Ok, Need some input here. A few nights ago we had a bad snow storm here in Michigan, and I ended up putting my 04 Expy into a tree at 45 or so mph. I walked away from the accident, but my expy doesn't seem that lucky. My question is for anyone that has had to deal with this situation is I have Progressive as my insurance company and was wondering what they consider a total loss? They are currently trying to determine that. I hit the tree right about in the passenger headlight and there isnt much left of the front end. Does anyone know if they will fix it? should i try for a total loss? or do I want them to try and fix it? Any imput will help!!! Thanks

 

from what i've heard insurance companies consider a wreck a total loss when the damages exceed 50-70% of the cost of the vehicle (depending on your insurance company). sounds like you've got that. if your planning on keeping the truck, you may consider repairing it, but if you're going to be selling in the future it prob ain't worth it cuz it's hard to move a salvage vehicle at a decent price.

did i mention that i may not know what i'm talking about....

glad your ok and good luck

 

Had a person hit my wife's parked car a few years ago and I would have settled for 4000 bucks but progressive(the other's insurance) paid $6800 to have it fixed. They said another 300 bucks and it would be totalled.

Enjoy.

Clint

 

jj first of all iam glad you are ok. this is just my 2 cents worth, i hope you have what they call 'gap' insurance,because the insurance company is not going to give you anywhere near the replacement cost of the expy. i wish you luck.

later,
lee

 

I spoke with a friend of mine who is a claims adjuster for Progressive. His first question was how many miles and did the airbags go off? If it has under 10K on it, there's a better chance that it won't be totalled. Seems that mileage and bags are paramount.

The Progressive offices use different programs to determine value. The Massachusetts office uses the NADA and the actual cash value to determine if they'll total the vehicle. If the damage is 80% (or "visible" damage is 65% - since it's likely that there'll be broken stuff that isn't immediately visible) of the actual cash value, it would have been totalled in MA.

If you don't have gap insurance, you'll be responsible for the difference between what the insurance company pays for a car and what's owed on the note.

Good luck. Keep us updated.

 

It had just over 22,000 miles on it and yes both airbags went off. I do have gap insurance and thanks to my delear that made me get it. I am still waiting on Progressive and their decision. To me it looks totalled, but maybe thats becuase I want them to.. I have talked to a few people that have gotten theirs fixed after accidents and there are things that will never be right again. Anyone been in this situation?

 

As a former body shop manager I've been down this road more times than I can recall. Without some pix there's no way I can give you any clues to the damage. It may be close to a total but remember your expy is worth a lot of $$ right now and it will take a bunch to total it. Make sure it's at the BEST Body shop you can find (if you are on the west side of Michigan pm me and I'll help you out.) The "not right" is often bandied about but isn't really true. I've done $12k worth of repairs to brand new luxo sedans and the owner has come back later and said "good as new". The key is starting with a quality shop and your chances improve. Yes Bubba's bump shop can turn out some good stuff and "hiline" collison can botch some but in general "hiline" will do you better. Progressive generally does pretty well by their customers so don't panic. Keep us posted.

 

I just went thru this with a new 2004 F150 with 3K miles (I had it 3 months). I got in a 55MPH 2 car accident, front end pushed in bad, windshield crack and airbag went off. I was able to walk away (thanks to 5 Star Rated vehicles). It was the other persons fault but I called my insurance company first to report it and they asked me if I wanted them to fix the vehicle (they would get the re-imbursement) or wait till I could get the others insurance company to fix it. First mistake...telling them I wanted to get my vehicle back ASAP so I told my insurance company to start the process. My insurance company had an appraisor look at the vehicle and initial damage was estimated to be 10-12K. I thought it was totalled after going back and looking at the truck after the accident?? For MY insurance to total it, the damage had to be 75% of the vehicle damage. They were willing to fix it. But I got lucky, the other guys insurance company also got an appraisor out there the next day, and he declared total loss. Why? Because of Diminshed Value. My truck would be worth ~30% less than one without an accident because of diminished value due to damage disclosure laws. If your in an accident..and your at fault...you loose! If it is someone elses fault, they have to to take diminished value into consideration when working up a claim settlement (or at least here in NC).

 

True, in some states! Michigan doesn't have such a procedure. The value of the vehicle in pre accident condition less the value of the damage is the basics of the formula. When the damage exceeds +-60% of the value you have a total. This depends on the insurance comany, some are 65% some are 60% etc.