X5 wreck experience - Page 2

Roc3b · #11 09-03-2005, 04:52 PM

Sometimes you hear that the vehicles are never the same. That is a pretty good lick that it put on that Dodge....there maybe stuff that you cannot see with the naked eye structurally and if....heaven forbid something like this happens again would it be just as strong? I am just kinda thinking and typing.

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DinanX5 · #12 09-03-2005, 05:40 PM

Somehow I missed this thread until now - I'm very glad that you and your son are A-OK! Very sorry about the X5, though... best of luck to you getting it all put back together, if you decide to go that route.

Good to know that we're all driving around in one of the safest vehicles on the road!

JayBee · #13 09-04-2005, 10:47 PM

Glad to hear you are unscathed.

Any Pics?

Interested to see how the car's crumple zones reacted.

pepatrick · #14 09-04-2005, 10:58 PM

pics are right here. http://www.xoutpost.com/showthread.php?t=4792

DrewX5 · #15 09-05-2005, 04:11 AM

Glad you and your son are okay. It's also refreshing to know that the X perfomed well in a real life crash scenario and doing its job.
This was one of the main reason I bought the car.

If this accident was not your fault and you have frame damage do not let the insurance company repair the vehicle. It will never be the same...and insist you want it to be written off. Take the money and go lease/buy a new X5 or buy CPO.

pepatrick · #16 09-05-2005, 09:50 AM

Drew,

Thanks for the words. We appear to be fine. Robbie is still a little freaked out about getting in cars, but I am sure this will pass. I have had a chance to get up underneath the car and dig in a little bit. I am pretty sure there is no frame damage. All damage is above the engine compartment and bumper supports, so the frame and motor was not even touched...including the bumper support beam. The engine compartment is largely untouched except where the hood was pushed back and busted off some of the plastic things. Once you get the hood off...it does not look that bad. I will wait to see what the insurance company says. If the frame is damaged, I will have them total it. I might even consider buying it from the insurance company and part it out.

Part of me really hopes that it is not totalled. I looked nearly a month for the car (and only had it for a month) and it had everything on it that I wanted. It only has 32k miles and is a CPO car. I know it is replaceable, but finding one with exact options that I wanted like that is not easy unless I purchase a new one. I have only purchased a couple of new cars and will probably never do it again. I cant justify 60+ for a brand new one when one a few years old with low miles is half price. This car really is that clean...so..again...if the damage is not major...I am going to get it fixed.

I am taking it to Magnum collision in Atlanta. They are supposed to be one of the best BMW body shops in the South East. They have repaired quite a few Z8s and you can imagine how picky those guys are. I will let everyone know the progress and post pics of the repaired X5 or the replaced X5...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrewX5

Glad you and your son are okay. It's also refreshing to know that the X perfomed well in a real life crash scenario and doing its job.
This was one of the main reason I bought the car.

If this accident was not your fault and you have frame damage do not let the insurance company repair the vehicle. It will never be the same...and insist you want it to be written off. Take the money and go lease/buy a new X5 or buy CPO.

DrewX5 · #17 09-05-2005, 08:52 PM

I understand your feelings. Just keep in mind though if you ever try to sell the car down the road if its repaired its considered damaged goods. If there was a police report it will definately show up on a carfax report.

I had a similar issue with my brand new 2004 Infinity FX-35. Someone hit me hard and there was major suspension damage on the passenger side. The body shop and the insurance company never really wants to total a car. I had to pull out the legal mumo jumbo to my insurance company and in the end they totalled it. The body shop always wants to fix it...so they will understimate the damage and low ball the damage value to the insurance company so they get the green light to fix it. They will tell you that they are certified in BMW repairs, etc. They very well could be and the CPO in this case will be honored. The more time your car is in the shop the more they make money in storage, etc. When they start pulling the car apart they ALWAYS will find more things wrong with it and sure enough the bill goes up to repair it. Every insurance company has a different percentage of value they use to total the car. My insurance company used 75% of the car's value. I was able to convince my insurance company that the repairs will exceed this amount and that there would be a diminished value to the car after the repair. Diminished value is the value of the car after its is considered to be damaged goods. They calculated 75% of the diminshed value and not the private party value. This is really important cause it brings the value down and put me over to get the FX totalled.
I know this game all too well...so I was on top of things from the very beginning and kept ontop of the appraiser, body shop and my insurance agent.
Once I got them to agree to total the car, I worked with my insurance company to make sure they knew that I had every possible option on the car, like NAV, 20 inch wheels, hood visor, etc. I wanted to make sure I got full value of the car and indeed I got way more than what I expected. Needless to say I got full retail value of the car back and not the diminished value. Used the proceeds and bought my X5 and pocketed the 5k well actually it went towards mods on my X5

Good luck on whatever decision you take. Keep in mind it will not be easy to get the insurance company to total the car. I consulted with a lawyer prior and he gave me excellent advice and points to argue including using some legal terms which I can't remember anymore

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