Accident-possible total loss-insight needed

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The best thing you can do is get your own estimates from quality expensive shops using all new factory parts.
They can try to use cut rate shops and used or cheap parts vs a VW dealer.
 
Glad you weren't hurt and I wish you luck with the process.

I was involved in a similar accident years ago. A guy in a Chevy blazer blew through his stop sign and shot out in front of me. I skidded to the right side curb but still smacked him in the right rear quarter of his blazer. He admitted fault but his insurance would not cover more than 60% of the repair bill on my vehicle. I had to subrogate the rest through my insurance. Total pain in the rear it was and was like $6500 damage to my vehicle at the time. The claim was I should have been able to stop in time based on where I hit his car. Total [censored], but that's how it played out.
 
I hope the police were called to the scene. Sounds like the other driver should have received a traffic citation. Plus the amount of damage called for police involvement. You've gotten some good advice here already. Good luck with both insurance companies.
 
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
Please shoot me a message where I can send pics.

BITOG's thread announcing the picture capability: Click me

A thread I made with a tutorial for posting pictures: Click ME
 
Originally Posted By: Leo99
They do a repair estimate. They compare the estimate against the value of the vehicle. If the estimate is above a certain % of the value of the vehicle, they will declare a total loss. Each insurance company has their own %. Also, electrical, flood, or structural damage may bias them towards declaring a total loss. Short of slipping the adjuster a Benjamin, I don't know what you can do to influence them. The driver is smart. He knows when to be silent.



This-the owner has no control over how the insurance will choose to handle it. As I said recently on another thread-I have seen FULL FRAME REPLACEMENTS on pickups in an accident with insurance claims. Ansd while that's not cheap-it's probably cheaper than replacing a $70,000.00 pickup truck.
 
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
It’s goig to a salvage facility first. State Farm owned. No body shop unless they decide to fix. I’m demanding documentation of all vw parts if they fix,among other things. Thinking this will take a month or more if they fix, so hopefully they figure the price of my rental in.



Read your policy. Most say they can use replacement parts other than OEM.
 
Police were called. I was so shaken up I Gabe my statement and sat in a police car. I hit him in the very front. It’s clear he pulled out in front without looking or sadly thinking he could make it.

I’m letting State Farm do their review. We will see where we stand. If I’m not happy I’ll ask that it be brought to a shop of my choice. Based on my conversations with a loss this high an adjuster would be very involved regardless. Additionally I don’t want to stall this at the front end as I have rental coverage but know that’s only for so long. I need a car, preferably a new one.
 
Not denying this but need to research more. Nice thing is that since it’s a brand new model, not sure how many replacements are out. I also know that nicely making it harder to deal with you and being very picky can actually help your case. Out of my hands for the moment.
 
Sorry the phone rotated the image for some reason. If you said the dash is pushing up against your knees I think you have good chances. SF has been good to be and is super fast working on their end. Best of luck.
 
Thank you. They’ve been good to me as well, and to my dad and helping to get a vehicle totaled. We shall see.
 
See if the back doors open and close freely. Look at the edge of the roof from the back of the car. DO you see any small ripples/wrinkles along the edge of the roof. If so, that generally can mean the car is totalled.
 
I’ll have to see about the roof. Didn’t look and don’t have the ability to now. Rear doors seemed ok, fronts were tough to open. Could just be the door skins there, though.

One thing that gives me hope is that the car would start after the accident but not move. All kinds of alarms going off. Perhaps a computer issue or drivetrain. I know that will add up quickly. What I can’t see is what is messed up mechanically. Imagining it’s not pretty.
 
Originally Posted By: deven
There is a law in Massachusetts that if the accident happens before the car has 12,000 miles or 1 year they body shop has to use all genuine OEM parts. Since VW parts are more on the expensive side maybe that will aid in getting the car totaled. Otherwise you are SOL if it isn't. Try talking to the body shop and tell them that you need a big favor in getting the car totaled and sometimes these shop people are good about inflating prices and getting to where you need to be. Good luck


Being a 2018, parts availability will be an issue. This will really cause the rental costs to add up and can push it over the edge.
 
Originally Posted By: BTLew81
Police were called.... I hit him in the very front. It’s clear he pulled out in front without looking...


You should be fine then.

With the situation I mentioned above, I was unlucky to hit my guy towards the rear quarter. If you make contact beyond the mid point of a vehicle is where insurance companies try to weasel out saying you should have had adequate time to stop.

In my case, it didn't matter that the other guy admitted fault and was issued a ticket. They didn't want to see pics of the skid marks, the crazy angle of the intersection, etc. They made one final offer and that was it. I had to turn it over to my insurance carrier at the time and let them deal with it. It was cheaper/easier for them to just pay the 40% and be done with it.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: deven
There is a law in Massachusetts that if the accident happens before the car has 12,000 miles or 1 year they body shop has to use all genuine OEM parts. Since VW parts are more on the expensive side maybe that will aid in getting the car totaled. Otherwise you are SOL if it isn't. Try talking to the body shop and tell them that you need a big favor in getting the car totaled and sometimes these shop people are good about inflating prices and getting to where you need to be. Good luck


Being a 2018, parts availability will be an issue. This will really cause the rental costs to add up and can push it over the edge.


That was my thought and hope as well. Even if parts were available this is a 6-8 process between estimate and repair. More if parts are an issue. That rental is going to get REAL expensive.
 
When figuring out the cost of the damage, don't forget to add in the cost of a rental for you to use in place of the vehicle that was damaged while it is being repaired.

If you were to have the vehicle totaled you may only require a rental for a couple of days while you shop for a new vehicle.
 
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