Salvaged Tilte and Insurance Help!!

First of all my X is a 97’ Sport with 97000 miles on it.

Here is the situation. My sixteen year old daughter rolled my X a couple of weeks ago. It doesn’t look to bad, just some dents in the right front fender, the door needs to be replaced and I need to buy new windows for the right side. All in all its not to bad, I just put some plexi glass in and taped it up. I still drive it around and if you see it from the driver’s side it looks like new still. I do plan on fixing it back up. I have full coverage insurance with a $500.00 deductible and my daughter is on my insurance policy.

But here's the problem.

I got the estimate for repairs and its $9387.00. I still owe $8139.10 on the car loan. Geico told me that if the cost of repair is 75% or more of the total value of the vehicle it is considered totaled. I am not sure how they come up with that value but I checked the Kelly Bluebook and it is $9615.00. Out of that price they will pay the bank first and give me what ever is left over. After that if I want to keep the car with a salvaged title I have to put in a bid and other people in the area can bid on it as well. If someone else bids higher then me, then Geico will sell it to them. So when all is said and done I might only get a couple of hundred dollars and no car? This sucks! Does anyone have any insight on car insurance that might help me keep my car? It just doesn’t seem fare that if I want to keep my own car I have to pay them.

Any comments or insight into the situation would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RAZOR]

My daughter totaled the family car years ago. The insurance co. said the car was worth X amount of dollars . I said no way! I submitted bills for work done since I bought the car new which was quite a few years ago. In the end I received a few hundred dollars more than they originally offered. When I asked about buying it back they gave me a fixed price. I bought it and repaired it myself, pulling out the center pillar and replacing two doors. Don't let your insurance company screw you. And as far as GEICO goes they suck! They pulled out of New Jersey because they had to pay claims fairly.

 

[93xltnewb]

i was in a car accident as well... i get goose bumps just talking about it...

just so u know u should submit copies and proofs of ur mods to ur car the new tires and so forth they should compensate u for that.. also u will be contacted by a snake called adjuster... u will need to learn quickly to say NO and bargain at same time!
they will low ball u as much as they can.

u will still loose at the end because we all do
just try to do damage control and get as much as u can.

i hope ur daughter is fine.. and not traumatized of driving, coz i know i was thats is why i ended up buying an X..

good luck

 

[N7XME]

I had a car totalled a couple years ago and went through the same deal with the insurance company. They paid the finance company the remaining loan amount and took the car. It was totalled beyond rebuilding. I was left without a car, but didn't owe anything on it. I found out a couple weeks later from my lawyer that the law(at least here) says that the insurance company pays me the amount and I pay the finance company and keep the car. I was pissed when I found that out cause I could have sold the engine parts and some of the other pieces for more money and then sold the rest to the scrap yard. Check your insurance paperwork and maybe consult a lawyer that deals in this area. By the way, I found out that the Focus can hold up to a 50 mile an hour rearend accident and neither of my 2 boys or my wife were injured beyond a couple bruises. Check your insurance paperwork closely and consult a lawyer if you feel you are being screwed around with. Good Luck.

 

[Mbrooks420]

It just doesn?t seem fare that if I want to keep my own car I have to pay them.

But it's not your car. It's the banks. So the bank gets the ins. money. Insurance doesn't fix your car, neccesarily. they do the cheapest thing, sometimes fix, sometimes buy off. By the ins. company buying off the loan, they now own it. If you want it you need to buy it back, because they can sell it to a scrap yard and make some $$$. I doubt you will get any satisfaction from Geico, since they are far from the best company out there. If you wanted all your mods to be reimbersable you should have gotten aftermarket parts coverage. They basically give you the NADA value, adjusting only for mileage, and FACTORY options. It sux, but thats how it goes.

 

[anothergoatherd]

Well Geico call and said, after reviewing the market in your area we have determined that your Explorer is worth $7660.

So I asked them what area they had checked in, and they told me they used Anchorage, AK as there market. Now for those of you who don’t have a map Anchorage, AK is 365 miles from Dillingham, AK. That’s like saying we checked Portland, OR to see what a car in Seattle is worth. And not only that, they didn’t take into consideration that I had to ship the car to DLG. A cost of $2000.00.

After that I called and asked how they come about getting a market value. They said they contact local car dealer and other automotive ads to see how much they are selling for in the area. So then I asked if they would send me some documentation showing me where they found those prices.

No word back on which dealers had an Explorer Sport for that price or which newspaper or other publication they found their prices in. So I decided to look around for myself. All the car dealers in Anchorage that had Explorers of this kind where selling them for $11,000 to $17,000. So I did an internet search to see what I could find nation wide. Auto Trader.com came up with 500 - 97’ Explorers. Average cost $11,050.00. So I tried Cars.com they came up with 30 - 97’ Explorer Sports with 90,000 miles on them. Average cost $9675.00. Then I tried Kelly Blue Book. A 97’ Explorer Sport with 90,000 miles on it was $9615.00. None of these is with the $2,000.00 in shipping.

So I told the Geico rep. That although he was representing Geico’s best interest, I didn’t have anyone representing my best interest and did he thing I should get a lawyer to present my side of the situation. His reply was that he can’t comment on that and couldn’t tell me one way or the other if he thought that was a good idea. Well Geico’s take on what the value for the car is and what everyone else’s value is, is thousands of dollars apart. So to me it looks like I had better get someone to help represent my findings and review Geico’s findings.

Anybody know where I can find an auto insurance lawyer?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Did you have the truck shipped when you bought it?

 

[anothergoatherd]

Yup! To ship it by barge was 2 grand. It would have been 4 grand to fly it in. So i opted to wait 2 weeks for them to bring it in by boat.

 

[Mbrooks420]

They aren't going to be liable to pay for shipping cost. All they are obligated to give you is "market value" for factory setup which totally sux.

 

[Robb]

Let me do a little research for you. At one point, my dad found an organization on the internet that helped with situations just like yours, for a small fee of course. Hopefully, he still has some info on it.............

 

[anothergoatherd]

Wouldn't you think the market value would reflect the cost of getting it to the market?????

 

[Mbrooks420]

Nope. There are cars you could have bought local.

 

[anothergoatherd]

Thats fuuny to hear you say:

"Nope. There are cars you could have bought local."

All though I have been to Erie PA, its blatantly obvious you have never been to Dillingham, AK. There are no car dealers in Dillingham and 99% of all vehicles that are shipped here never leave. They are driven until they die and not normally sold unless it’s for parts. And on top of that mine is the only Explorer Sport in this town. So no, it is not possible to buy one locally.

But on the bright side Geico called today and it seems they have seen things my way. They are going to include the shipping cost. So now they have offered to pay my loan off ($8100) let me have the car with a salvaged title (not sell me the car) and send me a check for $1475.00

All is good between Geico and I. It’s a far cry from the first offer they had for me but it all worked out in the end.

I would like to thank everyone who lent help or support in this matter.

 

[blaire576]

i pay $210 for monthly premium my lowest so far from years check see how geico,statefarm etc. current price


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[gijoecam]

Yet another reason I'll never deal with Geico.... That all sounds like their standard (and crappy) business practice.

Glad it was finally resolved. Unfortunately for us car nuts, the value we attribute to our vehicles is never the same number as what the insurance company will consider.

-Joe

 

[modette]

Yep, Insurance is crazy. You walk in and buy a $30K truck, get hit by a drunk driver, the truck is totalled after 3 months of owning it and the insurance that charged you a rate based on a $30K truck is now saying it was only worth $20K...LOL That is what happened to my mother. They like to try and claim GAP insurance...lol Which is not too legit, because if the insurance is charging on a $30K truck, then they owe you for a $30K truck...this is why assuming good record your rate goes down when the vehicle ages.

However TN has it where the insurance owes the differance between what the truck was worth after the wreck and what a new one cost...local dealer gave my mother $17K for it, and the new one that was now because of rebates cost them $3K more. So to establish the differance they bought another truck the same make and model with same options. They have a lawyer working on it, plus the medical part too. However not everyone can run out and buy a second truck to have proof of the loss they incured.

In the end my mother will win...the guy was drunk. Oh, he was out the next day on bail. Guy has lots of money, owns a business...not sure how much my mother is asking but she says it is fair (my parents don't believe in sueing)...they mainly want the truck taken care of and the medical bills. It is a very long process to get a fair amount.

It took my father 5-8 years in the 80's to get his full amount from a lady rear ending him...takes time dealing with insurance companies. They want to take, but never pay.

I dropped Progressive after they fixed my Explorer to a tune of $9K. They treated me pretty bad...and I am glad becaus eI moved over to AAA and my rate was a lot lower with better coverage and they did not care about the accident...they ran my credit score and gave me a quote. So far they seem good, and I like having an agent to talk to.

 

[jp450]

I put in a carbon fiber dash kit. 5 blacklights. 16 sound activated lights 36 flasking led's. A carbon fiber Ford emblem on the front. Black out headlight and taillight covers. A bug deflector. Rear air damn above the back window. Costum painted wiper arm to match the color of my X. Snake eye led washer sprayers on the hood. Matching break pedal, gas pedal and steering wheel cover.I just put BFG M/T on they were $960 landed in town and mounted. I put new Monroe Sense A Trac shocks. A four door leaf pack. $3800 in stereo equipment. And afew other thing that im probably missing. I have done stuff to my X every since I bought it. Alot of the ideas came from this site.

Now im sure there not going to pay me for what I think the car is worth. And what they think the car is worth will be way less then what its real value is.

I guess im just SOL. (Sh*# Out of Luck)

If you feel that the Ex is worth more then get an appraisal done by a reputable apprisar (sp?). That will establish a real value. Take the paperwork to your insurance agent and ask them to insure your car based on the appraisal. This may vary state to state and company to company. My family ownes an insurance agency and quite often we see vehicles underinsured. People often try to save money by skimping on the coverages but it winds up bitting them in the ass. Of course you may have to pay more for your physical damage coverage but if you feel that your Ex is worth more then protect it by insuring it properly.

Jeff