Totaled (?): '15 BMW 328i

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
As I've said to people for years, "Snow doesn't usually come inside your car and ruin the electronics. "
No, but salt tends to ruin everything else.



Salt can be rinsed off, if you get to it fast enough. Denver didn't use salt on their roads much, they used some kind of chemical that was supposed to be safer. Certainly the Oldsmobile and the Benzes I had there stayed in good shape.

Colorado also has dry climate and snow does not linger for long. You know that. It is mix of things, but CO is generally very friendly to cars. Either, European cars also do much better in salt than any other.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by atikovi
. . .

Insurance has to pay you the full retail value, not private party. Look up the price in NADA which is what the insurance companies use most often.


On that site I came up with about $22K. That would be quite nice, if I can get that or close to it!

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
As I've said to people for years, "Snow doesn't usually come inside your car and ruin the electronics. "
No, but salt tends to ruin everything else.



Salt can be rinsed off, if you get to it fast enough. Denver didn't use salt on their roads much, they used some kind of chemical that was supposed to be safer. Certainly the Oldsmobile and the Benzes I had there stayed in good shape.

Colorado also has dry climate and snow does not linger for long. You know that. It is mix of things, but CO is generally very friendly to cars. Either, European cars also do much better in salt than any other.

My plan when I retire, if I ever can, is to flee this benighted state and wet climates entirely, and head back to CO or a similar climate.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Originally Posted by atikovi
. . .

Insurance has to pay you the full retail value, not private party. Look up the price in NADA which is what the insurance companies use most often.


On that site I came up with about $22K. That would be quite nice, if I can get that or close to it!


NADA retail is every car sellers dream price. You would never be able to get that much for it if you tried to sell it yourself which is why you would almost always want to have your car totalled after a wreck. With the money you get you should be able to find a similar one a year newer or with less miles or the next model up.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
As I've said to people for years, "Snow doesn't usually come inside your car and ruin the electronics. "
No, but salt tends to ruin everything else.



Salt can be rinsed off, if you get to it fast enough. Denver didn't use salt on their roads much, they used some kind of chemical that was supposed to be safer. Certainly the Oldsmobile and the Benzes I had there stayed in good shape.

Colorado also has dry climate and snow does not linger for long. You know that. It is mix of things, but CO is generally very friendly to cars. Either, European cars also do much better in salt than any other.

I lived in Alabama 7 years. I have a lot of friends there, it was good to me, but I ain't coming back.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
I wish I still had rental car reimbursement -- but I took it off because the insurance in this forked-up state is so high to begin with. The well-optioned BMW was only a little more expensive than the base-model Regal. That may give you some idea of how crazy the insurance scam is here.

It's based on what happens with those cars. If the claims for a particular model are low, the insurance is going to be lower than another model that has a lot of claims. Like quantum entanglement, the universe doesn't always work the way you think it should. Maybe time to try a Mercedes? High depreciation just like BMW. E class is in the 20-25k range for a 2014+.

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
Originally Posted by atikovi
. . .
Insurance has to pay you the full retail value, not private party. Look up the price in NADA which is what the insurance companies use most often.

On that site I came up with about $22K. That would be quite nice, if I can get that or close to it!


Yes, that's the number you should aim for. If they don't give you that, bring it up when talking to them and ask them why and demand the retail value. That's what they're supposed to pay.

 

[double vanos]

Hey Benzadmiral come to Arizona! We have so many good places to live (car loving climate wise). Only flooding I've encountered is the numerous washes during the monsoon. You simply wait them out for an hour or so and it's over. 9 months out of the year the humidity is 10% or less where I live. Very normal to see 20-30 year old cars being daily driven.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by double vanos
Hey Benzadmiral come to Arizona! We have so many good places to live (car loving climate wise). Only flooding I've encountered is the numerous washes during the monsoon. You simply wait them out for an hour or so and it's over. 9 months out of the year the humidity is 10% or less where I live. Very normal to see 20-30 year old cars being daily driven.

I drove several times through AZ during heat wave. I thought I would self-ignite.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted by double vanos
9 months out of the year the humidity is 10% or less where I live.


HaHa, where I live its 90% humidity for 10 months of the year.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by double vanos
Hey Benzadmiral come to Arizona! We have so many good places to live (car loving climate wise). Only flooding I've encountered is the numerous washes during the monsoon. You simply wait them out for an hour or so and it's over. 9 months out of the year the humidity is 10% or less where I live. Very normal to see 20-30 year old cars being daily driven.

If I could find a place in the northern part of the state! The south, Phoenix and Tucson, are WAY too hot for me. I was in Tucson in June of 1985. Temps of 107 every day. Wow.

Still haven't heard from Prog. about the evaluation or the offer. The dealer, as you might expect, is tempting me with "incentives" (though those are no doubt for new cars only), and considering a newish LaCrosse night run me about 20-21K, if I could get another CPO 3 Series for that, I might go for it.

Anyway, I'm on my way to the dealer to collect some stuff of mine from the gold car, and ask if I can keep the loaner for a few more days.

 

[Benzadmiral]

The saga continues --

I got to the dealer, and the service manager and my service advisor were not in. "Since nobody has called you about returning the loaner," the receptionist said, "go ahead and keep the car until Monday." I collected a lot of my possessions from the car, which was sitting in their back lot, looking neglected, with yellow plastic bags over the front windows (i.e., they hadn't actually done any work on the car yet). I forgot a few things and will need to go back, though.

The big news is that Progressive called me and has sent me not only the revised estimate, which looks like the national debt of a small country -- but also the payoff breakdown, which I discussed with them on the phone. To put it simply, they valued the car correctly, in fact went over the figure I'd come up with from NADA.com, above. And after they pay off my loan and rake off my deductible, I am due for quite a nice chunk of cash! I'm basically made whole from my original down payment on the car, the cost of the rental car so far, and more.

The dealer, of course, wants me to go back into a BMW, and I'm not averse to that. We'll see if they can find me something I like in a reasonable time.

 

[dareo]

Sounds like you got a great deal from the insurance. See if you can find a new buick regal tourx for dirt cheap in your area. I have been really enjoying ours. The used Lacrosse is also a great idea if you want a really big car. Large american sedan=depreciation bargain.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral
The saga continues --

I got to the dealer, and the service manager and my service advisor were not in. "Since nobody has called you about returning the loaner," the receptionist said, "go ahead and keep the car until Monday." I collected a lot of my possessions from the car, which was sitting in their back lot, looking neglected, with yellow plastic bags over the front windows (i.e., they hadn't actually done any work on the car yet). I forgot a few things and will need to go back, though.

The big news is that Progressive called me and has sent me not only the revised estimate, which looks like the national debt of a small country -- but also the payoff breakdown, which I discussed with them on the phone. To put it simply, they valued the car correctly, in fact went over the figure I'd come up with from NADA.com, above. And after they pay off my loan and rake off my deductible, I am due for quite a nice chunk of cash! I'm basically made whole from my original down payment on the car, the cost of the rental car so far, and more.

The dealer, of course, wants me to go back into a BMW, and I'm not averse to that. We'll see if they can find me something I like in a reasonable time.

Progressive is cheapo insurance, but they surprised me a few years ago too. Person who rear ended my Camry had Progressive and they paid $3,450 for my Camry (totaled). I had paid $2,100 for it 7 months prior.

 

[DuckRyder]

Glad you got it worked out with minimal hassle (having a car totaled is always a hassle, but at least you didn't have to have an argument)...

Sedans are easy to get a good deal on and you can probably find another nice used BMW, Benz or even Audi for a good deal... Being under some pressure time wise is always the thing with being carless though.

I know there is a bunch of VW hate on this board, but you can probably buy a higher trim Passat or Jetta for about what you got for the BMW and may find it surprisingly comparable... Still, if you liked the BMW no reason not to get another one of those either...

 

[MCompact]

You probably want something a bit bigger, but the 2 Series is my favorite of all the newer Bimmers. I prefer the RWD six cylinders, but I drove several 230is when I worked at BMW and they were also a lot of fun to drive.

 

[CBR.worm]

Well, that's good that they got the money sorted out at least. Now you can start to put this phase of the journey behind you.

 

[Andrew1972]

People are always mad at Progressive but as an insurance holder of over 20years I have yet to have poor service from them as a customer. Apparently I am some sort of top tier customer to them as when I call it states I jumped the entire call queue and someone immediately picks up.

I think people who deal with them don't like them as much like body shops and other parties in accident. However for the $900/year full coverage/collision/highest limits/rental on two vehicles for myself not a single complaint.

The only reason I picked them, they have an internet portal in 1998 to get insurance (I despise brokers) and the price was cheaper by $300+ to the next best quote.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by madRiver
People are always mad at Progressive but as an insurance holder of over 20years I have yet to have poor service from them as a customer. Apparently I am some sort of top tier customer to them as when I call it states I jumped the entire call queue and someone immediately picks up.

I think people who deal with them don't like them as much like body shops and other parties in accident. However for the $900/year full coverage/collision/highest limits/rental on two vehicles for myself not a single complaint.

The only reason I picked them, they have an internet portal in 1998 to get insurance (I despise brokers) and the price was cheaper by $300+ to the next best quote.

I WISH I could get $900 a year in this benighted state. Yes -- so far Progressive has done quite well for me.

The hunt begins: mid-size or large sedan, light-colored interior, 240 or more hp, good A/C, quiet comfortable ride, a certain amount of reliability and some warranty on it, whether factory or CPO. The 3 Series checked all those boxes.

The 2017 LaCrosse I love the look of, but it has the engine stop-start always enabled; apparently you can't turn it off, let alone have the car remember your last setting. Is the Buick Regal TourX/ Sportback like that,or can you at least turn it off when you start the car?

If the dealer can't find me a 3 Series in a color combo I like, maybe I'll go with a '15-'16 Buick or a slightly older Lexus. Or a Hyundai Genesis/Equus.

 

[deanm11]

Make sure they includes sales tax on top of the car value. You need that to replace/be made whole.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted by deanm11
Make sure they includes sales tax on top of the car value. You need that to replace/be made whole.

They did! So far Prog. has been tops.