I was in a car accident a few weeks ago. The entire front of my Yaris was smashed in by the other driver. I have been waiting for a response from the other driver’s insurance company about what the next step is.
The first call I received was there is about $4200 worth of damage so the car will be replaced. He then called back after speaking with the car repair place to let me know that they found more damage. Today I was told the car will be replaced after they rattled off a laundry list of things-Hood, Air Conditioner, Radiator, Front Bumper, etc. There were numerous parts that he listed making me rather nervous. He told me to call the body shop to get a better idea of what was going on.
The body shop told me that he had been trying to get my car totaled. He was concerned about the frame-it seemed a bit wavy to him. He also didn’t like that they want to use After Market parts. He told me to call back and tell the adjuster to total the car and that I didn’t want to use the after market parts.
I was told by the adjuster that’s what they do for cars out of warranty (my car is 3 1/2 years old). It’s just the way it is. If I want Toyota parts I have to pay for the difference. The body shop guy has a different outlook on how cars should be fixed than the insurance.
So now I’m frustrated and confused. I’m concerned about driving my car which is basically having the whole front replaced. The value is going to go WAY down. I’m being told that the frame is bent but the insurance company won’t accept that. Plus, I’ve researched After Market Parts and they have no warranties.
Any advice out there?
If I read this right you have an offer to replace the car. Take it!!!
Sorry, I wrote that wrong-the car will be fixed. Not replaced…
Take the check for the repair costs and find a push pull or drag it in $3,000 trade in allowance and kiss it goodbye.
What does your insurance say? The car is only 3-1/2 years old. Don’t you have Collision and Comprehensive?
If not, you’ll have to consider getting a lawyer to help you go to bat with the insurance company, especially if you can get the body shop in your corner. They have their lawyer, and will do what they can to keep their loss to a minimum. This includes putting pressure on the body shop to do the bare absolute minimum.
Or get a lawyer and the insurance company will fold on their BS attempt to screw you out of your rightful settlement. . .
Call your insurance agent and let him or her handle this. You should not be talking to the other person’s insurance company.
When you said “The car will be replaced,” I thought it was totaled, but then you go on to say it’s being repaired. Which is it?
I agree with the body shop. You’d be better off if the car were totaled.
Your car doesn’t have a separate “frame.” It’s a uni-body vehicle, as are most modern cars, meaning the frame is part of the body structure. It’s all one piece. Once it’s significantly bent it’s difficult to return it to it’s original shape and strength.
Take an empty soda can. Bend it. Then try, by whatever means you can come up with, to make it look like it did before you deformed it. Good luck.
That’s your Yaris. Even if they straighten it out, which they might be able to do, it will never be as strong, or as safe, as it once was. It will be substantially weaker in a crash, and it will not protect you the way it did the first time.
If you can’t make any headway with the insurance companies, and the car is repaired instead of being totaled, I suggest you sell it or trade it for something else as soon as it comes out of the body shop.
You don’t want to own this car after it’s been “repaired.”
Good luck.
Ditto. This car needs to be totalled not repaired.
You might try getting a second opinion from another body shop regarding the frame damage issue, which seems to be the point of greatest concern. The insurance adjuster is pressuring the body shop to do this job as cheap as possible because their job is to minimize the expenses of claims.
What are your intentions in the future with this car? Do you intend to keep it forever, or trade it in sometime in the next couple or few years? If you want to keep it forever, I could understand wanting to go with OEM parts, particularly if corrosion is a potential issue where you live. If you are going to be getting rid of the car in a couple years anyway, it’s probably not worth the legal expense to try to get them to use OEM parts. Your concern about the diminished value of the car leads me to believe you intended to get rid of the car soon anyway, and fighting with the insurance company will probably not be worth any potential value increase of your car associated with repairing it with OEM parts or totaling the car and having it replaced rather than repaired.
My main concern right now is the safety of the car since I’m being told by the body shop that the frame is bent, yet the insurance company is telling me otherwise.
My second concern is selling it. I was intending to sell it within the next few years since it will be paid off in March. I figured I’d be able to sit on it for a two or three years then sell it but now it won’t recoup as much as it should be worth.
So I guess do I just keep pushing them to go back and check the car?
The reason you pay an insurance premium is so they will handle situations like this when they happen.
You should not need to be in the middle of this.
Your insurance company should be guiding you.
The only negotiating you should need to do is to either accept or not accept your insurance company’s settlement.
Basically, my insurance company has been hands off because I decided to go through the other person’s company, since he was the one who hit me and I felt I shouldn’t have to pay my deductible for something I didn’t do. Should I work on pulling them in?
You pay for car insurance. Let them grab the bull by the horns and get back to you.
Agreed. As I said before, this is why you pay for insurance. Let them handle it.
You have a legitimate insurance company, don’t you?
You need to extricate yourself from this by nicely going back to your insurance company. You never deal with the other guy’s insurance. You pay your company to represent you. So they fix or replace your car, you pay the deductible, then your insurance company goes back to the other guy to get their money back through subrogation and also collect your deductible for you. Then they pay you back. They are used to this and you aren’t. Problem is you may have already screwed it up by dealing with the other guy. It’s like getting a lawyer after you have dug yourself in deeper.
Also never use an after market hood where the latch may not fit right and risk opening on the road. Fenders etc. are refered to as “sorta fit” parts that may not have the same metal thickness etc. as OEM. It would be better to use used parts instead.
I was intending to sell it within the next few years since it will be paid off in March.
WHY? Does paying off a car mean it is less serviceable? Consider keeping your car and saving the money that you would be paying monthly. But the time your car really needs to be replaced, you can pay cash and save all the finance expense.
As for your question, talk to YOUR insurance company and let them do the work. They are on your side on this one." . . . I’m being told by the body shop that the frame is bent, yet the insurance company is telling me otherwise."
What is the insurance company telling you about the bent frame, exactly ?
As Mcparadise pointed out, this little car has no frame. It has body elements that serve the purpose of forming supporting structures for bumpers, suspension, etcetera. Some of these parts are designed to crumple in a collision and apparently your’s did what they were designed to do. Most of these parts will probably be cut out and new ones welded in place.
Insurance companies (and cash paying customers, too) don’t “total” and replace every car that has been in a collision and has sustained damage of this sort. Most are repairable and are repaired. It may be close to a “total” because it’s a relatively inexpensive car and because it’s 3 1/2 years old. However, there’s a chance that it isn’t close and you are possibly being unreasonable.
Very roughly, to determine whether a car is a “total,” the pay-out or cost of repairs is considered. Next the value of the car (prior to the collision) is established. The car is a “total” if the cost of the repairs (from estimate), exceeds the car’s value (factoring in the salvage value of the crashed vehicle {what a junk yard or buyer would give if it wasn’t fixed}).
Insurance companies are businesses. This is a cost decision and not based on emotions or whether or not the car “will ever be the same,” etcetera.
“My second concern is selling it. I was intending to sell it within the next few years since it will be paid off in March. I figured I’d be able to sit on it for a two or three years then sell it but now it won’t recoup as much as it should be worth.”
This may be close to being a total and maybe not. Find out the exact estimated repairs (get copy of detailed estimate), the amount that they consider the car’s value (prior to damage), and the car’s salvage value. The shop should have this. See how close it is.
“My second concern is selling it. I was intending to sell it within the next few years since it will be paid off in March.” You may have to fast forward your plans to sell this car if they repair it and you’re not happy with it when you get it back. This goes on every day, too, unfortunately.
Do you have a real insurance agent in a local brick and mortar buiding or an online “E-gent” ? Do you have collision coverage ? I’d go to my agent, if you haven’t already, and let them help explain this and do some digging, as others have suggested.
I’m curious. How did the other driver hit the front of your car ? Was he / she found to be at fault, cited ?
CSA
You’ll see a common thread here: you need to be working through your insurance company.
Know that doing this does not mean that your insurance company will end up paying the bill and your rates will go up. What it means is that they’ll deal with the other party’s insurance company and whoever is determined to be liable will ultimately foot the bill. It also means that the amount of the damages will be determined by your insurance company’s adjuster and not the other party’s.
You are clearly getting screwed here. It would appear that their insurance company is unethical, has determined that you’re unknowledgable in the ways of these situations, and is using that lack of knowledge to screw you.
Get in touch with your insurance pronto. You need someone representing you, and that’s one of the things you pay them for.
“Basically, my insurance company has been hands off because I decided to go through the other person’s company, since he was the one who hit me and I felt I shouldn’t have to pay my deductible for something I didn’t do. Should I work on pulling them in?”
Yes, they should do all the work for you. You haven’t the slightest idea what you are doing. And most of the rest of us here would not, either. You are a consumer, not an insurance expert. You pay your insurer to represent you no matter who is at fault. They will not raise your rates fur using their services. At worst, the other insurer sees you as an easy mark and will walk all over you.