Car Salvage Question

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So my DH got into a car accident at work building. He was leaving and the garage door came down on top of the car. So the roof was damaged. We went to our insurance and tried to find contact information for the building managers. So we went to our insurance and they said to go to their repair shop which we did. They made a quote of about $12.5k to repair the damage. The problem is they are talking about salvaging the car since the repairs appear to be more expensive than the car. But it's very driveable only damage to the roof was the side was split becaues it was a commercial garage door.

So the problem is I gave our insurance and I contacted the building manager. They said they are reviewing video and talking to their insurance, this was last week. So our insurance said it's better to go through them and let them deal with the building. Or do we wait and talk directly to the building?

Next thought is do we keep the car if it's salvaged? Fix it? Our insurance company said they do insure salavaged cars so it's possible to keep. We want to keep the car, it's a "used" car that we know. It's a 2016 subaru legacy with only 77k miles. We were planning on keeping it for my 14 year old kid to have to drive in 2 years.

So the plan was not to buy a new or used/new car for another 2 years then with 3 drivers possibly get a new car. What should we do?

[ua_guy]

Ugh...sorry that happened. Deciding whether or not to keep or let the insurance company take the car can be a hard one. But, we know a supposedly reputable shop has made a determination that repairing the car correctly is not a good option financially given what they think the car is worth. That's an important data point, one to consider if you are not knowledgeable about rebuilding or repairing vehicles. But, maybe you got lucky and the damage is all cosmetic, so there is no need to repair it?

There are so many variables when deciding to keep a total loss vehicle. If repairs are needed, what would it cost to make the car safe and drivable, even if not perfect? How long would you need to be without the car? Who will do the work, and how will you know their work is good? You will need to consider state requirements regarding a total loss vehicle, what that means for the title, and any requirements to register it and legally drive it on the road again. Each state has their own process. Resale is another consideration. Vehicles with salvage/rebuilt titles are harder to sell, and generally sell for less. Sometimes as much as 1/3 to 1/2 of a comparable vehicle without a salvage title. And if it's involved in another accident, the fact that it was a prior total loss can have a big impact. Without repairs, it may only be insured for salvage value.

That's not an easy decision...good luck in sorting it all out!

[myrdale]

Ugh...sorry that happened. Deciding whether or not to keep or let the insurance company take the car can be a hard one. But, we know a supposedly reputable shop has made a determination that repairing the car correctly is not a good option financially given what they think the car is worth. That's an important data point, one to consider if you are not knowledgeable about rebuilding or repairing vehicles. But, maybe you got lucky and the damage is all cosmetic, so there is no need to repair it?

There are so many variables when deciding to keep a total loss vehicle. If repairs are needed, what would it cost to make the car safe and drivable, even if not perfect? How long would you need to be without the car? Who will do the work, and how will you know their work is good? You will need to consider state requirements regarding a total loss vehicle, what that means for the title, and any requirements to register it and legally drive it on the road again. Each state has their own process. Resale is another consideration. Vehicles with salvage/rebuilt titles are harder to sell, and generally sell for less. Sometimes as much as 1/3 to 1/2 of a comparable vehicle without a salvage title. And if it's involved in another accident, the fact that it was a prior total loss can have a big impact. Without repairs, it may only be insured for salvage value.

That's not an easy decision...good luck in sorting it all out!

I agree.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

The repair shop adjuster said he'd repair and keep a known quantity used card. It's just that it's totalled because of the cost of the repair. But the car is in good drivable shape. The garage door was commercial grade so it came down and split the edge of the roof. It needs to be repaired so water won't get into the car long term and cause problems. The $12.5k estimate was from the shop the insurance company said to go to because they are direct repair company and paid directly by the insurance company. It wouldn't be fixed till end of March.

They have not given me the salvage value yet nor price to buy it back. Further I went to another auto shop that we've used before and it was quoted at $8500 for us to pay out of pocket to repair but of course that price could go up easily. see metal split.

[kork13]

Photo tells a thousand words .... From what you can see, at least, it doesn't look like it's got any major frame damage -- more like it just needs to get the seals replaced, and maybe the doorframe panel. If it were me, I'd ask your shop to quote a minimum repair to keep it fully functional (doesn't leak, etc.) without worrying about the appearance factors (ex: scratches on the roof). I expect that taking the cosmetics out of the equation would cost significantly less.

I've dealt with a salvage car once ... Since they're calling it totalled, the insurance will basically pay out the pre-accident assessed value of the car, and you can do with it as you will. Officially, they're buying the damaged car from you, and they have the right to come and take it (have a wrecker dispose of it). If you want to keep the car, you generally have to buy it back from the insurance company, typically for whatever the salvage value would be (as stated, ~30-50% of pre-damage value). Then you would have the remainder of the insurance settlement to cover any repairs you want to make.

[ua_guy]

I was expecting much, much worse.

But I also see a lot of work! I'm guessing the estimate calls for basically disassembling the right side of the car and replacing the windshield because of that chip. You've got continuous paint from the corner of your windshield where the damage on the rail is, all the way back to the tail lamp. They have to blend the new paint to old paint somewhere, and because it's a contiguous panel, they need to clearcoat the whole thing. All that trim needs to come off, doors will probably be taken off, and a bunch of the interior disassembled for access to the roof. They might end up removing the rear glass for painting, and needing to remove the tail lamp, popping the bumper cover, removing rocker moldings. Lots and lots of remove/install for access and paint work! If it's a $14k or $15k car, market value, work adds up quickly and there's probably $1k in tax on that estimate. I'd be curious to know how many labor hours they are estimating for the repair of the roof rail and roof, specifically.

If the sunroof isn't leaking and the roof rail isn't somehow bent, just scuffed, and no issues with doors closing or sealing properly, that would make me go HMMM.... I'd probably take the check and keep the car, if it was mine. But that's based on a single picture, I really have no idea.

I have to believe if the insurance company totaled it out and you didn't keep it, they'd auction it at Copart or IAA as a rebuildable car. It will have a salvage title, but someone would do an ugly repair on it and might make some money.

[Jluke]

Time for a new car.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Okay updates, I would have a better photo but I can't get to it right now so here's the deal. That metal you see is a piece that's split and it's expensive apparently to put in a whole new piece and a whole lot of labor. I have no idea why but they have to remove the roof to redo the piece so apparently it's expensive.

That being said I have a lot of updates. We got a call from the our insurance company yesterday offering a total loss on the car of $15,200 and $11,200 back to us and $4k to buy it back salvage. We do not have to make an immediate decision but this is what they are thinking.

Second we got an email from the building manager, they had a problem with their video cameras and they do not have video of the incident. The video was somehow disconnected or damaged or something. They are unsure if the sensor was working. They have no had an adjuster assigned from their insurance company. They said they only know what DH said about the garage door coming down.

Third, I have two electric companies coming out Tuesday and Wednesday to give me a quote to upgrade our electric panel we have no more spaces, and apparently we may need a "street" upgrade since our house is 1967 to get electric if we buy a new car. So in December we were contemplating buying a new electric car for DH. Two reasons made us decide to hold off. 1 - we decided to not upgrade the box and pay what we think will be $10k at that time. 2 - we didn't want to hang onto our subaru for DK1 who would be driving in 2 years. So we decided to push it as long as possible.

Of course now the calculus is different. Now we have a totaled car and have to decide what to do. We do need a car for her in 2 years but it might be more like Fall 2026 when she drives to high school. She got into a lottery school 25 minutes away in opposite direction of the other DK2 whose 25 minutes in the other direction. And my DH is in a 3rd direction for work so NW DK2, East for DK1, and S for DH from our house. They are all about 7-8 miles from our house but around 15-25 minutes away.

Again 2 months ago when we were considering buying a new car some of these decisions were clear. DK1 wasn't in the school until first of feb. We didn't have a totalled car. So now I'm not sure how to do the calculus.

I strangely enough still have the $50k I set aside to buy a new car in a savings account and I hadn't dumped it into the market like i was planning on doing soon. This also means we aren't buying a rental property anymore becaues the $50k was supposed to be potentially the down payment.

[ua_guy]

All that totally sucks. That's interesting about the estimate. Sounds like they wrote to replace that rail because it's structural and can't or shouldn't be repaired. If I had to guess, it's probably high strength steel in that part, so they're planning to section the side. I did collision estimating for a while as an adjuster, so this stuff is still interesting to me.

But, as insurance goes....theoretically they're paying you to replace your 2016 Subaru with another 2016 Subaru with similar mileage and features. Having the car totaled doesn't necessarily mean you *have* to buy a brand new car, you could try to replace it with something of the same value.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We are discussing that as an option is replacement with same 2016 but we've been looking at an EV for awhile but it never made sense to "upgrade" to a newer car while we had a perfectly good car. We don't want to pay for a similar mileage car. I think we are leaning to replacing intead of salvage and repair.

Yes they have to replace the rail because it split open and water is going in. We put tape over it but there is a hollow sound on the ping.

[kork13]

Wow... $15k settlement, $11k salvage buy-back, and $8.5k-$12.5k for the repair? That seems pretty foul from your insurance. That buy-back offer is pretty rich.

With those numbers, I wouldn't even consider the buy-back as an option. If it were me, I'd use the settlement money to get something used but good ($15k-$20k) with a plan of handing it to DS once he's driving ... Then once that handoff occurs, look to purchase a new, nice car for DH. That'll give time for EV tech to continue to advance & maybe become further price-accessible. Also gives you time to work through the electrical upgrades your home will need. Finally, more time to save up additional cash, if the electrical upgrades draw down your car-buy fund.

[srblanco7]

Wow... $15k settlement, $11k salvage buy-back, and $8.5k-$12.5k for the repair? That seems pretty foul from your insurance. That buy-back offer is pretty rich.

With those numbers, I wouldn't even consider the buy-back as an option. If it were me, I'd use the settlement money to get something used but good ($15k-$20k) with a plan of handing it to DS once he's driving ... Then once that handoff occurs, look to purchase a new, nice car for DH. That'll give time for EV tech to continue to advance & maybe become further price-accessible. Also gives you time to work through the electrical upgrades your home will need. Finally, more time to save up additional cash, if the electrical upgrades draw down your car-buy fund.

Agree with DisneySteve. I don't understand the buy back at $11k or perhaps I don't understand the relationship between the numbers. It'd seem to me that the Settlement minus the repair cost would be the salvage buy back (more in the $2.5k-$6.5k range).

I'd take the settlement and move on.

[kork13]

Agree with DisneySteve.

Hey, I know Steve is normally the one with top-shelf, practical thoughts ... but how does he get credit for my post?

[disneysteve]

Hey, I know Steve is normally the one with top-shelf, practical thoughts ... but how does he get credit for my post?

And I didn’t even have to say a word.

[srblanco7]

Hey, I know Steve is normally the one with top-shelf, practical thoughts ... but how does he get credit for my post?

My bad . There's a shared genius between the two of you - sometimes a challenge to differentiate your brilliance