autobody shop of our choice.  There is one near our house that we've worked with in the past, and another near our house which specializes in German cars and claims such as this.  It makes me nervous that shop currently holding it is tightly related to the insurance company.
  2. Claim diminished value on the car.  A repair this large it will show up on CarFax (and I wouldn't feel comfortable hiding from potential buyers anyway) and will lower the value of our car.  I don't know how to calculate this.  There appear to be services on the web which will do it for you, but none list their fees for doing so.

What would you do?

We really like this car, but we liked it in it's pre-major-surgery state.  I don't want to screw the insurance company, but I do want a fair settlement.

If you don't like leaving comments then shoot me an email, alex (at) phred (dot) org.

p.s.  I'd use this as a reminder that I don't like cars too much, but riding a bike doesn't save me from insurance claims.

Published 20 September 2008 01:51 AM by AlexWetmore

Comments

# Nick Marinelli said on 19 September, 2008 08:09 PM

Alex - thank God Christine was not seriously injured. You have a tough fight on your hands trying to make the insurance total the car. The best thing to do, unfortunately, is 'fix' it. Like an addict, it will never be cured. If you go with the nearby body shop, at least you can visit everyday. This will give the tech the idea that you are involved and they will not be inclined to cut corners. Be sure welds are prepped with rust inhibitive. Be sure everthing, especially the rear suspention is aligned carefully so the car does not 'crab' down the road or chew tires. Watch for perfect alignment of panels, light housings, doors, etc. Make sure they use VW factory parts. Aftermarket panels are usually thinner gauge metal. Make sure the repair is as close to perfect as possible b/c you will want to be able to keep this for a long time to get on the other side of the resale conundrum.

# Phil said on 19 September, 2008 11:01 PM

I think the most important element is that you're never going to really feel safe in the car again.  You need to have a different car that you trust.  I'd just take the loss of the difference between what you get from the insurance and the cost of a new/used one, and not worry about it.

While you probably can't get the insurance co to settle for total loss value, but the repair cost plus salvage value (which should be pretty high since the expensive parts of the car are undamaged), you'd probably get close to what a typical used car would have depreciated to anyway.  My 5 yo car is about 40% of purchase, so I'd be happy to get more than this, though it wouldn't be enough to replace it in your car.  You won't be able to realize the gains from your smart car decision, but that's not so bad.  

# AlexWetmore said on 20 September, 2008 12:13 AM

Phil, we haven't been debating with them about the value of the car.  The insurance company seems to be using the normal blue book value of the car and has valued it pretty close to the normal street value.  They told us that the car normally would have been considered totalled, but since the car's value is still high they would rather repair it.

At the same time I wouldn't want to accept less than the book value of the car because that wouldn't allow us to buy a comparable car.  We also like having a diesel wagon, it fits our needs and gets great fuel economy.  It's a fact that used ones go for close to $20k and new ones are usually selling for above MSRP right now.

# Doug Van Cleve said on 20 September, 2008 08:54 AM

Alex,

A good body shop really can make it almost as good as new and not visible unless you are really looking inside the car.  If it hasn't already been seen by more than one shop (including some of your choosing), I would insist on that.  I would also try to get the candidate shops to list out line by line what repairs and parts they will use.  If you can, go with a shop that works on Mercedes/BMW/Porsche.  They will know all the tricks for getting a German car back as close to new as possible.  If you have the work done by such a shop, I don't think there will be any cause for concern safety-wise.

Best wishes, Doug

# Peter said on 20 September, 2008 09:50 AM

tell the insurance company to stick it. new car, or the money. then buy a bike w/ trailer.

# Jim G said on 20 September, 2008 10:38 AM

Alex,

I agree w/Doug that you should be given the opportunity to take your car to your shop of choice, and/or to get multiple estimates on the repair cost!

What really sucks here is that, from the photo, it just looks like the rear bumper and hatch need to be replaced -- when in fact the damage is much more invasive!

Just curious -- what happened to the SUV?  

# AlexWetmore said on 20 September, 2008 11:53 AM

Christine said the SUV looked fine, but we haven't done any followup investigation.  I don't think a 3000lb Jetta Wagon is going to fare well against a 5500lb SUV with a high bumper, sadly.

alex

# Craig Ryan said on 21 September, 2008 04:15 PM

Alex, your should be able to shop for the bodyshop you'd like. If it's still drivable, take it around. Good luck!

# christian said on 22 September, 2008 01:33 PM

Re: #1  -- check Washington state law about the body shop choice. You may have the legal right to choose the shop.  In California (where we live)  that's the case.  Your own insurance company will probably know whether this is true  in WA (and they'll be straight with you since they're not paying here).  You could also try here:  search.leg.wa.gov/.../default.asp

# Andrew said on 24 September, 2008 07:56 PM

Alex,

I went through a similar thing about 2 years ago, but in Pittsburgh, not WA.  2003 Passat wagon, rear ended while stopped at a light, and the insurance company refused to total it, even though repairs plus rental car came close to 80% of book value, which appears to be about the same dollar amount as your repairs.  

Take it to the shop of your choice, it's your car, not the insurance company's car.  All the shops say that the car will be just as safe as before, but my wife was never very comfortable afterwards.  It looked fine, after taking it back to the shop 3 times, and drove fine.  We ended up trading it in towards a minivan when the 3rd child was near, and we probably got about $2k less than the non-damaged value, but PA does not allow you to make a claim on diminished value.

If you keep it, here are a few things to watch out for from the shop:

Make sure they reassemble the lock mechanism properly, the VW ones are more finicky than most.

Same with the window raising mechanism.

Check the alignment of the rear seats, our's were bent apart and it took the shop awhile to get them aligned.

Check the seatbelts, the driver's belt malfunctioned afterwards and needed to be replaced.  I don't know if it was the pretensioner, but I convinced the shop to replace all the belts that had been in use at the time.

I hated the whole process and the fact that we took such a large financial hit.  Good luck in dealing with the shop and the insurance company.

# Travis said on 25 September, 2008 08:40 PM

Hi Alex, I am a little late commenting here but I will give it a go. I work in the auto body field with the other German cars, sometimes VW stuff but we are a Benz, BMW shop. The car looks like a easy fix and not to terrible in the damage department if a good shop is fixing it. With that said I say go to a shop that works on German cars they are not the same as the others. A German car is built so much better and uses strange methods of assembly. Do not let the insurance company steer you to there shop. I am guessing you are working with Allstate of Progressive? Oh and insist they do not use any remanufactured or aftermarket parts on you car.

# AlexWetmore said on 26 September, 2008 05:26 AM

Good news.  The car has been totalled, and we are in the market for a new one.

alex