I got it towed to my insurance's recommended body shop, but haven't received a call or notice on how much the damage is. Should I have told my insurance all the mods I have on the car that were damaged? Or will they estimate/contact me when they come out to see the car?

 

I am in the auto insurance industry and although it's hard to tell from a couple pics, from my experience you easily have $8k to $10K in damage including labor. Depending on what insurance carrier you have, most of them total a car out when the damages are 50%-60% of the current market value. If there is any frame damage, it's going to be deemed a total loss, because even after repair it will still be a safety hazard.

IF they total it, just remember to never accept their first offer as they will try lo-ball you. Do your research and present them with multiple autotrader, edmonds or cars.com ads for comparable cars and what they are selling for. If you have receipts for anything aftermarket, present this as well as it might help.

 

i agree with terrasmack.
it all depends on where the arms connect to the unibody chassis. if the arms are destroyed thats not that bad. if the frame is tweaked it depends on the extent of the damage. frame repair is not that bad tho, and can be done easily if its not extremely jacked up. get a quote and let insurance decide. or if u dont have insurance just depends on if you want to spend the money, it looks like 6k of damage to me.
Waiz-my buddy crashed his 350z and scaped the entire passenger side, fender door, and quarter panel. it also had some frame damage and needed a pull up front. his insurance paid 8500 to fix it lol. but it rides perfect now. its hard to total an expensive car.

 

Thanks for the help guys!

Does the insurance company replace the aftermarket parts themselves like the damaged oem parts? Or do they cut me a check and I have a budget to replace those parts?

 

Whatever bodyshop you took it to have the estimator call you when the adjuster gets there make sure he actually sees all your mods and tell him how much it costs receipts always help. We had a guy bring his smashed camaro SS in and he brought all his receipts and we put everything he had back on it not to mention it saved his car from totaling considering he had put at least 4,000 into his car. When it comes to the rails as well you wont really be able to tell how bent they truly are until and tech puts it on a frame machine and measures it. Ask the estimator who is taking care of the Z what his initial estimate is and then kbb or edmunds your car and see how much its worth if its over the insurance companies thresh hold and they got a good salvage bid for it kiss you car by bye bye again bro good luck hopefully it works out

 

If you already told them about the mods prior it would be easier to get paid out for them otherwise you might just paid for the OEM replacement

Depends on your insurance company

 

I hit a small cat sized fox last year and mine didn't look bad at all compared to yours, and my repair was 3,100. Luckily I had full coverage and just had to pay my deductable.

They had 1 1/2 sheets of paper filled with parts they had to order and replace. On the outside, all you could tell was the bumper was cracked at the bottom, the radiator support was broken, and the under shroud was hanging down. Quite a bit of damage for no worse than it looked.

 

I have similar situation couple years ago and my insurance said the same to me.

 

Most likely totaled in all honesty. The rear sub frame is a bit fragile on the Zs and obv. not cheap to replace. with labor alone. and judging by the look of your wheel and the impact it had to it, your drive axel is dunzo, and your differential possibly damaged.
and hopefully your driveshaft is okay.
But Id say account for it totaled.
Dont take it to one of their body shops. recommend your own. And do your research for a top notch shop, also claim any mods you can possibly think of. like lug nuts or center caps for the rims. everything ads up

 

That is easily at least 10k worth of damage. Most likely it will be totaled

 

honestly if I were in your shoes I'd have my fingers crossed for it to be totaled, having a dirty carfax will lower your value a lot... we are talking 3-4k at least.

Not sure about your state but FL has a no-diminish value reimbursement policy so if your car loses value after an accident it's on you... in other states you can actually claim diminished vehicle value.

Second concern is quality of repair... 1st rule is to never go to the insurance recommended shop (usually the recommended shop gives bulk discount to your insurance company and will usually end up cutting corners to maximize profits)
So go to the best shop in town (preferably a shop that repairs high end cars/supercars)

A friends STi wrapped around a pole, had about 12k worth of damage and still wasn't totaled due to having low mileage and being a newer car... long story short he got it fixed at a recommended shop of the ins company, the car was never the same - little rattles here and there that weren't present before, obviously mismatched paint etc etc.

 

Touche'

 

so i stopped by and the shop figures its not totaled. Haven't received a final estimate or check yet, but thats what the shop thinks. I will find out for sure either tomorrow or next week.

Shop owner told me to bring in any receipts for aftermarket part purchases. Most of my purchases are from members on this forum, minus the springs. Will they just pay for oem replacement prices then?

 

Dude, if you're in the insurance industry, you wouldn't tell him that BS about accepting a "lowball offer."

Insurance companies in California don't magically come up with a value and try to screw people over, they're required by law to have an objective 3rd party company come up with a valuation. And said valuation is based on comparable vehicles being sold by dealerships in the area and the condition of the car in the accident.

 

Uhh, Okay...By using an objective 3rd party you mean Kelley Blue Book, Nada or Red Book right? Cause I work for the second largest insurance carrier in the world and also have quite a few policies in CA and that's what we use. Why would an insurance carrier use data from a stealership to pay a claim. We want nothing to do with them. Adjusters are paid to negotiate and save the company as much money as possible.

 

shops are very smart about their estimates. they know how much the insurance will be willing to pay before totaling it, and will not charge you more than that or they dont get the job or $$ from the insurance. if its possible to fix, they will fix it for 50% of the worth of the car for sure. frame straightening doesnt cost them money, just time. same with paint.

 

Paint is an costly matter...if done right that is.
The time with sanding, primer, baking, then the tri coat paint process. with the metallic and clear coat being the costly matter in the process.
As you should know, its not cheap to get a good quality paint job.
Agreed that materials doesnt cost them a whole lot compared to the cost of labor. A skilled painter is hard to find nowa days in which you pay for when you find one.

 

Allstate wouldn't total out my moms Lexus rx330 and it had 24k in damage, value was 27k at that time. She didn't get it fixed, took the check and sold the car to someone who fixed it. I personally think the car would have never been the same it was front impact, hit so hard the seatbelt she wore broke. The paint and such wouldn't match as one side would have been brand new and the rest x amount of years old.

Insurance companies are out for themselves and so is the adjuster.

 

There is a reason that insurance adjustors come out and physically inspect the car......ThisThreadIsWorthlessEvenWithPics

 

Not to sound condescending, but you're wrong. The reason I can tell you this is because it's actually my job - I'm an adjuster at one of the biggest insurance carriers in the US. I deal with total losses every single day that I'm at work.

We, and the company that writes the T/L valuations (Mitchell, which is partially owned and backed by JD Power), don't use KBB, NADA or Red Book - it's illegal in CA. The data comes from local dealership quotes because that's ultimately who a person would be buying their replacement auto from if they were to try and buy the same car again (which is the expectation we are forced to assume in the situation of a total).

I don't know about who you work for, but we're not paid to take money from our customers because we would lose retention by pissing them off. We're paid to make sure that we keep them satisfied and do what's fair. Yes, cost effectiveness comes into pay when it comes to repairs - non-OEM bumpers, plastics etc, but not when it comes to total losses.