My Camry was in a fender, hood, bumper, and headlight bender

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Xist

A friend has worked insurance for years and says they will likely total my car due to age and availability of parts, but her threshold is 80%. Eighty percent of $3,398 is $2,718 and since the bumper is out of the way I can see the frame! It looks great!

Is it out of question to take a look at some parts which you could eventually adapt from another model which is at least in theory is now easier to source replacements?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Is it out of question to take a look at some parts which you could eventually adapt from another model which is at least in theory is now easier to source replacements?

For the insurance company - yes. They must repair it back to original condition using the correct parts.

If it is totaled and Xist buys it from the insurance company he can do whatever he wants.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

For the insurance company - yes. They must repair it back to original condition using the correct parts.

Odd enough, sometimes tracking some minor bits by their part-number instead of the specific model leads to a lower cost of the repair. No wonder Volkswagen and Opel parts on fancier rides of the same era were quite usual.

[freebeard]

If it is totaled and Xist buys it from the insurance company he can do whatever he wants.

That's how this happened:



I forget what the at-fault driver's insurance paid out, but they pushed the left front wheel against the cowl. I pulled the front axle beam and had a shop straighten it, and reinstalled. Then I cut it straight across the front and welded on a solid nose piece from another hood.

The 1940 Buick headlights were $40 for the pair. It lost 5 MPH of top speed.

[MeteorGray]

That's one advantage of 32HP: you don't need a John Edgar throttle stop device to test for aerodynamic effects when a factory WOT can be used legally and safely. :-)

[Xist]

Originally Posted by JSH

If it is totaled and Xist buys it from the insurance company he can do whatever he wants.

I have never been able to do whatever I want, but buying back my car and installing whatever available parts I choose--or none. Yes, hopefully.

Two anecdotal data points: My brother's SLP was involved in a crash where the driver at fault was airborne. Sadly, she didn't elaborate on that part of the story.

He got air, dudes!

They bought their 2005 Envoy for $5,000 and insurance paid them $7,300. They bought it back for $1,300 and use the wreck with frame damage to transport their baby without any repairs.

Another lady I have known for a couple of years hoped that insurance would write a check for their vehicle which was unreliable before sustaining front- and rear-end damage.

Insurance spent more than it was worth repairing it.

Why on Earth would they do that?!

My Camry was great. I would rather have her good-as-new again, but while I hate car shopping, I will happily accept a check for more than I paid. I will also happily buy back my car if I can make her like-new again and pocket money, but I am far more concerned with having a safe and usable car than making money, although not having a safe or usable car is wholly inconvenient!

Updates: My agent responded 6 minutes after I messaged him yesterday and I received a notification, but I didn't see it until I went to follow up this morning. He just asked for a ZIP code in Phoenix and I asked him to search near me first, giving him the 20 ZIPs that I found when the new agency hired me.
I also sent him a picture of my car immediately after the crash and asked if he wanted more.
He said that there aren't any other body shops in-network in all of the ZIPs I gave him, so I gave him the list for Mesa.
He then e-mailed me a list of 5 places in Scottsdale and Tempe, but none in Mesa, which is bigger.
Three are already open and the other 2 open at 8, so I am about to start calling.

[Xist]

The first place said that I can come by anytime today. I said that my bumper was rubbing and asked if it would be a problem if I removed or adjusted the bumper so that I can drive safely.
"Whatever you need to do to get here."
I am going to drive down after my appointment at the VA at 09.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Updates: My agent responded 6 minutes after I messaged him yesterday and I received a notification, but I didn't see it until I went to follow up this morning. He just asked for a ZIP code in Phoenix and I asked him to search near me first, giving him the 20 ZIPs that I found when the new agency hired me.
I also sent him a picture of my car immediately after the crash and asked if he wanted more.
He said that there aren't any other body shops in-network in all of the ZIPs I gave him, so I gave him the list for Mesa.
He then e-mailed me a list of 5 places in Scottsdale and Tempe, but none in Mesa, which is bigger.
Three are already open and the other 2 open at 8, so I am about to start calling.

Why are you working with your agent when it's the at fault insurance that should be cutting the check?

Don't know the law in AZ (but I spent 4 hrs in Sky Harbor last night), but in Oregon you can get your vehicle repaired at any shop, which means you can get quotes for repair from any shop.

I get 2-3 quotes from shops and compare those estimates to what insurance is willing to pay, then I make them pay it.

Originally Posted by aerohead

I've never met anyone who was fully compensated for their loss, unless they sued for the balance in small-claims court.

One does not have to accept the proposed settlement.

I went 2 months showing comps to an adjuster before they increased their initial offer by 2.5 times. They wanted to say my car was worthless because every body panel was damaged. The car ran perfectly with nothing functionally broken. There weren't comparable cars for sale, and I had to keep arguing that I couldn't purchase a running vehicle for how little they offered.

Having other vehicles to drive made it easy for me to refuse their offers and eventually they want to clear the liability from their books, so they conceded. It's people that only have 1 vehicle and can't get by without it that insurance is really able to take advantage of.

[JSH]

I've never had to do any leg work on getting a car fixed. The insurance company has always sent an adjuster that comes to the vehicle. The adjuster determines if the car is fixed or totaled and it goes from there. After that point I've been involved in choosing a shop to do the repairs but no insurance company has ever asked me to take a car to a shop in another city to get estimates for them.

[Xist]

Don't be ridiculous! They didn't tell me to leave town! I just didn't want to wait for the place in their network to be available!

I printed out directions. I figured that if the highway patrol stopped me I would show them I was driving straight to the body shop. However, I missed a turn and drove through a random neighborhood. My low-fuel light came on and I posted on Facebook "Xist is low on gas in his wrecked car and honestly doesn't know if he will reach his destination. Is this the excitement that Domestic drivers enjoy everyday?"

Once I got my estimate I tried to figure out the timeline and I saw something indicating that if I choose my own shop then I need to pay and they will reimburse me.

Apparently companies are prohibited from telling us where to go, but it is faster and easier to go in-network. I mentioned this to my insurance friend and she responded "In network is quicker and easier for everyone. If you go out of network and they charge you $5k but a network shop would have done it for $4k you’d pay the `extra' $1k."

The estimate is $5,100. He said he doesn't know what USAA will decide. It was getting dark and I only have one headlight. I found a nearby place for gas and then a nearby hotel. I asked USAA what the timeline is.

I hope they make a decision soon--ideally while I am in-town, although I keep wondering what they will say if they decide to total my car. "Hey, come give us your car, and don't have any way to get home!"?

I found a pick-and-pull that allegedly has 9 Camries with headlights. I doubt that anything sitting in the sun for years looks as nice as mine was, but I can polish it, and then use clear coat.

I also need to see which similar Accords they have so I can replace the hood insulation.

My friend asked "Are you not going to wait and see what USAA does before buying anything?"

I need a car with lights and turn signals.

When I got to my hotel room I tried to find a place within walking distance to grab dinner, but Google kept trying to show me expensive places. When I found places that looked affordable I couldn't find a menu. I had too many things to figure out, so I went to DoorDash. They were supposed to deliver Jimmy John's within 20 minutes, but everywhere else was supposed to take an hour or longer.

I couldn't find a valid coupon code, so I spent $30 for a sandwich, and then it didn't arrive for almost an hour.

After a while I walked to a nearby grocery store for dessert and something for breakfast in case the hotel fails me as they always do.

Jimmy John's is a couple hundred feet away.

Why did it take almost an hour to cross the street with it?!

Fix Auto says that it will take 5 days to repair my car. Is that how long it will take to get the parts or actual labor days?

Bumper cover: $146
Styrofoam: 62. Mine seems fine.
Reinforcement beam: 166. Mine has a dent in the middle. Oh no!
Upper reinforcement: 35. One of the brackets that I need to replace.
Outer reinforcement: 40. That's the other one!
Bumper cover support: 25. Maybe I should get this one!
Headlamp: 133
Radiator support +25%: 368.75. 9.2 hours of labor!
Hood +25%: 343.75
Hinges: 92.50
Grille: 203
Windshield washer reservoir +25%: 56.25. I have one sitting in the garage!

Parts: $1,694.25
Body labor: 1,728
Paint labor: 942
Paint supplies: 596
Miscellaneous: 5
Subtotal: 4,965.85
Tax: 184.41
Grand total: $5,150.26

He said he doesn't know what USAA will decide.

Someone is asking $5,500 for this 2004 Camry with 126,000 miles. The paint looks great!
2003 Camry with 163,000 miles for $3,500, but they posted 2 weeks ago.
2004 with 168k for $4,000
2003 with 160,000 miles for $3,450
2002 with only 130k, but they are asking $6,850!
2003 with 130,000 for $2,900! It is in Yuma, though. That is 3 hours away--in the wrong direction!
Then there is this one. It is the same color as mine, with the same bad paint on the hood and probably the roof and trunk. It has a quarter million miles and cracked-leather seats!

So, there are 3 for $3,450-4,000 with 160-168k.

I paid $3,200 for one with 199k.

Interesting.