Will the insurance company declare this a total loss?

[MaverickDragon]

I never call them accidents, they are crashes. Lack of driving skills and or inattentiveness is not an accident.

I think they call them "accidents" rather than "intentionals"...
A crash works, or maybe even an incident.

In the OP's case, it was probably just a case of poor judgement.
A six inch difference and it wouldn't have been anything.

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[MaverickDragon]

That's very unlikely to be written off.

For the OP's case, it sounds like he would prefer that.

Maybe if it was a DIY, an owner might be able to get away with a $3K repair, assuming used parts could be found, but an insurance adjuster isn't going to do a quote with used parts.

Labor would be a significant portion of the repair cost and for the damage, $3K is a drop in the bucket for a shop charge.

Once the insurance adjuster hits his repair estimate percentage, (Repair Cost / Value) it's game over and total time.
EDIT: Good reason for that. Once they commit to the repair, they are on the hook for the total cost of the fix (less deductible) and if it turns out hidden damage is found the adjuster may be looking for different employment.

The owner can accept the settlement and pay for the salvage cost to keep the vehicle, but he'll own a salvage titled vehicle, and he might find issues beyond what's apparent.

Not exactly a no risk option.

 

[ScottyC]

Looks like you could have whiplash are you okay? I know who my second call would of been to…

 

[Alfetta159]

Doesn't seem that serious. I'm sure that you'll be back on the road in no time at all.

 

[MavFord7560]

Mavericks have been totaled for less visible damage than that. Sorry to see it, but good luck.

Airbag deployment?

 

[dhaskit]

If not, I will be really upset.

 

[T Bone]

better call saul

 

[MetalThunder]

"B" pillar damage isn't cheap - and is a structural component to the unibody. I vote Totaled easily - at least hope it is.

Cheers

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

I hate that commercial!!

 

[Sykotyk]

Dealt with insurance a couple times over the past few years due to my dad having a few accidents.

Depends on the state. Depends on the insurance company standards. But once you reach a certain percentage of the bluebook value, it's totaled. Doesn't matter whether it can be rebuilt. The rebuild doesn't bring back the VALUE of the vehicle they'll then be covering for the next accident.

For instance, a vehicle is valued at 30k. The insurance won't repair anything over 66.6% of the value of the vehicle. The repair bill comes up to $24k. The bluebook value on a vehicle with massive reconstruction given a salvage title and then rebuilt goes from 30k to 15k. Insurance won't touch it after.

This was my experience with State Farm and Allstate. They also won't pay out the damages if you intend to then fix the vehicle yourself until AFTER the vehicle has been repaired AND CERTIFIED to be a clean title again. This is because safety is a huge issue for that vehicle being back on the road. If that vehicle isn't brought back up to spec and another accident happens, the OTHER vehicle's insurance will use the previous accident as proof that it was not roadworthy and the damages would have been less IF it was repaired properly.

Ergo, they just don't mess with it.


And I harp on this everytime it comes up when people complain about how easy modern vehicles are totaled. IT IS TO SAVE THE LIFE OF THE PASSENGERS. A vehicle that takes the impact saves the occupants. A vehicle that saves itself transfers all that energy into the meat pouches in the passenger cabin.

Deaths and lifetime disabilities are FAR MORE EXPENSIVE than paying out a few dozen total losses in injury-free accidents. It's a math equation insurance made long ago. And one you should be glad they did.

It's now cheaper for you to NOT DIE in the accident than it was before.

 

[WJOHNM]

If not, I will be really upset.
ITs all bolt on parts, don't see any frame or air bags in photos, Mavericks have a high salvage value, also have a high resale value, so if the appraiser gets a high salvage bid they could total it. Alot has to do with the repair shop, insurance company, mileage, resale value, parts prices they could find used parts, you have no say, unlikely, not too many Mavericks in salvage yards. I have totaled vehicles at 50% of their value with high salvage bids at difficult repair shops that have a history of call backs on original estimates.
Get a replacement value then figure 60/70% of that, remember insurance companies are looking for the cheapest way out of the claim don't care what you want. Every state has different laws, Good luck.

 

[tired comet]

I'm guessing they will total your Mav.
I am going thru this right now. Not with my Mav, my other vehicle. Had an accident during a recent bad snow/ice storm. Damage looked cosmetic to me but once they got the car in the shop the repair cost was astounding.
Insurance decided to total the vehicle. I wasn't happy about that but once all factors were considered it was best to go along with it. Waiting on a check. I'm sure some secondary shop will fix it up and sell on the open market with a salvage title or something.
The labor costs to repair seemed reasonable enough. The parts costs though, Wow.
A lot of people are talking about 'affordability' these days. Maybe the insurance companies should be talking with car manufacturers about 'parts affordability'.

 

[TedTX]

Totaled.... can I have your old wheels for my XL..

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Totaled.... can I have your old wheels for my XL..

I can't tell if your question is meant in jest.
If the insurance company totals his truck.
How do you go about getting the wheels off of it?
Wouldn't you have to negotiate with the insurance company or the parts yard where the truck is sent.

 

[Master X]

I’ve had a big vehicle try and get me like that. I was watching and I pulled forward just in time.

Yep, Unibodies, the throw away vehicle for a throw away society.
The only good thing about these new unibodies is they are very good at saving your life when another human crashes into you.
I never call them accidents, they are crashes. Lack of driving skills and or inattentiveness is not an accident.

We no longer refer to "Traffic Collisions" as "Accidents" because accident implies that no one is to blame.

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