Save my 230e! Insurance wants to total it! - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Matt L · #16 12-09-2005, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davestlouis

beware...in some states, specifically Missouri, per statute, if the repair exceeds 75% of ACV, actual cash value, the insuror MUST make you get a salvage title if you retain the salvage. The statute only pertains to cars up to 7 model-years old, but some large companies are applying the law to older vehicles to avoid people doing half-assed rebuilds and putting cars with clean titles back on the street. Good luck

It gets slightly worse across the river in IL. I think the magic numbers are >=80% of ACV and <=9 years old. If you fit both of those, you cannot keep your car for any price.

However, if your car is more than 9 years old and still damaged 80% or more, they'll total it, but if you keep the car you do not have to get a salvage title.

Another advantage of living across the river: I don't have to pay sales tax on my car every year, nor do I need pre-registration inspections (which are largely a joke in MO anyway).

blueeagle289 · #17 12-09-2005, 04:03 PM

Educate me; what really happens with a salvage title in most states? Can you fix the car and have it inspected by someone to get a clean title or what happens later in terms of being able to drive the car?

Rich300TDMBZ · #18 12-09-2005, 06:38 PM

Once the car is designated as "salvage" in California, it cannot be changed back to a clean title. To register the car as salvaged, the owner has to take the car to have a "light & brake" inspection (about $100) at an independent station. With the certificate, the owner then takes the car to the DMV or CHP (California Highway Patrol) station for an inspection before the DMV will issue a salvage title.

t walgamuth · #19 12-09-2005, 08:46 PM

you can get a clean title after the car is fixed under certain circumstances. i dont know the details but a friend bought a benz with a blown motor, a total, and put a new motor in it and was able to get a correct non salvage title.

dont know about other places.

tom w

davestlouis · #20 12-09-2005, 09:03 PM

used to be, you could "wash" a title through a bill-of-sale state or do some other shenanigans, but the main functional issue with a salvage title is two-fold:

1 the value of the car decreases by 20% or more
2 most lenders won't write a loan on anything but a clean title

and for those of you unfamiliar with the great state of Missouri, we pay personal property tax every year on cars/boats and other motorized stuff. For instance, the plates on my wife's 4 year old Grand Cherokee are roughly $40/year, personal property tax for 2004 was $275, and you can't renew your plates without proof that you are current on the property tax. It gripes me that I paid sales tax when I bought it, and get zapped every year for property tax. The inspections are another little revenue-enhancement for the state and the private company that runs the inspection stations.

Rich300TDMBZ · #21 12-09-2005, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailor15015

I posted a thread over in Diesel Discussion because I was hit two days before Thanksgiving. My '85 300D was hit and totaled by an inattentive driver. I paid $2500 for the car and they valued it at $3700. I told them I wanted to keep the salvage and they said the most they could get for it at auction would be $200. So in all I got money to buy my brother's '84 300D and a parts car (my old one) with everything great but the rear end for $3500. I got lucky and they gave me a great offer right off of the bat. Good luck and don't let them work you over.

In my experience the salvage value depends on what the insurance company gets for the bids it sent out. They normally gets at least two bids and will then offer you the high bidder's bid. You can get lucky if the bidders did not have the chance to see the car, but based their bids on the insurance company's assessor report. They will normally made very low bids as they do not know the condition of the exterior (except from the assessor report), the interior, the engine, or the transmission. In one instance where the accident happened locally and the bidders could looked at the car, the bids came in at over $1000 for an 83 300D. A friend of mine had a newer diesel with less damage with a salvage value of $250, but the accident happened much further away!

t walgamuth · #22 12-10-2005, 05:04 AM

the standard value was always .10 on the dollar. maybe that is what is the usual bid here.

tom w

blueeagle289 · #23 12-10-2005, 07:34 AM

I guess what everyone is saying (from different states) that basically you can drive a car with a salvage title -- after certain inspections and certifications as each state's laws require; but in many cases the car is marked for life as a salvage item so prospective future buyers know it was badly damaged at some point. That seems fair, as long as the owner can fix up the car and drive it and can explain the title status to a future buyer, including the corrections made to the damage that created the salvage status in the first place.

t walgamuth · #24 12-10-2005, 08:41 AM

summary. and the older a car gets the less it matters on value. i would even perhaps take pics to document the damage and repairs for evidence at resale time, or such time as you might be in another accident and need compensation.

tom w