Depending where you live, you should be able to buy back the title from
the IC for a % of the loss value.
JR
Dweller in the cellar
RogerN wrote:
I hit, or got hit by, a deer a few weeks ago. The deer damaged a lot of
parts of the car but it didn't hurt the driving or operation at all as far
as transportation goes. With the amount of body damage and age & mileage of
the car, the insurance company has declared it a total loss. They said that
my only options are to sign the title over to them and they would give me
their value of the car or I could withdraw the claim.
I asked about keeping the car and fixing it up good enough for a work car
because it was still serving that purpose right now. They said in Illinois
it had to go through the salvage process. I looked it up and that is giving
it a salvage title and then fixing it, having to go through safety testing
(Fee$), and having it re-titled (Fee$) before it would be able to be
licensed. The part I don't agree with is that it doesn't have to be
considered unsafe to be considered salvage. A person could have a hail
storm that could require body work and paint and the car could be declared a
total loss depending on the value of the car. Should a car be considered
salvage for cosmetic reasons? Evidently Illinois (Ill Annoy) thinks so. If
your car is cheap enough and the repair shop is high enough, you can total a
car by merely scratching it.
Anyway, the car is a 2001 Chevy Prizm, equivalent to a Toyota Corolla with a
different name. It has 139,000 miles but runs great and doesn't require oil
between changes. BTW, I also have a 97 Prizm with over 200,000 miles and it
still runs/drives great, I expect the similar from the 2001. The insurance
company is wanting to give me $3000 for the car. I put $458 in tires on it
4000 miles ago in August, a new AC Compressor $615 last march, and a new
battery a couple of months ago. Before the deer the car was excellent for
the number of miles except the interior could use cleaning (it's a work car
and I work in a dirty plant). The cheapest I have found an equivalent car
is $3995 and I doubt it has as good of tires or as new of an AC Compressor.
I think I'm going to ask the insurance company to buy me an equivalent car
for $3000 since they think it can be replaced for that and I can't find a
2001 Prizm or Corolla (in excellent condition minus dirty) for that price
range.
RogerN
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