I bought my car used earlier this summer. Had it about a month of which 2 weeks of that I was on vacation. Came back and 2 days later I go to make a left turn at a light when a woman ran a red light at 50 mph and slammed into the front of my car. I am so bummed. I was not hurt and neither was she. The impact came just in front of the driver's side tire but she obviously hit me pretty hard. The car had 7K miles on it but was new to me. The bill at the moment is $22K and climbing. We are going to see if the engine is ok. The damage didn't look that bad but the engine got pushed back and it is going to need removal. Of course, her insurance will have to pay but thats not the issue.

My question - if the frame has to be replaced and the engine has to come out, should I even try to keep the car? I mean, no matter what, there is a lot of work that has to be done. Its really weird but it didn't look all that bad. I just keep thinking to myself, do I really want to drive a high performance car like this fixed up after all that damage. I spent a while looking to try to find the right color combination and everything. Obviously I could order another car but there is no way insurance will come up with everything to total the car.

Thoughts?

As sad as it is, a car does not have to look that bad for things wrong with it to be really bad. In a small accident I would think it would be fine, but that amount of damage sounds pretty bad, especially at 50mph. The rear left side of my friends 325i was hit really bad, they almost totaled it but didn't, and it was over $16,000 to repair. You can't feel that much of a difference while driving but the two drivers side doors almost sound hollow when you close them, not the thud that you like to hear from a BMW.

I went to the BMW factory in Leipzig, Germany and I saw firsthand how they build their cars to exacting standards. The windshield alone has about 150 sensors directed at it so it is applied exactly where it needs to be. That said, with the damage described your car will never be the same. Not to sound pessimistic, but as someone who drives my friends 325 its always in the back of your head and for such a brand new car I would imagine you would always think about it as well. I wish you luck in whatever happens next.

Thanks, I didn't realize that the standards are that "exact." I guess I'm secretly hoping now that they'll total the car. I get to find out when the dealer downloads the engine codes. Right now, it won't start but he can apparently read the code from the computer.

It will never be the same.

I had a car totalled by an insurance company but it was years ago so I don't remember all the details. I think they will total it if the cost to repair is above some percentage of the book value. I want to say somewhere around 80% but not sure. Since her insurance is paying, they will likely take the cheapest way out since you are not their customer. You should bring up the total issue with your company and see if they will pursue it with her company on your behalf.

Just hope they declare it totaled. A car, whatever it is, isnt the same after 15+K in damage...good luck and I hope everything works out for you.

sorry about your accident.
i would push to have it totalled.
if it is repaired it will never be as good as it was.
an important fact to remember - the car is yours and if it is repaired it has to be to YOUR satisfaction. you have the final say on what happens. the insurance company will try to get out of this as cheaply as possible. they may want to use substandard parts, they may want to overlook something. but remember, its your car, not theirs. also, if they repair it, you should be entitled to a payment for the 'diminished value' of the car.

Man that sucks. I'm going to send "TOTAL THAT THING" thoughts your way.

Sorry to hear that man, you must be sick. Honestly in your case, with the engine being pushed, there could be lots of hidden damage, and I would hope for a Total.

It is amazing how quickly costs can wrack up in a wreck with one of these. I hit someone in the side door, speed was about 15-20. I was spun around and hit the rear driver side wheel, and bent it under. Entire new rear suspension (4 of 5 arms replaced), new hood, new bumper, new dash (both front airbags blew). Headlights, engine, radiator and all engine fine. Total bill $13.5k.

There were things damaged that I thought would be fine, like
radiator mounting clips. Even the rad clips were like $200 because they are carbon fiber.

I was not hoping for a total in my case because I knew most damage was cosmetic. The body shop did a great job on mine, and I cannot tell the difference between it now vs. when it was not wrecked. I am hoping that continues to remain the case.

Good Luck, and keep us updated. I think with most ins. companies, the totaling amount is somewhere in the range of 50-60% repair vs. the cost of the car (that's what I was told by State Farm). It sounds like you are getting close to that right now.

Edit: BTW, I couldn't start mine after the accident either. I think this is a safety feature in case there is a fuel leak, and it disables the starter, and has to be reset by the dealer. Did your airbags pop?

The best thing out of this situation is that both of you are OK. Getting hit @ 50 mph is a major impact.

As others have said, the car can never be the same no matter how good the repair shop is.

Push for totalling it and move on to a new bimmer. You'll be happy you did.

tell the insurance comapny flat out that you do not want this car any more because of such substantial damage to an almost new car. You are always better off when it is a total loss because it will include tax full tax reimbursement and a transfer of plates. Keep in mind no matter how well they fix your car it will never be the same, it will be reported everywhere as a major collision. Good luck selling it because everyone who has some knowledge of cars and access to the internet will know of the damage. Do NOT accept this car back and get an attorney involved if you have to. Good Luck to you. It sucks. You might just get enough money for a new car if it is a total loss.

You want this totaled as others have said.

Just glad everyone walked away. Can you sell to the dealer that fixes it and buy a another used one?

glad the humans are okay, the car can always be replaced. But its true when they say itll never be the same after an accident like that. Hopefully it gets totalled. i myself buy these hit totalled cars, but only the ones that are decent to the eye to fix and i get them pretty close to orignal and you wont be able to tell its been in a accident, but in your case you have major frame issues, i wouldnt even touch that car, so yeah get rid of it, theres plenty more out there :)

The question is: will he be out of pocket getting rid of that car if the insurance company doesn't declare it totaled (I am guessing yes). Even if it gets totaled, does he still get a fair market price or some blue book value?

Depends on if he has insurance to cover that, called Gap Insurance I believe, and for everyone, its a good investment if you didn't put that much down on the car. A lot of insurance companies will only cover depreciated value on their standard plans, and if you don't have much $$$ down on the car, you could end up upside down on the loan (bad). Gap insurance steps in and covers that amount.

Edit: BTW, I couldn't start mine after the accident either. I think this is a safety feature in case there is a fuel leak, and it disables the starter, and has to be reset by the dealer. Did your airbags pop?

Usually it's the fuel pump that's disabled--it is on Fords at least. Maybe BMW goes the extra mile and also kills the starter?

No, it very well might be the fuel pump, I am not completely sure on that one.

Depends on if he has insurance to cover that, called Gap Insurance I believe, and for everyone, its a good investment if you didn't put that much down on the car. A lot of insurance companies will only cover depreciated value on their standard plans, and if you don't have much $$$ down on the car, you could end up upside down on the loan (bad). Gap insurance steps in and covers that amount.Gap insurance doesn't apply here, I believe the answer to the question is when he sells it after the repair (down the road, presumably), it's going to cost him. This is where you hope he leased ;-)

Well, gap insurance may apply if, like Mryakan says above, the insurance does decide to total. There is a possibility that he could be out of pocket, even if the insurance decides to total, depending on what the insurance pays out for the value of the car (most likely it will be a depreciated value). I had a friend recently that had this happen, totaled car, not much money put down, and her market value from the ins. co was less than what she owed on the loan, which then came out of her pocket.
And yes, if the frame is bent or some other major damage, it will affect the selling price later on, again hurting his wallet.

Even my accident could affect my 335, but I really don't plan on selling for a LONG time, I tend to keep my cars until either they break or repairs costs outweigh the benefits.

Edit: BTW, I couldn't start mine after the accident either. I think this is a safety feature in case there is a fuel leak, and it disables the starter...

It's called the Battery Safety Terminal. There is an ignitor attatched to the positive battery cable that kills power to your engine bay to prevent a fire starting under your hood in the event of an accident.

Sorry to hear about the accident but glad to hear you were physically okay. I recently had my last car totaled due to flooding and it was a pain to fight with my insurance company, but all the hard work, effort and negotiating paid off since I bought my 335xi and I love this car. Get your insurance company to total the car. If you are not satisfied with their initial offer, negotiate hard with the claims representative. Keep negotiating until they come back to you with something you can live with and seems reasonable to you. Here are some excerpts from an article about car insurance. So helpful because it really educated me on how insurance companies operate (this site would not allow me to post the link to the MSN Money article, by the way).

Your Car's Real Worth
The value of your "totaled" car may surprise you. Auto-insurance companies don't use the standard Kelley Blue Book or National Association of Automobile Dealers value. Instead, each company has its own proprietary list of car values, and most have specialized software for valuing cars in each region. They take into consideration the car's mileage and pre-accident condition.

The insurance company may also ask local dealers what they'd charge for a similar replacement car. However, the insurer will consider quotes from suburban towns as reasonable estimates, even if you live in the city. You might have to drive several hours to reach the cheapest dealer, just to save the insurance company money. And they might be quoted a better deal than you could get if you walked onto the lot.
Tip: If you disagree with your insurance company's value determination, there are several things you can do:

1. Next time, get "gap" insurance. It will pay the difference between what an insurer will cover and what you owe, which can be several thousand dollars.
2. If you have maintenance records that show you've had the oil changed every 3,000 miles and you've had the car checked routinely by a mechanic, present copies to the insurance company to show the car was in good condition.
3. If you've been paying premiums on any special parts or upgrades, make sure those are included in the insurance company's evaluation.
4. Get price quotes on replacement cars from three dealers within a reasonable driving distance and submit these to your insurance company.
5. Ask the insurance company for a list of dealers within a specific distance who can sell you an equivalent car for the value the company is claiming.
6. If you still aren't satisfied, you can step up the process and go to mediation or arbitration. Mediation involves presenting your case to a neutral party for help in reaching a compromise; arbitration is a binding decision. You can also, of course, take the issue to court.

Check into "diminished value." Say your car has been in an accident, but repaired. Is it worth less than the exact same car that hasn't been in an accident? It's a hot topic, but some say yes. In 14 states, you're allowed to file a claim with your insurance company for that lost value.
Tip: Thirty-six states and Washington, D.C., allow insurance companies to exclude payments for diminished value, so if you live in one of those states, you won't get to claim the loss. But in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia, you have a chance of getting a diminished-value payment. If you weren't at fault in the accident, you often can make a successful case against the insurance company of the driver who was at fault.
You may not owe sales tax on your replacement car. Twenty-eight states require auto insurers to pay for the sales tax when you replace your totaled vehicle with a new or used car: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Tip: Make the request; don't expect the insurer to offer to pay upfront. Even in states that do not require sales-tax reimbursement, you should request it. Many auto insurers will not deny the request because the policy requires that they make you "whole," returning you to where you were before the accident at no cost to you.

The tax will be calculated based on the pre-accident value of your car. If the insurance company values your car at $10,000, and you purchase a new car for $20,000, the tax will be calculated on $10,000.
Initially, my insurance company was not going to total my car due to their repair estimate of $9,000 but I said are you insane, my car was flooded with water above the car windows and the entire front of the car was submerged. Then they decided to total the car but came back with an offer of what they thought was the pre-accident condition of the car's value. I fought this too and followed to the letter what was suggested in the article. I killed them with paper such as all of my maintenance records, window sticker listing all of the options I purchased, and provided quotes for what I could get for the car based upon the mileage and all the options. The result was that they offered a value that was even higher than my offer. Also, since you live in California, you will get paid the applicable sales tax on the pre-accident value of your car. So, it's in your best interest to get that value as high as you can so you get more for the sales tax. Play hardball and tell your insurance company that they will make a claim against the insurance company of the driver who hit you anyway, so net net they should get reimbursed. Why should you have to suffer economically, especially when the other driver was mostly, if not all, negligent in causing the accident? I hope this helps. Good luck to you and remember to fight the fight because it's totally worth it. Sorry for the long post!

Mavjen, I sure hope I never need to use your advice, but wanted to thank you for providing such detailed information about our rights if our cars are totalled.

THANKS!

My pleasure. I lucked out and came upon that "12 Secrets Your Car Insurer Won't Tell You" article on msn.com right around the time my car was flooded. Knowledge is power as my mom used to say and she is so on the money with that one.

Just heard back today. The repair costs are now up to $29K. I am checking on the procedure to total the car. I hope it gets totalled. It seems ridiculous to fix it. Note, this doesn't even include engine work (if there is any). Its just frame and repairs. I'm getting more bummed by the minute. Stay tuned til tomorrow.

damn 20 thousand more you can a brand new one, and 15 thousand more you can get a good used one. They need to total that car. IMO

Just heard back today. The repair costs are now up to $29K. I am checking on the procedure to total the car. I hope it gets totalled. It seems ridiculous to fix it. Note, this doesn't even include engine work (if there is any). Its just frame and repairs. I'm getting more bummed by the minute. Stay tuned til tomorrow.
I just went through this with a Volvo S60R. The other driver was at fault. She was insured with State Farm.

Basically, once their adjustor heard the story and accepted their insured was at fault, I was put in touch with the department that handles the car valuation. It was totally independent of the "medical claim" division. As the process went forward, they were very specific about what options my car had from the factory, what after market items were put on the car. Even had their local people look at the car at the salvage yard to confirm some of what I claimed.

Their position was that they had no negotiating capability. The valuation was based on what was on the car and then, kind of like a realtor, what local market conditions prevailed for cars similar to mine (comp's, so to speak).

I found things to be "fair" overall. I qualify that judgement, beause the $$ value they work with are for depriciated/used cars, not new replacements. As it stood, I got more than I would have if I had sold my car by a full 25%, but had no intention of doing that so effectively was forced to accept the depreciation on my 3 year old car.

Certainly you'd rather have your car totalled so you get your money out of it, what with the headaches of both the quality of the repairs and "diminished value" when you go to sell it. But in the best of cases, you'll end up paying out of pocket to replace your car, though you'll be better off than if you were to have traded it in because in all likelihood they will give you "high-book" value for your car.....

Good luck

Latest in the saga: The car is officially totalled! Woohoo! It turns out the other party is under-insured but my insurance company is handling everything including payment to me. They claim it will be no additional cost to me even if they can't recover everything from the other person (who was clearly at fault). I don't know the stated value yet. The downside is that I got to drive the car about 1 month or so from the time I bought it (its a used 07). Being used, the value can't be much less than I paid and I know they take into account local market conditions. I guess I'll find out soon what the deal is but I do expect it will cost me some. I decided to take the rims off the car and put the old rims on. My plan at the moment is to replace it with basically the same car but I'm still thinking (now that that is an option). Probably buy new this time around.

Good for you!! You'll have come back and let us know what you wound up with, PLUS PICS are REQUIRED!!