Reconsidering warranty after repairs

$17,000 in repairs?! How is that not considered totaled by insurance? Since the car only costs about $10,000 more than that new, you are getting back a car that is MOSTLY repaired rather than mostly the original car. How does that make sense? Did you ask about why it wasn't written off as a total?

 

I am not sure what the cut-off is for totaling a car but even on a V, that is over half the cost of the vehicle!

There is extended warranty information available here within the forum and I think a discounted one is available for around 1,000. I think that at that price, and considering what you mentioned above, it is obviously a good idea to get the warranty.

Best of luck and glad you got your car back!

 

You should push your insurance company (or the other drivers insurance company) to call it totalled. Get another one...one that will turn out to be cheaper over the long haul...assuming you'll own the car for over 5 years. Just my 2 cents for you. Research the options some more.

 

If the other driver was found to be entirely at fault, then all of the repairs were paid for by her insurance company. Is this the way it happened?

You may have yet another claim to make against the insurance company. Because of the VERY high cost of repair, this will show up on any CARFAX report. No matter how well the work has been done, the car is likely going to be worth less at sale or trade-in than the EXACT same car without all of those repairs. Why? Well . . . would you pay the same amount?

This is known as inherent diminished value. Go to CarMax, your dealer and maybe one other place. Ask each one to value the car. Make certain that, after they give you the value, they then tell you whether the value would be any different if the car had not been in the accident and had so many repairs. Also, ask for the difference in value. You should tell them why, because you will need to send their responses in to the insurance company as proof of the inherent diminished value due to the accident (and repairs).

Perhaps you could negotiate for an extended warranty as part of the insurance company's payout on your claim?


2600

 

How do you figure that $17,000 in repairs should "total" a $30,000 vehicle?
Especially not AFTER the repairs are completed.

One shop wanted $1500 to $2000 to repair a small dent in my passenger door.
Another shop made a detailed estimate for $999, and said it would take 5 days.
The local "Dent Doctor" skillfully re-virginized my Prius in 1 hour for $150.

I wonder, how much would just replacing a "shattered" ICE cost?

 

Get the warranty. It's $1,055 and worth every penny. Get it.

 

One thing you will have to worry about is "IF" something goes wrong with your car in the next few years and it's something that was damaged because of the wreck Toyota does not and will not warranty the failed part. I have seen it done to many times (was in the car business for 8 years) where warranty claims are denied. Hopefully with the car as new as it is they used all OEM Toyota parts. Believe me when I say this. If a tech is going to fix something under warranty and he sees that it was in a wreck he will be fixing it, but at an insurance rate or the hourly rate, not the warranty rate. I am not trying to scare you at all. I would you rather be educated before you spend that money on something you might not have any beneft of.

 

Funny how things work sometimes. My wife totaled her car last week. She hydroplaned in the interstate, crossed three lanes of southbound traffic, across 50 feet of grass median with a three strand cable guardrail n the center and ended up facing south in the fast lane of the north bound side. The car did three 360s on the way. It engine continued to run and she then drove it back onto the median and out of oncoming traffic. One of the cables from the guardrail wrapped around the car as it spun and went out into traffic with her. The cable beat-up every body panel, shattered the windshield and ripped the wipers and roof rack off the car. Amazingly there was no damage to the engine or structure of the car. It looked like it had gone 15 rounds with a great fighter that could not hit hard enough to score a knockout. The insurance company totaled it out just on the body panel costs.

I took her to dinner that night to celebrate still having a wife.

 

According to who? If they said that $17~ (I don't remember the exact amount you said) was the amount for it to be declared totaled, then it's reached that amount now. Personally, I wouldn't want to own or drive that thing, no way. Think of it this way - you had what was just a moment before that crash basically a new car, only months old. Now you've got a car that is wrecked, and I mean WRECKED, so wrecked that it's forever going to be massively dinged when you try to sell or trade it. Think about how hard it's going to be to sell that on your own. People are going to get the Carfax report on that and you're going to have to drop the price to an extremely low level after that. Or if you trade it, the dealership is going to bend you over. Even if you get compensation today for this, it's still not going to compensate you later on the hassles you're going to have with this car. I think you've got some serious answers to get from the insurance company. I personally don't think you should accept this car back. The damage equates to the amount for a total, so it IS a total. I would be surprised if a lawyer would not agree.

 

One sure sign the car was in an accident will be the stickers. Under your hood you will have an emission sticker and one other sticker. Also, you won't have the vin stickers on the fenders or the bumper cover.

I don't trust Carfax. I knew of a VW R32 that had the front clip replaced and Carfax said it was a clean vehicle. The dealership certified it knowing it was wrecked. I feel bad for the guy who bought it...

If you are concerned, I would contact Toyota and see what their policy is.

 

I'd trade it off at a loss before I'd drive it (but that's just me). then, again, I wouldn't have accepted the decision to fix since it was so close to a total. Always wait for the police report before starting anything, and never sign anything with an insurance company until you're completely satisfied (they always push for a settlement signature based on their estimate - I wait until the work is done, and after I determine if anything else was hurt - including me!).

 

Nice thread - keep i mind an insurance company doesn't always have your best interest in mind.

Your car - having almost 70% damage, is worth far less than a comparable car with no damage. I would ask / demand for much more.

This will "haunt" the car for the rest of its life...

Figure out a number that you think is fair, increase it by xx%, and go back to the insurance co... They will at last resort, go to arbitration, which will likely favor you...

 

I'm a bit concerned with the rather harsh language used here. I don't know whether I would act as has phartin has, but I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. He has been thinking this through fairly well (he's engaged a specialist to help with the inherent diminished value claim), and he understands how the insurance company has worked to come to a value.

I, too, am surprised at the situation, because I imagine the insurance adjusters KNOW that a car with this much damage will ALWAYS cost more to fix, because there are damages they can't even see until the car comes apart.

Still, any car this new is going to receive OEM parts, and the car, theoretically, should be "like new."

I share the speculationi that the car's value has dropped to a point lower than if it had not been in the accident (even when fixed "perfectly"). There should be no time in the history of the car where the inherent value could have been or would become as dimished as now. This means that money paid now can be set aside for use when replacing your current ride.

On the question of signing away the chances for something better than the insurance coimpany: That is not the way I've experienced it. (I've had too many claims of late to ignore it) The property damage part is, typically, separated from the bodily inury part. This means that accepting the car after repairs might limit fuutre claims by the owner, but it doeesn't diminish the non-physical repair claims (or something that earlier could have been unnoticed). It only puts a limit on the amount paid to fix the car. You just need to file a lawsuit to protect those other (personal injury or later-discoered personal property claims.

 

:whoo: Well done (and well said)!

 

But, don't make the dinner too great, or she might just "crash-to-dine"? (just joking)