Car accident - is it totaled? (insurance, 2015, air bag, SUV)
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Hi, I'm hoping someone can give me some insight. Was in an accident today where a man in a full size SUV ran a stop sign (I had no stop sign) and damaged the front driver's side. An off duty cop witnessed it and everyone agrees it was totally his fault so no issues there, but I've only had the car since late November 2015. I'm honestly hoping it is totaled rather than a car with the hit on the car fax that will devalue it in resale and enough damage that I'm worried it will never be quite "right." The air bags didn't deploy which I know can indicate frame damage/total but the wheel is completely bent in at the top toward the engine and it was severe enough that it wouldn't turn and I couldn't even drive to pull over. The tow truck driver said it could just be the struts, but I'm thinking it could be frame damage too. It didn't leak any fluids I could see so I don't think there was any radiotor damage. I just wanted to see if anyone knew my chances that this would be totaled and if there were things I could argue or bring up that might help if it was a closer call. From my visual inspection, the lower door is significantly damaged and will need replaced, the quarter panel needs replaced as does the front bumper and headlight and running light. Clearly the wheel and at least strut are damaged and the hood has also buckled up at the impact point.
I have Nationwide Insurance and he has Erie Insurance, which I've heard (and hope) is "good" insurance since it was his fault.
The car is a 2014 Toyota Corolla LE Eco Premium and is fully loaded with sunroof,heated seats, etc. I didn't check exactly but it has in the neighborhood of 16,000 miles. I drove about 300 miles to buy it at a good price because it was a demo so the purchase was about $16,500 plus fees/tax. I believe if the repairs get within a few thousand of the NADA or some price index price they will total it, but I wanted to check on that.
I appreciate any help with opinions about if it looks totaled or not, issues I should make sure are looked at and evaluated but may not be obvious (like the frame, other things that may be damaged/bent, etc and affect performance), and issues I could use to sway the adjuster in negotiating if it's close to totaled. Also if you have had experience with Erie Insurance and would like to give me a heads up I'd appreciate that. The pictures I have aren't great because it was dark, but I think you can see the external damage. I wasn't able to take one with the hood up before they had it on the tow truck.
Thanks for your help!!
Last edited by Meighanam; 02-05-2016 at 06:06 AM..
Certainly new to me, but bought it "used" since it was registered starting early 2014 and I didn't purchase until November 2015 and has the 16k mileage but I assume you probably mean new pricewise.
I didn't think to take a picture of the roof but I didn't notice so definitely not a crease. I'll have to check that, thanks for bringing it up! I couldn't open the door from the inside, I had to push while the cop pulled (and then it did close again) just in case that might be relevant.
Thanks again!
Certainly new to me, but bought it "used" since it was registered starting early 2014 and I didn't purchase until November 2015 and has the 16k mileage but I assume you probably mean new pricewise.
Not necessarily, it's a 2015 (it doesn't matter when it was registered or number of previous owners) and the 2016s just came out. So it's one year old.
Sorry, that doesn't look totaled. I'm guessing at about $5-6K in damage. Most insurance companies have a threshold of 75%+ of value before they total.
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