Good advise.
I wasn't planning to change occupation to a body man but I could fix my car
to my satisfaction for much less than the $4500 estimate. And if the
insurance wanted to I could drop the full coverage. I just think the
insurance should pay the maximum they are willing to pay without considering
it a total loss.
I'm not sure about now but used to you could get your insurance money and
choose to get the car fixed or not. If I would be satisfied with less money
than the estimate I don't see why they can't go with that. Other than that
I'm not going to settle with them claiming I can replace the car for
significantly less than I actually can. I think the only claims I have had
in the last 25+ years is 2 deer accidents.
RogerN
"Wild_Bill" wrote in message
...
I doubt that the insurance company would be willing to have an individual
repair their own car.
They might feel that there would be more risk involved if an owner did the
repair, rather than an actual repair shop.
I've encountered situtions (similar offers to do repairs at less cost),
and the insurance companies weren't interested.
They probably also consider that they could end up insuring the vehicle
for more than it's actual value.
Keep your electrical job, body shops aren't healthy places, and no matter
how careful you might be, others in the body shop may have some downright
dangerous work habits (yeah, same for electrical work).
--
WB
.........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html
"RogerN" wrote in message
m...
I want to keep the vehicle but the insurance company is telling me that I
have to either turn it over to them for salvage or withdraw the claim.
Can I offer to fix the car myself for less money? If I could replace the
door, hood, headlight, fender, and windshield, shoot a coat of paint, I'd
be good (enough) to go for maybe $2500 or so. Although I don't make a
living as a body man I could do the job to my satisfaction. I'm fully
equiped and experienced to weld MIG, TIG and Oxy/Acetylene and have
general machinist skills plus composite experience. I have a week left
of vacation this year and If I got the parts together I think I could do
the job in that amount of time. If I wanted to I could probably be a
body man but I make a living being an industrial electrician.
RogerN
"Wild_Bill" wrote in message
...
It's customary for insurance companies to take the position that they
somehow own a customer's car/vehicle when required collision repairs
exceed the value of the vehicle. They don't, but it's a game that they
like to play.
If a vehicle is being financed, that's a different situation, but when
an individual owns a vehicle, it's their property, although the terms of
the insurance contract may have an agreement of transfer.
Most insurance companies probably have a network of buyers of crashed
vehicles, so it's likely that they'll know that they can get a higher
value than scrap weight for a wreck.
Some companies have been found out to have sold seriously damaged,
unsafe for reconstruction vehicles to rebuilders, which have been put
back on the roads, somehow bypassing the salvage titles and any safety
evaluation.
If you're certain that there is no structural damage, you'd probably be
better off keeping your vehicle, if you have the time to repair it.
Otherwise, you might condsider advertising it for sale as-is for parts.
If you repair it, and it has a salvaged/reconstructed title, it won't
have a great resale value, so you should plan on owning it until it
wears out.
--
WB
.........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html
"RogerN" wrote in message
m...
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