Re: 164S Totaled

["Gregory S. Youngblood" <greg@domain.elided>]

On Sun, 6 Jan 2002, vasco melo wrote:

> I crashed my beloved 164S the day before Christmas, rotten luck. In order to
> avoid crashing into someone else who crossed in front of me from a side
> street, he left me no choice but to plow onto someone's front yard, hitting a
> tree and finally stopping, slightly hitting the house. Luckily I was ok.
> However, after dealing, still dealing with the insurance company, I wish that
> I had hit the other car, it would have made things simpler. The insurance
> company declared my car totaled and will give me the market value sometime
> next week.

Verify how they will determine the "market value" of the car. If they go
strictly by age/book value you will probably get less. I've noticed that
with Alfas they end up going for more than "book" value, so the only way
to get a slightly more fair price for your beloved is to get them to do a
survey of prices for similar Alfas -- preferably from places that
sometimes sell them used, or comparison with prices on the web.

> So I have a question for any of you who've had this experience before; the car
> has $5K+ damage but it's reparable. I know that I can't afford to fix it now,
> but I don't really want to give the insurance company my car so that they or
> someone else can profit from all my labor, tons of money and time and love
> that I've invested on it. Have any of you ever had this happen, where they'll
> give you the market value and let you keep the car? I guess it's the company's
> policy is to keep a totaled vehicle, but how dare they? And why isn't my
> insurance company going after the other guy's insurance company, even if he's
> 79 YEARS OF AGE? It really wasn't my fault.

I had a similar incident in San Franciscon with my Suburban. A hotel
shuttle van came into my lane. I avoided the accident, but my passenger
mirror hit a carge truck on the side, broke the glass of the mirror
(appears to be a single unit -- thanks GM, $260 for the UNIT when I only
need the glass, even Hyundai uses snap-in mirrors for easy replacement).
However, since I didn't allow the other vehicle to strike my truck, I'm
left holding the bag.

It's a lesson in defensive driving -- sometimes your better off not
avoiding the accident.

As for totalling the car, you can take the money and run, and inquire from
the insurance company where they will dispose of the vehicle. Most
totalled vehicles are auctioned off or sold off. Often you can agree to
buy it back as salvage.

I've never known of an insurance company to total the vehicle and then let
you keep it too, w/o buying it back that is.

If you have any pictures, documentation, witnesses, or other evidence that
the other guy did cause you action you may be able to try a civil case,
possibly small claims court, but that's about it I'm afraid. [Please note,
I'm not a lawywer, I've just had dealings or know of dealings with
some insurance companies...]

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