Well just the top of a maple tree, with all the wind we had here in VA today. The car is a 2008 Mazdaspeed3, I just bought it in November, it has just over 3,000 miles on it. It had been parked in my driveway all day, minding it’s own business.
The damage isn’t severe, but rather widespread. The main part of the tree came to rest on the edge of the roof, making a big dent on the edge and in the middle of the roof. Windshield also broken, scratches and scrapes on the hood.
I’m pretty concerned over getting the car fixed. I’ve had body work done before and frankly the car is never the same again. No matter how good the body work is, it still won’t be perfect. In doing a little research online, some people seem to have had success in getting the insurance company to replace their totaled new car with another new car. That would definitely be ideal, but does anyone have any experience or advice on this?
I have Erie insurance and have a local agent I deal with, if that makes any difference. I’ve had a couple comprehensive claims in the last 10 years, no accidents or tickets though. No late payments, I’m a pretty ideal customer I would think. I have 3 other vehicles and my house insured with them.
Going up Rte. 270 in Maryland, I got blown all over the road. At one point, a gust hit the car head on so hard I could see the hood flutter like it was going to fly open. Off-putting, lemme tell ya…
Yeah, I actually had my hood fly up once. 1978 MGB convertible, doing about 60mph on a rural highway and all of the sudden WHAP!, the hood flies up and bends back at the top of the windshield. Convertible top was up, but the hood bent back and was touching the framework for the top. Almost whacked me on the head.
I got the car safely to a stop by looking through the gap between the windshield and hood. Took the car to my nearby friend’s house that I had just come from, and we took the hood off and stomped it flat-ish in his yard and put it back on. Tied the front down with rope and got it home that way.
You need to evaluate your situation. You might be ‘upside down’ on your loan payoff vs. your insurance pay out. So if the car is totalled you could end up still owing the lender and have no car. You’re probably better off getting it repaired, but the insurance company guidlines will determine which way they will go. If it’s on the cusp they might give you the choice.
I’d check the current market value on www.nada.com/ and compare that w/ your loan ballance.
The first day my husband bought a new escort. Got a ride into the dealership to pick it up.
He pulled onto the highway and in front of him was a car hauler. One of those metal hooks that hold the car onto the hauler fell off.
And bounced.
Right for him.
My husband saw this and knew it was either the roof or the windshield that was going to get hit, depending on his speed/breaking. Swerving out of the way would have caused much worsererer damage.
He took the hit right into the windshield before it bounced harmlessly into the highway wall thingie, got off at the next exit, pulled into the windshield repair place and got it fixed.
There was once a spectacular crash at the intersection right outside my office. One woman smashed into another woman’s black SVU that had just been driven off the lot. She had the car for all of ten minutes. I honestly thought the crashee was going to kill the crasher and I wouldn’t have blamed her. I was the one to call the police.
Unless you have a company that offers coverage to replace your new car with another new car I’d think it unlikely. Damages you describe shouldn’t be enough to total it. Assuming the damage is limited to the hood roof and window I’d guess you’re looking at no more than $5,000 in repairs on a $20,000 car. I think you chances are very thin in convincing your adjuster the car is totaled. But talk with your agent, get an estimate and go from their. If anyone can help you it’s him/her.
I’m ok on the loan, I made a big down payment on it.
I’m just concerned over the quality of body work, I had a new car before the tree incident and I want a new car afterwards. I’ve seen some pretty crappy body shop paint jobs.
There was a report years ago now, that was about roof repairs. The welding of the roof back to the body gave out in crashes. The critical roof protection in a roll over failed.
Totaled = repair costs more than 75% of value. I doubt that’s the case here, unless they need to replace the roof, and maybe not even then.
I know, because I’ve actually had the roof replaced on a car that was worth a lot less than a 2008 Mazda3, a '98 Protege. Like really replaced… they cut off the top of the the car and put a new one on. That car really wasn’t the same. Replacing the roof is very tricky. It only came out to around $7k though.
Crap. I really want to insist they replace the roof, it’s dented pretty good in two places and I don’t want filler and bodywork on a brand new car. Didn’t realize it was that tricky.
Well, it does depend on what the “roof” is. If they can just swap out parts, it’s probably fine. Like fix up the door frame with a hammer or by welding in a piece, and then replace the big roof panel in the center. That’s probably fine.
On my car, the front right pillar was basically destroyed, and the whole roof was pushed back, bending the rear pillars. (Deer hit at highway speeds.) They had to cut each of the roof pillars, then cut in the same place on a junker roof, then position it perfectly (in 3D space) and weld it up. They were a little off, probably only a few millimeters, but it wasn’t quite right. Main issue is that the windshield is a set piece, and if things don’t line up with it, you can tell.
We’ve had two tree vs. car incidents. One, while my husband was driving to work (he kept right on going, too…figured it was a good day to go since he wasn’t dead)… and one in the driveway (I actually saw the tree fall on the car at 4:00 am while I was assessing the weather). We were covered on both and both vehicles came out fine.
You need to find a better body shop then. I’ve had body work done on my BMW Z3 (which is my baby, I LOOOVE that car), including replacing the entire hood, and I can’t tell the difference. It’s perfect. But I did go to a really good body shop - one that specializes in restoring antique cars and working on high-end newer cars - and they worked with my insurance company to ensure that the parts were all BMW, not aftermarket.
And it’s not only me who says it’s perfect. Mr. Athena, who is a pessimistic detail oriented negatron, also says it’s perfect. Trust me, if there was anything at all that someone could point to and say “that doesn’t look original”, he would have caught it.
From a technical standpoint replacing a roof is quite a bit easier than straighting out a seriously crumpled front structure and then replacing a fender.
I agree with Athena you are going to the wrong body shops.
The deal is with a good body work job it is just about impossible to tell that the car was wrecked.
Well, that’s what I’ll hope for. I got my insurance agent to recommend a good shop, I would expect they would be more worried about my happiness than Erie Insurance’s expenses.
