vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

Sorry, I don't know where to post this, because I thought it would never happen to me. BUT I SERIOUSLY NEED SOME ADVICE.

I believe my 1999 Z28 is about to be TOTALED, and I don't want to to loose everything I put into the aftermarket parts on the car.

What should I grab from the car, say to the cops and claims adjuster, or replace in order to not lose $15,000 in an accident were I wasn't even at fault? I have NO IDEA how to handle this situation.

Today, I was rear-ended by a girl on a busy street, leaving my car in shambles.

The police cited her, and there is no doubt she was at fault for the accident according to the cops.

I'd love to get the car fixed, by her insurance company, but I doubt the Blue book value is worth more then the damage.
The extra money I spent towards upgrading the car may be, but I don't think insurance claims account for that...
Do they?


1st of all I drive/drove a 1999 Camaro Z28 with, around, 110,000 miles.
T-Tops, Power Driver Seat, Power Windows, RS Body Kit (But I removed the lower portion and left the wing), CD Player, Leather Seats (now ruined), Pewter, Charcoal Interior. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL CAR, as you can see if my sig is still visible.

It has/had: (And I might be forgetting some things)

PERFORMANCE:
Pacesetter Coated Long-Tube Headers;
A Hooker Cat-back;
LS6 Intake;
SLP Lid;
FTRA;
Holley Powershot Air Filter;
Home Ported MAF and Throttle-Body;
Under-drive Pulley;
Performabuilt $2000 Transmission w/ a 3500 Torque Converter;
Aftermarket Transmission Cooler;
Strano Shocks and the Springs Strano Used to Sell Before he Designed his Own;
Just bought a BRAND NEW Battery 2 weeks ago;

LOOKS:
Chromed 19" TSW Volcano Wheels, that I bought for $2000 used, THESE ARE DISCONTINUED;
Lo-Profile tires;
Tinted Taillights,
Black Bullit Grille;
35% tint on the sides, 10% tint on the rear;
DragonZ's Z28 Badges;
Aftermarket headlights (The Angle-eye type with the 4 LEDs on the sides.);
All Interior Lights converted to Blue LEDs;

AUDIO:
Older Pioneer CD Player,
A 2CH High Pass Amplifier;
A 1CH mono Sub woofer amplifier;
2 Phoenix Gold? Mid-range speakers, crossovers, and tweeters;
8" RE Audio Sub (I think it cost me like $200);
Custom Sub-box, so I could still fit the T-Tops;
$100 worth of wire to hook all this up;

I don't know where any of these receipts are, but I'm sure I could get some of the copies.

WHAT I COULD SEE AS FAR AS DAMAGE:
The Rear Bumper was Ripped Clean Off the Car;
Driver Side Taillight was Hanging Out;
The Body Panels on both sides of the car Show Dents from the accident... SO I GUESS MY FRAMES BENT;
The Driver-side Wheels are all Scuffed up and Bent;
The Front One Appeared to Wobble as the tow truck pulled it away;
The Front Driver Side Fender and Front Bumper are Dented and the Paint is Damaged;
Fog-Light Is Busted;
Trunk Motor Doesn't Work;
Tears In Interior Leather from pieces flying around during the accident;
A Cigarette Burn from the Cigarette Being Knocked Out of My Hand;
My Passenger-Side Tailpipe was Pushed 2 Feet Further From the Rear of the Car then the Driver-Side Tailpipe;

I'M SURE THERE'S MORE, I WAS JUST TOO MUCH IN SHOCK TO NOTICE, and the cops kept telling me to stay away from my car because some of it was still in the middle of the street.


I have no pictures because my phone sucks and decided not to save any of the ones I took... I'll get some tomorrow.
It's not official, but I'M RELATIVELY CERTAIN THE CARS GONNA BE TOTALED.

And I'm just DEVASTATED because I was planning on holding onto my Z28 till I died... I was just gonna make it a track car once I graduated college and could afford 2 cars.


Story for those that are interested and I haven't bored to a different thread yet:
I was heading to a friend of mine's house, who lives on a busy street near Penn State. The speed limit on this road is around 45MPH, and my friend's driveway is about 5 ft. wide. So, I nearly have to come to a dead stop to turn into his driveway. I put my turn signal on well in advance, because I know how dangerous this turn is. I looked in my rear view mirror to see that the person who was about to hit me was at least a football field behind my car when I put my signal on. From this point on I did not check my rear-view mirror, assuming my break lights, turn signal, and the fact that I was coming to a stop would alert anyone behind me that I was about to turn, and they must slow down. I began to make the turn, and next thing I know, I've been launched onto my friend's lawn, twisted 90 degrees, and lost the rear-end of my Camaro. In the process I was launched up over a sidewalk, and then up over a 1ft tall wood divider with metal spikes in it, placed to separate the grass from the sidewalk.

The teenage girl in the car behind me must not have been paying attention to the road, because there were no skid-marks left anywhere by her car. Therefore, she had not even tried to slow down at all.

So, she hit me at the speed limit (45 MPH), or probably faster, while I was nearly at a standstill.

Thank god Everyone's OK, But I'm almost certain my Camaro is going to be totaled. I've put, including the $13k to take it off the lot, around $20k into this car. I don't know which price to use, but KBB says its worth around $4k now.

Sorry for the long winded post. But, as I'm sure you can understand I am very very very very very very very upset right now and I needed to blow off steam.

Also, I REALLY NEED ADVICE AS TO WHAT TO DO HERE TO NOT LOOSE ALL THE BLOOD SWEAT AND CASH I USED TO MAKE THIS CAR MY CAR.

Thanks in advance to anyone who took the time to read this,
And, somebody, please give me some good news.

vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

Well My Sig doesn't;t work anymore I guess, and I cant figure it out right now, so the photo bucket album in my sig has some pics of what my car used to look like.

bene

iTrader: (16)

Buy the car for what it's worth from the insurance. Get all the performance/cosmetic mods you can salvage, get a roller car and do the switcharoo.

vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for the advice. I really wish I understood this whole process better. What would something like that cost me on average?

vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

Apparently, the guy at the impound lot will let me take whatever I want outa the car now. I just dont know what I need to leave in the car so that I don't devalue the claim when my insurance compony looks at it. And unfortunatly all the stock parts are 250 miles away.

What should I take off or leave on the car to get the maximum from my insurence?


Also, if the accident damaged any of the aftermarket parts will the other driver be responsible for the cost of those, would I need to sue? Or would I just be out of luck and lose whatever was damaged?

I'm particular I love those wheels and I want them rechromed and like they werebefore the accident.

blk/slvr02ss

iTrader: (21)

U should have a Lawyer already to sue her insurance company so u get the money for your car and your pain & suffering it is what u deserve.U should be able to buy your car back from your insurance company and it will be worth it to u beacuse of all your aftermarket part.

performinnorman

iTrader: (7)

Every states laws are different. Where I live, if you are hit by another driver and they are at fault, they have to give you market value in order to replace you to whole. In other words, market value of the car plus the alterations to the automobile. It really helps if you can produce receipts or proof of the alterations.

IMHO: You should never get a lawyer involved until absolutely necessary. In other words, wait to see what you are offered and if that doesn't suit your needs, explain to the adjustor why. If they still don't oblige, then contact a lawyer. If you get one involved too soon, you may just lose the cost of the lawyer and screw yourself out of the cost of the fees.

In addition. They typically "total" a car when the cost to repair is above 70% or so of the market value. This number varies with insurance company. If they "total" the car, many times, you are given first right to buy it at salvage cost. Normally you come out way ahead but have to live with a "salvage" title.

castine917

state to state the laws vary. as such my questions may mean nothing. first question is about insurance on your part, did you insure any of your mods? do you have receipts or other documentation for your mods? lots of pictures of your car and photos will help. consulting a local lawyer on laws would likely be a good idea. good luck!

pancho toco loco

iTrader: (8)

Do yourself a favor and get that car out of the impound and put it somewhere safe. Yuor gonna have to fight to get the value of your car not the book value. Then if you want you can get pain management and sue her insurance company for all that legal pain and suffering crap

dhowdy

iTrader: (2)

That's exactly how it should be. You shouldn't have to come a dime out of pocket because someone else was a dumbass. Seeing these threads is depressing and always makes me worry about my cars (not modded, but super low mileage and it would be very difficult to find ones in as good of condition at this age).

Do you know if there is any online resource to explicitly read what the laws are regarding insurance from state to state? I haven't been in an accident yet, but I'd sure like to be prepared (or at least as much as I can be).

Also, I know in Maryland (and a few other states) there is something called a "diminished value claim" which essentially gives you the difference in market value that your car has lost because it has now been in an accident. I doubt it applies to totaled vehicles though since they are just paying it off essentially, but if it's not totaled then it's something to look into.

wisker27

I agree, seen this happen too many times where a vehicle as such ended up missing all the performance parts off of it while sitting in the salvage/impound lot, they claimed someone broke in and removed them, but in two circumstances i have seen the parts go onto someones car that worked there or ended up for sale on eBay and such.

02 silverbird

iTrader: (1)

bottom line is it's your car not the insurance company's. So what you do with it is up to you. But you may not get what the insurance company will pay you for your car being totaled. First it depends on the type of ins. you have (meaning PLPD, full coverage..etc). I would talk to your insurance person and find out if you keep the car what they would do as far as reimbursement. You might find out that you can keep the car and maybe even have some cash in your pocket as well.

Hope it works out for you man sucks about your ride.

Dennis@SpectacleSolutions

iTrader: (16)

See what they will sale the whole car back to you for.

Iwannagofaster

iTrader: (1)

This happened to my old cadillac, they totaled the car but it was just based on an estimate. They offered to pay around 4500 for my 95 deville with 170,000 miles which was actually a little above kbb. I ended up buying the car back for about $350 which they deducted from the 4500 so I fixed the car myself and had money left over. Hate to hear that man but good luck. Buy the car back ASAP

schram1124

buy it back!!!!thats what i would do !!!and get a lawyer

vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

I wish I could, but I'm 200 miles fr home at college and I live in an apartment with an outdoor parking lot. Plus the thongs not drivable. I can't think of a better place to put it

vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

No, I never insuredmy mods cause I didn't want the premiums to go up and didn't expect to hit someone. I'm hoping they'll be covered just because the other driver should be liable for all the damage they caused. But, I don't know if that's the vase in PA.

vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

I'm not sure if they will automatically total it. It's very damaged and it's a 11 year old car with over 100k Miles, so I think KBB put it around the 4k range. if it was a stock car. I'm just not sure what happens with all the extra things I put on the car, because I didn't add them to my insurance, which is FULL COVERAGE still.

I was planning on taking it off full coverage when i paid it off. But, I just paid it off 3 months ago, and never got around to that.

The hope is though, that my insurance should have nothing to do with this, and the insurance company and the girl at fault will be responsible for replacing EVERYTHING that was damaged. I just don't know if that's how it works. I'm gonna have to try to scramble up all the receipts from parts I bought 4 years ago.


What should I do about the parts I bought used and, therefore, have no receipt for?

vMaster0fPuppets

iTrader: (6)

Also, I cant really get all the performance parts off it now, because I don't have the tools up here at college or a ride to the impound lot.

FiredUpZ28

Part it out and buy another car. Especially if there is structural damage (which, being an F body, is pretty likely).