Repair vs totaling a car

Just my two cents but I wouldn’t fix it. You weren’t going to have it too many more years anyway so this just sped the process up. State Farm uses three sources for determining the value and then averages them. There is no reason you can’t check sales prices for similar and hold out for a higher payment. Still a 2009 is getting up there in age. Now the bottom line is the bottom line. They can add in whatever makes you feel good including registration but all that really matters is the actual check they issue, not the itemized items on it.

The cost of repair was not stated, could be $12,000 in damage.

It was stated.

The age of the car is up there but a Prius can get up to 200,000 miles. Our current annual mileage is around 5,000. The car may have had another 50,000 miles or more left in it.

Can get to 200000 miles - key word can- does not mean they all do or that yours will . If that 4700.00 is all that they will give you then if the repairs go past that you will have to pay that. Is that correct ?

It is not uncommon to find extra things that need repair during the work. I would just take the total and move on .

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$4700 sounded like the pay out limit, not the repair cost.

My Buick had 500,000 miles but do you want to drive a 20 year old car? Also the second 100,000 may not be the same as the first 100,000. You got a chance to get more out of it and start over than you would selling or trading in. Just a little earlier than planed.

Or it may have had another 20 miles left in it.

Your reference contradicts your assertion in the first few paragraphs. No fault state insurance still must cover injuries from an accident as it is required to be carried in 18 states. The other states also have medical cost coverage requirements as well.

In any event, the OP should not sign away their right to collect compensation from the insurer should injuries show themselves later.

I have always wanted to run a car up to 250,000 miles or more. And driving a 20+ year old car is not a problem, as long as maintenance parts are readily available. Also, the OP isn’t talking about a 20-year old car. Their 2009 Prius is at most 13 years old, and may be closer to 12 years old–which isn’t very old.

At 5000 miles a year it will take 15 more years to hit 200,000, so that’s getting older than 20 years.

No. They prorated the remaining months of the wrecked car’s registration fee that was to be forfeited by totaling the car. Then they added the sales tax portion of what would be paid when registering a new-to-me vehicle valued the same as the wrecked car. They did not pay the normal annual registration costs just the sales tax portion.

Perhaps this is already embedded in others payouts but they were specifically itemized in mine.

With no-fault, your own car insurance coverage (in Minnesota, that means your “personal injury protection” or “PIP” coverage) pays for your medical treatment and other out-of-pocket losses after a car accident, up to policy limits , regardless of who caused the crash.

It depends on the state.

Tester

Of course, but that does not change the advice of not to release neither your insurance company nor the other parties’ from any further medical liability. Medical issues from the accident can occur later. Many insurance companies will want to absolve themselves of that future liability.