Car is totalled

Hey guys,

 

Had an unfortunate Sunday -- a close friend of mine lost control of my car and hit a tree at speed. Long story short, with or without the fire that soon erupted and engulfed the car, the car's totalled.

 

The car was a BSM 2005 Legacy GT Limited with 46,500 miles -- only options were the subwoofer and rear spoiler. I have New Jersey Manufacturer's insurance and wanted to know if anybody has experience with them or knows what I can expect to get in the case of a total loss. I heard that they are pretty good with replacement rates, but still have an awful feeling that I'm going to end up with a lowball amount.

 

KBB retails the car at something like $17k (BS), Private Party's it at about $14,5 (reasonable) and puts a trade in value of about $12k (yikes). The car was in great condition, but the insurance company can't tell because the fire destroyed it -- what do they assume? How/why do they assume it?

 

Thanks for any help guys! And the pics are below.

im assuming everyone was ok... thank god

i'm no help with the ins info, but glad it sounds like you/your friend are ok, jay.

 

i hope the image of your car fueling a 25-ft inferno won't influence any of your future appeals to wheel out the old man's ride

 

any ideas for replacement yet?

Wow. Maybe show them pictures beforehand and if you have maintenance records that would indicate you took care of it.

:spin:Talk about going out in a blaze of glory:spin:

 

WOW! Good thing the tree and car met forward the drivers door...

 

Reminds me of a certain young lady's wreck on this site that resulted in some serious injuries...

 

WHEW...

 

Replacement whip x2?

We were lucky that the car hit the tree the way it did -- anything else would have resulted in some serious injuries. The driver had a broken collar-bone but myself and a friend in the back didn't have so much as a scratch. And that picture was the beginning of the blaze. I couldn't believe how high the flames shot up after it got around to the interior.. at least twice that height

 

As for a replacement, I'm still in my last year of college and parking is going to be hell next year, since the house I'm living at doesn't have room for all my roommates' cars. That said, I might wait til next summer to pick up a car and make do with my family's cars when I have to. Honestly, if I could get into a newer LGT or Spec. B (not a 2010), I'd take it. But if things work out with an internship I'm looking at next summer, I'll have a helluva commute and may look into something slower, but more comfy and fuel efficient. For now, I'm just glad that things didn't turn out any worse than they could've been.

Two words. Gap Insurance. It's a life saver if your car isn't "worth" what you owe on it. It pays the difference. I'm glad everyone got out ok. That is a horrible wreck. RIP BSM LGT.

Two words. Gap Insurance. It's a life saver if your car isn't "worth" what you owe on it. It pays the difference. I'm glad everyone got out ok. That is a horrible wreck. RIP BSM LGT.

 

Yea gap insurance is sometimes a big help..

 

But the car was paid for in full, so all that's hanging in the balance is a check from the insurance company. I'm just crossing my fingers.

Dealt with NJM when my WRX was stolen.

 

They don't care about the condition of the car, or if you flossed the intercooler with a toothbrush every night. Condition doesn't come into play, they came back to me with what the going rate for a used car with similar miles was.

 

They did pay 25 cents on the dollar for mods though, anything I could prove with a receipt. I thought that was fantastic, since I didn't have a rider for any of that.

 

I suggest you go into it with low expectations, and hopefully come out feeling better.

For realistic expectations, look at edmunds.com, nadaguides.com, and when looking at KBB, look at the private party "good" value. They should all be within about $1k of each other.

 

NEVER, I repeat NEVER look at KBB retail value. If you read the disclaimer, it plainly states that the value would be considered a STARTING POINT FOR DEALER NEGOTIATIONS and should never be considered as an actual sale value.

I believe the insurance companys use NADA book pricing.

every state law is different

Dam man good luck. NJM is a great INS company so you may have some better luck.

Sorry to hear Jay, I remember seeing it a couple of years ago and it looked great. Good to hear you're all pretty much okay.

Sorry about the ride, Jay. Glad there were no serious injuries. Good luck with INS.

when my 05 was totaled last year state farm gave me 15.7k plus taxes so it was close to 17k.

 

2005 lgt ltd with alarm, auto dim, subwoofer and 35k on it

 

sold all my mods and wheels for another 12k

 

bought c30 out right

 

still miss haw raw and fun the lgt was though, especially in snow

 

hope it works out. it sucks. been there.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Insurance is moving pretty slowly and haven't verified the mileage -- they've had to ask the dealership and get a dmv report or something.

 

I did some light car shopping for fun and might just find myself back in an LGT come next summer. The only other car that struck me was an 07 330i MT, but I'll surely have to save up a bit. VXCL, you must've had a boatload of mods to sell!!

Mike (VXCL) did. I know I have a bunch of them

Thanks for all the advice guys. Insurance is moving pretty slowly and haven't verified the mileage -- they've had to ask the dealership and get a dmv report or something.

 

I did some light car shopping for fun and might just find myself back in an LGT come next summer. The only other car that struck me was an 07 330i MT, but I'll surely have to save up a bit. VXCL, you must've had a boatload of mods to sell!!

 

2 sets of rims, tires, and a full brembo conversion were most of it, then dp, exhaust, tmic, sways, ap, suspension, jdm bumper conversion... 5 years it all added up. i could not believe how much i actually spent on the thing!

ow, glad to hear you and your friends are OK. hope insurance works in your favor. does it matter that your friend was driving? no traffic tix right? A friend of mine got in an accident in bad weather and the cop gave him a ticket for aggresive driving or something like that.

Dealt with NJM when my WRX was stolen.

 

They don't care about the condition of the car, or if you flossed the intercooler with a toothbrush every night. Condition doesn't come into play, they came back to me with what the going rate for a used car with similar miles was.

 

They did pay 25 cents on the dollar for mods though, anything I could prove with a receipt. I thought that was fantastic, since I didn't have a rider for any of that.

 

I suggest you go into it with low expectations, and hopefully come out feeling better.

 

 

I have NJM also & they've been great in the times I've dealt with them for minor incidents. When I had my Jeep I inquired about aftermarket parts & what they would cover & they said anything with a receipt. I saved that email, just in case....but never ended needing to prove anything.

 

Sorry to see the loss of your car crazyjay...hard to tell it was even an LGT

I wouldnt worry too much. THey normally pay out RETAIL for a total loss. One thing to do is find SIMILAR cars in your area on autotrader etc and print out the prces and milesage and what not... Helps your case if they know you know what your car is worth.

 

 

When I totalled my old sentra... I woulda thought 8-9000 which was basically what i owed. But they gave me the high retail of 10,500. So GLW,insurance.