teknics

Ok so myg/f just crashed her VW into a fence at school...long story.



I took off from work and ran up to check it out, front bumper is ripped off, hood is damaged, r/f fender is damaged, hood latch is damaged. That's the things i notice as i drive up.



On further inspection the radiator mount (cross member hting across the front of the car between the fender and frame rails) is bent pretty badly. As i look closer the r/f (pass. front) part of the frame is bent down, at almost a 35 degree angle.



Now NOTHING in the engine bay is damaged, radiator, codnenser, motor mounts, everything is fine. The rail bent downward just after the engine mount, thank god.



Now first of all is this type of frame damage repairable? It's basically the stubby end of the frame in the front that the bumper rebar mounts to (the windshield washer fluid tank mounts on top of it in the engine bay) THe suspension is fine and everything, just the stubby end of the frame is bent.



I would guess its repairable, and then id probably need to replace the radiator support, might be able to bend it back into shape, not sure yet. But i definitely need frame work, r/f fender, hood, front bumper, front bumper rebar, front bumper grille, etc, the whole nine yards.



Now to the insurance question, undoubtedly i figure if we call insurance they'll total it as soon as they come to check it out.



I think her deductible is like $500.



Should we call insurance, let them total it, pay the deductible and then buy the car back? How much would buying the totalled car back cost? Is it worth it? With the money theyd give us for the car we'd probably combine it with our savings and get a new scion tc, i figured since im mechanically inclined itd be a decent project to undertake, not to difficult, plus once i fix the vw i have a car to sell or at least another one to putt around in and hook up more.



Basically what would you guys do>?



and thank god it wasnt my 7 that she crashed, for those of you coming into this topic thinking it would be a 7



please help me out here, oh and im in nj, land of the bloodthirsty insurance agents.



kevin.

Amy

Well i'd say turn it into insurance so you can get your money for the car. You didn't say what year i'm assuming newer so you would get some money. No fun but that's why you have insurance.

teknics

well its a 1999, with about 104,000 miles on it, the blue book is something like $5000 for trade-in value in "fair condition" (worst part of the car was the fornt bumper so maybe the insurance guy will give a higher quote)



Ive never done a totalled buy-back thing so im not too sure on how it works.



Dow e pay the deductible, get the insurance money, then buy back the car, no questions asked?



thanks,

kevin.

Amy

Sadly I've done this more than once. If they total it then there is an assessed value - you usually have to go back and forth to agree upon a number they never want to pay you what it's worth. Then your deductible is subtracted and you are given the balance. When it's totaled you also can buy back the vehicle for a minimal price when i totaled my 1st gen it was realy cheap like a few hundred maybe to buy it back.

vosko

the only bad thing is her insurance will go up

rowtareh

[quote name='vosko' date='Jun 13 2005, 12:11 PM']the only bad thing is her insurance will go up


[/quote]



Yep. Stupid insurance.

teknics

yea i knew insurance goes up, it goes up for anything .



oh well we shall see what goes down with the insurance dude.



kevin.

rowtareh

Good luck Kevin.

sexycheerleader

I bought a car back from the insurance company. They charged me ten percent of the assesed value. ( what they gave me for the car) The best part was since the car never changed hands the insurnce never put a salvage on the title which is what happens if someone else where to buy it. I just turned the thing in to a beater and had fun with it. You need to have a shop or the adjuster give you a list of the parts it needs and then price out the arts and see if it is worth the time you put in to it to try and buy it back and resell it. Insurance will usually only total a vechicle if the cost of repaits is 2/3 the value. So buy back price parts plus your time it may not be worth the hassel of trying to sell it just take the money and run. Just do the math and talk to your insurance to see what they will sell it back to you for and make a educated decesion.

defprun

shes a woman, it still wouldnt be as high as your insurance...unless the states are different than here...