Hello All:

This afternoon around 40 minutes from home I hit a patch of black ice on the highway, lost control, crossed the opposing lane of traffic, went through a ditch and hit a tree in a farmer's field. Wife, daughter and I are fine-- the Volvo isn't doing as well.

My first impression following the collision is that I will buy another one! The Volvo is a bit of a mess now, but I shudder to think what would have happened in some economy car-- I might not be writing to you now!

Before that happens, I have my insurance company (State Farm here in Canada) to deal with. The car has obvious damage to the:

1) front bumper
2) bumper cover
3) spoiler assembly
4) grille
5) hood
6) passenger side fender
7) passenger side marker light
8) passenger side light assembly
9) 3 strips of chrome bumper trim
10) radiator (snapped intake hose fitting off)
11) trim under passenger side light assembly

Other probables are the radiator support assembly and the AC system (it is R12 and now R12 is illegal to refill in Ontario). It doubtlessly needs an alignment at the very least, possibly front suspension components too. The car still runs-- we sat in it with the heat turned up until the Ontario Provincial Police and a tow truck showed up!

I am fully insured (collision, comprehensive, the works), but here is the problem-- the car has 171K mi (~300K km) and isn't astoundingly attractive on the outside-- it has the typical peeling clearcoat from the late '80s, some dings here and there. The interior is also not gorgeous-- somewhat scabby tan leather and some UV damage to the plastic bits (it was in Florida when I got it).

I suspect when they do the math on the parts it needs, they will write it off. I am open to any and all tips on how to get the best settlement out of them-- I guess I have to be open to either repairs with used parts or a write-off. I will hit the archives later to look for ideas-- I know we have an adjuster or two around the Volvo community (here or swedishbricks, I don't remember)...

Please let me know if you have any good ideas about how to handle this! The fun starts at 9 AM tomorrow when I talk to my local agent...

Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '89 760GLE w/171K mi