c4hybrid2007

Wow, were ti begin well just last week February 08, 2006 i got my first 4th gen a beautiful chameleon/teal Pontiac Formula. Got an awesome deal on it 2200 cashplus a 99 escort. Car was almost flawless. Put a trans cooler on and bought some pacesetters/ory for it. Well Saturday the 11th i got hit by a 93 yr old man who just decided to turn right in front of me going about 20mph. Pretty sure she is totalled and the estimated are coming out to around 5000(before an actually evaluation of the frame has been done). The adjusters and the policy are in process but Here are my questions?

For anyone that has been in an accident what kind of value will i be looking at for my car? The accident was not my fault so only having liability isnt a problem.

Has anyone thought they got really jipped on their estimated and what can i do to ensure this will not happen?

Does anyone think they will go ahead and fix the car. ( The damages include busted windsheild, new front bumper, new front panel,, the headlight assembly on impact side, wheel was bent, a-frame was f#$%ed, needs a whole suspension rebuild in front, both airbags deploid, and the drivers door was dented in all the way across but defenitely repairable. likei said a rough quote of 5gs already :-(

my black ss

iTrader: (7)

yeah man your probably going to be totaled a good rule of thumb is 60% of cars value if the estimate is that high your totalled also are you looking to sell the new headers and are they coated ARE THEY NEW pm me

c4hybrid2007

Wow i hope i get more then that. Because i need a chevy v-8 and fourth gen. Once i felt the power i cant go back to anything else :-)

black00TA

iTrader: (3)

so are you wanting to keep the car or have it totalled out??

if you want to keep talk to some body shops and have them work with you, they have many ways of doing things that can slim down an estimate with the work load being minimal.

or if u want it totalled that can also very easily be done, most reputable body shops have a lot of leverage in this area, which means they can estimate REAL high by including every little detail, which is the way they should do it.

c4hybrid2007

Probably gonna go with totalling it out. Gonna look at getting an ls1. The headers are already sold to my roommate sorry dude. If its totalled and they only give me 4k though i might be screwed.

JerseyLS1TA

iTrader: (2)

I would say if everything that you said is damaged then it is probably totalled. They go buy book value of the car in good condition, how many miles are on it and what year?

c4hybrid2007

The car was a 96 formula with 90100. Car was in excellent shape. Any estimates?

JerseyLS1TA

iTrader: (2)

At Kelley Blue Book they said in excellent cond.:
suggested retail value $7,620
trade in value $4,300
Private Party Value $5,915

c4hybrid2007

so if im the insurance. Granted hes found at fault then what value of that would i get? Estimated of course. Experienced people chime in. I miss my car :-( But i may be making the upgrade to the ls1 if things go well.

Lucas'02SS

iTrader: (4)

I know when my mom got hit, her car was worth around $40K, and the insurance company only gave her like $20K. She got screwed. Good luck though. I hope you get what she is worth.

c4hybrid2007

ouch thats not what i wanted to hear. Anyone with some real life incidents that occured that could give out what they got back for their f-body or something close. Not trying to be nosey just wondering what i can expect.

LS1Lust

Last year my 2000 Celica got totaled, some drunk lady hit me doing about 45 in a parking lot while I was stoped at a stop sign! (case is still being settled). If my memory is correct I think I got about $13,000 and change for her. I paid a little over that after tax, title, and lisence when I got her earlier that year.
According to the claim adjustor the interior and exterior were in better shape than what they should have been for a car with 68k. So in my case the guy was really fair and didn't try to scew me. It all came down to how well I took care of the car.

Good luck man,
Alex

c4hybrid2007

Yea this car was in excellent shap interior, and exterior. Adjuster came out this morning so we will see what happens next.

nhra-trans-am

iTrader: (103)

that's too bad, especially since you just got it

mramay

iTrader: (4)

I had a 1982 Mercedes 300D that got "volunteered" to be in the middle of a four-car accident a couple of years ago. What made the difference in insurance settlement was the appraisal of value that I got off a professional. Found the guy in the local SF yellow-pages and he went to the car. Took photos, did the research on-line, etc., to show that value was considerably higher than their insurance company "guess", put it all together in a bound book, and sent their insurance company and me a copy.

It didn't matter that I was the original owner of a 21 year old car, nor that I could show receipts of ALL the work I'd done on it. His opinion that "this is the cleanest Mercedes I've ever seen" was taken at much more value than mine. That appraisal cost me around $250 a couple of years ago and essentially doubled the money I was paid. Your mileage will vary but if you feel your car is worth much more, then get a professional opinion.

Mike