Car insurance question - Kalyfish/others

Let's say a brand new car, 20 days old, gets totaled. What should I expect to get from the insurance company?

Will they just pay for the car, or will they also pay for the taxes and such? How about the tint?

I have not been told the car is totaled, but my wag is that only a magician or a masochist would want to fix it.

BTW, the pick-up that run the red light and hit it left the scene and was then dumped a few blocks away. So forget those guy's insurance ... will my go up as a result?

Enjoy the pictures, I have to go throw up.

Sorry Klayfish, I butchered your screen name on the title.

That looks like a hard hit. Is everyone OK?

It was definitely a hard hit, the car rotated 360 degrees. It hit another truck with the front end and that’s what stopped it. If what you see is not enough damage, the front bumper, hood and headlight are also toast.

Thankfully no one was hurt. My mom was driving and she is just a little bruised but nothing major. It could have been much worse. 

I ASSUME you would have to have gap insurance to be completely reimbursed for what is owed on the vehicle.

Check your policy, sometimes they include that automatically on new car purchases.

I have no advice but I'm glad she's ok

No gap. The car was paid in full. 

Was the truck stolen?

You can still claim against the other guys insurance. Your insurance company will take care of that I'm sure. They'll have some fancy talking to do to try to get out of it. If he's uninsured - well hopefully there's uninsured motorist coverage in place. 

This all happened across the street from both a police station and a fire station. I got there within 5’ of the accident and cops, ems and a fire truck were already there. 

The cop in charge told me that they had a car pursuing the truck. There were four individuals in the truck, two were dropped off halfway between the accident and where the truck was found. After a few minutes the deputy came and told me that they had the car but the driver run away. He told me that there was a high probability that the car was stolen. He also said that in 10 days when the report was ready it would have the trucks insurance info attached to it but only if it was insured. He made it sound like even if the truck was stolen the insurance was responsible, maybe I misunderstood. 

Regarding uninsured motorist, yes we have that. 

I have two words for you...Flex Tape.  That'll make the car good as new.  Just be sure to use Flex Seal to replace any damaged factory weld lines. 

Sorry to hear about the accident.  Yes, it's an obvious total loss, no doubt about it. 

You will be paid the actual cash value (ACV) of the car, plus taxes, tag and registration.  Since the car is less than a month old, I would frankly push pretty hard to have them pay awful darn close to what it cost brand new.  Yes, cars depreciate the moment you turn the key and drive it off the lot.  However, when you get to this extreme end of the vehicle age bell curve to where the car is still basically brand new, you try to do the right thing by the customer and go easy on depreciation. 

If the other driver ran, that's not a good sign at all.  Could have been stolen.  Could also be not stolen, but driver was DUI...it's dark outside in your picture, so I'm presuming this was nighttime....plenty of DUI people around then.  What the other insurance company will do, if there is one, depends on the circumstances.  If the car is legitimately stolen, then they will deny the claim and rightfully so.  If it wasn't stolen and was being driven by the owner/person who has insurance but they were just DUI and fled the scene (or just fled because they were kids doing something stupid), that may well be a different story.  If that's the case, there can be variables but most likely they'd have to pay. 

My best advice in this case is to just let your insurance company handle the claim for you and let them deal with any possible recovery from the other vehicle.

Also, for stuff like the tint, if you present a receipt for it, you will likely be reimbursed in full.  Heck, when my 12-year-old Grand Caravan got totaled, they reimbursed me in full for the headliner I had installed about 6 months previous to the accident.

I'm sorry about the accident and glad to hear there were no immediate injuries.  DO have your mother go back for a checkup in a couple weeks, and then a month or two after that.  Ambulance chasers aside, sometimes the strain injuries from an accident like this take a while to show up.

We had a Transit at work that got totaled...2 weeks after we put a new transmission in it.  Insurance adjuster looked at the bill for the new transmission (complete with current warranty) and increased the value of the Transit.  

Best thing we ever did was get rid of that driver...but that was after he ran a box truck into a customer's building, unfortunately.  

How many miles are on it? 

I'd think you have a pretty decent chance of getting pretty close to what you paid. Mom and Dad had a totalled Subaru (MY 05) in October 2004. They couldn't find *any* used 05's for sale that weren't more expensive than they paid new, so got reimburssed for their out-the-door costs including license tax and registration. 

Klayfish, thanks for the insight. 

This all happened at around 8pm, so yes it was dark and given the guy went through a red light at a high rate of speed I suspect they were dui. 

I am not an ambulance chaser and not trying to make money here, just wanted to know what to expect mostly. I don't mind getting a few hundred bucks less than what we paid, but it would suck to have to pay taxes again on top of getting less for the car. 

I called my mom’s insurance and filed the claim. I put it all on their hands and now we wait. 

Duke,

my dad took my mom to the hospital as soon as we left the accident. I got there first and dealt with the cops while my dad took her. 

My mom was in total shock, she called me crying and had no idea where she was. Whatever version of Onstar is on VW cars called the cops. I guess the dealership activated a trial. 

She was not complaining of pain but you could tell her she was hurting. They took a few xrays and she was deemed ok, no cracked ribs or anything. She was sore the next day but she rarely complains. 

The car had around 1500 miles on it. I put 1000 of them bringing it back from where we bought it. 

I do have the receipt for the tint. I will make sure I hand it over as it was another $250 that was spent on that. 

BTW, the missing wheel along with all the suspension bits was 100 yards away. 

Slippery said:

The car had around 1500 miles on it. I put 1000 of them bringing it back from where we bought it. 

Might want to mention that to the insurance company if you end up in negotiations over the value. In my experience, they only look within 100 miles or so for the value (the value of a 4x2 pickup is much lower in Colorado than in Texas). Something along the lines of "There are no direct replacements within 100 miles; we had to drive 1000 miles to find this one!"

Slippery said:

Duke,

my dad took my mom to the hospital as soon as we left the accident. I got there first and dealt with the cops while my dad took her. 

My mom was in total shock, she called me crying and had no idea where she was. Whatever version of Onstar is on VW cars called the cops. I guess the dealership activated a trial. 

She was not complaining of pain but you could tell her she was hurting. They took a few xrays and she was deemed ok, no cracked ribs or anything. She was sore the next day but she rarely complains.

I'm glad to hear that she got such prompt treatment and that xrays were negative.

I just know that DD#1 and 3 friends got rearended pretty hard in my GC (that's what totaled it).  None of them were significantly injured on the scene, but 3 of the 4 needed some followup care and 1 needed significant PT.

This stuff sucks, especially given the circumstances surrounding it.  People suck.  I wish the best to your family.

Man I am glad to hear she's ok. Things like this remind me how far vehicle safety has really come. 

Hopefully the insurance doesn't screw you, definitely a total loss.

Just to update, they totaled the car once they reached $13k in damages. 

The offer is $18k for the car + 6% tax and $80 for the title. 

They offered $100 (included in the $18k) for the tint I paid $250 for. 

The comps are $18.6 for a car with 7200 miles, to $17.2 for one with 4xxx miles. Mine had 18xx miles. 

Ask them how they got to the value they did, because it doesn't make any sense to you (because it doesn't make any sense period). Also come up with your own comps. 

mtn said:

Ask them how they got to the value they did, because it doesn't make any sense to you (because it doesn't make any sense period). Also come up with your own comps. 

Maybe I'm missing something, but how does it not make sense?  Their valuation is right in the range of the comparables that were found.  $17,200 for a car with 4xxx miles and they're offering him $18,000 for his.  A car with 1800 miles doesn't have a huge value difference from one with 4000 miles, they're still both basically brand new. 

Slippery, you can try to press for a little more, and maybe they'd give you another hundred or two, but from what you're describing, sounds like they're pretty spot on.  As for the tint, keep in mind they don't owe you for the cost you paid, they owe you for whatever value it may have added to the car. 

I'm right with Klay on this one. That offer is reasonable based on the data. Aftermarket window tint around here adds about zero to the car's value so whatever you get for that is a bonus IMO.

In my state you only get the sales tax, not any registration or title fee costs. Just adding for others to point out it varies by state.

In my state, you get the prorated balance of your remaining registration fees.

Now, may I add, is the time those annoying Liberty Mutual spokespeople get extra smug... while ignoring the fine print that says their amazing "full new car coverage" is an extra cost option.