Not what I had planned for this morning. :(

[themcfarland]

Good luck, glad your ok.. I would not drive anything expensive or that I could not live without in Baton Rouge.. The number 1 under insured city in the states..

 

[CEHollier]

PM sent

 

[LACamper]

Your inbox is full btw...

Doesn't look like a total to me. Frame damage? I thought they had a unibody not a ladder frame but even frames can be straightened by a good shop. Pick your repair shop carefully.
The way most companies decide if a car is totaled is to add up the damage and see if it makes 70% or so of the value of the car.
Handling the value of your add ons is tricky. Gather a list of their replacement values.
Diminished value... is even worse. Most companies don't pay diminished value under their collision coverage but will pay it if demanded under liability. Take the photos of the damaged car to a dealership and have them work up the value as if the car was repaired. OTOH, often your own company will pay you more for the car under your collision than the other carrier will under liability. You'll be out your deductible until they settle with the other carrier.

Good luck...

I'm not a claims rep but I'm an agent so I get dragged into some of these situations. PM me if you have questions.

 

[Dave328]

You aren't getting any bonuses for depreciation, your insurance serves to restore the vehicle to 100% USED condition. It won't be worth any less if the body shop does their job as compared to one that hasn't had a fender bender. This is a common misconception. I love Z's, (and yours is nice), but it's not a 60's classic that lost absolute resale value based on conditional history. Once fixed it'll be worth exactly what the blue book says its worth.

I can also tell you from the pictures posted (pending unseen damage) that its not even close to a total. Wife is an insurance MRR adjustor.

Not true. It will be worth considerably less even if the repair is flawless. Personal example:
Coworker trades her Range Rover in on a new 2013 A7. They initiall offer her $$$ for her trade, however when the carfax comes back with a record of a minor fender bender, the trade-in drops by $2500! I was sweating when I traded in my BMW on the wife's new 2013 Q5 since the BMW has had a couple minor not-at-fault fender benders fixed as well. The difference being the Carfax on mine came back clean. So I got the full tradein value. (the moral being Carfax is hyped up horseshit ) ALWAYS fight for depreciation! A buddy of mine got somewhere around $50k from the ins for his F430 a few years ago.

 

[JWG223]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am royally screwed on this car. I want to dump it before the factory 3/36 runs out, and I'm pretty sure that now I am upside down for sure. In other news, I just woke up, and have a headache and am sore. Will be going to my chiropractor this morning.

Happy ****ing birthday. THIS is why I NEVER celebrate ****.

 

[BigNick73]

I'm pretty much planning on it unless I'm just fugly upside down, which I did trade into this car on the spur of the moment, so I may be a few thousand wrong-side up. We will see. Nothing really "jumps out" at me for a replacement. I would like to stay at $35K or below, and the Subaru BRZ STi was one I was heavily considering, but it's nowhere near out yet.

Suggestions?

Criteria: Power/Weight ratio of 9.5#/hp or better
Skidpad: Near 1G or better
Interior: Nice, suede, NAV, etc. similar to my Z
Lay-out: 2 seater preferred, RWD, would consider AWD, but the subaru's are too boxy for me.

I've seen a couple (non sti since it's not out yet) around here and they do look cool, went and read up on them and decided to keep my WRX.

Get another Z
or buy a WRX STi they're not pretty but they are fun.

Just read rest of thread, if you're going to get in the mountains get the AWD, RWD and FWD really suck in hilly places once ice sets in.

 

[JWG223]

I've seen a couple (non sti since it's not out yet) around here and they do look cool, went and read up on them and decided to keep my WRX.

Get another Z
or buy a WRX STi they're not pretty but they are fun.

Just read rest of thread, if you're going to get in the mountains get the AWD, RWD and FWD really suck in hilly places once ice sets in.

Yeah, I dunno what I'm going to end up in

 

[rrussotwo]

Another common misconception: you don't get to pick the shop. This one annoys almost every policy holder, but its clearly defined in your policy. You can make a strong argument for the dealership, but ultimately its the agent's decision who it goes to.

I don't care what your policy says. Louisiana law dictates you can pick your repair shop.

 

[rrussotwo]

http://www.ldi.state.la.us/consumers/misc_pubs/Consumer_Bill_of_Rights_for_Motorists.pdf

 

[rrussotwo]

Don't fall for any ******** when they come back with x number for a replacement if they total it.

They'll try to give you significantly less than blue book trade-in.

Find a few shops selling 2012 370s with 17k on them and require that they give you that for the car.

They are under no obligation to REPLACE your car, but they are legally required to give fair market value.

This is RETAIL value.

DO NOT settle for their offer. String them along and make them pay for an equivalent rental for 30 days or until they pay.

When they offer you less than the average of those retail used equivalent 370s, just say NO over and over, reiterating that they are required to pay local fair market value according to Louisiana law.

If they won't, call the department of insurance and remember to record every conversation you have with the scumbags.

Your adjuster will be a great guy, the guy who calls with an offer will be an *******. He will place a lot of pressure and outright lie regarding laws. Record the conversation and do your research.

I've gotten at least 50% higher than initial offer and once within $400 of full brand-new MSRP on used totaled vehicles before.

For repairs, ignore the recommended shop and go with the best (most expensive and most to lose if something goes wrong) shop you can. And get multiple quotes. Pick the highest. Include the dealer.

 

[JWG223]

Don't fall for any ******** when they come back with x number for a replacement if they total it.

They'll try to give you significantly less than blue book trade-in.

Find a few shops selling 2012 370s with 17k on them and require that they give you that for the car.

They are under no obligation to REPLACE your car, but they are legally required to give fair market value.

This is RETAIL value.

DO NOT settle for their offer. String them along and make them pay for an equivalent rental for 30 days or until they pay.

When they offer you less than the average of those retail used equivalent 370s, just say NO over and over, reiterating that they are required to pay local fair market value according to Louisiana law.

If they won't, call the department of insurance and remember to record every conversation you have with the scumbags.

Your adjuster will be a great guy, the guy who calls with an offer will be an *******. He will place a lot of pressure and outright lie regarding laws. Record the conversation and do your research.

I've gotten at least 50% higher than initial offer and once within $400 of full brand-new MSRP on used totaled vehicles before.

For repairs, ignore the recommended shop and go with the best (most expensive and most to lose if something goes wrong) shop you can. And get multiple quotes. Pick the highest. Include the dealer.

So far:

-I have a rental car and it was the only one they had, $72 a day, her insurance is going to pick up the tab until they put me in a cheaper car. I hate rental cars no-matter what, so I don't care what I'm in, it won't be "comparable", so I'm letting them "have" that battle.
-I have had a headache all night after waking up, and am going to a chiropractor as soon as one opens.
-I know where the car is, and have a claim number, and my insurance has contacted hers. I will call her agent today after visiting the chiropractor.
-I do not know how badly the car is messed up, but I doubt it's a total loss, I would guestimate repairs will run $10-15K. (fenders, bumper front, bumper rear, paint, fitting, unknown damage, replace my wrap, replace 3 rims, pro-rate a tire and replace value.)
-My car is one of about a dozen in the US configured the way it is. It literally cannot be replaced with a like-item. It is a fully loaded 370Z Touring Sport package with a NAV package, with a 6-speed manual in Gun Metallic. I waited 3 months to get it, and during that time saw no more than 3-4 similar cars in Nissan's national dealer database, and they were all already pre-sold before they touched US soil. This car literally cannot be replaced with an identical item. Nissan builds cars with manuals, or with NAV and autos, or with...basically any combo BUT a loaded out manual.

 

[madwabbit]

Yawn. this forum is going to spew a bunch of inexperienced advice from self-proclaimed experts. I'll elaborate to appease the masses. You can BY LAW 100% select the shop you send it to. However, under any policy if you send it to a network shop, Progressive guarantees the work FOR LIFE regardless of whether you relocate or not. If you do NOT use a network shop, you are covered under the parts warranty and whatever that specific shop offers for labor. So pick whoever you want- any MRR or claims rep will tell you that if its their car, it goes to a network shop everytime.

Your replacement value is calculated by finding your same make/model/mileage and as many options as possible, then averaging the retail cost of not less than 3 vehicles within your geographic area. It's going to hurt to tell you this, but I'll tell you: your Z isn't 1 of a kind. In fact, there is a VIN reader online that you can plug yours into. Loaded NAV+Manual Gunmetal Metallic fetched me 71 results from carmax, kbc, and autotrader under 25k miles. Your MRR has a program that searches all these sites as well as current network inventory. They won't fk you on the total price. My 1968 Corvette couldn't be replaced either, I built it with my bare hands. To me, it was 1 of a kind. Guess what? It was 1 of ~600.

All this is for nothing- to total under even a minimum policy you have to exceed 75% of your vehicles ARV - actual retail value. The dealer writing "17999" on the window is not ARV. FYI I gee-whiz plugged your OEM replacements (and refused to use aftermarket) and even if you doubled your damage, you wouldn't total. Again...pending unseen damage, framework, bla bla)

Oh- and whoever said your frame can be repaired actually scared me that people say crap like that. If you want to restore the salvaged car and race it on the weekends, YES, it can be fixed. By law however, it no longer meets safety regulations and would be illegal for Prog to send you back out in that vehicle.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions, but I encourage you to not take anyones advice here... not even mine. There's a ton of misinformed people posting info thats going to get you hammered. Get a copy of your policy, call your agent, and use common sense.

 

[JWG223]

You're going to have to show me these dozens of 2012 nav, touring, sport, manual, gun metallic 370's...

No, unless the structure is damaged, I'm probably screwed on this one. I'll trade it, be upside down as hell, and move on, i guess, but I plan on lawyering up and scorching the earth before I do if they try to screw me.

 

[madwabbit]

Google search 370z VIN reader, and plug yours in. It'll tell you exactly how many were made with your options, etc. It just wont allocate for anything you had installed aftermarket, obviously. For example: I want a 370z but ask the dealer to slap on that nismo spoiler. Wasn't a factory option, it just happened to be on the car when I took ownership brand new. Make sense?

My Shinka RX-8 Was Black Cherry Metallic. It was only available as a factory option on the Shinka edition. My wife bought an RX-8, and said "it has to be that color" Dealer has access to the paint code, and paints the car for her. It is not a "1 of a kind factory vehicle"- its just a custom paint job on a rare combo of options. I know yours isnt this case, its just a "for example".

 

[madwabbit]

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...bodyStyleCodes=COUPE&captureSearch=true&Log=0

theres 3 within my first 5 minutes of looking.
theres 6 more on carmax, hell theres one in baton rouge.

not trying to be a dick, they are out there.

 

[madwabbit]

Now I will chime THIS in: I've always wanted a black shelby GT500 with grey stripes and a white interior, like my grandfather had when I was a kid. If I buy a NEW one with those colors, options, etc... you sing the "sentimental" song, and about how "its a very rare combo because its my dream car and I'm just devastated" ...it goes unspoken, but we are generally a little more "giving" in such circumstances. However this again only applies to a total- not to repairs. Repairs your "sentimental" song will probably make them lean harder towards using all OEM parts as opposed to aftermarkets though.

 

[JWG223]

Now I will chime THIS in: I've always wanted a black shelby GT500 with grey stripes and a white interior, like my grandfather had when I was a kid. If I buy a NEW one with those colors, options, etc... you sing the "sentimental" song, and about how "its a very rare combo because its my dream car and I'm just devastated" ...it goes unspoken, but we are generally a little more "giving" in such circumstances. However this again only applies to a total- not to repairs. Repairs your "sentimental" song will probably make them lean harder towards using all OEM parts as opposed to aftermarkets though.

It being a 2012 should cover the OEM without saying.


I guess it can be found, but that's not really the point anymore. I'm trading it in as soon as it's fixed, and not on another Nissan, I'm going to branch out and experience something else. Not because I don't like it, but because I like variety.

 

[madwabbit]

post a thread on your test drives and your decision- i'd be curious how it goes. I'll be buying myself another speeding-ticket machine this year myself

 

[JWG223]

post a thread on your test drives and your decision- i'd be curious how it goes. I'll be buying myself another speeding-ticket machine this year myself

I really wish the BRZ STi were out. Or the mustang had IRS. Or the WRX STi wasn't so nose-heavy. Or...

 

[madwabbit]

The 2014 Stang is going full euro-style, rounded body, IRS, AYC, and a 4cylTurbo/6cylTT. Numbers speculate at 45mpg/275hp and 35mpg and 400hp respectively. The Barracuda will have a 4cylT as its pony, and a classic V8. The stingray vette (which looks incredible...) will go v8/v8 in true vette fashion.

The only thing confirmed from Ford is that 2013 will be the last year of "the retro mustang", though they said that a "Classic" may now be a future pony in the stable. ie: Pony, GT, GT500, or GT Classic, GT00 Classic, etc.

Our guns are a hot subject right now, but man its a great time period to live in if you're a car enthusiast.