Coincidentaly, last Thursday I had to give a friend a ride to a local towing lot to collect his belongings from his '98 Camry, which was totaled by a tractor trailer Monday. His car had been in excellent condition, with relatively low miles. But because the car already had a salvage-title, his carrier will only give him $2200, not the $3600 or so it might have been worth otherwise.

While waiting in the tow-pffice, We couldn't help overhearing the conversation of this young twenty-somthing guy ahead of us, waiting to see the remains of his '08 Altima Coupe. Seems he loaned his car to a 'buddy' who then got drunk and totaled it. He then commentted on what he was gong to do to his 'buddy' after he got out of jail.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Don't even get me started on that one!

Jay

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On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

I do health insurance in my sleep. It is a lot of fun manipulating all of the moving pieces.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Atta boy comrade!!!!!!

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

That will buff right out.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

I was rear ended by some dumb bint who was probably texting. I had no collision on the car, so I called her car's insurance co. Her (actually: daddy's) insurance company sent out an assessor, paid for 10 days car rental for me, and cut me a check for book value of the car without even thinking twice about the title (they specifically said that the car/title were mine to keep, less a scrap value of $250).

This being said, hope that drunk-boy has an undiscovered brain haematoma from the accident, lapses into a coma, and dies in the county jail's drunk tank. Better now than before the 'tard marries his girlfriend and is able to breed.

-b.

Took the car to the body shop yesterday. The guy was real busy, but took notes of all the damage. I'm taking him some sources for parts today to help him out (he's a good friend of mine). He should have the estimate together this afternoon.

The adjuster came by this morning & looked at the car. I asked him if he thought it was a total, but he said he didn't think so. I told him that I had some documentation as to the value of the car & a list of improvements I had made if it turned out it was totaled. He said "great!" & told me if it came to that I could email it to him.

So, we will see what happens & report...

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1987 300DT
2002 Ford F-250 7.3 Crew Cab Short Bed

I haven't had a lot of experience with this insurance stuff but when the '96 was hit by a deer, I met State Farm's appraiser (sent out after the body shop said the car was salvageable). I let him look through both the appraisal that I'd paid for a couple of years before as well as the car's complete set of service records going back to Day 1. The appraiser was nice enough to thank me for taking the time to meet with him (I was stunned) and he sent in a report recommending fixing the car for up to $8500. They actually spent $7831.37 and the car now looks new. (My wife said "can we get a deer to wreck the kitchen?")

As a bonus, animal collisions are considered "non-chargeable" and are paid by Comprehensive, which we have with no deductible. That was a lucky break.

Bottom line, IMHO, is that most insurance adjusters are just like us, people doing a job. If they can help you, they will, but they have to justify the money they spend just like any employee. Any help you can give them regarding comps, condition of the vehicle, past service, etc., even the fact that you would prefer having the car repaired (many people see a wreck as an opportunity to get a new car) will help the adjuster to help you. [I grant that there will always be adjusters who are having a bad day or are just plain jerks. YMMV.]

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

My experience with state farm about a year and a half ago was awful. But I did learn a few things. Be firm at first, they offered me $2k at first. Long story short, If the the ins wont come up to what YOU can replace it for(take into account all the work and time you put into it) Refuse to settle.

It got to the point at the end I said to the supervisor if I did not think I needed to contact an attorney but you leave me no choice and hung up. Within two hours I had a much larger figure..

It was ugly for a while but if you hold firm you should win. Especially if you were in the car when the drunk hit you. Think ambulance chasing lawyer. The insurance bean counters are already sweating this one.

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86 300SDL. 250,xxx on #14 Head. One eye always on temp gauge.. Cruising towards 300K

I forgot to mention that the insurance co. is Farm Bureau. Anyone have any experience with them?

Speaking of ambulance chasers, I got an "attorney advertisement" in the mail today from some far-flung law firm. Seems they regularly get accident reports from the NCDMV. These guys apparently go after drunk driving cases...

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1987 300DT
2002 Ford F-250 7.3 Crew Cab Short Bed

Does the police report corroborate your description of the event?

Sixto
87 300D

Yes, it does. In fact, it went into a little more detail than what I presented here, all in my favor.

Went by the body shop today & was told that they're waiting to hear from the adjuster. So am I, matter of fact. I was hoping to have his letter in the mail today, but no go. Body shop didn't have an estimate for me, either. I know the guy there & he's been slammed, so I'm not surprised. He said he'd put something together tonight & give it to me tomorrow, something general. I know he will have to see what the adjuster is going to do about the car before he can really price the job out.

So, more to come when it comes...

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1987 300DT
2002 Ford F-250 7.3 Crew Cab Short Bed

That's probably a good sign. If they think it's a total loss they don't usually put as much effort into the estimate as they do if they think they're going to actually get paid to fix it.

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1981 Mercedes 300TD, 1994 Honda Civic Del Sol
http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/67195.pnghttp://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/103885.png

My question was for Jeremy. He suggested the deer hit the car

Sixto
87 300D

this rain cloud might have a silver lining.

In my state, no titles on vehicles year 2000 and older, hence no salvage titles.
I have an old work van, an idiot backed across 40 feet of parking lot apparently texting some irrelevance to some pinhead friend and rammed the passenger door on the otherwise minimally dented (and freshly painted) vehicle.

The van cost me 500 bucks, I paid 500 bucks to paint it at Maaco, and their insurance company totaled the vehicle out, valued it at 2000 something bucks, less 100 something for me to keep it, and cut me a check for over 2 grand dollars.

I used the money to buy work equipment, the passenger door is dented, but otherwise still works fine, plus now I have all this shiny new stuff paid for by the accident.

Might turn out well, even if they total it. The whole salvage title thing is something I wouldn't even care that much about, I don't know that many people who do, apart from reading statements on this forum. The vehicle is after all, 20 something years old. You could end up with salvage titles on vehicles that were abandoned, part of estate sales with lost paperwork, mechanics liens, ect. Its not just accidents, could be anything that produced a salvage title on such an old vehicle.

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