So I have a dilemma. I need advice especially if any older crowd is around or anyone who has had this experience. I came here instead of facebook. So recently I was in an accident it wasn't bad at all. No one was hurt. I made a claim with the insurance (progressive) they have been great in the past haven't needed them for a couple years. I was always told take it to a body shop they'll estimate, send an agent out to look at it blah blah blah. This time it was different. They said it had to be towed to their inspection facility 100 miles away. Because they needed to see if it was a total loss or not. I said it still drives, no leaks and no frame damage. All it haD body damage and the alignment was off brakes felt a little wonky but nothing major.
So they call me back this week and say it's a total loss they will pay the whole loan off. I did manage to put the car almost back to stock left with an exhaust. They send me a checklist not an estimate to how they determined the value. Basically it was a dealership checklist like it was going in on trade."seats, fair condition, carpets good, radio, stock wheels, body dings, engine dirty. But nothing of a quote to fix. They keep calling me because they want to sign the papers so they can pay the bank right away. I don't feel like this is right they're trying to tell me forget about the car because of the year and make 2009 chevy ss/tc that's their reason to total it. I feel like my car is getting stolen it doesn't matter how much I owe to the bank I just wanted the insurance to fix it. I don't know or should I say **** it and have them write it off.

 

Get in contact with a insurance attorney, it's worth the money you'll spend if you want to keep the LNF. I can say from experience with my base model I got in an accident and the rear quarter was damanaged and the GM book calls for 18ish hours of labor to remove the quarter panel (cost was around 6k and it included a junkyard door)

 

Thanks that is what I was thinking I've had some bad advice from some lawyers before. Also in my lsj about 7 years back I was sandwiched by Toyotas and it was about 7,000$ of damage but the body shop told the claim adjuster that I didn't want to total out the car and they worked with me I had to give up my cf hood and lights but they fixed it. Now this just seems really weird they are willing to pay off the loan of 9500$ instead of fixing it which I estimate 2-3k in damage.

 

Looking at the first (upside down) picture, the quarter panel is damaged and unfortunately that almost automatically means it's totaled since that is part of the unibody. Who was at fault? If you were at fault, can you simply not claim it with insurance and have it fixed yourself? Not sure of the bank has any say in it. They may not approve you fixing it yourself as it would diminish the value of their collateral. My last at fault accident was over 20 years ago and that was a company lease

 

I was at fault and the only reason why I put a claim with my insurance was becauseanother vehicle was involved. I was expecting them to just fix it but they were already ready to tow it without looking at the damages. They asked me to send pictures and then they towed it. I told them it was drive I drove it back home after the accident. They are trying to tell me it's not my car and they don't need to fix it they would rather pay it off. Exactly there is no reason why the bank should be involved but the insurance wants to pay it off.

 

The reason the bank is involved is because they have a lien on the car. If you owned it free and clear you would have more options. But like ECaulk said, contact an reputable insurance attorney (and not one of those ambulance chasers) and get some advice.

 

Thanks will do, like I had said before they fixed my other cobalt with 7k damages while it was still financed this time they don't care. They sent me a checklist like my car was cattle. Nothing about damage amount. After this ordeal I'll be looking for a new insurance company.

 

Let them total it and buy another. See if you can buy this one back too, as a donor.

That's what I did 👍

 

Let them pay the loan off. If u owe about 10k I'd say break even and walk away.

 

yeah, Id thoroughly look through your options here. If you owe $10k on this car, it maybe wiser to let them total it pay it off, and just find another. I mean I see alot of people selling their cars for about that amount or less..


Edit: I got sandwiched recently and the damage was about $5500. I told Progressive I did not want the car totaled in any way. They were willing to work with me. They may not be so willing to work with you as you were the one at fault. People usually dont respond well when you give them work to do

My cars been paid off for 2-3 years now.

 

It's not just 1 body part that's damaged or a corner, it's the whole side of the car.

 

I just looked at the pics, rear quarter damage is bad. = Auto-totaled. They can total it, pay off loan, you buy the car back and repair it to drive. The rear quarter is more that $2-3k to fix... You'd probably end up dealing with that for the rest of the cars life.

 

Actually its both sides of the car. The heck did you do? Drive through a christmas tree farm? How on Earth did you determine its only $2-3k in damage? Its probably $2-3k to fix the front end, $4-5k to fix the passenger side, $2-3k to fix the driver side (unless those dents arent as bad as the angle is making them). Did the air bags deploy? Thats $2k per air bag right there. That car is totalled! No beating around the bush.

What the heck do you want to save this car anyway? You've already killed it. You couldnt even sell it for $4k.

 

The car looks beat up, with lots of damage, I would let them pay it off and start over. If you want to buy it back and drive it all dented up then you can also do that. Just remember if it's got a total loss title even if you fix it, it won't be worth much. Can't really see how it looks with the pics.

 

That damage is nothing compared to what happened to my car. It was totaled by the insurance company in 2013 and they wrote me a check for 12K. I then went to the bank and paid the loan off and used the extra cash to buy my car back for $900 and fix it on my own.

 

Yup looks like a write off.

Our car's have no value anymore and from the pictures I'm sure the front rails are pushed over. Plus the rear twist beam is probably bent, wheel bent. The quarter would cost a ton in labor and probably call for replacement which pretty much seals the deal on any sub $10k car.

People that say you can get it fixed cheap are just wrong. I'm sure the material cost for paint will be over a grand.

Source - 5 years autobody experience

 

The cobalt is white, i'll take it!

 

It's not both sides only the driver side and the front corner bumper passenger side. I was sideswiped. No air bags deployed and I drove the car home. No fluids leaked or check engine lights, no front frame damage, no damage to impact bars or styrofoam. Just headlight, headlight bracket and bumper.

 

Man here if u dont want the car totalled or written off as we canadians call it, u can take the money for the written off car, and keep the car, only thing is, if u ever total it again u get nothing. With hail damage anyway, dont know about accident damage