on the 11th of this month i got into an accident and now im gonna be losing my car...

the accident:
it was me driving my 07 tC and the other driver was driving a 98 honda cr-v. my front passenger-side quarter panel collided with his rear driver-side quarter panel.

the road:
its a 2 lane each way hwy, divided by a solid double yellow line. so 2 on-coming and 2 on-going lanes. for those of you who know gaithersburg/ germantown area in MD- its the clopper road.

point of impact:
i was in the left lane and the other driver was in front of me in the right lane. there was an accident on the oncoming side of the hwy so that side was closes and the cars were being diverted to go back. the police/ ambulances were already on the scene of the other accident. time was around 8:30.

so im driving and watching the road ahead of me and I see the other driver (in the cr-v) and this guy is looking at the accident and not paying attention on the road- all this while he was on his cell phone, so his car is drifting into my lane. and then all of a sudden he brakes real hard and his brake lights are non-functional. and hes in the middle of two lanes when his car collided with mine.

so the police come over and they say to take it up with the insurance (which happen to be the same, his and mine) and i tell them that his brake lights aren't working, and they say that take it up with the insurance. they didn't assign any points to anybody.
we pull the cars to the side and exchange insurance info and i take a sh*tload of pictures. the guy was not insured on that car and it was his mom's car.


BTW- the airbags Didn't go off.
the aftermath:

i get a call from a lady from my insurance company and she takes my recorded statement and then she talks to me for 10-15 mins about the possibe outcomes, and told me that she will call me as soon as she gets the statement from the other guy.
Then I went to toyota’s body shop and met with the claim adjuster and talked to him and he gave a copy of the estimate- he was a very nice guy and understood what I was saying and sat down with me to explain. The original estimate was $4445.xx

The service director at Toyota service told them that they will have to pull apart the front of the car to assess the further (non-superficial) damage.

Now: a full week passed and the person that took my recorded statement never called me back, and when I called nationwide, another rep told me that my case was transferred to some other person.

So I was at my Toyota Service dept. and was talking to the service director on friday, and he told me that the main engine wiring harness was impacted and the only way to fix this issue was to replace the whole harness ($1465+ 16.4hrs labor which includes the removal and re-installation of the dash) plus the ABS actuator may need replacing, as well as the two hard A/C lines. He told me that as soon as he told the insurance co. that the wiring harness was damaged, they told him to instantly stop the work because they will look into salvaging the car.

At the time I was leaving, the claims adjuster came in after looking at the car. Now this isn’t that guy, this is a female and all she is talking about the whole time was how she’ll try to get the highest salvage bid. She said “since the car is in such good condition, I can get a very high salvage bid- around 2-3Grand.” (btw she’s not the same lady as the one that took my statement)

Then 3 hrs later she calls my dad on his cell phone and tells him that the car is a total loss. So my dad calls me and tells me what she said; so I call her and she’s says with an attitude “well I already told you that it may be salvaged…If anything, please feel free to call me.” So naturally, I ask her what was the value that they assessed for my car, and she says “they’ll call you on Monday with the value that they will be offering you for the car” and then she tells me that the estimate was $11,999.09. I ask her why so much and she tells me that the A/C condenser is damaged, amongst other thing. And she never gave me/ or faxed me a copy of the estimate.

This whole time I haven’t received a call from anyone with what the judgment was regarding whose fault was it, etc. Also, I haven’t heard from my original claims adjuster, instead this lady is my self-announced claims adjuster!



What Now:

I have thought about this emotionally, sentimentally, practically, and financially; and I have decided that I want my car back! I am ready to fight for it!

My dilemma:

Why is the estimate 11,999.09? that number sounds so fishy.

Why is Donald Upson not involved? Who is this other lady- I don’t wanna deal with her I wanna deal with my original claims adjuster.

Why is the highest salvage bid only $2000 for this immaculate car?

Why is nobody getting back to me? Why do I have to call them?

Why is my case being handled by so many different people?

Why is this lady hell-bent upon salvaging my car?


And finally… What do I do Now? I need ur guys help? What are my options? What do u guys think is the best option for me right now?


Here are the pics of the car on the night of the accident, and the pics from the email that was sent from the body shop to the service director regarding the damage to the wiring harness.



these are the pictures taken on the 5th of this month.




Night of the Accident:




Under Hood Damage:

Up Close:


the car is still in an immaculate condition... 2Grand? for this? need ur help people.



Email From the body shop:

After they pulled apart the front of the car...



Both A/C lines Kinked


ABS Actuator gone?


And the main reason my car is being labled total loss...

$1465.00 for the wiring harness and 16.4 hrs of labor...



Help... what should I do?

 

when i sent my truck to the crusher i only got 35 dollars for it...

 

that looks nasty.

 

YIKES!

 

take what u can off before u lose it... tails fogs wheels etc... sry for the loss...

if u get it fixed it wont ever drive the sme...

 

I have to say... that from the pics it looks like you drove into the back of someone. Now whether or not that person's brake lights were working, I don't know - though you should have tried to get proof of that or a witness at the scene to say yes or no. But the picture doesn't look good to me from your side of the story.

That said, as for your insurance - keep bugging them. Keep calling back. Don't sit and wait for them. Call back and ask for a status. Ask to know what is going to happen with your car. Try to get a time frame for things. It's sad that they'll keep dicking you around like this. I had thought Nationwide was pretty good.

Every time I read stories like this, I'm more happy that I have Progressive and the one claim I've had to file with them couldn't have gone any better. Excellent service and response.

 

1)because that's what they value the car at. They would give you about $12000 for the car if it is in fact a total loss

2)Insurance companies usually have alot more people than 1 person working for a region. It's natural for someone else on the team to call/work the file. That's why they take notes. Secondly, insurance companies usually have a primary adjuster that only deals with initial claims then it's usually followed up by someone else that does more detailed adjustments. Think of it as a tier I vs a tier II tech or something.

3)a salvage title means that it can no longer be fully covered unless you go with a non-standard insurance company. These companies are usually pretty shady and usually don't pay out on claims very well. This also means that if they only really want to pay $2000 for a car that they can fix so that way they can make their money back. If they buy it for $4k for example, then spend $6k on repairs, they have to sell a salvaged vehicle for $10k. Who the hell would buy a salvaged car for $10k?

4)Nobody is getting back to you because nothing is going on with your car. Why would they call you? to shoot the ____ and ask you how your day was? not their job.

5)Again, would you rather only one person who may also be handling dozens of other cases follow up with you or would you rather have a team of people ensuring the fastest/most efficient system.

6)because if she salvages it, it technically can still be re-registered and resold, and/or you can buy the car back.

 

Its a chance to upgrade. Go pick up a car with some power now.

 

awe, srry bout ur accident...but in an effort to cheer u up I offer a quote from Joe Dirt.."...that ____'ll buff out"

 

That doesn't look like a total loss

 

Tell them to pish off and just fix the durn car.... ain't no way that is a total.. seems to me that you may need to get with a lawyer to straighten them out on this hokus-pokeus

 

do u owe anything on the loan? cause if u don't owe anything and or owe alittle bit and there offering u 12k for it take it pay wat u owe for the loan if u owe anything and put the rest as a heavy down payment for a new car bro. u fix that and its NEVER gonna drive the same no way. and there was frame damage

 

Uhh... it doesn't look like a total at all, but what do I know... I'm not an insurance adjuster.


If it is a total, and they want to give you $12k for it... TAKE IT. That's probably better than the bluebook on it. I think you'll find that your car is never the same after major repairs.

How much do you owe on it? Hopefully, you'll have a little equity to score that Mazdaspeed 3 that we all should have bought instead...

 

buy an 09...
damn sorry bout the loss tho.... was a clean ride for sure!

 

Sorry for your loss bro it sad that many tC are going down

 

^ exact reason why my insurance went up for no reason

 

ill buy the tails... lol sorry for the loss PM me if you wanna sell them

 

Sorry, Scionkidd. I understand your pain. Nationwide is my carrier and I'm still trying to get an issue resolved about an event that happened on Labor Day weekend. Yes, you read that right. We've been passed from one adjuster to another to another and so on. Hopefully, the $12k will be enough to cover any lien and give you enough to make a good down payment on an '09. The only thing worse than your bout with Nationwide would be if it were State Farm (an even bigger nightmare).

Hang in there. I know you love your ride but the buyout sounds good.

 

^ i agree on state farm being a BIG NIGHTMARE. i waited for a $900 reimbursement from them for a 1 1/2 yrs supposedly b/c their party was out of the country and they couldn't be bothered to keep tabs on their customers.. i finally had it to the max & said i would file with better business bureau & what did i receive in the mail 2 weeks later?? my $900

 

HAHA... :D





... I wish...

LOL

oh trust me Im not in the game for power... I have a turbo'ed tC which is VERY powerful! but this is the car that I just enjoyed the drive in...

So If I do have to get a new car, it'll probably be another tC or maybe a Camry SE-V6.


It a shady fact, but they wanna salvage it because they know they can make a BIG Profit off my car...

I am REALLY thinking of getting a lawyer and getting this straightened out!!! this is really bugging me.

I owe 10K on the car... so Im not gonna make a big profit off the deal- but then again, I dont wanna make profit off this deal... just want my baby back