lawguy

While I dont know the dollar amounts involved (cost of repair vs. retail value), should they claim it doesnt meet the 75% threshold (which most carriers use...if cost of repair exceeds 75% of retail value, its a total loss), I would argue to the kids' insurance carrier that while the costs of repair are not within the threshold to consider the car "totalled" from a purely dollar ratio standpoint, you should argue that the car is a "constructive total", meaning the value of the car is so significantly impaired from the damage and repair that as a result, its not worth the cost of repair because you cant sell it for what it cost to repair it. Its sort of a combination of a total loss & dimunition of value claims.

I have only been successful with this once - a client who had a new MB that was t-boned with only 700 miles on the clock. The cost of repair was over $60k, but didnt reach 75% of the retail value. After almost 2 months of going back and forth, we finally threatened to sue them, as we argued it was constructively totalled, since after repaired, he could not sell it for even close to half of its value. Upon the threat of suit, and a lot of negotiation and involvment from local auto dealers verifying the accuracy of our claim, we prevailled. Like I said - its only worked once.

By the way - the kids'' insurer owes you "loss of use", meaning that they must pay for the reasonable value of renting something similar. When the 30 days runs out on your own rental, they have to pick up the tab after that...

Just my thoughts.

Marzzz

First- the important thing is that you were not injured.

Second- what has been mentioned before is basically true- the car must have greater than 75% of total worth damage for the insurance company to total it. The insurance co's are very adamant about that. If the damage is not 75% of the car's value, they will not total it, no matter how many lawyers you get.

Third- you MUST have the car repaired by a BMW-Certified shop, ESPECIALLY if it is a lease. This way BMW can not claim that the repairs were inadequate, etc. After all, it is essentially their car.

Fourth- it is the job of your insurance company to fight for you, they will go after the other party's insurance company for everything necessary.

A few years ago, I slammed into someone who Failed to Yield to my leased E39- there was about $24000 damage in a $50000 car, so it went to BMW for repair, which took about 9 weeks. All that happened to me was a scratch on my left thumb, and the surprise of the airbag going off. I got the other party's insurance company to put me in a Volvo C60 for the entire duration ("loss of use," as above), so it didn't completely suck, but nothing pissed me off more than continuing to make lease payments toward a car I did not have.....the damage to my car was not all that different from yours, but I will say when I got my car back you could barely tell that it had been in an accident- in fact the only thing I really noticed was the driver's airbag assembly rattled slightly on rough roads!

jmsod

How did you go about getting the other person's insurance company to put you in a better loaner? Right now, I have a Chevy Cobalt which sucks and feels terribly unsafe.

sholaesq

Just tell them to put you in a comparable class of car that you had. If your insurance company is paying, then they are bound to the limits of the rental car provision. But if the other guy's insurance is paying for it then they must put you in a comparable car, so far as their policy limit is not exceeded.
I'd die if someone put me in a cobalt.

Marzzz

Loss of comparable use, and the fact that the accident was 100% the other party's fault. Also, I explained to them that I had the resources to make their lives miserable, but that simply putting me in a decent ride for the duration would make all potential problems disappear. I was very nice and did not threaten them per se, but they got the idea.

The Volvo sucked, btw, but it was a LOT better than the Neon-or-something that they wanted to put me in. Now if it was MY fault, I would have sucked it up and paid the difference to get a better ride.

Side note:

Back in the mid 90's I was driving a Mazda MX-6 (not a bad car, actually) and while it was in for routine service they backed it into a post and damaged the rear bumper significantly. They were all apologetic and promised to fix the car within several days, and gave me a voucher for a decent rental to keep me in wheels. I went over there (a third party) and noticed that they had a '95 BMW 325 available. I used the voucher and only had to pay an extra $7/day to get the Bimmer, and THAT was my true introduction to the BMW world- I drove it for about a week. A year later I traded in the MX-6 and bought my '97 528i, and the rest was history....

HotLap

Such a shame to see Glad everyone is OK but your car is a mess! I hope you are able to have it replaced - not fixed as it would bother me for as long as I owned the car that it had such massive repair. Check into your lease return requirements as they may try and charge you the amout of extra depreciation on the car for the diminished value of a vehicle that has been in a major accident. Will they pull a CarFax when you return the lease...and will it still qualify to be a dealer certified CPO - given it's accident history? I'd check into that now before you end up taking the hit later....

By the way, I too had to wait 9 weeks for my manual 535ito be built - nearly drove me nuts....good luck!!

jmsod

If repaired, it will show up on Carfax, but as long as it is repaired by a certified BMW repair shop then I iwll be unaffected at lease end. I am still holding out hope that it will be totalled. I should know by tomorrow.

cannga

My Porsche 997 was hit at high speed from behind--other driver's fault. First they were trying to fix it but in the end a total loss was declared and I was reimbursed in full. I feel your pain; just a few thoughts (Some parts of my post are speculations, anyone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong anywhere.):

I am limited to these pictures that I can't see very well, but I am totally shocked that this is not a total loss. I mean, doesn't the damage go all the way to the engine AND the frame? As others have said, ONLY let reputable BMW approved shops look at this car and arrange to have your car towed to another one if the current one is not.

I may be wrong, but IMHO there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that this will be fixed in four weeks. It looks like damage is deep into the FRAME, no? If so, I don't care what they they tell you, this precision-made German car will NEVER drive the same again. You should try all you could to make this a total loss.

It's clearly the other driver's fault, so you are in a position of strength. Don't take and sign anything until you are totally satisfied.

Look into diminished value; some states allow this, some don't. You can't claim diminished value against your own insurance company (fine lines in our policy, AFAIK), but since this is other driver's fault, you could against HIS insurance. Mention this word to your adjuster so he knows this is not going to be an easy case for him if he decides to go against your will and try to fix the car.

You are going to be given a choice of claiming this accident with your own insurance company, or with the other driver's company since clearly it's other driver's fault. It is better to claim accident with YOUR insurance company so that YOUR insurance company's adjuster will THEN be the one working with you. Obviously, it's better to work with friend, rather than foe. In this case, since the other insurance company is going to pay everything, I wouldn't think YOUR insurance company's adjuster has any interest in trying to save money. He will be more likely to agree with a total loss--it's not HIS company's money. (Hope I am making sense here and am correct with my **speculation**--the last sentence.) If your adjuster does something that you don't think is fair, call your agent and complain. This is a signal to the adjuster that it's not going to be an easy case with you and will steer him towards what you think is a fair settlement. Your agent is the one who has been collecting your money (insurance premium); your true and only "friend" in this case.

If you don't have any body pain, then obviously don't claim anything. If you have ANY pain at all, make sure they know for documentation's sake, even if you have no intention whatsoever of going that route.

No lawyer needed, YET. The body shop might just give you the good news of a total loss once they look at the car and pull the wreck apart, ESPECIALLY if engine is damaged also. While it doesn't hurt to drop hints that you are ready to get a lawyer's help, I should add that in my very limited experience of one accident, the one lawyer I called told me it's much easier to work with personal injury case than diminished value case. I did not need any lawyer in my case because I was only interested in the diminished value claim and once they inspected the wreck, the damage was too much to try to fix the car and a total loss declared.

I see every advantage for you to make this a total loss, quickly. I am not sure who is going to pay for the lease if they decide to fix the car. It will be at least 3-4 months, might be even more if the wreck is as bad as the pictures look. My friend's BMW was involved in an accident that damaged the frame (aluminum in this car, right?), not anywhere close to your level, and I vaguely recall it took a ridiculous 5 months plus to fix. He paid the lease payment the whole time; the difference being that he was at fault.

Best of luck and hope this helps. I decided on 997 over 550i, but still go back to this forum once in a while.

amigo525

good thing everyone is fine. Best of luck fixing it.

Heelsonwheels

Significant damage, but only after the adjuster writes the estimate will you know. As bad as it appears it may not be totaled. The body shop is gonna want to fix it because it's a big $ job. Because its leased, if its fixed, BMW has to sign off that it was repaired to their satisfaction also; and therefore you're not at risk. The rental is gonna go beyond 30 days too(probably more like 60 days)...you'll have to pay 1st then get reimbursed...btw get a bigger rental car. In the end, it all sucks, sorry.