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He has Allstate and I have USAA (father is retired Navy). They're still determining damage to my car, if it's totaled then I don't care what goes on behind the scenes once I get my check. However if they're serious about fixing this thing- I'm gonna have to go after his insurance for diminished value... I'm sure that'll take months.
Hope you get your desired outcome. This sort of thing gives me mixed feelings. I try to be an ethical person, but when other parties start acting badly, I am tempted to feel twinges of neck pain and PTSD.
A similar accident happened to me on I-95 with the wife and three kids in the (other) car. We were in the Camry's position from your accident. We have USAA. They took care of everything, and we never had to deal with the other person's insurance at all. When the police declared we were not at fault I got my deductible back. Sucks to lose a great car but they will make you financially whole.
If they fix it and dimunition of value becomes an issue please post. I have gone through that two times and it worked out really well for me as I got an appraiser involved. Not as difficult as some make it out to be.
I'm telling you man, I am going through this now. The insurance company will try to screw you every which way they can. When I finally get my check for my total I'll update my other thread I started over a month ago, yes it has been almost six weeks to get my money owed to me for my car, they took away the rental car more than 2 weeks ago. I don't mean to sound callous, but I have little sympathy for how old someone is, if he is scared, etc. you plow into the back of someone for whatever reason you better man up. I finally got smart and lawyered up on the injury side of things, but I can tell you on the property side they tried to give me 50% less of what I eventually got fighting with them. The police report will obviously be the thing that proves he is at fault (took 10 days in my state to get and I had to pay for it lol). If he wants to play games after slamming into people maybe you should have a good lawyer reach out to him and see how he likes that better than not talking to his insurance company and admitting what he did.
This is why I carry a $1M Umbrella insurance policy for a multitude of situations you may find yourself in. When on the hook for a lot of money insurance company's lawyers get a lot more interested. And the premium is little more than pocket change.
He has Allstate and I have USAA (father is retired Navy). They're still determining damage to my car, if it's totaled then I don't care what goes on behind the scenes once I get my check. However if they're serious about fixing this thing- I'm gonna have to go after his insurance for diminished value... I'm sure that'll take months.
There's a thread on RL somewhere (I suspect Lex can find it with his Googlefoo magic) where a guy takes what looks like a minor rear bumper impact hit, but the hit struck the inner frame just right which caused the connection at the main frame to bend. The car was severely messed up as a result (I think it was eventually totaled?) though looking at it you could only see a single dent/crease and matching hole on the rear bumper.
Bottom line - read this thread and if they try to repair your car have them break it down like they did in the thread to see how the frames line up. Looking at your damage versus the picture in the thread I am referring to I would think totalling your car would be a no brainer.
So sorry this happened but try to look on the bright side- you're basically OK and they're going to pull his license. If you have USAA you're going to be well taken care of and they'll deal with Mr. Allstate. But take advice to see doc!!
I asked the adjustor for a picture of the rear with the bumper off.. really doesn't look too severe. I looked at Lex's link, and the frame on that car (barcode metal bar) is far less damaged than mine, but I don't know if they'll still try to fix it. I'm worried I might be SOL on this, probably will be stuck getting repaired and chasing this guy for diminished value. I'm not a mechanic by any means, so I guess we'll see once they pull the motor.
Sorry for your car but glad you are OK. Yeah those photos do not look that bad, but even if they fix it you are screwed on car value. Good luck with whatever follows. Hope is all works out well for you. USAA is a great insurance company so that helps.
If they don't total it then you'll get screwed on the trade... nobody will want that car. Get a professional to appraise it and fight for the depreciated/diminished value.
Like I said, to me it really doesn't matter either way. If it were my car I would be shopping for a new one. If they total it, that's my down. If they fix it I would trade it in for my down. No matter what, I'd be getting a new car at the end of this. I'd also try to go after his insurance for diminished value and I am guessing from experience that will take a long time. You are probably correct in that I would get much less for a trade, I would use those numbers to prove my case of diminished value.
We have all been around long enough to know that sometimes in life you get some bad luck and things don't go your way. This might be one of those times. They might fix it, he might not get diminished value. Bummer. But again if it were me, I would STILL be shopping for a new car. Even if my budget dictated I get another 2013CS that hadn't been in an accident.
All I'll say is that mine didn't look too bad at first, either. And then the repair estimates kept going up until they finally totaled it.
Originally Posted by mwjackson92
I asked the adjustor for a picture of the rear with the bumper off.. really doesn't look too severe. I looked at Lex's link, and the frame on that car (barcode metal bar) is far less damaged than mine, but I don't know if they'll still try to fix it. I'm worried I might be SOL on this, probably will be stuck getting repaired and chasing this guy for diminished value. I'm not a mechanic by any means, so I guess we'll see once they pull the motor.
If that's the result of a 50 mph hit, I'm super impressed with the structural integrity of the 991 and its bonded frame. You are safe, which is the most important part. That car needs a new crate engine (won't be repairable) - $30K, New transmission - $20K, frame repair, $10-$15K (if it can be done at all), and likely new wiring harness. $10K? I'd say its most likely totaled.
Accidents can look gnarly but not have caused too much damage, or they can look modest but cause a lot of damage. You never know until you dig in. I suspect your car suffered a pretty good deal of damage.
He has Allstate and I have USAA (father is retired Navy). They're still determining damage to my car, if it's totaled then I don't care what goes on behind the scenes once I get my check. However if they're serious about fixing this thing- I'm gonna have to go after his insurance for diminished value... I'm sure that'll take months.
I went through this with USAA and an uninsured motorist on an old car. They were great and will front diminished value. Don’t have to wait for defendant insurance to comply. YMMV
12-28-2017, 08:20 PM
