[PJ Gross]

Sad news from Michigan, and scary dad moment.

Daughter (not at fault van old lady pulled out directly in front of her) struck the back corner of a van that was at a 45 degree angle. The corner went dead center to the point it looks like a post ripped through the front.

Luckily she is fine, airbags did not deploy, old lady who pulled halfway out got a ticket.

Anyway, adjuster is at $15k damage without opening the hood. Will be totaled.

Any ideas on how to argue value?

2 335iXgt’s within 100 miles at $15k.

Nada says 11 examples averaged 12k in Sales price. Guessing insurance will go there?

Hoping to argue it’s not the history, it’s replacing with like at the current time.

Unfortunately may have a set of staggered APEXI’s in gunmetal and a charge pipe (new never installed) for sale…

Still on the board with wife’s X4M though but I’m out of town for work and having a really hard time handling the news.

-PJ

[Ragnar The Redneck]

The most important is that your daughter is OK.

Find out what the "private party sale" price is. It is usually between "book value" and advertised dealer price. They will argue "book value" all day long and act like they are doing you a favor.

I always tell them that I am not trading in my car to them, I am selling it to them and tell them I want the value I want is about 3/4 between "private party sale" price the advertised dealer price.

For example, if trade-in value is $12k, advertised dealer sale price is $15k, and private party value is $14k. They offer $12k, I counter with $14,750. Don't go below $14k, or whatever the private party value is, when haggling.

Make sure you get screen shots of the value at time of accident, as next month or so, if the value decreases greatly, they will want to settle at the lesser amount. Get values from kbb.com and edmunds.com, as they usually show private party values, nada not so much.

[PJ Gross]

Well, I go see it today. It drove afterwords just fine. She parked it on the side of the road. Wife was going to drive it to the collision shop and I saw the coolant and said no.

Honestly if the alignment is good I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be worth totaling, bargaining the price, then buying if for salvage and having it fixed?

I’ve maintained it, it has HUD, msport, Harmon radio, and I was planning to have my 3 kids drive it into the ground anyway.

I only kept it because I couldn’t sell it for what I thought it was worth to buy a “cheaper” kids car, and it was a car I know is reliable, etc.

Could be a blessing? Get the money out and then get it back on the road???

[KCee]

Glad your daughter is ok. I agree about determining the actual value of the car instead of the insurance co's book value. My coworker just went through that with his pickup as insurance wanted to total it and pay a LOT less than what it would sell for. They ultimately totaled it, but he finally got a fair price at the end so he could get a similar truck.

[PJ Gross]

Worked out pricing, but had to go through the build sheet line by line and end in for sale comps.

Now to buy it back at salvage and fix for kid car or to let it go…..

We’ll see.

PJ

[WingWong34]

I would sanity check the parts availability because many panels and trim could be thin on the ground. This is something I didn't consider when purchasing my F34. Hopefully I don't find myself in the position that you have.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by PJ Gross

Worked out pricing, but had to go through the build sheet line by line and end in for sale comps.

Now to buy it back at salvage and fix for kid car or to let it go…..

We’ll see.

PJ

What ACV did they offer you? Also, I would highly advise against retaining salvage. Work in the industry, happy to answer any questions you might have. There is typically a lot of incorrect or incomplete information in these accident/body work/insurance claim threads. What insurance company are you dealing with? If it's the one I work for then unfortunately I'll have to bow out of this thread.

[PJ Gross]

Just an update:

I got back from travel, saw car in person. Honestly, if I didn’t have a galant VR4 sitting waiting for me to get an oil pump and timing belt changed, I would have bought back my GT. Literally radiator, hood, intercooler pipe, aluminum crumple supports, and msport cover were the only victims. Hood still latched and unlatched even.
Minivan corner hit above the lower lip, so nothing under was pushed in. Light absolutely untouched as were both fenders. Every connection to the bumper cover was intact. Top radiator support wasn’t bent either.

Short consult to wife was sometimes you take the easier path:

After initial offer: $2500 added after review all options off the build sheet! This took a while as my build sheet was 2 pages and I asked about everything. Then another $1000 or so added after I found 3 listings of the same year within 100 miles. So in the end I got more out of it than I tried selling it for last fall when my daughter turned 16 and I was debating keeping it selling.

I then swapped the 400m winter tire set for my 3 summer Apex gunmetal wheel and tires (will post these). I took both cargo shelves (these will be for sale), and the manual booklet.

I found a 200k mile 2012 Honda Crosstour 3.5L in Ohio on Friday and went and grabbed it Saturday. Had a few dents, but this is a great car for teens (in my opinion). A hundred bucks a month less to insure even with full coverage (in Michigan, it sucks), great reliability, changed oil and plugs, timing belt being done Monday, new wheel and tire combo on way from tire rack, and money saved towards repairs, kid 2 car in a few years, etc etc….

So other than a rate hike on claim (even though other person received ticket) at next 6 month term, for now a win win except the trama (mental only) for my daughter.

Thanks for the replies.

Still on the forum with my wife’s X4M.

I do admit getting a bit emotional taking off the license plate…. Loved my 3 GT…