If this was your car:
 

My friend has a brand new BMW 335d that was t-boned last weekend by a left-turning zombie driver. Fortunately no serious injuries but the left side of the car got shaved off pretty good.

Her insurance co. has assumed full responsibility already and the body shop and adjuster want to fix the car. Adjuster low-balled the damage @ $8k but the body shop says it could be more like $14k. Major structural damage, they will replace entire "B" pillar and other infrastructure. (It's a top-flight body shop).

I think that he should get a new car, no questions asked. Her insurance co. should just buy him a new, identical car and keep the wreck. What think you? Would you want that Frankenstein instead of the perfect brand new car that he was driving when he entered that intersection? It doesn't seem right to me. That car will not be at all the same. Half the car repainted, major surgery, etc... :mad:

Some pics:http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1299916228.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1299916262.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1299916301.jpg

I'd have them repair it, and repaint it purple.

I guess if re-sale value matters most, go for the new car. A repaired hulk won't fetch nearly the same price as a pampered daily driver.

Then again, if he plans to drive it into the ground... He's halfway there.

back when i estimated for a high-end body shop, this is the kind of stuff that i'd really push to get replaced. state farm was usually the best....they took my word, and wrote the check. every once in a while their inspector would come by and observe me do an estimate and we'd compare notes. he was always fair, and allowed me to continue to write estimates "for them"

Have him google "diminished value" for his fight with the insurance company. I'd want a new car.

I would think here in Oz that would be a loss. New car would be supplied. I believe laws here say that if the car has to have major structural reconstruction then it is a write off as the car will have diminished safety aspects.

I expected it to look a lot worse than that. He'll have to stand on his head to get a new car.
btw, did this happen the day he drove it off the lot?
Jim

I would push hard for a new car, a major accident will always diminish the value of a car.

It's interesting how this car will be fixed and the 993 in the other thread has a salvage title. :rolleyes:

If it was me I would insist on a new car. The B pillar replacement alone would be the arguing point.
Patching up a BMW like that is just plain stupid. It will never be the same as it was.

It's value now is in its parts.

new car.

This, hence new car,

would you use a motorcycle helmet that had been repaired?

What should happen and what actually happens are largely two different things. I've unfortunately had a little experience lately in working with insurance companies and body repairs.
The general experience I have found is the insurance company does a quote based upon used parts available at the time and then the labor. The parts are listed on an internet date base and are categorized by condition. They sometimes don't get the years correct and/or as it turns out the 'condition' can be highly subjective. The insurance company did there appraisal, but I took each situation to a body shop I was referred to from some PCA buddies and wasn't disappointed with the final outcome. However, in my experience of (3) different repairs in 2 years on 2 different cars was they low ball the estimate for parts and therefore labor and the body shop ends up negotiating for the right parts and the correct labor. In my case all three accident repair quotes ended up being off by between 50% and 100%! In the end the repairs worked for me because I maintain my vehicles to an anal degree and would surely have lost a lot of money in the deal if I had to total the car and start all over again with another 'or equal' used car which I know would not have been even close to equal mechanically.
If this car hasn't been taken to a trusted shop for an evaluation I would do so immediately or pay the shop person for his time to got to the car if getting it there is impossible.
Definitely push for a new car and not a used one; even consider paying the difference if they will only provide enough funds for a used replacement.
My 2 cents
Good luck, what a what a pain in the xxx!

If it was me, there is no doubt I would want a replaced car. That being said, the damage looks surprising minor for a full t bone impact. You can see the damage being more front to back. Seems replacing both doors and the rocker, pulling out the pillar, and some minor paint work on the front and back quarters would fix it. Even at an estimate of $14, 000, the cars new value is around $50K. I can't see any insurance company deciding to total the car with that price difference. It sucks all around.

What's the ratio of repair cost vs. replacement value to determine a total loss? 80%? I'd go for high end of repair PLUS diminished value. That figure has to get close to that write-off threshold.

She turned left into him and shaved off the left side of the car as he was traveling 30 mph. I should not have said "T-boned", not really accurate in this case. Still, the front of her car hit the side of his.

I know that the car is fixable and the body shop would be using new factory parts, (not used), but even with a first-class repair it will never be the same car. I think that he's in a position to call the shots with her insurance co., just my unprofessional opinion. I see cars from insurance auctions with similar damage that were written off all the time. The insurance co. can recoup part of their pay-out when they sell the wreck.

As much as is sucks, I don't see how a new car would be accepted by the insurance company. My MINI got t-boned last year just after I bought it. I was lucky that it only needed a new door a new fender with the hood and quarter being repaired. Half the car was repainted. Needless to say I wasn't happy to have a 5000 mile car have that much damage. The shop did a commendable job and only I know the work was done. I plan on keeping my car for at least 10 years and It won't be worth much when I'm done so now I'm over it.

I now work for that shop and see so many nice cars come in with far worse damage. I've seen several BMWs with b and c pillar replacements as well and car needing full 'frame' repairs. With the right shop, the work can be seamless.

Buying a new car has its risks and this is one of them. Sucks to have a brand new car wrecked like that, but if the worst case scenario is 15K damage, it will get fixed.

Whether he chooses to keep it or not.

My B-in-L sees these high end cars every day at his shop. And that's why his boss makes big bucks. The get fixed unless the damage is over 20K. And more on exotics.

Dreamers.
I've never heard of an insurance company "giving" anyone a new car.
They either pay to repair it, or pay value of car before the wreck, or pay an established amount that was agreed upon before the car was wrecked.

Check the fine print on the policy.
if the car is not totaled they'll pay to fix it.

Some companies advertise a new car replacement policy where they buy you an identical new car if your new car is in an accident. I'm sure it has fine print defining how new is "new" and thresholds for damage.

This reminds me of what I had to go through with Nationwide after a hung-over feller in an F-150 rear-ended a Geo Metro, which in turn was pushed under, and out to the left side of my Z-71. My chassis was bent in five places; one of them had the trailer hitch pointed at the ground. Bed, tail gate, bumper, and rear cab section were also damaged, plus, it bent the driveshaft.

To my total surprise, they wanted to fix the truck. They estimated that it would cost $5800. At the time, the truck was 6 years old, and was well cared for with only 105,000 miles, but with the chassis bent at the back of the cab, plus over the rear axle, plus at the draw-bar, AND the left frame channel was noticeably farther forward than the right, I insisted that they total it. Of course, they refused. I insisted that, upon their refusal, that they have the entire chassis replaced because a sectioned chassis might fail under a 1000 lb. payload, or a 7500 lb towload. They refused that as well. They offered to give me the $5800 and the truck back, which I refused on account of the sum of the two being less than the value of my truck before the wreck (about $12,500).

I finally had to file a formal grievance with the Insurance Commissioner's Office in order to get Nationwide to total the truck, and give me $1000 less than the book value of it. All said, it took me a month to get them to write it off, and another month to get them to stroke a check.