…and my vehicle is probably totaled.
Nobody was injured, which is good news. And the accident was clearly not my fault; a tractor trailer backed into my car.
The trucking company has already told me they will pay for the damage. But what does that mean? Will they pay me the value of a five year old car? Or will they pay for me to buy an equivalent replacement car?
Depends. But a lot of times they just want to pay you the value of the car, not the replacement.
Which is one reason why people start claiming injuries in accidents. More money.
I’m not going to lie and claim injuries I don’t have.
But my car was paid off and I was planning on driving it for a few more years while I put money in the bank. Now I will have to buy a new car and start making payments on it because the current value of my old car won’t pay for a new one.
So their negligence is going to cost me several thousand dollars. I feel they should be paying the expenses that are due to their actions. Is this unreasonable?
An anecdote:
A few years ago I was in a fender-bender with my eleven year old Mustang - which I loved. It wasn’t a very serious accident, but my car was totaled by virtue of the fact that she fucked up my front wheel beyond repair. So basically, after the police report and reporting everything to the insurance company, etc., they had me go to one of their garages for an estimate and they decided it was totaled. There was a bit of back and forth with the insurance companies but it all went smooth enough. I got a check for the value of my car at the time - which ended up being a little more than I was figuring.
Why don’t you buy a five-year-old used car?
Normally yes to both questions - the equivalent replacement car is a five year old car. It restores you to the position that you wee in previously - the unencumbered owner of a five year old car.
do NOT agree to anything or accept anything directly from the trucking company.
they are trying to bypass the insurance claim give you a couple thousand and then claim you accepted fair compensation later. File a claim with your insurance and let THEM and THEIR lawyers handle it.
Yep, this is why we have insurance.
We’ve lost two cars recently, both totaled. In both cases the insurance company was fair and quick, but the settlement was to restore us to the current state. In one case we elected to replace a 15 yr old car with a 5 yr old version, in the other we replaced a 1 yr old with new. In one instance there were damages to another party, but no injuries.
In the first, my wife plunged through the wall of a church, leaving a Toyota-shaped hole like Wiley Coyote in the cartoons (you could even see the outline of the mirrors). Thankfully, we were not punished for our religious offenses (this being Texas you never know) and the insurance company gave us a more-than-fair-price for the car. It was more than any of the figures I got from the web (KBB, etc.) I don’t know the details, but they settled with the church too.
In the second, a hailstorm turned my daughter’s car into a Toyota-shaped pile of of metal and glass. The damage looked more like something from a war than a storm – some doors were so battered they couldn’t be opened. The same storm destroyed our roof, deck, railings, gutters, paint, shed, air conditioners, parts of our fence and killed 3 trees. As in the first, the insurance settled quickly and (in our opinion) more than fairly in all elements, including the house* damage. Daughter’s car was less than a year old, and we replaced it in a few days with a nearly exact copy. IIRC, we were out some portion of the extended warranty and some tax, but mostly a wash.
*Didn’t get any settlement for the trees, AFAIK they weren’t insured. I just cut them down and split them for firewood.
I think (but could be wrong) that Little_Nemo meant “new” to him, not actually a brand spanking new car. You know—just a saying.
Whether new or a five-year-old used car, it’s still a payment that Little_Nemo didn’t have prior to the accident.
I think Little_Nemo meant new to him—not actually new.
Different country - different rules, but over here I always advise people to never accept the first offer. It is a negotiation and they want to get out as cheaply as possible while you want a fair settlement.
About write-offs: Most insurance companies will write a car off if the cost of the repair is more than some percentage of the value. They pay higher charges than a private customer does for the same repair and they work to higher standards. This means that while you might be happy with a recycled bumper, they would pay for a new one. For this reason - if the damage is repairable and the car is otherwise in good condition, it may be worth settling for a cash payment and to keep the wreck to repair, or have it repaired yourself.
If that five-year-old-but-new-to-Little_Nemo car costs the same as the market value of the totaled car (before it was totaled), and a lump sum equal to that amount was paid, then what’s the problem? Take the check (whether from the trucking company or from Nemo’s insurance), hand it to the car dealership, and drive away in a car much like the one you owned yesterday. There need not be any payment beyond that.
The basic theory of compensation like that is “make me as I was,” but it is of course slightly more complicated than that. If you’re relying on your own insurance for a payout, then you probably have a deductible. And any compensation you receive (whether from your insurance or from the trucking company) won’t cover sales tax on the next car you buy, which could be substantial.
I totaled my own car several years ago. The $1000 deductible had helped keep premiums down over the years, but then of course that amount was missing in the check that I got. and sales tax on the replacement was another $2000 or so. So all in all, my crash cost me about $3,000. That, on top of the hassle of doing without a car for a few weeks, and the irritation of having to shop for a replacement.
We had a collision with the state of Pennsylvania many years ago in our diesel Jetta, which, as it turns out, detached the engine from the rest of the car. We drove it several hundred miles home, with only periodic buzzing on downhill stretches as the engine slid into the radiator.
Our insurance totaled it, but our mechanic was able to find a replacement engine sitting on a dock in Germany. We took the money and drove the car for several more years, although the mileage was never as good as the original engine.
Our insurance company made sure we knew we no longer had comprehensive coverage and we weren’t entitled to a settlement from VW because came out before they started lying about emissions (it polluted and they admitted it).
Yes, insurance should “make you whole”, with the possible exception of your deductible. I’d certainly suggest calling your insurance company, and possibly filing a claim with them, so they’ll deal with the trucking co’s insurance instead of you.
In the meantime, research what a replacement car - same make, model, year, comparable trim, mileage, and condition - will cost you. I’d be concerned that in these days of car shortages, insurance companies might be going off old data - a 5 year old camry with 60k miles probably costs more now than it did 3 years ago. And IME when my car was totaled, the payout included an extra 6.25% to cover the sales tax on the replacement car.
Last year I bought a then 3 year old car. Then I totalled it 4 months later. My fault, no injuries, no material damage to anything else. Thank goodness.
Used cars were in high demand when I bought and I’d paid a relatively high price for my make / model / year because the car was low mileage and in totally like-new pristine condition. And I bought from CarMax which is well-known known for not being a discounter; rather the opposite. So when I crashed I figured I’d just made a pretty expensive mistake even after my insurance would pay me whatever they would.
Not so …
By the time my insurance company had finished evaluating the damage, making a total decision, wrestling with my body shop, etc., I’d owned the car or the carcass about 8 months and meanwhile used car prices had moved upwards even more.
They paid me 20% more for my wrecked car than I had paid for it pristine, including what I’d paid for the sales tax and warrantee. Despite the fact I’d put a few thousand miles on it while I owned it. I came out a bunch of money ahead. Yaay me. I’d rather be lucky than skillful any day.
Punchline:
@Little_Nemo may well come out OK on this deal, particularly if his car is /(was?) a desirable model. Here’s hoping.
But for damn sure he needs to stop talking to directly the trucking company and start talking to his car insurance company.
To clear things up, I have already filed a claim to my insurance company.
I have never owned a used car. My view is that when you buy a used car, you own a car that somebody else didn’t want to own. So I’ll be buying a new car to replace this one (unless I am wildly wrong about the amount of damage and they decide to repair it rather than totaling it.)
I understand there is an issue here. I was driving a 2017 car. The trucking company is going to ask why they should pay for me to drive a 2022 car. I see their point.
But I have always driven one-owner cars. So I want a one-owner car (same make and model) to replace the one-owner car they wrecked.
I sympathize, but your discomfort with second-hand cars isn’t something that factors into the compensation. You should expect to receive full payment for the fair market value of the car on the day it was totaled; if you want to drive something more expensive (in this case, a newer model year), you’ll have to pony up the difference.
FWIW, collision coverage on older vehicles is generally less (than on newer vehicles) because the maximum possible payout is less - because they’re not going to buy you a brand-new car, just one that’s as used and ragged as the old car that got totaled.
This is technically true, but doesn’t necessarily mean all used cars are someone else’s disgusting death trap.
If you go to a reputable dealer, they will have very nice recent-year used cars that came from good sources: cars that came off lease, for example. Those are well cared for and were simply returned by an owner to upgrade to the latest model.
When a reputable dealer buys someone’s old beater in trade, they won’t put that car on their lot; rather, they will send it to auction. And with the best ones, the ones they keep, before they put any car on their lot, they will often put a decent amount of work into it to bring it up to their standards.
(Those beater cars at auction eventually end up in the sketchy dealers in the inner city that offer financing to anyone with a pulse and insist on you driving with their web site plastered on your back window for the first year of ownership.)
Last year my VW broke a timing chain, placing me in the unpleasant position of needing a new(er) vehicle. I found a pickup truck that matched my needs perfectly. Before they even put it on the lot, the dealer had done full brake service, replacing rotors, replaced the battery, and detailed it.
I basically have what appears to be a brand-new truck, that happens to be a few years old.
No way I could afford to buy a similar one at new market price ($70k? Nope.)
The biggest problem for me was the rarity of cars in general. The chip shortage had resulted in most dealers having empty lots in my area.
That’s true a lot of the time - but sometimes they don’t want to own it just because it’s X years old. And sometimes it’s not the case- my son bought a “used” car that he was really the first owner of. It was a 2015 model that he bought in 2018 but apparently because the dealership had it so long they had to take title, so technically when he bought it it was used. The price was lower simply because it had to be sold as used - it was not as low as a similar car that someone had bought and driven , but there wouldn’t have been under 100 miles on the odometer on one that someone had bought and driven.
Speaking as a former (quite a few years now) insurance adjuster, they have an obligation to the value of the vehicle at the time of the loss, rather than to put you into a new vehicle. That being said, there are some protections to give you a good value, although as all insurance, it values dramatically by state law and insurance company.
For the California total loss claims I handled, the company had to provide comps - same/similar year, make and model in a localized geographic region in the recent (6 months or so) past to fully establish the value of the car. And the Total loss team would haggle a bit if you had factual evidence that supported an increased value (for example, I got a request for increase accompanied by a 2 week old receipt for 4 brand new tires, which did indeed bump the claim up $120 or so).
So if the final payment doesn’t include something similar, to make sure you’re getting current value rather than pre-shortage value, I’m sure you could ask for the like or other verification of value independent of their mere say-so. But it’s almost certainly not going to put you in a a brand new car. Under normal circumstances, I would also suggest (if you had a spare vehicle) waiting until year-end sales to get a last year model that hadn’t sold yet… but this is the time we live in.
Depending on your vehicle though, the settlement might put you at a place where you could get a brand new but smaller / less featured vehicle, although I doubt this is an option you have or want or you’d have mentioned it earlier.
Lastly, as mentioned upthread, if you know a good mechanic or friend who works on the cheap and want to take the risks, take the Total loss, minus the salvage value, get a salvage title on the vehicle, and fix it to the best of the mechanics ability, possibly with quality salvage or non-OEM parts. But that’s another kettle of fish.
PS - when working the claim, check with both your carrier and the alt carrier as to who can do the best job for a rental during the settlement / replacement phase. With current rental costs, your own carrier may or may not have sufficient to get you a car, and it generally caps at 30 days, which may not be enough to find something. The responsible party may go longer, but in most cases both will cut off rental reimbursement shortly (3-7 days) after a settlement is made, and you’re on the hook past that even if you still haven’t found a car. And at $60-100 a day for a rental, you want that spelled out before it’s out of pocket.