DeMayo

I was driving my 525i to a friends house yesturday to go help him out with some yard work and on the way I struck an old lady in a Lexus SUV. I wont go into detail on the accident, all I will say is that the cop cited her for making an illegal left turn.

My biggest pain right now is this depression swarming over me as I look at the accident photos of my first car. My biggest concern is that my poor car might be totaled. The front end damage doesnt look too bad, but the biggest problem is that the Steering Wheel Airbag and Right Curtain Airbags deployed (I was alone in the car but the impact was on the front right side).

Below is a photo of my car after the accident. My question to you is, how much do you think this will cost to get repaired? Also, how much is the average cost of airbag replacement? The woman's insurance is going to cover it all but the way it works (for some stupid reason) is: if the cost of repairs is more than I paid for the car then are goning to write me a check for what THEY think my car is worth + 6.350 sales tax. I have put a lot of money into taking good care of this car and to loose it now would be a serious issue for me.

1BadDuc

DO NOT CASH THE CHECK. If you read the check carefully, it states, usually in very small lettering, that upon cashing the check you release the insurance company of any further liability.

Call your insurance company - even though they aren't the ones paying for it, they have tons of experience in dealing with these sorts of things and they can guide you though the process.

Get an estimate from the dealer, I promise you it will be far higher than whatever the amount of the check is.

sportzfan76

Unless the car's frame is bent i doubt that your car is totalled from that accident.

Usually the damage will approach 70% of the veh's value before an insurance company will total it.
I agree with the poster above, take the car to the bodyshop of "your" choice.

DeMayo

That's a good idea to call the orrigional dealership for a price. I'll get right on that.

The way I want it to work is for the woman's insurance to repair my car to 100% but they are being complete dicks about it right now, so I feel like there is going to be a legal battle over this. The woman is at fault and some times I just wish people would be decent and own up to thier own mistakes. First thing i did after the accident was sprint to the woman to make sure she was ok.

I honestly feel bad for her because I know that her car is totaled, and now her insurance is trying to fight with me over the incident. I really do not care for the single-minded stupidity of insurance companies and am prepared to fight this if I have to.

Thanks again for the advice, I'm going to call the dealer in a minute.

Also, I have selected a BMW certified body shop and already made it clear that I will not settle for anything else.

sanjsanj

In that case, surely there's nothing stopping you from saying you bought the car brand new for $50k? I mean, it's not like they can ask you for proof so that THEY can prove themselves right...

A quick look on realoem.com shows the hood is about $1300, the wing is about $450, drivers airbag $850, front curtain airbag $300, can't find rear airbag.

1BadDuc

They don't go off of the purchase price, the go off of the Kelly Blue Book value of the car. Last time I was hit, (sitting at a red light and got hit buy a guy in a 74 Bronco doing 70), the adjuster handed me a check for $5,500....it was total joke

porando

My insurance will guarantee that if they total my car I can or they can buy me a replacement so they use average (adjusted for mileage, condition and few other things)advertising for sell prices (pretty close to the kbb retail price) as a base for cutting the check..... it just happened that in the last 5 years we had 3 BMW's totaled (all other party fault) and in each case I could easy negotiate much better deal from the private party....

Car like on the picture.... it has good chance to be totaled...looks like geometry was affected and there is likely that many under the hood parts as well as suspension comp will need to be replaced...I would take it to my favorite body shop and tell them that only original BMW parts will be accepted and after repair is done I want BMW certification that car is as good as new.....my goal would be to have it totaled so I can buy car which was not in an accident because you gave to disclose this one and selling price will be substantially lower

sanjsanj

OUCH!

In that case I would try and argue that the adjusters haven't taken into account all the optional extra's it has (not) got fitted lol (stuff that isn't obviously verifiable )- radar guided cruise control, a tracker, logik 7 sound system, engine remap etc

porando

also you may want to consider different option ...get repair estimate, let insurance write you a check and tell them that you will buy that car back from them for whatever this wreck is worth for them. IF they think that junked car is worth for parts let's say $2000, than they need to factor it in... I had once old car totaled and they payed me full value and I wanted to buy it back so guy called junk yard asking how much they will pay him - they said $100 So I paid insurance $100 and drove the car back home...fixed it and used for several more years...

HiOffcr

First, contact your insurance company and alert them to what happened. They can assist you in getting your vehicle repaired. In most cases they can pay for cost of repair and get reimbursed by the at fault insurance carrier. Check the Connecticut Insurance department to further assist you as well. In some states, you can file a claim with the at fault carrier (after repairs have been made) for "diminished value". Basically stating that your car will loose value upon resale due to an accident showing on carfax.

If the driver of the other vehicle was cited as "at-fault" her insurance carrier must pay to have your car fixed. If damages are over 70% of retail value of the car, most likely it will be totaled. Upon totaling of the vehicle, they will pay you actual cash value of the car. Most insurance companies will take the average of Kelly Blue Book and NADA retail value. However you will get screwed with the bill if you owe more than ACV.

Hope this helps a lil