 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Pontiac / Pontiac Firebird / March 2005FUP: Sad news for me
Hi again... Well I got the bad news (on Wednesday) that the car is a total loss. The insurance adjuster stopped estimating at $15K and the body shop had already arrived at $13K without taking into account the cost to repair the frame. I don't have any place to store it so I guess I need to negotiate with my insurer over the best valuation of the car. I have managed to find all my receipts, in one form or another, for all of the hardware I upgraded, including the brakes. I'm not having much luck finding another Firebird that sounds like a sure thing, with what seems like such a short time-frame to work with (I am one of the few, apparently, that didn't see fit to add rental reimbursement on my ins. policy). At his point I don't think there's much to gain since I don't have the expertise to second-guess the body shop on whether it's worth fighting for (to repair the car), especially since the ins. co would only sell it back to me with a salvage title... and I have nowhere to store it. I've been checking LS1.com and fbody.org, and looking at other car options, but I'll be damned if I have go non-GM. On the one hand, I think it's clear that the ins. co. will take the easy way out (whatever that happens to be) to avoid paying over $10K in repairs and continuing insuring same car. On the other hand, I think the body shop, whom I trust fairly well, has a point about the impracticability of spending thousands more than I can spare to get it to a state that won't be like it used to be. Sounds like I'm out of options here, eh? Btw, the ins. co. wants the car towed to a salvage yard (because they don't want to keep paying $50 a day for storage) and they haven't given me a settlement figure, which they implied I could negotiate on! ~w~ (Robert) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Weland" <welandir@comcast.net> Newsgroups: alt.autos.camaro.firebird Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:09 AM Subject: Sad news for me > I had a car accident on my way home from work and it looks to me like the > car (my 2001 Firebird Formula) is a total loss. I reacted suddenly to > maneuver around a vehicle that cut into my lane as we were going around a > bend to the right (on Park Presidio in San Francisco) and lost control of my > vehicle, which fish-tailed and lost traction. I bumped the vehicle that was > in front of me and while trying to regain control of my car, hit the wall > that divides the traffic heading north and south. There was light rain and > the roads were wet, and I had absolutely no traction -- it was like I was > sliding on grease. The front end on the driver's side was smashed in, both > airbags deployed and the windshield is shattered. It just doesn't seem > likely that the car can be repaired, but I have to wait and see what the > adjuster says when they finally look at it some time today. This is the > first time I was ever involved in an accident on wet roads. What really > bums me out (though I came out of it apparently unscathed), is that I > purchased the car new and would obviously not be able to do that again for > another Firebird. If it is totalled, I hope the ins. co. will allow me to > recover all the parts I invested into it (like my stereo, Corsa exhaust, and > an assortment of SLP parts under the hood). > > This is difficult to cope with, especially since I loved that car. > > ~w~ > Hi again... > > Well I got the bad news Snipped for space, not content. As much as losing a well loved car can hurt it doesn't really sound like you'd want to try having it fixed. Maybe this is a chance to start over with what you've learned and make your next ride even better. Sorry to hear it. In short it is, as has already been said, TOTALED. Accept it. Look for your next opportunity in rides. >Hi again... > [quoted text clipped - 63 lines] >> >> ~w~ > Hi again... > [quoted text clipped - 73 lines] >> >>~w~ That is heartbreaking. In regards to your stereo and exhaust, etc. Do you have the OEM parts? If the after market parts were not covered by insurance, then I imagine you should be allowed to swap 'em. It might be worth a conversation to find out. I know you had your car Dyno'd and a few time slips. You might consider a framing them in a nice collage or something. A little memorial to your downed bird. Martin '01 Formula - MTI Air Box Lid, K&N Filter, Hurst-6, SLP Cold Air Induction & Smooth Intake Bellow Corsa Catback w/Premium Tips '83 V45 Magna If you can a firm estimate for repair from another shop, maybe the insurance company will cut a check for x dollars with you to the difference. The other thing is to buy it back at aution and fix it you. Or, take the 10 grand and go for a 20000, 01 or 02 model. AutoTrader in Pennsylvaia had good examples in the mid teenns. Good luck. > Hi again... > [quoted text clipped - 73 lines] >> >>~w~ Sounds like your at a place I have been before. Some cars are worth the loss to just replace, other are not. Never let a bodyshop tell you a car is beyound repair. I saw a 68 Mercades come in boxes & crates in to the bodyshop I apprenticed in. 2 Years later, after spending a year out getting the mechanicals rebuilt and installed, the freashly painted car went out and hit the auction block. Brought 3 fold what the owner had invested. The largest intact parts of that car when it came in were the Hood, Engine, Doors, Decklid, & removible hard top. Any Real Body Man can straighten a wrecked, smashed beyound belief ride and make it better then new. Yet the ones who can probably will run you cost wise more then twice the claim payout. For someone in your situation it might be better to get a cheep beater, while hunting down a FireHawk, or other desirible T/A to replace the wrecked one with. BTW: whats the buy back amount? Charles > BTW: whats the buy back amount? > > Charles I don't have the exact figure yet (should know some time Wed.), but it may hearten some of you to know it looks to be close to $20K. They were able to give me something for the aftermarket equipment. If this pans out I'll give yall the speil on how that came to be *crossing my fingers*. ~w~ > > BTW: whats the buy back amount? > > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > ~w~ If the repair costs are 70-75% of the value of the car the insurance company will total it. If its borderline, the adjuster will usually have the flexibility to go either way. In general, if your car has that much damage it will never be the same again. Let the insurance company total it. Also, if your car is totalled, let the insurance company tow it away to save the storage charges. Otherwise, you?ll get stuck with them. They will usually tow it to a salvage yard where there is no storage charges, or way less storage charges. Unless the car has special meaning to you or unless you have the ability to repair the car yourself, let the company total it. A car with a salvage title is worth considerably less. As a last tip, the adjusters usually have some leeway as to the final value of the car. Stuff like aftermarket radios and custom items dont really add any value to your car. At least, not to the insurance company. But the adjuster ?can? let you take your aftermarket stuff and put the stock stuff back on. Most auto adjusters are car-enthusiasts too. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.