I was driving in Los Angeles, CA when some lady pulled out in front of my 1991 744. The car used to be georgeous, but now, the front headlight has been knocked out, the front quarter panel utterly destroyed. I swerved but her car kept going, messing up both front and rear passanger doors and proceeding to rip a 7-inch long gash, about 3/4 inch wide, in the rear quarter panel. I love the car to death but is it totalled? What would that fix run me, labor and all? It seems that no damage mechanically was done other than throw off the alignment. I don't know if anything happened to the frame.

Insurance is a sick and twisted game, and the results are directly proportional to how much determination you have. They get to make the first move by sending you to an adjuster or shop for an initial lowball estimat or scrap offer.

You can pre-empt this by going to your shop, and leavin it there. the shop will charge you a daily storage fee, and set you up with a rental car. What this does(aside from getting you wheels) is cost insurance $60-90 a day, so they have a reason to deal with you soon.

I find the first estimate from and insurance recommended body shop, esp. their insurance, is a low dollar figure to inadequately repair the most obvious damage. they like to get their work done by the cheapest bidder.
Case in point:
I am presently working on a 96 Ranger 4X4 head on'd while stopped beside a country road in a rainstorm. The Honda was going fast enough to break the top off his head on her steering crosshaft! Pretty much dove under the truck, pushing it back in the dirt turnout. No lenses broke, but teh front of her fram was moved about 1/2" to the right. The Honda driver was drunk, but said he'd take responsibility(yeah right) Anyway, no cops were called, so the next day he said he was not at fault, and her full coverage insurance came into play. They recomended a shop which gave a $1600 estimate for a bumper, grille and hood. NO MENTION OF SUSPENSION WORK(came out around $400+$200frame pull)! Luckily she asked my opinion, and I refered her to my friends shop. She drove it there real slow because of 1" toe in, bent frame, etc. She was not there when we looked the car over, and we didn't have keys. So without opening the hood or driving the truck, we made a list of the problems we could see, and enteredt them into the shop estimating computer program. at $55avg/hr labor, the machine spit out a $4000 estimate
3.5 HRS frame pull
new hood and fiberglass grille surround
remove repair and paint 2 fenders, cowl panel, radiator support
replace some tie rods, a ball joint, steering links, alignment
new bumper & grill

We got the hood open and found a few more things, then got the adjuster there.
He wrote a $4200 check after subtracting her $500 deductible from the new total.
Since she is my friend, I am doing the suspension work for less than the shop it would have been subbed out to, and not marking up my parts cost. We will repair the hood, and work in a cost effective way. This leaves enough money to cover her deductible and repair a pre-existing ding in the back of the bed, paint the tailgate, one bedside, and the entire front. The truck will look much better than before. We arent cutting any corners with reliability or driveability
Amazing the difference between $1600 and $4700 isn't it!

If at all possible have several knowlegable people and or shop(S) look over both your estimate and your car. Take notes, and keep on the insurance company untill you have great justice. IF you give up, you almost always loose.
Sometimes the haggling goes real smooth, sometimes it take weeks and lawyers and all that. Make it real obvious from the start that you know that you are entitled to a car that is just as good as it was before the accident. You should get additional compensation if it had never been in an accident, as it will affect your resale value no matter how well it is fixed. pay special attention to the door positioning and door pillar.

keep you copy of the police report with you when dealig withe their agent, it gives you a very good position.

As to what this will cost...I would guess estimates from $3-5 thousand depending who does what. If a paint job was in your plans, pay the difference to do the whole car, the shop will likely make it easy on you.
For reference, the P.O. of my wagon got the same ding in the back minus the upper gouge, and the tiniest dent in the front fender flare...blind driver pulling out of their driveway into the side of a passing car... the estimate was $1700, about what he had paid for the car. He took the money and did no repair.

If that happened to my car, I would give serious thought to asking that they total the car. Despite what some people say it realy just means you have to pay for a brake and lamp inspection and your resale value goes down. I would hope that you like to keep your car so it would pass a brake inspection anyway. Anyway, you have dibs on buying back your totaled car. they have a special formula for determining its wrecked value, and it should be between 3 and 5 hundred. The amount they pay to total a car is negotiable, don't take the first offer. Now you would have a $400 car that needs $200 or $300 in parts at Pick n Pull, a day or two of straightening wht you can, and another dayor two of assembly. A body shop will do just the heavy pulling if you want to. I think if it were my car I could have it roadworthy and presentable with a few days work, and still have a few thousand dollars left to play with. Not to say that you shouldn't take it if the insurance gives you a nice offer. What you do should be guided by your current needs, lifestyle and situation, there is no 'right' path here.

I am sorry to hear about your loss, and hope I may have shed some light on the insurance issue.

Well, I got a call from the insurance and they say that their appraiser looked only at the body damage first (I wasn't home) and came up with a repair estimate of $4000. This did not include the worked needed on the steering and whatever else broke under the hood. So I think I have to scrap the car but I found an 88 740 turbo for a great deal so I think I'm going to buy the new one and scrap my beloved car. It's a bummer but I don't have time to haggle too much and then wait for repair.

Ask how much difference if you keep it. 'cause if it's anything like my guess, which would be a few hundred, I'll take it off your hands, cash paid as soon as your side is cleared.

-- Kane ... the SoCal nutcase who has NOT bought another Volvo this year. :)
--
Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40

If you do buy it back from them, the engine alone is worth more than they will charge you, plus it has spare everything for your next car...window motors, little plastic interior bits, any upgrades you may have done...
Or if somone wanted to fix it in to a decent commuter car, it would not be too hard if they have time and space. My friend just bought back his pretty nice MBZ 300TD for $163...he had a buyer who had agerred to pay him $3000 just before the accident. It's good to hear the powers that be have moved quickly in your case.

Bummer!!!!!

My 89 760 was rear-ended by a Drunk in a Fullsize Pick-up. Insurance totaled the car $3900 damage, booked at $4500. I still drive it about 4000 miles a month no problems the best $300 car a man could ask for. A friend said for $1800 he will do the repairs just no paint. Only damage was left rear 1/4 panel, trunk and the light assembly.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

There are before and after pics on my website. The crash is on the last page. http://www.sounddomain.com/id/ladeadhead The crash is on page 7.

that doesn't look THAT bad. it's all body damage. did she stop? i'm having some trouble picturing how that damage resulted from her pulling out in front of you. usually when someone pulls out in front of another person, a T-bone results, but that's obviously not the case.

i have no idea if your car would be totalled for that, but if i had to GUESS i would say no. why isn't her insurance covering all that?
--
Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

What happened in the accident was that I was driving straight down the street and the lady pulled in front of me without looking. I swerved to avoid a t-bone and the result was me hitting her car up by the engine. The officer said that it was her fault because I had the right of way and she pulled in front of me. I don't know totally how the insurance deal works, as I have never had to deal with it before. Do they automatically cover all of it even it the damage is more than buying a new car would cost?

I feel your pain. Hopefully my accident story may shed a little light on the insurance question.

A few months back I got rear ended while driving my '92 Mazda 626. Fortunately, I was hit by a Geo and the damage didn't look too bad and the trunk and doors still worked (though tight). The estimates came in at $1800 and since it was clearly his fault, it was his insurance company's responsibility to pay. They wanted to total it and give me $1640. Since it was still very driveable I asked what they would give me if I kept it. They first said $1000, but when I questioned it, they immediately offered $1200 (supposedly book value minus scrap value). So I took the $1200, sold the car for what I had paid for it a year before ($1800) with buyer fully aware of the damage. Then took my $3000 and bought a '91 740 wagon with 183k mi AND an '89 240 with 132K mi (and some issues). So it works out well sometimes.

The bottom line, is that if the car is "totalled" the insurance company would rather not deal with scrapping it and you shouldn't be afraid to negotiate with them on it after the adjuster has had a look at it. Also, if you can document any recent work done to improve the car, that may increase it's value so show the adjuster that. Even if you don't want to deal with fixing it up (but bless you, it sure sounds like you do because you love it), it may be worth more in the end to you to take a settlement and sell the car damaged.

The best of luck, Andy, St. Paul, MN.

TALK TO YOUR INSURANCE FIRST AND LET THEM KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! Make your stake in the situation first!

Her insurance needs to cover it - it was her fault. Contact them next to have an adjuster come out. Get a copy of the police report too.

Keep an attorney's number on hand. Threaten to use it on 'em if they don't budge.

Refer to my other post on tips ...

-- Kane
--
Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40

Well, depending on what insurance you have, the coverage is different. If you have liability only, your insurance will cover none of it. You are supposed to call up HER insurance company, and file a claim against her. They send an adjuster out to estimate damage repair and all that, and you proceed from there.

If you have full coverage, your insurance company will cover it.

I believe that's how it works.
--
Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

If she pulled out, shouldn't she pay for it?! If she ran, file a hit-and-run and claim on your uninsured motorist. Although if you have to ask insurance, they would prolly total it. Negotiate ... they like to get out of it with less paperwork too, so offer that it can be done for less and be willing to accept used parts for the repair. FWIW, a scratch/dent about the size of a grapefruit + scratching of the trim strip when someone backed into the side of my mom's car ran a bill of $925.

Was the first hit a glancing blow on the corner, or just along the side? If it hit the corner hard, that could skew the front end frame. Check under the hood ... is the strut tower bent in any way?

The front fender and both doors are bolt-on replacements. The rear-quarter panel will either be replaced with a new section or the split rewelded and smoothed.

-- Kane
--
Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40

from the sound of the damage, I imagine that the insurance company will probably total your car -- if I were in your shoes, I'd check with salvage yards to get the body pieces and go from there..... I feel your pain. good luck.