Total Loss - Insurance Tips?
 

So, this car that I've been asking so many questions about as of late, as of today, is a total loss.

My youngest daughter went camping in the mountains with a group of about 30 folks. They drove to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise, and were coming back down, when the back fishtailed on a dirt/gravel road. As she tried to recover it, it hit a roadside drainage ditch, and the car rolled over. It landed wheels down.

There were 5 people on board. One passenger had stitches for a cut on her leg, but they were all otherwise unscathed. They thought it was glass, but I think it was the rear cupholder edge that cut her.

The car did what it was supposed to do, but will not live to tell the tale.

The engine looked fine everything underneath looked OK, and the occupant compartment looks brand new. The front bumper molding is gone, and the left and right front, as well as rear right quarter panels are all damaged. The roof rack collapsed a little on the driver side, popping the sunroof out. One rear wheel axle came out.

Does not look like there's structural damage, but I can not imagine that the insurance company wants to take on this rebuild. So, with all of the body work required, I am sure it's a total loss.

So - how to not get totally hosed by insurance? I expect a low ball offer that is half of replacement cost. I hope I'm wrong, but that's what I expect.

Anyone have any experience with this? Please feel free to PM if you don't want to post in public.

I'll post some pics at some point.

Honestly, this crash in many other cars would have been very, very bad.

The fact that they all walked away is truly remarkable.

She already says she'll never drive anything but an X5. She was saying that before, but she feels convinced this car saved 5 lives, and I think she's correct.

Anyways, tips or pointers would be appreciated. I have never dealt with a total loss scenario.

Glad to hear everyone is OK.

The vehicle can always be replaced.

Thanks, and naturally. It is amazing they were all ok.

Once the shock is over, now it's on to worry about the claims process.

Hopefully, you had collision insurance on the X. With the X being so old, a lot of owners don't bother with collision or comprehensive. The insurance company will look at the year and mileages on the X and see what a comparable X in your area is going for.

I had a total lost on my first Lotus due to a fire. I had collision and comprehensive insurance on the Lotus. Back in the 70's there weren't that many Lotus cars around and most insurance companies didn't even know what a Lotus was. There was a similar Lotus forsale and the insurance company called the seller and asked about the car. The seller told the insurance company that the car was sold. They asked how much did the Lotus sold for. He replied he got his full asking price. The insurance company settle with me for the full asking price that the seller sold his Lotus for less the $100.00 deductible on my policy. The buyer was me.

Yeah it really depends on how your insurance policy is set up. Do have Actual Cash Value or Replacement cost, do you have collision only vs comprehensive. I would suggest pulling out your insurance policy and begin reading the section on covered events and how it will pay out. Once you understand what you have then you can determine an approach of negotiation.

Thanks folks.

I have Collision, Comp, Bodily Injury, Uninsured Veh (won't apply), and Tow Coverage.

So, I'm sure the car is covered. I don't think it's replacement value, but I am looking for the policy to find that out for sure. I think it's ACV.

Of course, the rub is determining what ACV is. KBB and NADA aren't even close to what it would actually cost to replace the car. And, since these things are getting older (mine's an '05 3.0) values are all over the place.

There is a Suzuki dealer near me that offers what they call "cash deals". They pick up a car at auction, and sell it cheap. I went to look at an E46 they had as a $5k cash deal, and it was trashed - could not believe a real dealer would even offer that car. Drove a Volvo they had, and it stalled on the drive, and gushed oil everywhere. Had to be rescued.

So, if they use that as a comp, I'll have to discredit it, because their "cash deals" are garbage. Outside of that, they seem to range from around 6-9k.

Really, I just want most of enough to get a replacement. That way, I can have all the fun I've been having over the past few months, all over again.

up - that is a truly funny story on the Lotus.

Last year my beloved 1997 528 was totaled by the insurance company, reason being repair cost more than vehicle value per their estimation ($11k versus $4.5k). In the heat of the back and forth, they casually mentioned that I could buy it back for $200. I did and fixed her up myself for around $1.5k. She looks and drives better than she did before the accident.

Wow, incredible and funny.

From the description of the OP about the X5, it sounds like a total lost. The only thing he could do is buy it back and part it out to recover some of his money

I really can't tell what's damaged under the body work right now. If I could buy it that cheap ($200), I probably would, and have it really checked out.

We'll see how it goes.