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Thread: 318ti Accident- Need opinions

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
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    Venice
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    1996 318i

    318ti Accident- Need opinions

    Hey all! I need some opinions on an accident that happened with me today that wasn't my fault. I'm not that active here on the forum, but some of you may know my husband, hodge. (Tyler). I appreciate any tips/help you can give with the insurance company, so here is my story.

    I own a DASC 318ti. Today, it was parked in a parking lot and hit by a massive Dodge van that hopped the curb and completely smashed my front end about 2 feet in. Completely his fault, so his insurance company will be covering all costs. I will upload some pictures of the damage. As far as the damage goes, the radiator, condenser, fenders, headlights, bumper, hood, transmission cooler, electric engine fan, corner markers, nose panels, and the list goes on. I uploaded pictures of it. So, a pretty penny to fix it.

    Here is the real problem. Being a '96 318ti with 97xxx miles the book value is an insanely low $1,600. Now everyone who cares anything about their car knows that it is worth way more than that. My car is in excellent condition, near perfect interior, with the lots of mods done to it. I autox and plan to track it. I talked with the insurance company and they will plan to total it. I love my car, and no amount of money will ever get me to total or salvage it. I will wait years if it takes that to get my car back, it means that much to me.

    So, now my questions.
    What do you think the damage would cost to repair? I was thinking about $8k? Just curious.
    Any tips on dealing with the insurance company? As I said before, I will stand my ground when it comes to having it totaled or salvage. That will never happen as far as I'm concerned.
    Now, since I am so firm on having it be exactly the way I had it, will the insurance company eventually give in and agree to me? Or what do they say in that situation? I have a friend that owns a body shop and he will charge them storage for it to sit there for as long as we argue. Will that help at all?

    Now the final question. I would like to show the insurance company proof that my car is worth way more than blue book value. Is there any way any of you could give a price showing that people would pay a certain amount for it? Disregard the fact that it is not manual, the insurance company more than likely won't care about that. Plus I have an entire manual swap sitting in my garage waiting for me to have the time to swap it. I also uploaded some pictures of it before the accident, I didn't have any interior shots on hand, but it is grey cloth, grey dash. Great condition no stains or rips.

    I thank you so much in advanced, we are moving to California and leaving the state tomorrow so this is just the last thing we needed. Any advice/input is appreciated, especially if you would give a price you would pay for it. Thanks again so much.


    tl;dr: Someone hit my parked car, smashed 2 feet into front end, going to be suggested total by insurance company, don't want it to be. Advice on how to deal with them?

    Thanks,
    Patience

    Accident Pics:








    Before Pics:






    Old Headlights

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Michigan
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    2005 325Xi
    It appears you may not be in the U.S. so there may be different rules over there, but here your options would be to take some of their money and relinquish the car, or to take a little less of their money and keep the car so that you can fix it. The amounts will be different in each scenario and both are, of course, negotiable.

    However, as much as you love your car, it won't see the road again without a salvage title. Either way you go, the insurance company will "total" your vehicle.
    Last edited by Critter7r; 04-15-2014 at 12:28 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by B4SH View Post
    If anyone knows, it's this guy who knows literally nothing about everything.
    Quote Originally Posted by fcvapor05 View Post
    Do you even OT? The mean 401k around here is probably about $6, what with all the shiny cars and $1,000 watches and donations to get other members' Volvos running.


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    Denver, Colorado
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    67 2000cs 93 Accord
    Hi aldeki,

    I am sorry to hear about your ti.

    “I am not an expert, but I play one on TV”

    All I can tell you is my experience last year dealing with an insurance company on my brother’s behalf and I hope that helps you.

    If you have alternate transportation means, and you do not need your ti for daily transportation that will work in your favor when negotiating with their insurance company because you are not under pressure to settle up quickly which is what they want you to do. You first need to understand as I am sure you do is that their insurance agents job to pay you the least amount and make you go away as quickly as possible and that their first settlement offer is just that “an offer” and it will be their only offer only if you accept it. Always remember that you still own your 318ti, it is your property and it is not the insurance companies property yet, it will only be totaled and then have a salvage title if you so choose by accepting their offer to totaling your car, but you can always just have your 318ti fixed without going through the “totaling” process and that may require a cash expense on your end in addition the insurance pay out to have the car fixed.

    Here my personal experience with dealing with an insurance company just 8 months ago. My brother was stopped at a red light when he was rear ended, his vehicle, a RAV4 received almost all of the damage but both vehicles were drivable, and just like your 318ti, it looks like you received the worst of the damage, I am wondering if the Dodge van that hit you even got so much as a scratch on it’s bumper? Anyway the other person’s insurance company sent out an adjuster and they came up with a settlement of $3,900 for repairs but I noticed that the door frames were now not aligned as they once were, so we suspected frame damage and took the RAV4 to a very reputable repair shop for another estimate and their quick visual estimate was a minimum of $6,100 and could go higher due to the frame damage after they complete a more thorough examination which would be done in a weeks or so. The $6,100 figure was given to the insurance company and they agreed to that number but now the RAV4 was considered a total and they offer to settle at $6,500 which was Kelly Blue Book and I said no because I could not replace that vehicle for that amount.

    I then proceeded to look for a suitable replacement vehicle on Craigslist and other sites to find one in the closest in condition, which just like your 318ti was clean, low mileage, like new condition, and those vehicles as in any vehicle your looking for are very hard to come by. I then sent the for sale ads to the insurance company which ranged in price from $12,500 from private parties to $15,900 at a dealer. The insurance agent then also did their own search and their price range was about $2,000 lower than mine (imagine that) and they then offer me $8,000 as a settlement, which I refused again. I now had gotten a final repair estimate on the RAV4 and now they have found that the frame damage is more extensive and it will now cost $9,600 to repair so the insurance offer is still too low even if I wanted to fix the car. I pretty much kept the same line with the insurance company, I want my RAV4 in the condition it was in before your customer hit me in the accident and repairing is now not an option due to the frame damage, I then told them to just go buy me the $15,900 RAV4 that was at the dealer and were all good. Their next offer came in at $12,500 which I also declined, and then weeks later and many phone calls I received what they said would be their final offer and there will be no more offers which was $13,500 and I accepted that and the RAV4 was totaled. This whole process lasted over six weeks and I was also able to have the insurance company pay for a rental vehicle for the first two weeks during the process of all this, which is standard in most policies.

    Moral of the story, don’t accept the insurance companies first offer, there is a lot of research and negotiating that needs to be done before they write a check, and once they write that check, their legal obligations are now fulfilled with you and make sure you are happy with it.

    Good luck.
    _______________
    ________
    Steve

    1988 M3 "Cash for Clunkers" willing to consider trade for a 1988 325ix +$

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    Colorado
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    Quote Originally Posted by Altitude View Post
    Hi aldeki,

    I am sorry to hear about your ti.

    “I am not an expert, but I play one on TV”
    .......

    Moral of the story, don’t accept the insurance companies first offer, there is a lot of research and negotiating that needs to be done before they write a check, and once they write that check, their legal obligations are now fulfilled with you and make sure you are happy with it.

    Good luck.
    Hey there! This is aldeki commenting from my husband's. Just wanted to say thanks a lot for your post, it helped and gave me a better idea of what to expect. So now I know, hold out for a while
    Thanks again!

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Denver, CO
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    11 335i, 01 740i Sport
    This is a sad situation -- however.. Unfortunately, the car is just not worth nearly as much as it is worth to you. They will total it. The only way you get to keep it is to buy it back (with a salvage title) assuming you're in the US.

    There is always negotiating room on the settlement offer from the ins company but you have to be reasonable when it comes to your expectations. Also, be very careful about the pressuring the ins co by your body shop for storage fees -- the car is still yours and not the insurance company's until the settlement is done.

    Best of luck, hope it works out to your satisfaction.
    2011 335i XDrive Coupe
    2001 740i Sport

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    Quote Originally Posted by JWalker View Post
    This is a sad situation -- however.. Unfortunately, the car is just not worth nearly as much as it is worth to you. They will total it. The only way you get to keep it is to buy it back (with a salvage title) assuming you're in the US.

    There is always negotiating room on the settlement offer from the ins company but you have to be reasonable when it comes to your expectations. Also, be very careful about the pressuring the ins co by your body shop for storage fees -- the car is still yours and not the insurance company's until the settlement is done.

    Best of luck, hope it works out to your satisfaction.
    "They will total it" Only if you agree to their terms that can they total it, it is all about money and money solves all problems here.
    "The only way you get to keep it is to buy it back" Again, only if you agree to the insurance company's offer, it is your property not theirs.
    "the car is still yours and not the insurance company's" That is the key point to remember in dealing with insurance companies.
    _______________
    ________
    Steve

    1988 M3 "Cash for Clunkers" willing to consider trade for a 1988 325ix +$

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Altitude View Post
    "They will total it" Only if you agree to their terms that can they total it, it is all about money and money solves all problems here.
    "The only way you get to keep it is to buy it back" Again, only if you agree to the insurance company's offer, it is your property not theirs.
    "the car is still yours and not the insurance company's" That is the key point to remember in dealing with insurance companies.
    You know theres a legal liability here that goes a lot deeper than just "This is my car and I really like it"

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