Totaled - Take the money or money and buy car back?

[fmowry]

I was in an accident last week in my '08 135i 'vert with 43K miles. Lady turned in front of me and I t-boned her at about 30 mph. Her fault. I just got the news that the car is totaled. Driver air bag popped, left headlight trashed, the hood might be slightly dented and the front left fender is toast. The rollbar also popped. The adjuster said the rollbar needed to be replaced but I even the owners manual shows how to reset it.

Insurance offer from the total loss $21,8xx (1600 is sales tax). I can buy the bar back for about $4800. The offer is pretty good given the comparable cars out there that I have looked at.

Kicker is I had within the last year put on coilovers, dps, JB4, square 18 wheel/tire setup (bought wheels cheap, tires are new at about $500), BMS catch can, and DCI. Even conservatively that's $3K of mods I could remove in a day. The insurance company will not let me swap out anything unless I buy the car.

I seem to have 3 options:
1) take money and run
2) take money, buy car, strip it, profit!
3) take money, repair car and enjoy it with salvaged title.

3) is a question mark. I know I need to replace the airbag. The other damage I just can't see how it adds up to $15k+. I am a competent mechanic and I've got a 4 post in my garage. If the front bumper and quarter is easily removable I can see replacing those parts and whatever support underneath with boneyard fair and going with budge paint.

Anyone else buy their car back? Part of me doesn't need another project. I've almost wrapped up an LS6 Miata and would like to relax. I wanted to enjoy the car for a while afte installing the JB4 and only drove it easily for about 2 weeks after that mod and was hoping to take the winter off from modding but I can store the 135i in my garage and just take off the easy bits now.

Sorry it was dark and I don't currently have pics. The front end damage appears less bad than some of the similar accident threads here. I am talking to the insurance company to get adjusters notes/documents to see his damage.

I'm relatively new here but post a ton on Miata.net, and have been active on NASIOC and LS1tech under the same username for years so this won't be a hit and run post.

[Yeineken]

If your not looking for another project then you answered your own question. But this seems like the perfect candidate for making a track car and/ m conversion.

[ShocknAwe]

buy it back, part it out (lots of interior/exterior parts to sell from a totaled car!), keep your mods if their mechanical integrity isn't jeopardized, then use that slush fund to purchase a newer non-salvage 135i.

Then do the work on that car. Better value in the end esp if you're not really sure you want another big project and want to relax and enjoy the machine.

[DSSG]

You should take some defensive driving lessons. In any case, you are going to need some extra money for eventually higher insurance premiums.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by DSSG

You should take some defensive driving lessons. In any case, you are going to need some extra money for eventually higher insurance premiums.

Insurance premiums shouldn't be affected in this case. The at fault drivers' premium will probably go up, but not the OP's.

Defensive driving isn't going to help when some inattentive soccer mom or pensioner pulls out mere feet in front of you when you're at speed. Even Ken Block couldn't avoid an accident in that scenario. No matter how skilled or careful, you can not control what other people do on the road. Some accidents are simply unavoidable.

Are you going to address the OP's question or did you just come in here to put down his driving ability?

[fmowry]

Originally Posted by DSSG

You should take some defensive driving lessons. In any case, you are going to need some extra money for eventually higher insurance premiums.

You should take some reading comprehension lessons.

A) her fault.

To add so you can apologize for your useless comment:

B) she cut in front of me from the oncoming lane through stopped traffic at night between two cars. She never saw me and I couldn't have possibly seen her.

C) exemplary driving record with same insurance company with one claim (other person's fault) 16 years ago. I seriously doubt my rates will go up.

In fact, by simple math, removing an 08 BMW from my policy will make my rates go down substantially. And insuring a salvaged car with only liability would too if I decide to repair it and keep it.

So where were we aside from wasting 10 minutes responding to your useless post?

[fmowry]

I know I don't want another project but even pulling my simple stuff like DP/JB4, wheels is only a 5 hour job. Car-part has n54s from $2500-$4000 but really don't know the market. AT from $800+. That's where it gets more into a project for me. Though I still have my cherry picker in the garage, I don't know if I want to store a motor/trans until I find a buyer.

I'm talking myself into doing it and I'm sure I will get more validation than not in this thread, but if anyone has already done it and can say "hell yeah" or "wouldn't do it again" that would be something I'd like to hear.

Making it a track car is out simply because the Miata is pretty well sorted and has cheaper consumables IF I were to track it but realistically I'm married with a 10 year old so free time wouldn't allow for much time behind the wheel.

I do see WTB salvaged car ads in the F/S section occasionally but I would have to get extremely lucky to find someone wanting a track project and I'd imagine a coupe is a better starting point for a track car.

[IEDEI]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

buy it back, part it out (lots of interior/exterior parts to sell from a totaled car!), keep your mods if their mechanical integrity isn't jeopardized, then use that slush fund to purchase a newer non-salvage 135i.

Then do the work on that car. Better value in the end esp if you're not really sure you want another big project and want to relax and enjoy the machine.

if you have the time and motivation; do this.

if you don't...then take the money and run.

[3002 tii]

If you did the work yourself, buy the car back, take the parts out and either sell parts or use them for your next e82 (assuming that's what you get).

If you paid someone to install those parts, don't bother. The labor to remove and/or reinstall will eat your profit.

Next time see how much it'd cost to get a rider on your insurance for your go-fast parts.

Me personally, I would let the car go. You're assuming you can sell the parts for near retail and we all know that's not the case. Plus no guarantee the shocks are straight.

[lowbudgethero]

4800 isn't a bad price, you can repair it enough to look halfway decent and drive fine.

I've done it with another car before, and I just made it into a winter/beater car. You'll get enough money from insurance to be very close to buying another decent car too and just keep the totaled one in the garage over the winter as you fix it.

Most body work can be fixed simply by a slap hammer, a "massaging" hammer, and new panels and some brute force.

[inFamousKicks]

I think you can easily make that money back if you part it out.

[potxoli]

if you search the forsale forum for partout, there was a recent thread about somebody in your exact situation. Perhaps he can give you more insight.

[chris82]

Take the money and run!

Sure, you might be able to make a few thousand off the parts, but don't forget about what your time is worth.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

Next time see how much it'd cost to get a rider on your insurance for your go-fast parts.

What does that mean?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by chris82

What does that mean?

https://www.esurance.com/insurance-r...insurance-myth

[chris82]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

https://www.esurance.com/insurance-r...insurance-myth

doing this asap lol

[fmowry]

Originally Posted by potxoli

if you search the forsale forum for partout, there was a recent thread about somebody in your exact situation. Perhaps he can give you more insight.

Yeah I had looked earllier before it was considered totaled and then didn't go back there to start adding up parts.

I just got the "damage sheet" and there are a lot of high price items that they have as replace. Obviously airbag/steering wheel is $2300 right there. They have replace the rollbar at $800. These costs obviously aren't with labor. I can do most of the non-bodywork labor myself.
Gear assembly convertible is another big price at $1500. That's the whole steering rack assembly.

Parts total was 11,200 Labor 4400.

Starting to look like I might just take the money and run. I hate to see a JB4 go which would take all of 15 minutes to remove. And the oil catch can and wheels. But oh well, it's just "stuff" and nobody was hurt.

Now if anyone drops into this thread and says they're looking for a 40k mile N54 dropout and AT for $5K I might have to reconsider.

I'll still be monitoring and posting for the next day or two till I give them the word.

[fmowry]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

https://www.esurance.com/insurance-r...insurance-myth

I've dealt with custom insurance on my V8 Miata but that was under the assumption that if the car was stolen I could get an "agreed value" reimbursement. I've normally assumed I'd always buy back a car and part it out but this time it has put doubts in my head.

I'll chalk that up to old age and a nagging wife who says I spend too much time on my cars!

[ejm3]

A rider is additional insurance to cover extra things. The most common example is a rider on your homeowners policy for a wedding/engagement ring. Your basic homehowners policy only covers a small amount for jewlery if it gets lost or stolen. So if you buy a $10k ring and you get robbed the insurance will only cover say $2k of it, including all other jewlery that maybe have been lost stolen.

So you buy a relatively inexpensive rider to your homeowners policy that specifically covers the engagment ring for $10k in the event of a loss, and you will pay some nominal amout extra for the (maybe $50/yr).

I'm not sure if they offer the same for cars for mods you add that aren't part of the
basic policy but maybe. Its worth checking out if you have a lot of money wrapped up in your car that wouldn't be reimbursed in the event of a loss.

Also just because the accident wasn't your fault doesn't mean your insurance rates won't be effected. Happened to a friend of mine. The following year his insurance went up inexplicably. He called and they told him "not a long enough period of accident-free driving". When he got quotes elsewhere they are all about the same amount. If insurance companies can find a way to screw you, they will.

[aloksatoor]

Sorry for your loss buddy. My 330 was totalled as well a few years back, do not accept the insurance companies first offers (they did screw me over).

My opinion would be go with option 2. If the damage sheet does not include damages to your modded parts like dp/shocks, you can recover some of that 4800 back. Then sell the chassis to a salvage company with the stock shocks/dp/etc provided you have that in the garage still.

If the car was your daily then you would need a car quick so then might not be a great idea then option 1.

[fmowry]

I decided to buy the car back and after I get the car in my garage I'll decide if it's worth trying to fix with boneyard parts or just strip and sell so keep an eye on the F/S section as there might be some good stuff coming up.

[BMWX1-35i]

I have seen this in the past. I would be willing to bet the air bags sent it over the edge for getting totaled. If there is no frame damage, its worth fixing. Just keep in mind that in order to get it cleared for being road worthy, the air bags MUST be brand new from the mfg. At least thats the way it is in NY. If it were me, I would buy it back in a second. Just the part out parts are worth the work..