I was an adjuster for over 12 years so my advise is as a knowledgeable professional and not an internet know it all.
First, you can file a "diminished value" claim depending on your state. Do a google search on it and find out what your legal rights are in your state.
Secondly, if the damage to the vehicle reaches 75% of the value (the percentage also varies due to state) then its a total loss. If it does not reach that value, then its not a total loss. Frame damage means nothing these days. Shops spend tens of thousands of dollars on equipment to straighten frames correctly. The days of a bent frame automatically meaning a vehicle is totalled are long gone.
Thirdly, if you need any specific advise or answer to questions, feel free to PM me. Again, im a non biased individual with over a decade of experience in the field. I may not tell you what you want to hear, but I will tell you the truth and the facts.
Good luck.
P.S. IMO, trying to bribe the adjuster wouldnt be the smartest move. It can cost the adjuster his job, and cost both of you tons of legal trouble. Insurance fraud is no joke and Ins Cos spend lots of money on attorneys to make examples out of people.
__________________ 1990 Ford Mustang "7-up" convertible.
LS3 416 stroker build in progress. L92 Heads. Comp Cam. Lots and Lots of giggle juice.
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bump not bribing them. just explain to them then you buddy had a car with this kinda damage and it never drove the same afterwards and if it doesnt drive the same afterwards your gonna be pretty pissed.
__________________ 1998 Camaro Z28 and 2004 Yamaha R1... Both FAR from stock
Everyone wants the big power but noone wants to do the big work Car currently under the knife, TRT 67 Turbo, Fast 90/90, HPE Megadeath cam, Hooker 1 7/8 Headers, TSP ORY, 2 bar SD tune, 2002 VCM swap
Negative, there is frame damage. If you read the first post, the estimate is 6100, good job at just looking at pictures like a child.
That doesn't mean shit. We get cars in here all the time with mediocre damage like that without frame damage and they give us like $5000, that's why body shops love insurance jobs.
Have fun driving your rental while your car is being worked on.
__________________ They said a 16 year old kid couldn't restore a Trans Am... 325hp, 435rwtq.. Shouldn't have sold it. New car Red 99 WS6 catback, gears, intake and 12 bolt.
Last edited by retardedpenguin; 07-12-2009 at 05:52 PM..
That doesn't mean shit. We get cars in here all the time with mediocre damage like that without frame damage and they give us like $5000, that's why body shops love insurance jobs.
Have fun driving your rental while your car is being worked on.
Let me guess, you sweep up the bondo dust in the shop? Have fun driving your piece of shit Trans Am. I know the body shop wants the job, its easy money.
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In all seriousness that car isn't worth more that $10k, I don't see why it shouldn't be totaled. Maybe you will get lucky and the body shop will refuse to work on it, we've done it before.
__________________ They said a 16 year old kid couldn't restore a Trans Am... 325hp, 435rwtq.. Shouldn't have sold it. New car Red 99 WS6 catback, gears, intake and 12 bolt.
Dudes youre either an asshole or a stupid ass. Dont make a thread unless you want to hear peoples opinion.
In any case, good luck getting your car totaled out through USAA. They are not going to want to give that money up. But they do have the best insurance prices available for military personnel.
Dudes youre either an asshole or a stupid ass. Dont make a thread unless you want to hear peoples opinion.
In any case, good luck getting your car totaled out through USAA. They are not going to want to give that money up. But they do have the best insurance prices available for military personnel.
I know I'm an asshole, and to make a broad statement like he did is just retarded. I guess you Texans stick together and I already know the car is going to end up getting fixed.
My question is if they find supplemental damage and it surpasses the threshold are they going to stop repairing the car and just consider it a total loss? IMO that is just stupid to try and fix a car that is close to the threshold and then have it go over. You then have money wasted.
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Ebay Turbo Kit l Cam l Moser 9" l th400
Yeah, they will stop and total it, which I hope doesn't happen because you are an ass. Maybe if you would have specified there was frame damage in the first place we wouldn't be having this problem. Even if I do sweep bondo dust, I still know more about this than you do.
__________________ They said a 16 year old kid couldn't restore a Trans Am... 325hp, 435rwtq.. Shouldn't have sold it. New car Red 99 WS6 catback, gears, intake and 12 bolt.
Yeah, they will stop and total it, which I hope doesn't happen because you are an ass. Maybe if you would have specified there was frame damage in the first place we wouldn't be having this problem. Even if I do sweep bondo dust, I still know more about this than you do.
Damn, hit the nail on the head. You have to start somewhere. I don't need you to tell me I'm an ass, I know. But since you know more than me, by looking at the pictures with your mad expertise, you would notice the frame damage. The pillar that holds the door is twisted and mangled which goes downn to the rocker panel. No hard feelings though
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Ebay Turbo Kit l Cam l Moser 9" l th400
I meant around the engine compartment. Fixing a door pillar isn't all that hard.
Maybe you will get lucky and they will total it, it doesn't hurt to complain to the insurance company. Try a google search on the issue, I am sure you are not the first person to go through this.
Sorry I called you an ass. I really am trying to help you.
__________________ They said a 16 year old kid couldn't restore a Trans Am... 325hp, 435rwtq.. Shouldn't have sold it. New car Red 99 WS6 catback, gears, intake and 12 bolt.
I meant around the engine compartment. Fixing a door pillar isn't all that hard.
Maybe you will get lucky and they will total it, it doesn't hurt to complain to the insurance company. Try a google search on the issue, I am sure you are not the first person to go through this.
Sorry I called you an ass. I really am trying to help you.
Like is said, no hard feelings, you're not the first one. My wife tells me daily. My schedule sucks so I don't get to complain, by the time I'm off of work they are gone for the day and we aren't allowed to bring in cell phones.
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Ebay Turbo Kit l Cam l Moser 9" l th400
I'll trade you, working outside in Texas heat sucks
__________________ They said a 16 year old kid couldn't restore a Trans Am... 325hp, 435rwtq.. Shouldn't have sold it. New car Red 99 WS6 catback, gears, intake and 12 bolt.
It's a weird situation. The car was brought to them and they already took parts off to assess the damage. USAA is sending out someone to look it over
See if you can find someone else from another shop to go take a look at it. Torn apart or not, you should be able to pick the shop it goes to.
You might be be stuck with the car though. Tough Shit.
__________________ Just because you just dropped a lot of money into your car doesn't really have an effect on what it's worth. Obviously there's exceptions, but your car isn't worth $20k just because you've put $25k into it over the years. Same applies to my budget, or what you owe.
A car is worth what someone is willing to pay: nothing more, nothing less.
My z28 got t-boned pretty badly by a drunk driver who ran a stop sign and had no ins. They did not total it with an original estimate of $7100 in damages. The total after finding more damage...... $13,500, they still kept it un-totalled. Car was worth 14,500 MAX at the time, i just don't get what the hell the ins. co. was thinking. I ended up trading it in for another camaro because the car was never right, alignment was always fucked, and it seemed loose alot more creaks and groans that were never there before.
So good luck to you, some ins. companies are simply stupid when it come to this type of thing.
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"Spending money I don't have, to buy parts I don't need, to impress people I don't know!" - Grumpy Jenkins
This is why people switch car insurance companies all the time. They don't understand that the price for the actual insurance coverage is about the same with each company...you are paying for the service aspect of it. People wonder why Geico or SafeAuto is $300 a year cheaper, well, there's your answer....because they will run and hide, fight like hell to not pay a claim. Then, once you have a claim, they jack your rates up and you can't leave them, because any new company you go to will have to take your claim/ticket into account. I know it doesn't help you now...but get with a company that will be on your side when a problem happens. I have been an agent for awhile, and I can say that more people bitch about car insurance because things don't go the way they want them to...but they almost always go the way it is stated in your policy. However, most people don't read the policy, they just want the premium to be dirt cheap. The very nature of insurance is to put you exactly back to even....not to better your situation.
__________________ 02 Z28, 86 T Type WH1, 04 Grand Cherokee 4.7 Ltd
Can't view the pics at work, but my car was t-boned 2 years ago. Took out the passenger door and rear quarter. I personally thought it was totalled but Progressive fixed it by using USED parts from a V6 car. I tried fighting it but it didn't work. At least I have a "lifetime warranty" on the work which I'm gonna need because the door isn't aligned anymore....
__________________ 98 Black Z28 M6 - Slp Cai, Lid, S3 TB w/bypass, LS6 Intake, Built T56 w/ LS7 clutch, Pro 5.0 w/ LSS, Cutout, !Egr/!Air
90 F-150 5.0L AOD - Stock - The D/D
This is why people switch car insurance companies all the time. They don't understand that the price for the actual insurance coverage is about the same with each company...you are paying for the service aspect of it. People wonder why Geico or SafeAuto is $300 a year cheaper, well, there's your answer....because they will run and hide, fight like hell to not pay a claim. Then, once you have a claim, they jack your rates up and you can't leave them, because any new company you go to will have to take your claim/ticket into account. I know it doesn't help you now...but get with a company that will be on your side when a problem happens. I have been an agent for awhile, and I can say that more people bitch about car insurance because things don't go the way they want them to...but they almost always go the way it is stated in your policy. However, most people don't read the policy, they just want the premium to be dirt cheap. The very nature of insurance is to put you exactly back to even....not to better your situation.
I have USAA, its not that they don't want to pay. It's just that with my work schedule I can't communicate with them and it has to go through my wife.
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Ebay Turbo Kit l Cam l Moser 9" l th400
They said a 16 year old kid couldn't restore a Trans Am... 325hp, 435rwtq.. Shouldn't have sold it. New car Red 99 WS6 catback, gears, intake and 12 bolt. 
Same applies to my budget, or what you owe.
