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I'd take the $3100 and keep it, assuming you're ok with driving a cosmetically-challenged car. You'll only have $600 in the car but $1100 in your pocket. And I bet you could go into the 'hood and get it patched up even cheaper.
With a salvage title you probably won't be able to get collision or comprehensive coverage but you won't need it and that just means you save even more.
I'll be able to keep my original title since the car is 10 years old. No salvage title needed for a total loss for an 8+ year old car in my state (NY).
I don't have to buy it back. Not sure if that's because of my insurance company or because of the state that I live in, but if I want the car I can keep it and receive $3,100 without having to give the car to them. The value of the car is around $3,400.
You are buying it back. If you just want the money they will give you 3700. If you want the car they will give you 3100. Thats 600 cost for the car.
Insurance will give me $3,700 if I give them the car and title, and $3,100 if I keep it. The estimates from the collision shops are $2,550.50 - $3,000.00. Less than $2,000 if they don't do any repairs to the roof.
I lean toward taking the $3100 and not repairing the roof (paying< $2000 for repair). And if there is anything else repair wise that can be left off from being repaired to save money. Such as something minor that is cosmetic only and smallish.
If you plan to get the roof fixed, IMO, you are better off getting the $3,700 and giving the car/title to the insurance company. It's only a good deal for you if you pocket some of the extra money and leave minor cosmetic stuff as-is, IMO.
I'd be inclined to keep the car and maybe not fix the roof, but I'm surprised nobody has said anything about the risk of never being able to get a good seal at the top of the windshield. What does your body guy say about that?
You are buying it back. If you just want the money they will give you 3700. If you want the car they will give you 3100. Thats 600 cost for the car.
I would do the same thing you are.
Oh ok I see what you mean now. It wasn't registering at first.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sware2cod
I lean toward taking the $3100 and not repairing the roof (paying< $2000 for repair). And if there is anything else repair wise that can be left off from being repaired to save money. Such as something minor that is cosmetic only and smallish.
If you plan to get the roof fixed, IMO, you are better off getting the $3,700 and giving the car/title to the insurance company. It's only a good deal for you if you pocket some of the extra money and leave minor cosmetic stuff as-is, IMO.
Good advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackmccullough
I'd be inclined to keep the car and maybe not fix the roof, but I'm surprised nobody has said anything about the risk of never being able to get a good seal at the top of the windshield. What does your body guy say about that?
None of the collision shops mentioned the seal when they looked at my car. One guy mentioned adjusting the front of the roof a bit in order to install a new windshield, but he didn't specifically mention the seal.
What nobody has mentioned is that the windshield itself is a component of the structural integrity of the car. If the roofline has been distorted so that a replacement windshield cannot be seated in the original position there can be no guarantee that the strength of the roof will meet that which existed before the damage.
Insurance says my car is a total loss. There’s damage to the hood, windshield, and the front of the roof. 2008 Kia Spectra with 94,500 miles on it. I don’t know who's right about the safety of the roof though.
The front of my roof is dented. The insurance adjuster said I'd have to have the roof panel replaced. I asked her if I could have the dents removed instead of having the roof panel replaced. She said no because the roof is buckled, the beams might be damaged, and it wouldn’t be safe in a rollover.
I have taken my car to some collision shops for estimates. They say that the roof is fine and it’s safe. These are shops that have high ratings and mostly positive reviews on Yelp, Google, carwise.com, and Facebook.
At one of the repair shops when I mentioned what the adjuster said about the beams, the tech told me that the header panel that goes across the front of the roof is probably bent, and a roof bow might be bent, but the roof would be the least of my worries in a rollover. He seemed to think that the pillars are more important, and the pillars are fine.
Insurance is giving me the option to either give the car and title to them or keep it and pay for repairs myself. The amount that my insurance would give me if I keep the car is more than the estimates to replace the hood and latch, replace the windshield, and repair the roof.
Do you think I'd be ok keeping the roof panel since collision shops say it's ok, or do you think the insurance adjuster is right?
The damage happened when my hood flew up while I was on a highway going 65 mph.
I had an oil change a week earlier and my hood wouldn’t pop open when the hood release was pulled. The service shop got it open with their tools, and of course I assumed it was closed securely after the oil change. I guess it wasn’t though. They didn’t tell me that they had trouble closing the hood, only trouble opening it.
Do what your insurance suggests. You don't sound savvy enough to be able to dodge issues this wrecked roof might cause. Find a replacement vehicle. Good luck
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