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Brett_Murphy
Brett_Murphy GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
10/20/18 10:30 p.m.

The Outback XT I picked up was apparently marked as a total loss by Nationwide. I don't know why they would do this. If I call them with the VIN, would they tell me?

Before I do that, does anybody know why they might do that?

itsarebuild
itsarebuild GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/20/18 10:35 p.m.

Maybe a theft recovery after the claim was Paid out? Otherwise I got nothin’

Streetwiseguy
Streetwiseguy UltimaDork
10/20/18 10:57 p.m.

Theft recovery would be my first guess, and I'm sure the insurance company will fill you in on the details.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
10/20/18 11:53 p.m.

You say, "the Outback I picked up..." 

Where did you pick it up? Who did you buy it from? 

Did you pay a reduced price for it?  Salvage title? Rebuilt title? 

wae
wae SuperDork
10/21/18 7:53 a.m.

In reply to John Welsh :

More like the Subie he had dropped-off.  There's another thread here somewhere, but he had a throwaway $400 bid on Copart that wound up being the high bid.

 

I'm kind of curious how the interior wound up in the back seat as part of the totaling out process...

Knurled.
Knurled. GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/21/18 8:13 a.m.

I wonder, does the interior smell like the previous owner occupied it posthumously for a while?

 

 

sleepyhead
sleepyhead GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/21/18 8:33 a.m.
Brett_Murphy
Brett_Murphy GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
10/21/18 4:07 p.m.

It smells musty but not flooded or like somebody died in it. 

I'll call Nationwide, thanks.

 

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia Reader
10/21/18 4:26 p.m.

Could it have been "salvage" before it's last battle ?

Brett_Murphy
Brett_Murphy GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
10/21/18 4:48 p.m.

That's a good question. It may have been, I don't have an unlimited Carfax. I'll have to check.

NGTD
NGTD UberDork
10/21/18 5:29 p.m.

About 20 years ago, I was looking at an Explorer. I saw something odd in the ownership history and dropped by a State Farm office.

The lady there printed out the repair estimate and let me read it, but not keep it. Needless to say, I passed on said Explorer.

84FSP
84FSP SuperDork
10/21/18 5:59 p.m.

Call your insurance company and ask for the vehicle history.  The insurance teams have records that rule lame imitations like carfax.  It's a great prebuy thing to do ahead of any real value vehicle...

Brett_Murphy
Brett_Murphy GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
10/21/18 6:57 p.m.

That's a great idea, thank you.

 

Floating Doc
Floating Doc GRM+ Memberand Dork
10/21/18 10:42 p.m.
84FSP said:

Call your insurance company and ask for the vehicle history.  The insurance teams have records that rule lame imitations like carfax.  It's a great prebuy thing to do ahead of any real value vehicle...

That's something I've never heard, and never want to forget.

Klayfish
Klayfish PowerDork
10/22/18 6:18 a.m.
Floating Doc said:
84FSP said:

Call your insurance company and ask for the vehicle history.  The insurance teams have records that rule lame imitations like carfax.  It's a great prebuy thing to do ahead of any real value vehicle...

That's something I've never heard, and never want to forget.

It's also not exactly accurate.  Carfax typically gets its' accident history records from the same database insurance companies use.  The primary difference is that an insurance company can see much more specifics about an accident/theft/whatever than Carfax will report.  However, how much of that you can get is typically limited due to privacy. 

Insurance companies don't have access to maintenance history records like Carfax does. 

Why is it totaled?  Could be lots of things...flood or theft seem two most likely.

ddavidv
ddavidv PowerDork
10/22/18 6:53 a.m.

The Jetta I just bought the wife had a clean vehicle history report (similar to CarFox but a different company). I ran it's VIN on my estimating computer and found it had two insurance losses with GEICO. Since I used to work for the lizard I just called up an old co-worker and had them tell me what the losses were (bumper hits and a broken headlamp). Nothing to keep me off buying it but gave me areas of the car to look at more carefully...and now I know why the front bumper doesn't fit well (aftermarket).

One quirk my state of PA has that isn't insurance related is abandoned cars get salvage titles even if no damage is done to them. Probably not the case with this one but something for others reading this thread to be aware of.

Knurled.
Knurled. GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/22/18 7:02 a.m.

In reply to ddavidv :

I thought abandoned cars got mulched by free-enterprise recycling enthusiasts.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
10/22/18 9:16 a.m.

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

When I buy IAA Salvage here in Ohio, the Salvage title has on it the name of who I bought it from (ie: State Farm) as well as the name and address of the previous owner.  For the Montero that I bought, I had the name and address of the previous owner who lived about 1 hr from me. With paper, pen, envelope and stamp I wrote him a letter.  About a week later he called me.  We met up and I purchased from him some bits that were not included with the car but were in his garage.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/the-sumo-wrestler-01-mitsu-montero-limited/130334/page1/

Did yours come with any info on previous owner who would then know the wholes story?  

 

I also see that Copart listed this as Mechanical Damage???  If it was Flood Damage and got an insurance payout as Flood Damage then I would think it would have been tagged as Flood.  Mechanical makes me wonder if there was some sort of suspected harness damage and then either the repair was abandoned when the replaced harness did not solve the issue or sourcing a new harness proved to be too costly.  When the costs went to "over-run", the Insurance Co may have just cut their losses, paid the shop for work done and said do no further (but throw everything of value in the trunk.)  Onwer then got a pay-out settlement. 

Being a manual turbo makes it rare.  Does this version call for a different harness than the more common automatic version?  If so, you might have a replacement auto trans harness which they could not make work.  You might not be able to make it work either.  Also, keep in mind that for insurance work, they were not willing to modify or alter the harness.  They want genuine "click to connect" type connections so the work does not come back to bite them.  You might be able to splice into the current harness.  

 

Curtis
Curtis GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
10/22/18 9:34 a.m.

States are different and insurance companies are different.  Some will tell you what the "damage" was, others are tight-lipped.

It could also be something innocuous.  I had a Tercel that I had full coverage for way too long before I realized that the car was pretty worthless.  It got a bunch of hail damage on a few panels.  I figured I'd get back some of the money I paid into premiums so I made a claim.  They totaled the car, wrote me a check for $2500, I bought the car back for $400 and drove it.  I could have bought the three panels from a junkyard for $200 and no one would have ever known it ever had any damage.

I also had a Sonoma that was an R title because it had been sideswiped very lightly, but it scraped up all the panels on the driver's side.  There was nothing mechanically wrong, the tires/wheels weren't hit, and I saw the damage before it was repaired, so I bought it cheap after it was fixed with some junkyard panels and some bondo.  It was totaled because the labor for every panel put it over 85% of its buyout cost.  It was bought by a body shop to flip for a profit and I was the profit.

I'm just saying that your example might have had a claim made that wasn't cosmetic, or the repairs were super simple but the financial involvement caused it to be totaled.

 

dculberson
dculberson UltimaDork
10/22/18 9:43 a.m.

With the interior torn apart, there's a good chance they were chasing after flood damage. But those are usually marked as flood damage, so that may not be the case.

Knurled.
Knurled. GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/22/18 5:42 p.m.

If there was suspected wiring harness damage, I can easily see that totalling a car, since insurance may require a new harness instead of a splice repair or doubling repair.  Especially if a new harness is no longer available from Subaru.

Brett_Murphy
Brett_Murphy GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
10/23/18 2:21 p.m.

The two insurance companies wouldn’t tell me anything.

 

the VIN is 4S4BP67C666305088 if somebody can work some magic.

the previous  owner appeared to be Nationwide on the title I got, I will double check

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
10/23/18 2:54 p.m.

I realize this varies by state but my Ohio Titles look like this when I buy the Salvage cars and before I put them in my name.  

I bought this Subaru from State Farm who bought it from Mr. Price

I'm pretty interested in what's up with this Subaru you bought!  

I hope it is just a "put it together kit" like my Mercury Milan was.

Will the Insurance companies tell you what body shop had the car?  I ask because then calling the body shop might get you answers.  Heck, it would be great if you could get the entire "estimate of work" from the shop.   Maybe start with the obvious Subaru Dealer in the area of the car.  Work like this seems like it would have gone to the dealer.  Tell them you bought the following VIN and see if they have any repair records.  May as well also ask them if there is any outstanding recalls.  Are these Takata Airbag?  

Brett_Murphy
Brett_Murphy GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
10/23/18 8:46 p.m.

The title I got looks different. NC General Statute 20-109.1b required the owner of a vehicle that is a loss assign the title of the vehicle to the insurance company that paid the claim. So, the owner of my vehicle really was Nationwide.

Nationwide will tell me nothing. USAA knows nothing and suggested I look at a Carfax.

 





 

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia Reader
10/23/18 9:05 p.m.

You can get a Carfax on ebay

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