Opinions on what to do with my wifes MINI (accident)

[Blacdout96]

WBT, can we make your statement a sticky? and just send it to everyone in New Jersey

[sweetbmxrider]

Eh, that's all repairable. You don't have a policy with Geico, right? They are just trying to bully you. You don't have to have your insurance company fix it if you want to wait. You should really take it to a body shop you trust and have them write the estimate, let the adjuster write theirs, and then let the shop go after the insurance company for the difference. They can write it for less so it doesn't total then go for a supplement when they find more damage than was originally written/approved for. Really makes it simple for you.

It looks like a bumper, both quarters or possibly repair the passenger, trim, door, tail light, refinish wheel, and whatever suspension parts are bent. It will probably go on a frame machine first to ensure everything is straight. I know a couple local shops around here I would trust with the repair work if you don't have or know any close to you. Hold your ground and get a written estimate from a body shop and explain your situation, most should be willing to help with you.

[88WS-6]

Wow. Looks like a busy street, but how did she do that? Good luck getting it fixed.

[BullittSVT]

Originally Posted by Blacdout96

Yes were going through them. Got the police report back btw, the driver is 17, and only has had her driver's permit for less then 4 months

If they're a Galloway resident I probably know/know of them

Hope you get your Coop and everything fairly compensated!

[transmaro93]

well i just read this over quick... car looks repairable but i dont know the value of it and im sure parts are through the roof for that car being its a mini and thats means bmw.I will say that usually when the write cars on the street they write them low so if he wrote it that close to total without tearing it apart they are probably assuming there will be more damage that you cant see from the outside. And the salvage is probably really good on that car and thats why the buy back is so high and also why they are more willing to total it out then repair it. If the other guys insurance is only good for 10k (which is ******** and shouldnt be legal) then i think your doing the right thing buy going through your insurance and paying the deductable and letting the insurance company worry about going after the other guy. If your company doenst total it right as it sits. it will go to a body shop (of your choice or they will point you in a direction but ultimatly the choice is yours where your car gets fixed) and get torn down and a full correct estimate will be done at which point the car will either total or it wont and the adjuster will come back out to look the car over and the shops estimate to make sure its all legit... hope this helps... i work for a body shop and see and deal with this stuff on a weekly basis... good luck to you and on the bright side no one got hurt...

[sweetbmxrider]

Boom, there you go. I told him to chime in cause he knows wayyyy more than me. My info is all hearsay I guess.

[BonzoHansen]

Considering state liability limits are 15/30 - $15,000 per incident/$30,000 aggregate per policy period - any talk of $10k cap is BS - I guess unless she has already exhausted the $20k in other incidents during this policy period. If the guy told you that he is likely a liar. Good thing you got your carrier involved. If her car insurance does not cover it, then go after her parents as you know the car is probably in their name and she is a minor and lives at home. Oooh, their homeowners & maybe an umbrella policy are all in play.

[transmaro93]

yea once youve exhausted the insurance policy... only other way to get compensated is to sue... unfortunatly thats the world we live in. but are you sure its 15/30? when i bought my policy and this was like 5 years ago. im pretty sure there was a 5k property and 15kbodily liability option... unless thats changed now... when i seen that i couldnt believe that was legal... i have 100k/300k coverage... we living in screwed up times where people try to cut costs anywhere possible and it sucks that good people have to pay for their short commings...

[Jersey Mike]

From my experiences, insurance companies will spew a bunch of **** in their efforts to spend as little money, if any, as possible. I've been lied to, bullied, and told to go pound sand more times than I've been offered help when dealing with automobile insurance companies.
The best move you made was letting your insurance company fight hers. To quote Jane Lynch in Role Models, "You can't BS a BS'er."

[Blacdout96]

So State Farm sent their guy here, and he spent two hours going over both the vehicles, and looks like the MINI is more then okay! Showed me the paper work, and damages only came out to about $6,000....Geico said $10,700. He said he doesn't know where the hell he got his estimates, he's been in this business for a long time, and knew right away it was going to be fine.

He said the big thing these cheap insurance companies are doing right now are just buying up these high demand cars that have expensive parts that would make them money after they get done recycling the parts then the check they wrote out to me, thus why the buy back is so high ( I kinda figured that) and also they are sending a lot of our cars overseas for parts, not suprising since I worked for a company that would cut Hino and Fuso box trucks in half, shove them in a container, ship them overseas, and make more money like that then attempting to resell it here. They just wield a piece of C-frame where they cut the truck, and off they go.

So once again people, if you think you're saving on cheap insurance, remember, they aren't a charity, their in business to make money while staying cheap, one way or another.

[sweetbmxrider]

Yeah I was talking to my buddy about the buy back bs and he said the same thing. Some cars are just a high demand right now they would rather part them out.

[L695speed]

Sounds like you got it sorted out. Just really really really look over the bottom and subframes. My brother was in a wreck with his WRX and while it was a small one, what appeared to be just a bent shock and broken wheel etc, wound up being a crushed frame rail in the unibody that was under the fender. We almost decided to take the hit and fix the damage. I only found it when comparing the good side to the side that was hit. Once I found that I told my brother to take the money and run. I don't know if it would have driven right afterwards with that kind of damage, even if it was pulled and straightened. Metal can only take so much stress I would bet in my brother's case, it wouldn't have been as stiff as it once was.

[transmaro93]

yea if you dont mind.. post up what the final repair cost is... because ill assure you there will be more damage found once its all apart (which is normal) like i said above i thought that was a repairable car. but just for reference. we got a brand new 2012 Buick Regal in... hit really hard in the nose and down the side. Car was near total and customer didnt want it and frankly shops dondt want stuff like that either cause you a hardly make money on huge jobs but you take what you need to. Salvage on that car was only 5K on that car... yes 5K because there is no demand for it. so we ended up fixing this car. Came out nice and customer was happy but it was a hugge job. salvage value plays alot into what insurance companies do. geico prob said we can pay this guy off and scrap the car and break even or at least end up with less out of pocket... where as if they fix it they are just out the full repair costs...

[MyFirstZ]

They wants 10k for some for the most part everday sheet metal work and a bent stamped steel control arm. Even at oem prices it should not be that much.

Mini has sublet body shops that they use. You can have it towed to a dealer and someone will come from there sublet shop and give you am estimate as well.