So my step brothers maxima was involved in a minor collision, unfortunately the airbags deployed. Noone was hurt, physically, but when the adjuster said it would be a total loss it took its toll on him. ne ways here are some pics

 

NOOOOO!!!! Don't post pics like this! It's painful... and SEXIMAMA? haha ... hahaha wow...

 

that sucks that doesnt look too much to fix just sell it to the insurance and then buy it back and fix it little by little...

 

**** id drive it like that

 

thats what he's hoping to do, hes waiting on the total loss claims adjuster to call him back with an offer to buy it back. Ill keep posted on what they offer. I can say as of this morning they quoted 7500 worth of damage, which i think is a little steep (granted they're using retail airbag prices) but I had a buddy come out who works for toyota and he estimated around 4500.

 

wow


i wonder what the buyback price will be? like 1000? or 5000?

 

Fixed

 

I'd say buyback would be 1500-2000 at the most. My cousin bought back a couple grand prix's he wrecked that i bought from him and the buyback was 1200 on each of them. 2006 supercharged 3800 w/ 50k miles. Def buy it back. I'll drive down and pick up the motor!

 

The adjuster saw "SEXIMAMA" and purposely totaled the car so that other people would never see that cheesy nameplate again.

 

tell him to buy it back from the insurance and fix it. that's very minor damage there. that is, unless of course they're gonna give him a fair bit of money for it, haha.

btw: sorry i never got back to you man. i did get the trans in and it's runnin great!

 

well that may be a plausible story but considering the sig "seximama" is on a uhh, BLUE car ???, and the wrecked one was grey... and if it makes you all feel better the emblems were resting on the car, as there is limited to no chance i would disgrace my car with that ****... i thought it would serve as some humor

 

MightyMax95: btw: sorry i never got back to you man. i did get the trans in and it's runnin great!

Glad to hear, hows it run? gotta love the stick coming from an auto. Feel free to send me some pics of the torn down tranny.

 

Part it out on here. You'll make your money back pretty quickly. If you don't have the patience fix and sell the car as a whole. Keep the pics because you can explain how it REALLY wasn't in that bad of a hit when people ask about the title. Gl man.
On the bright side, when this happens and no one gets hurt, You get a nice $$

 

really? how the hell is that a lost' ive seen cars a whole lot worst than that at auctions and they sure are selling for big bucks.

 

If the damage exceeds 80% of the cars value they "total" it. you can buy it back and fix it, the only change would be that it would have a "salvage" title basically stating it was once wrecked beyond 80% of its value at the time of the wreck. if it werent for the airbags going off (retail $1400 for both) it may have fallen below the 80% threshold.

 

I'd drive that ***** w/o airbags. Wanna sell to me? haha

 

ide check w/ the dmv to find out what you've gotta do to get a salvage title into a rebuilt title. in CT its a p.i.t.a

 

+1 that dont look like it would be too much work from the pics at least, and the buy back is a excellent idea

 

i would love to buy that and fix it up if i had the money


i wouldn't give up on that car just yet

 

Ook so it was the airbags that ruined everything smh

 

Always cringe seeing cars like that....it is just not right.

 

Sorry no news yet, i was kind of excited about hearing what the insurance co said. ill post as soon as i know what they offer.

pretty much they ramped up the damage by almost 50%, the front end damage say ~$4000. The airbags themselves and having the trip reset on the computer and the srs airbag sensor that did trip replaced would be at least around $2000 more putting it at the 80% of market value to be totaled.

mandyfig: Always cringe seeing cars like that....it is just not right.

it kills me to see it taken off the road. im sure shell be a donor, right now were wondering the same thing as SurraTT:
"i wonder what the buyback price will be? like 1000? or 5000?"

 

I'd be real careful about taking the total on it then buying it back. The temptation will be to fix it as cheaply as possible and cheap body work, radiator support straightening, etc can really screw things up badly. Misaligned panels, cheap paint, improper prep, tape lines everywhere, overspray, runs, sags, fisheyes, excessive orange peel, etc.

Pull any aftermarket goodies off the car and look for a low mileage 6 speed car.

 

damage is not bad at all.
airbags are expensive of course but 7k of an estimate is extremely high. say the least if your headlights were broken thatd be almost 2500+ "dealer" price right there.

definately buy it back, shouldnt be too much $. i have bought from insurance before after a theft recovery. make a killing parting the bish out after

 

fyi, salvaged vehicles are worth much less than non salvaged vehicles (like 50% in some cases). Also they are more difficult to insure and should something happen to the car the insurance company wont pay you the full value of a non-salvaged title car.

Lastly, when doing estimates, the body shop must conform to the insurance company's guidelines. The body shop knows much better than to quote $2500 for headlights and $1400 for airbags if they can be had cheaply, legally and within the insurance company's guidelines from elsewhere.

Make sure you know what you are getting into if you wish to rebuild the car.

 

different insurances may have different guidelines.
however i am speaking from experience.
i have bought two cars of mine back from insurance after issues like this.
i got 60% premium to what it had kbb at. because my insurance doesnt use kbb to assess value of a vehicle. its mitchells that they use which is more of a formula calculation.
we know the dealer cost on headlights is high, they will seek to find replacements from third parties if possible.
either way. handle it and you will make out.

 

ok so the insurance got back to him and offered him 5600 and said he could buy it back for 1900, leaving him around 3700 to get it fixed or we could part it out and hopefully make the 1900 back. Hes thinking about it now, hes also looking at other maximas if that offers any foreshadowing to the fate of this car. The insurance said he had the weekend to think about it so hes weighing his options now.

 

that seems fair


if he has the time, and know how a part out could give him extra money for a new ride.


or he could fix it and have $ left over for mods or something




i really dont know what i would do if i was in the same situation.

 

wohoo i was right on the price! I'd say buy it back depending on mileage. If all else fails you part out the engine and trans for 1k and would probably make a few bucks on it. parting out is a pain in the *** to do so keep that in mind. If it were me i'd fix it

 

Like Scottwax said- Be very careful when buying back a total loss. Something else to consider.

Some state laws require the insurance company to report deployed air bags. Since it's marked a total loss, this will follow the VIN # forever. With that said it will be a red flag for any Car Fax report in the future. You will have a hard time selling the car.

On top of that, your now stuck with a salvaged vehicle. In the case of future claims the vehicle's value will be 50% of full value. A totaled car is worth less money overall due to it's history.

Keep in mind it's the repair shops best interest to fix cars, not total them. Therefore they are going to bid the most cost-effective parts. So used or aftermarket headlamps are just one option in their evaluation process.

Let the car go, find a good replacement vehicle. Your going to regret it later down the road. You will be paying full insurance premiums, but expect your vehicle to be worth 50% of full blown value (AVC) Actual Cash Value.

The AVC is what the insurance company will use to determine the offer on your claim. You might want to research this before accepting an offer.

Good luck.

 

get rid of it
buying it back and fixing it would be penny wise but dollar foolish

 

Agreed. No way can that car be fixed right for $3700...unless paint mismatch like this is acceptable. This is what it looks like when you get cheap.

 

I could easily fix it for 3700. and it would be done right. I bet i could do it for under 2k

Seriously though if he's not wanting to buy it back hit me up and i'll buy it from him if the mileage and options are right.

 

That doesn't look too bad to me :P

 

You cant see the horrible orange peel ? and diff shades and the half *** tint spray on the fender

 

I'm pretty sure he was joking.. Whoever sprayed that just plain can NOT spray. It looks like it could have been done with a rattle can. I know that's a hard color to match but anyone who paints and has access to the right equipment could have made that look 100x better. Not to mention actually spraying the clear on wet. I know i could have. Rebuilders have been given a bad name by people that do this exact thing right here.

On the original car it looks like all it would need painted is a hood and bumper and blend the fenders. You wouldn't be able to tell a difference and you'd have a brand new front end.

 

Srrry to hear man, glad all everybody is fine...

 

R.I.P. to the Max!! Sorrry for the lost!!

 

Ouch, that's pretty bad, definitely looks like cheap work.
He decided hes going to take the check and try and find a new one. He's currently looking at a white 02 a little ways south. It has 140k miles but it has only had one owner.

 

If I was the owner of that TL I would be pissed, even if I thought I got a good deal.......