Really Need Advice

[thinkfloyd14]

About 3 weeks ago I was driving in the rain on campus and the windows were so fogged up that i couldnt see. I had a towel but it wasnt working so i decided to pull over and consequently pulled over into a pole about waist high at about 10-12 mph (my estimate). My girlfriend cracked the windshield with her forhead but was only left with a couple scratches, I hit and bent the steering wheel with my lower lip and face but I am fine as well. We were not wearing seat belts because it was literally a 30 second drive I was just dropping her off a block away and we were in a rush ( yes i know stupid).

Anyways, the car was first assessed by AAA for 4500 dollars worth of damage, but they have now torn the car apart and have found that it's now 11,000 worth of damage. So the car is totaled... here's the dilemma.... 78 SC, bought it for 13, 900... 186, 000 miles, resprayed black paint, 930s steering wheel, new upholstery, 7 and 8 fuchs, SSI headers, M and K exhaust, Carrera Oil cooler, Wevo PSJ and Short shifter with all new bushings, MB quart speakers, and finally I bought a rebuilt 3.0 which was built to the tune of 17, 000. I bought the engine for 7700, the engine is in perfect working order. Theres a thread about the engine somewhere here but I cant find it right now, I know it was first sold my Lendaddy, and he posted a video about it. Anyways I have receipts for all the modifications and for buying the engine. The structural damage of the car is involved with the front apron and steering column.. but I was not given much detail about that aspect from the insurance company... all I know is that they wont fix it.

They will total it no matter what and then I could buy the car from them but the car will have a salvage title, or they can give me what they think the car is worth. I am going to send them all the receipts for the engine and parts which will hopefully up the value.

So I need advice, should I try to keep my car with the salvage title and try to fix it (honestly dont think the car will be the same) or should I buy another car...

preferably an 84-88 carrera or SC

sorry for the poor grammar im in a hurry

[cgarr]

How much is the buy back?

[Greek55]

I would settle with the insurance company on a total loss then buy the car back.
You could part it out or find a good tub without a drivetrain for cheap and put your parts in it.

[RWebb]

you don't post what is wrong with the tub

you are not far from milt/Zeke so maybe you could pay him to inspect it - he can also fix anything

it does not take much damage to total a 911...

if the tub is fixable buy back & keep the whole car, selling or scrapping only the bad (non-fixable) p[arts

if not, then part the car out and toss the tub - either retain the parts for your next build (or swap into a roller or something) or sell them

- the key thing is that you have storage space to do all this

But I assume you can rent storage space cheaply in east LA - maybe not safe storage, but storage...

[Jim727]

I wouldn't be so quick to accept $11K as a total. Check the NADA website for values and check with your local PCA - not too many of your type advertised, but good examples are going to be above $11K.

Above all: offer to help your girlfriend see a doctor about a possible injury. Put it in writing if you have to. "I'm OK" is not a valid answer here unless you can demonstrate concern for her well-being. The legal types here can probably help with minefield avoidance. No kidding - this is not trivial.

[silverc4s]

Jim727 and othere are offering you good advice here. I would also decide what your desired outcome is here. If you want the car repaired by insurance, then helping them find added value in the car is a good idea.
However, if you want buy the car back after it has been totalled, then it is probably not in your best interest to help them increase their appraisal, as that would also increase your buy back $$$, right?

If it were me, and I had that much $$ in undamaged parts of the car, I would let them total it, then buy it back for as little as possible. then find a nice, but tired ccoupe that I liked and transplant away...

[cgarr]

The insurance company is not your friend, they don't work for you...You signed a legal contract with them, don't let them try to weasel out of it, because they will try.

[onlycafe]

sorry to hear about your bad luck. hope you and the gf are feeling better.
you should try to buy it back at the best price you can arrange.
best of luck with your coming ordeal and the rebuild.

[joe payne]

So many good things in your car. I vote settle and buy back at lowest possible price and transplant parts into another car. Hope this helps. Sorry to hear about your car too.

[porschenut]

If the damage will cost $11,000 to fix, then convincing the insurance company that it's worth a lot more than that will only cause them to go ahead and fix it, right? In other words, they're not going to pay you more than it would cost to fix the car. They're on the hook for one or the other, and it's up to them to decide which route saves them the most money.

[rsrfan]

I'll second all of the above. Additionally, Dave B at TRE Motorsports in Van Nuys has a a couple of rollers that you could transfer all your parts into.

Glad that you are allright.

JP

[dd74]

Floyd - you're down by USC, right? TRE is over in Van Nuys now. I'd take the buy back option and truck it out to Dave at TRE. Or if Milt is recommended and he's fixed these cars successfully, look him up as well. As Randy says, it takes next to nothing for the insurance companies to total out our cars.

As an aside, I hated those stupid poles on campus. For some reason, I always seemed to walk into them, never doing my crotch a favor. Go figure.

[john walker's workshop]

try another shop maybe.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Check out this thread, story sounds very similar

Am I Crazy? (SC Valuation)

if the link doesn't work search on username superman, sorry about your car it sounds like it was nice.

[thinkfloyd14]

thanks for the quick responses... when I get to understand the buy back price and such Ill post here again...I wish I had more details right now but i'm quite busy with other stuff. My girlfriend is perfectly fine, we went to the emergency room that night and they gave her a CT scan and inspected her head...shes fine but thanks for the concerns

thinkfloyd

[efhughes3]

When you start stacking expensive parts onto the value of the car, I think it is best to go for an agreed value with the insurance company. Most will do this, and it doesn't cost but a few dollars more per year.

I should only be so 'lucky' that my '84 gets totalled.....it's the only way I'll ever recoup my investment!

[unclebilly]

Here's the thing:

People have this phobia of a car with a salvage title - this is completely senseless and here's why:

Your car is 20 years old and has 11k worth in damage at today's prices for labour. If your car sustained the same damage when it was new, this would have been $7500 worth of damage but the car would not be a total loss. The repair work would be similar (possibly better these days because of better autobody technology) and you'd likely never have known it was involved in this incident.

So my point is that a 20 year old car with a salvage title is much less of a concern that a new car with a salvage title. You don't get much done at a body shop these days for under $5000. $11000 is probably replacing some metal and a partial respray - no big deal. THis is the same repair you would make if the car had a rust repair in the front sub but we consider cars with properly done rust repairs OK.

[efhughes3]

Can't argue your point, but the market will give it a blackeye anyway.