Of course he/they are unsure. There is a DUI involved and thus the potential the "offender's" insurance won't cover it. And he/they haven't seen the police report no doubt, so they are not saying much... Yet.

If the "other" insurance does pay, negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Service records, upgrade costs, etc, etc, plus comparables in your market, limited sales, so maybe national comparisons. We buy cars fromk everywhere today. And then when you do reach their limit agree by saying, if you throw in... The car is of absolutely no value to them and costs them money to dispose of.

As to any type of "salvage title", I don't think so, there is no title being transferred where a new title would be issued. You already have a clean title in your hand.

 

OK, the other guy is clearly at fault. HIS INSURANCE COMPANY HAS TO PAY YOUR DAMAGES. That's cut & dried, period. What they may dispute is whether or not, or how much they pay him. But that's not your worry. And yeah, if you own your car outright (title in hand) and decide to keep it, the insurance company shouldn't be issuing you a salvage title. However, if an insurance claim payout involves paying off a lender (car loan), that's a different story because you aren't the "legal" owner and title holder of the car.

 

just had a look at the pic dude and its bad, but not that bad ( my air bag broke the windscreen too!). Mine was similar at the front, plus i wreaked the rear end and snapped an axle shaft




I bought a shell for £1300 and payed a friend £150 for 4 hours on the jig, pulled straight out. I replaced all the front end myself and my father welded in the rear and i replaced the axle shaft. Surely yuou can get parts cheaper in the US. I could have got cheap parts but no-one was willing to ship to te UK.

Can you take a pic of the hood off? Are the chassis rails bent behind the crossmember? ( on where radiator sits) If they are it may take more jigging, if not then it shouldnt be too bad (mine was slighly bend behind but pulled out on the jig.

It depends about the whole money situation though, if they pay you enough go for a new one, i couldnt as it was my own money so i repaired.

 

Why would his insurance say yours would have to cover it?, thats complete and total BS. Also if you do get a estimate make sure the repair shop puts in the estimate in writing OEM parts only and they are legally required them to pay or them.

 

yeah, im going to have to get down to business with these people. maudy- were we brothers in a past life or something? lol you got a black camaro that took it in the front too? that also left the passenger side intact? lol thats just nuts.

i see a guy has a camaro he wants a 1000 for the front clip, so im thinking that may be a way to go. however its the chassis pulling im worried about since i dont know a fart about it.

and thanks everyone for the advice so far about the whole deal, learning new things every day.

hey maudy- when that car was hit, what position was your steering wheel in?

 

If your referring to my post, in many states, if you are driving under the influence, your insurance company does not have to cover you, you are in violation of your contract (a policy is a contract) with them. This is the reason your policy also has an uninsured/under insured "optional" rider. Why not just ask your insurance agent! AND it is only when it is NOT your insurance paying that you can "demand" OEM parts, but this simply pushes the cost closer or over the "totalled" figure, which is all you can ever hope to get out of any insurance, although that is the negotiable amount.

 

Maybe its just me but their is no compairison to those two cars. Maudy your car does not look like it was hit anywhere near as hard. I worked in a body shop for 3 years. Most of our work was bought wrecks that where repaired and resold. (no time line and no insurance companies to deal with) The owner would have bid on your car at auction he would have walked right by Autos. Like I said I see 100 hours of labor by a pro on Autos car. Maudy I see more like 50-60 in yours. That is a pro in a full body shop with a frame machine. Most shops around me are $80 Add in parts and she is no where near repairable. I even bet if Auto repairs his car he will have problems with his motor. Assuming he does not find a major problem when he pulls the car a part. I would not be suprised if the power steering pump riped out the side of the block.

 

auto, my steering was on full lock to the right i tried to counter the spin but it had gone totally past the catching point You need to get some pics up with the hood off. Did you radiator bend and damage go into the engine bay more? I've put up some more pics to show you what I repaired to compare to yours. When measured from the windscreen to the opposite front corner there was a 5 inch difference. You must be my US counter part, lol

gorn, yer maybe After the jig miy front was not that bad really. Me and my father repaired mine, i've rebuilt and restored cars before so once I had a straight frame it was all a matter of swapping all the parts and lining it up with the frame etc, then paint. We did need to jig the rear too, the car was kinda bent and the passanger rear was replaced. My front end was probably not as bad as the impact bar luckily matched up exactly with the barrier I hit so it too the full brunt.

 

the car is covered in snow at the moment, but when it thaws out i`ll take a few close ups.

 

These are pictures so they are subject to miss leading depth perception


Note the red lines. This indicates a very hard hit. I would not be suprised at all if even the distance between the wheels is messed up. Most likley the K member mount will need pulled which means the motor will need to come out and the K frame may be tweeked and need replaced/pulled.



While this car may have a minor buckel in the front that would need to be pulled I doubt there is any damage passed the wind shield post. I would expect this car to track fine as long as the suspension parts where are repaired and the car was aligned.