Was your wife hurt? It is very fortunate that the hit was on the passenger side. It should be easy to deal with whether the other person has coverage or not. Any carrier will have a value range that they are willing to pay for the car. This is a small claim if there are no injuries. Simply showing that the car was in great and recently improved mechanical shape awaiting final touches before painting will get you to the top of the settlement range.

Whether or not there is insurance, you will have plenty of offers to buy the remains and can move on.

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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.

Be careful with blanket statements like this. Under certain circumstances, both of them can be false. I work in the insurance industry and see it every day.

You are assuming that the car in question here has uninsured motorists coverage and/or that the state of VA will pick up a UIM claim on the state fund for an accident that took place out of state. (I'm not sure if the answer is yes or no for that one, unfortunately).

You also made a comment in another post about insurance companies having a "range" of values for a car, which is typically not the case. Most carriers use a service that compiles a listing of cars similar to yours for sale at the time and uses those prices to come up with a value. 99% of the time, it ends up being above "book value" and I find them to be very fair. The representative does have authority to add on some extra if your car has exceptional attributes, but the system does account for things like low mileage, options, even color. The size of the underlying claim (injuries, loss of wages, etc.) is handled by a completely different employee who reports to a different manager and has NO impact on their offer for your car.

OP, sorry about the car - hopefully it'll be back on the road soon! I am almost certain that insurance will total that car, but it looks like it should be easily repairable with some used doors and a fender.

Insurance update:

I'm still unclear if the other driver has insurance.

From speaking to my insurance company, I found out that they did call my company and reported the claim. Which suggests that they do indeed have insurance.

I also found out that I do have uninsured motorist coverage on the car and if there is no insurance coverage on the other driver, I will be able to pursue compensation if I meet certain criteria such as the other driver being 100 pc at fault, minus a deductible, of course....

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

Here you go....

Jim

Attached Thumbnails

 

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

The drivers here are absolutely DANGEROUS. It's just disgusting. TPD will not respond to an accident unless there are injuries involved. It's ridiculous.

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'84 190D 2.2 5MT (Red/Palomino) Current car. Love it!
'85 190D 2.2 Auto *Cali* (Blue/Blue) *sold*
http://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-us/302601.png
http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/sideview.png

@upshift:
I think we're disagreeing about semantics. One is always covered to the limits of the contract. If no contract or coverage for a particular incident, the limit is $0. The 1st steps should be to read the contract and talk to the agent (assuming a level of competence on the agent's part).

The assumption I made is that the other driver is at fault. If so, he is liable. If no money and no insurance, he's judgement proof and the OP's policy would take over "subject to the limits of the contract." People with money have car insurance. Those without get caught up in the legal system. I have a friend that can't drive because he was stupid and didn't pay a fine then got caught driving on a revoked without insurance. The next step will be a stay in jail so he's learning to get around on his bicycle.

Re range of prices, "condition" is a subjective decision and there are many things that aren't necessarily obvious and must be pointed out. In my SD's case, the suspension including all bushings, shocks and tie rods, the brake system and the interior are in very good shape. The outside has small dings in every panel. The other driver's carrier paid $3,000 up from $1,000 after I pointed out the mechanics and interior. I consider that a range and a more than fair price.

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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.

Hey Jim, So sorry that happened. I hope your wife is fine.

If you don't get the doors from vstech and you are all in for reviving the car, I have a champagne colored front door I can donate. Just pay for shipping cost.


.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

If the car pulls to the right since the accident. There is a chance it should not be fixed by anyone depending what is found.

Nice to hear the other party may have had insurance. If police will not respond to an accident scene. That to me means essentially no police report.

I have to wonder how that got started although I know it has been this way for a long time in some places. Here anything below 500.00 means they do not have to respond.

A smallish dent will go past this today on a new car. It is like all drivers are body repair cost experts at the scene.

It's possible that the RF wheel was tagged, and the alignment was compromised. Or there is structural damage. Can't say at this point.....

My wife did call 911, and the TPD responded. But... Since the officer did not witness the accident, he refused to assess responsibility, just officiated over an exchange of info. At least this documents the accident, time and place and people involved, but it was disappointing to not see the obvious fault documented with a citation. According to my brother, who lives in Tucson, this is normal policy now. No see, no tickee.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

I'm surprised an officer even came out, honestly.

__________________
'84 190D 2.2 5MT (Red/Palomino) Current car. Love it!
'85 190D 2.2 Auto *Cali* (Blue/Blue) *sold*
http://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-us/302601.png
http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/a...0/sideview.png

Most door skins are not welded on. If they were spot welded, there would be marks on the outside that would need filled. Occasionally a few MIG weld spots are added to the back but typically nothing else.

How about vid from the place they were pulling out of?

She got whacked a good one! What a turnaround/turnover......get a free car, then, boom! Get a check! If all goes well. Might be a blessing in disguise?! One guy here bought a CDI with his insurance check. Options, options, options......

Getting the video usually requires a court order. Not that they necessarily NEED one, just that nobody seems willing to help anyone by going to the trouble of downloading it. It's pretty sad but that's what I have found.

UM coverage may limit the payout if the car has a salvage title. It depends on the carrier. Most I work with will value the car differently based on a salvage title. I saw one slip through. The service didn't pick up on the salvage title until we had paid for it and actually got the title.

I, too, wondered about the possibility of the car having serious damage since it pulls to the right.

I would love to have a wagon like that. I hope it can be fixed. They seem to be disappearing quickly.

Good luck and keep us updated.

This car does not appear to have signigifiant structural damage, if it is was newer there would be no question that it would get fixed.. . And be completly fine afterwards.

Judging by the pics and tires still holding air, there isn't going to be any significant suspension damage. It doesn't take much to bend a front tie rod enough to make the wheels toe out then a slightly heavy camber making the car lead to one side. Even if the camber was changed in the crash it will likely recover with an alignment / slight suspension pull.

This car is very fixable. It will be expensive to fix to like new condition but ,if you can accept a structurally sound but not cosmetically perfect repair, it will be parts cost + maybe $ 800 + some of your labor.

Condition of the door jamb is key, will the RF door open if the fender is pried a bit?