I am not in the business of car accidents and such.
When I was called with offer of 12K after 12 mos of waiting I was not told anything about a salvage tittle.
All I was told was repair was to expensive for insurance Co
So I thought…get as much as needed for a top condition one or repair my car if cost effective.
That is what I did. Since Insurance Co did not want to repair it. I would rather had got it repaired at dealer. Expensive ? That is why the culprit has insurance. Culprit did the damage. But the law allows the Insurance Co to dictate.
The insurance companies are not in the business to make foolish financial decisions, if they totaled it then the damage was more than just a trunk lid and bumper cover.
I would be happy with what you got, it has a salvage title because it has been in a serious wreck. Why do you want the salvage title to go away? So you can sell it to someone unsuspecting? I hope not.
I learned a long time ago you can have your cake and eat it too.
My daddy never taught me a whole lot, but one thing he did teach me is don’t love something or someone that don’t love you back. It seems you are attached to the car. I have found in this world if you have something nice someone will ruin it for you as you have learned. I have been in the same situation myself.
I suggest you buy junk and act just as ignorantly as everyone else, that’s what I do now. I am now the one who is careless with my door in the parking lot, I am the one that don’t care if I get into a fender bender if its not my fault, if someone wants to pull out in front of me in their fancy car when they do not have the right of way I will hit them. If they want to ruin their fancy car by pulling out in front of my junk so be it.
What has happened with you happens in a similar way in every state in the union.
You are NOT going to get the salvage brand removed.
The only way it will be removed is if you manage to get countless millions of people to take up torches and pitchforks and demand the statutes change. Odds of that - as close to zero as it can get.
If I were in your shoes and came out this well on it I wouldn’t complain at all. You’re way ahead of the game.
I fixed this car because carefull assesment indicated only trunk and trunk Floor got mangled.
I love rotary engines and this car I got new.
I do not want to sell it. If that were my intention I would not had fixed it. Could had sold engine and parts for good money as it was if money were my motivation.
I fixed it for my use. For me. When I decide I bo longer want it or need it (as soon as the new RX7 comes about. Will get one. My next new car). I then will swap that motor into my Datsun 710. A classic car I have.
The engine. Transmission and rear Suspension will go in there. Reason I did not do it now is because the RX8 was in good and repairable condition as said before.
Reason I do not like the salvage tittle is that it deems car “unsafe”. CA charges fees for a salvage registration. Car has to be smogged every year as if it were a poluter.
Insurance premiums are higher. Needs technical " lights" tests. Brakes tests I just learnt all these requirements. It is all these issues as if the car were structurally and mechanically damaged. It is a curse registration that seems to work as excuse for all these fees. These test requirements cost money. Not free. Vin number and chasis numbers have to be checked by CHP.
You’re assuming that because the back end of the car may have been smashed (in your opinion…) lightly that the car is safe. Maybe; maybe not.
Many times the impact carries on through the chassis. This could mean weakened stress points or crumple zones and during the next impact the occupants could be killed.
About 8 years ago my youngest son wrecked his '88 Camaro. I went down to where he lived and looked at in in the impound yard. The car broadsided a Crown Vic at 40 MPH; wiping the Vic. The Camaro did not look bad at all. A cracked windshield, kneeled under RF wheel, and a slightly bowed hood. That was it. Headlights, battery, nose, all good.
So he towed it to his house and I was going to fix it for him. Getting into it I found signs of damage on the floor pan, strut tower, and firewall so I said stop, don’t pass go, sell it for parts.
A pro body man he knows was looking for a Camaro and bought it even after being told of the floor pan and firewall issues.
Several weeks later he told my son he decided to just part the car out because it was a goner.
Point being that from 30 feet away (and ignoring the kneeled under RF wheel) the car looked perfectly driveable.
A salvage title has very little to do with mechanical damage. My mother-in-law had her Bonneville totalled after a heavy hail storm dimpled her car. I bought it and had fixed for far less than the value of the vehicle. Your car was salvaged. .
OP, it’s you who are missing the point. As a car buyer, I really couldn’t care less that you drove a jeep with no AC while you fixed this car, or that your back got hurt, or that you love rotaries, etc etc. We’re talking about a financial transaction, and you have no right to hide vehicle history from me just because you want to double-dip and get paid for the undamaged value by the insurance company, and then get paid for the undamaged value again by me.
You haven’t answered my question. What was the original estimate that caused the insurance company to total the vehicle? Answering that will clear up a lot of questions.
I can’t see how the car is worth $14k and the insurance co offered you $6k and you were able to get it fixed for that price. And then the ins company cut you a check for $12k - knowing that the car damage is only $6k. It just doesn’t make sense. Insurance companies ALWAYS take the least expensive route. The route you mapped out is the most expensive.
It explicitly explains why they brand titles and that you’re not getting it reversed. Might as well give up that crusade, isn’t going to happen.
Reason I do not like the salvage tittle is that it deems car “unsafe”
It was damaged. Significantly enough to warrant it being totaled. Nobody is going to take your word for it that it is roadworthy. It has to be inspected to verify it is safe. Although I do sympathize with you that CA has to be the worst for all these regulations and inspections. Separate inspections for brakes and lights? C’mon why can’t that be done at the same time as the other checks?
I’ve only had one car totaled. I immediately called my insurance agent and asked about my options. They made it clear about the insurance implications. I also went online and researched the DMV requirements. Then I called the insurance people back and said come and get it- not worth my time and effort…
Being totaled does not mean it’s not road worthy. It just means the cost to repair exceeds the value of the car. I’ve seen a car rhat hit a tree at a slow speed that was totaled by insurance company. There was hardly any body damage and zero frame damage. What totaled the car was the over sensitive air-bag sensors that set off both front airbags. Thousands of dollars to replace air bags.
Perfect example Mike. Airbags ARE a safety concern. If you bought that car used, would you want to know if the air bags were replaced properly after they had been deployed in ANY accident? How could you be certain of that unless the owner was forced to have it thoroughly inspected? If this process was not in place, what mechanism would ensure that???
Aside from that, nobody said it wasn’t roadworthy. But the damage was significant. This process makes people PROVE it’s roadworthy after a significant incident.
over sensitive air-bag sensors
Hah! Then there will be people that b!tch if they don’t go off saying they aren’t sensitive enough. We’ve had some people post to that effect on here in the past. Personally, I’d prefer that the engineers fail on the sensitive side than the other possibility…
Mike, you can drive a car without doors too, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. I can drive a car with an almost rotted out frame too. Driveable is not the measure of roadworthiness.
Most normal people expect that a car that came with airbags still has them and they are functional. They are an integrated part of the overall safety systems in the car.
Airbags should not go off at low speeds
The speed (or more importantly deceleration rate) that triggers an airbag deployment is not an arbitrary number. They are specified, regulated and commonly implemented across manufacturers.
Compared to today’s vehicles, yes, but I think the discussion is getting off track.
The point is not whether or not the repair rendered the vehicle safe - or rather, that’s not the sole point. The other point is whether or not the repair was done properly from a non-safety standpoint.
i.e, sure, maybe the repaired trunk doesn’t make the vehicle a death trap, but maybe the body shop didn’t prime/paint the panels properly which means the paint might peel, or might not be there from the start in a place that you can’t see but that salt can get to and cause premature rust.
I don’t even know if a body repair on my car was done 100% properly because I’m not there when the work is being done (and wouldn’t know everything to look for even if I was). That’s why if the insurance company chooses to repair a car you can seek diminished value - because the fact that the car had to be repaired automatically makes it worth less than if it hadn’t, and you as the insured shouldn’t have to take that hit.
In the case of a salvage title, the insurance company buys the car from you at market value (assuming you insist on that) (and if you don’t, that’s on you) minus your deductible.
You have already sold the car for the price it’s worth if it didn’t have a salvage title.
You then bought the car back from the insurance company with the new salvage title.
If you now want to get rid of the salvage stamp on the title so that you can once again sell it for full, non-salvage value, that’s frankly fraudulent, and the government should in no way help you in this endeavor.
According to insurance repair would cost 8K. Not 12K.
I would had prefered to get my car back in August 2015 fixed. I would had sent it to the dealer and get it repaired for 8K instead of waiting for a year for 12K and a salvage car.
The reason the insurance would not spend 8K in repairs but instead pay 12 K (initially the offer was 6K for 11 months. Only because I would not budge nor acquiese insurance upped its offer) … is because insurance companies get tax incentives for totalled and salvage cars.
That means revenue in charges for the state. Revenue if plaintiff purchases a new car. Payout under salvage situation offers tax credits for Insurance companies versus zero credits for vehicle repair.
If a car ends up in a junk yard that means even mote incentives.
If a car is seriously damaged it would be unsafe and imposible to repair.
But if that is not the case, tax credits and state revenues push salvage tittles forward.
In response to several comments about fraud. No. I do not intend to sell my car.
Like I said the day I decide to stop using it I will swap thst motor, transmission and suspension into my classic Datsun. An excellent upgrade for a classic car. Trying from other sources to purchase a motor, transmission and suspension which condition I could never be able guaranteed for an engine swap would not be great and would be risky. Using my own parts would be my plan. Not thinking about selling the Mazda.
I explained the reasons why I object to a salvage tittle. If there were a stamp or check to put on my registration that read “not for sale”. I would go for it. It is the consecuences of placing a tottalled or salvage cloud on car. Fees. Tests. Etc.
Reread what I was commenting on…it had nothing to do with the repair. I was only pointing out that there are accidents that defender a vehicle totaled, but doesn’t effect how it runs or drives.
This issue is not about looking to delete a salvage tittle to sell a car
This is not an issue about fraud.
This is not an issue of a danaged car that should be totalled.
Following your frame of mind no vehicle should be repaired. Expediently if the insurance Co desides to repair a vehicle that would be way too expensive to replace, then the insurance co can fix it with no salvage tittle.
If the vehicle is repairable but the insurance co desides it Will not fix it because it is not in their financial interests then the car is rendered a salvage.
Very expedient.
Every car unless beyond point of repair can be repaired. Law should compell insurance companies to do so. But because the law allows for companies to dictate the repair happens when their math fabores them to do so.
It should not be a question of convenience for the insurance. It should be a question of reparation to the victim in the accident.
From day one. And that is why I kept my car in my porche, from day one I wanted them to repair my car. I did not ask for money. They refused to repair car.
You are missing the point or else you are just advocating for the system and lack the perspective to see things from different points of view.