Well I received good news from my insurance company today. They finally declared my car as a total loss, but I still have to negotiate with them. Got some good advice from Z33Rie and Whatever, but wouldn't mind getting some more good advice regarding negotiating with the insurance company on total loss. With all that has happened, I feel very fortunate that the Z protected me in the crash so well.
Below are some pics of my poor car, view at your on risk!!

 

Pic 2

 

Pic 3

 

Last one

 

OUCH!!!!!!!!!

give me a call if ya want ta talk.

-john

 

Whoaaaa.... after seeing you car and its condition, im just glad you came out in one piece... Dont know much about Insurance stuff, but i wish you all the luck & a Happy Holiday... See you around Tony...

 

Hope everything goes well.....shopping for a new car yet???

Let me know if I can help!!

 

Oh man Tony..... glad to hear that you got the verdict that you wanted. Persistence is the only way to successfully negotiate with these companies. Trust me on this.

They'll give you the song and dance about how they can't change this or that, or policies deem whatever they finally derive. If you are not happy with their offer, talk with a higher-up (and they can be even bigger a$$holes). If you push enough, you'll AT LEAST get between what you asked and what they offered.

Good luck bro. Take it easy. (BTW, if you can get anything off the car at all for resale, do so. But don't get caught. )

 

yikes.... that looks worst then you mildly described it!! and it took them that long to declar it total loss???

glad the you got the good news that you were waiting for. As far as negotiating, did they give you a number yet? I was quite surprise that they gave me a little above what I was originally looking for so I didn't even ask for more.

Anyways, not sure if all insurance company are the same, but what mine did was declare the car total then gave me ~1 month to decide what I want to do with the car. I have the option to buy the car back with a salvage title (either to part it out myself, or somehow fix it myself) or to sell the car back to the insurance company with salvage title. Either way, they first gave me a check with the difference. (car's current worth minus insurance salvage value)
Since I had a lot of aftermarket parts on my car, I had them tow the car to my place first, took all the parts off and sold them. (Note: when you return the car to them, it has to be near the same state it came. Since I kept all my stock parts, I was able to jimmy rig most of them back on...)
At the same time I try to see if I can sell the car for more then what the salvage value was. Since I don't have a big enough back yard to keep a parts car around, I wasn't ready to start parting the car out myself. I'm sure I would have made a lot more if I part out the car myself.
Anyways, there were some interested party in buying my salvage car but none of the deal would have completed within the 1 month period thus I just called them and had them tow my car away (it was a sad day....). After that, went to the insurance company's towyard and sign over the title. Shortly after, I get the 2nd check from them.

Anyways, make long story short. I had 3 options with the car
1. Collect the full amount from insurance and don't even deal with storing the car for a month.
2. Collect full amount minus salvage value and part out.
3. Collect full amount minus salvage value and sell the car yourself or sell it back to the insurance company if you can't sell it.

Well, good luck on this, and you got my number if you want a longer story then this post
Also, pending the amount they declare your salvage is, you might want to contact some of the local Z shops to see if they want a parts car.

 

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/insura...1/article.html

 

Tony- that was pretty crazy that your car looks like that... i had no idea and didnt imagine it to look like that but you already know what i told you about insurance and everything, but you'll have to really think about it... like everyone said, glad you made it out in one piece!!! (your car looked like my 98 gst that was totalled in 2000, almost exactly like that, but i had more damage on the sides as well... i hit the divider on 80 in berkeley)... i know you have a lot of things running through your mind now and just remember the advice some of us gave you and don't hesitate to call if you need anything or just wanna talk, like we normally do... take care!

~RiE

 

Ouch- Glad to hear that they declared it a total loss. So....are you getting an Z as your next car?

 

Damn Rie... was it indecisiveness between 80 and 580 or did someone run you off the road?

 

Whoa! I'm really glad you're ok after looking at that. I wouldn't have imaged that they would want to rebuild that especially since after Rie got her bumper replaced for 2800, you damage seems like it would be at least 5 times that.

Anyhow, it all depends on if you have time and how much it's worth to you to deal with parting out, storing, etc. If it's something like a 2-3K loss but pain in the *** headache to part out stock parts, I wouldn't deal with it. It could end up taking up a lot of time and added on stress.

It also comes to the final numbers the insurance gives you and researching each part and finding out the fair market value of it off ebay or something. That's a pain for sure though. Maybe you can craiglist it w/pics and all right now and see if there are any serious interest in it. That might help the decision making if there's no one wanting to buy.

The other issue is that there isn't much a demand to stock parts just yet. The car is too new and owners haven't started to break things and be out of warranty. Don't know if that helps, but stand firm on your negotiations and don't let the ins company sell you short.

 

Thank you all so much for offering to help and the good information, but I think I'll be okay with all the information that you guys have provided. One thing I do need help is finding a good dealer to get a new car from, but that's after I settle with my insurance company. Currently my mind is kind of gear toward a G35, but still might get back in to a Z(black). Kind of in ways afraid to get back in to a Z because of what I read about the 04s still having rattling, tire feathering, and tranny problems. Don't get me wrong, I still love the Z. Anyways, if you guys have any friends/family that works for a dealer that can get me a good deal, please let me know. I'll keep you guys posted. Thank you all again for your concerns, information, and offerings to help. Wishing all you guys a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and be safe.

 

brian: no, it was during el nino, really hard and windy rain and it was a hit and run... i was in the middle lane and the other car clipped me as it was trying to go from the #3 lane to the #1 lane, not realizing he hit me too, then took off... a chp happen to be merging onto the freeway, saw the car hit me and dispatched for the ambulance... i was in the hospital for almost a week, physical therapy and a lot of dermatology appointments, but my face has healed as best as it can... i spun like 3 times bounced off the divider then hit it again and stopped... but that was 3 years ago and my car was a total loss... unfortunately, i only got blue book for it, when i had about $12k invested into my former 12 sec daily driven car... so that's the story of baby #2... i'm just glad baby #4 (jaymee) is with me again


tony: give me a call or i'll call you tonight

 

damn tony.... the car is more damaged then i imagined. glad they declared it a total loss, wouldn't want to drive that around knowing of all the front end damaged sustained. well, i hope you and your insurance figure everything out to your liking. let me know if you are parting it out.

 

hey, gimme a call when you're ready to buy, I might be able to hook you up with a Nissan/Infinity VPP number. Not sure whether I can extend the number to friends or if it's only family only. I'll have to check the fine prints.

And of course, this offer only apply if you buy another Z

 

Whatever decision you make will be fine but my brother has the g35c and I can't quite honestly picture someone who loves to drive go from a Z to a g35c. They're both great cars, but the Z is pure fun and g35c is more the 3/4 way there to "pure fun." Almost but not quite there yet.

Did I just making something up?
Z = "pure fun"

Wonder if people will starting using that. Goodness I'm working too much . . . getting delirious.

 

Holy cow! Good thing you warned ahead! And your insurance rep is a fool if he couldn't see that as a total loss. Grr.

But ... that means you get to go car-shopping after New Year!