Insurance, totaled car, etc

Varnell · May 8, 2014

Alright, so I've never totaled a car until now and I'm not quite sure the best way to do this. I had an adjuster come out and tell me it would be totaled and I'd get $2,900. That's pretty generous considering the KBB for a 1998 Sedan i4 LX in excellent condition is $2,250.

The insurance company is telling me to give them my receipts, since I've spent over $11,000 on the car in the three years I've had it. If I claim those, can I take those parts off before I salvage it? Or should I just take the $2,900 and switch the parts to my 2002 coupe that I just bought for $2,400. I'll be losing out on all the money I spent on installations. I'll be in the red by about $1,000 for a wreck that wasn't even my fault.

I have full coverage, but I didn't have any modifications endorsed. The adjuster basically said spending money on your car isn't an investment (which I knew, but I didn't think it would count for nothing, either). I'm sure this thread can be a good resource for anyone that finds themselves in a similar situation in the future.

RedRyder · May 8, 2014

Been wondering about this myself, and if there is a way to insure the major mods in addition to the car or not.

Varnell · May 8, 2014

RedRyder said:
Been wondering about this myself, and if there is a way to insure the major mods in addition to the car or not.

The adjuster told me that any modification I want insured needs to be endorsed. This means sending the insurance company a copy of the receipt and hoping they agree with it. Things like nitrous won't be insured, and they'll even stop covering your car. He was telling me how his next client just installed a roll cage to his 2014 Corvette. He said the $3-4,000 piece probably wouldn't be insured, and they might no longer consider the car insurable for daily driving.

They do approve of upgrades such as engines, so I'm sure you're in the clear with that. Otherwise, insurance companies are only required to pay $1,000 for endorsements by contract. They may be generous, but he said he previously worked for Geico and they never would pay more than the contract required.

J0hnalex · May 8, 2014

What you should do is take the 2900. But just make sure it will be able to cover the cost of fixing the car! Fix it and a guarentee you will make out a couple bucks postive! Been there before and its a sucky situation so good luck. Wish you the best

Varnell · May 8, 2014

J0hnalex said:
What you should do is take the 2900. But just make sure it will be able to cover the cost of fixing the car! Fix it and a guarentee you will make out a couple bucks postive! Been there before and its a sucky situation so good luck. Wish you the best

The car is totaled, so no fixing it. After spending $2400 on another car, that leaves me with $500 to install everything. This includes a 5-lug swap (4-lug to my old car so I can salvage it), reinstalling a $1,600 sound system, window tinting, anti-roll bars, all four camber (joints/arms), and numerous alignments to get it stanced just right. I'm also sure unforeseen issues with the new car will come up.

My question is more, can I get away with claiming all my modified parts and installations, then take the parts off before the car is salvaged?

J0hnalex · May 8, 2014

Id strip the aftermarket parts and reinstall it will be more time consuming but it will be worth it in the end

Varnell · May 8, 2014

J0hnalex said:
Id strip the aftermarket parts and reinstall it will be more time consuming but it will be worth it in the end

Definitely. I'm more concerned about the legal aspect. Claiming them as part of the totaled vehicle, and then keeping them.

Brad2274 · May 8, 2014

J0hnalex said:
What you should do is take the 2900. But just make sure it will be able to cover the cost of fixing the car! Fix it and a guarentee you will make out a couple bucks postive! Been there before and its a sucky situation so good luck. Wish you the best

i agree with this^ but you dont have 2900 to fix the car, you have 2900 minus the cost to purchase the now totaled car, then you might pay 1500 to fix it and come out with 600-900$ in your pocket(also all the time you want to swap parts out) depending on buy back cost, now you have your sedan back(with a salvage title) to keep or sell.

itll be hard to get more than like $2400 for that car, though you might end up with 3000-3300 instead of the original 2900, which in reality after purchasing the coupe already, like $700 extra to do whatever with instead of $500 from 2900-2400. granted these are all rough numbers and things can change.

IMO i would swap all the parts off you can and take the 2900 and walk in your case, if it were me id buy it back and part it out, make more money that way, fixing it to sell it can be a hastle

DarkSideAccord · May 9, 2014

the parts are covered if u add them to your policy..i did on mine and the parts would be covered should anything happen

the $2900 u got was based on the value of the car itself and not the mods u had put into it.. u can take those out as long as u have the oem parts to put back on