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NOT Again!

The mustang is officially totaled with over 14K in damages. Now comes the painful negotiation and decisions.
 
Now I get the word that her insurance was canceled back in May due to non payment.


This all stinks big time.

When I called their insurance, they took all the information of which the policy number was the first thing. Then after it was all said, they told me that the insurance was canceled due to non-payment back in May.
 
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Not an expert in this area at all but I know others who have had vehicles totaled by their insurance that were able to buy back the vehicle. I would think you let them total it and then but it back. With the left over cash you could fix it yourself. Only real downside is you would have to have it retitled as salvage, I believe. But in the case of an old classic I doubt anyone would care down the road if you were to sell.

Lawyer up and go after her. If there is a police report I would also call them to tell them about the insurance just to make sure she gets busted for that too. I hate the uninsured.
 
What really pisses you off is that she was able to come up with an "eye witness" that supports her story. My son went through a police academy and they taught him that eye witnesses were some of the most unreliable evidence. People sort of see what they want to see and then begin to believe it. Sounds like you've got some empirical proof (video) that refutes the corroborating witness. It does speak to the wisdom of a dash camera.
 
Do you have uninsured motorist coverage on your Mustang? I hope so. As far as having a salvage title, a lot of these old cars were totaled back in the 80's when they were just old relics. $500 beaters would be junked for a crushed fender. My son's '69 SportsRoof has a salvage title and we have been all over that car in the past 22 years without ever finding any indication of major damage. Unfortunately, salvage titles become a big issue when selling a car. The buyer will always use that as leverage in the negotiation. Many folks believe that the salvage title cuts the car's value in half. That is probably true of a year old BMW 5 series that is the welded together result of two wrecked cars, but it's hard to justify on a vintage car where minor damage might have caused it to be salvaged.
 
RagTop said:
... That is probably true of a year old BMW 5 series that is the welded together result of two wrecked cars, but it's hard to justify on a vintage car where minor damage might have caused it to be salvaged.
Click to expand...

Funny thing is my stang is clipped. Front and back started as 2 separate cars. Body shop is fighting to get 30K as the value because he loves my car and wants to see it fixed.


Yes I do have uninsured motorist. State Farm is ready to fight for the money. The car driver and owner are 2 separate people. They will go after both. State Farm's attitude sure changed when they found out they were uninsured.
 
John:
Can you post pictures of the damage to your car? $14k of damage is quite a bit...
 
RagTop said:
What really pisses you off is that she was able to come up with an "eye witness" that supports her story. My son went through a police academy and they taught him that eye witnesses were some of the most unreliable evidence. People sort of see what they want to see and then begin to believe it. Sounds like you've got some empirical proof (video) that refutes the corroborating witness. It does speak to the wisdom of a dash camera.
Click to expand...
I got into an accident about 20 years ago and a person who saw it came up to me and said for $50 I'll tell the cop the other car was at fault.

Witnesses are basically useless.
 
Just got back from a week of vacation to the grand canyon. IT was great a trip but sad that we could not take the Mustang. Did a lot of Route 66 site seeing on the way there and back.

I need to get to the shop next week for pictures. Body guy wants to save the car but is up to 17k. The indipendant appraiser will be out early next week to look at it and I need to get my documntation together for them to justify my $35k value.
 
hopefully when they see all the little detail custom work and the cost of all the trick parts and even some rare stuff they will agree with you.
I have mine insured for an agreed upon value and they don't limit my mileage. I hope nothing like this happens to it but I hope that will help should the time come.
 
The have to consider and use things like NADA and it has a high or near $40K for your car. It is high as a kite as we all know, but leverage.

Use the Haggarty value tool it is pretty good.

Remember your car was in the highest condition not just good.

Mel

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk
 
First off, that sucks, one of my biggest fears, glad no one was hurt.

In ND, you can have your car totaled, but "buy it back" and the title never gets the scar of a salvaged title.
Not my Mustang, but on my old daily driver, I was t-boned by a semi and the truck was totaled. It cost us $500 for us to keep the truck and the title clear.
FWIW, after weeks of being left in the dark by the other guys insurance, I finally turned to my State Farm agent, we had full coverage including uninsured motorist, State Farm paid us out the next day, and they went to town collecting from the other semi-truck drivers company.
 
Your are allowed to by back the car here in Texas without the title hickey also.

Still waiting to here back from the independent appraiser.

PS.
I have always told Julie when I buy parts so she was not surprised when my spreadsheet (parts and labor) was over 50K.
 
Wow, really sorry to see this! Hope that you get insurance stuff ironed out soon. I had a pretty easy time of it with mine as the guy at fault fully admitted it was his fault... and a lawyer breathing down the neck of the insurance company took care of the rest. My damage estimate was 22k.

The damage really doesn't look that bad to me - unless you have some kind of crazy paint job I'm not seeing, I can't see how your damages would be 17k. Fender, hood, valance, headlight bucket, front left apron, radiator support, bumper, radiator, plus paint... even having to pull the frame out a bit does not hit anywhere close to 17k, especially here in Texas. Hidden damage?
 
There is also some drive train damage, the C4 will only go in reverse. Not sure what all the damage is, I have yet to see an estimate breakout.

Still waiting on the independent appraiser.
 
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