Need advice on if my 1LE should be Totaled!
 

so i had a lady run a red light and hit me in the rear passenger panel (pictures will be included). all my side air bags went off including the airbags on my passenger recaro seat. its been about a month now since the accident, my shop estimated 11k in damage at first.. then found out the B pillar was also damaged so they had to "cut and weld" a new one on since its HSS. now they found more damage with the suspension because how she hit me.. either the Trailing arm is bent or i have bad wheel hubs.. this is totaling out to be around 15k in damages so far.. as of last week we found out that the lady who hit me wasnt covered on the day of the accident.. great! so now my insurance is taking over.. but my question is.. with this being a track car.. and the B Pillar had to be replaced.. should i fight it to be totaled?

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This doesn’t look bad enough for a “total,” plus your damage presumably is less than half the car’s current market value. Have the body shop measure everything on the driver’s side of the vehicle, too - including suspension mounting points and even how the door closes - to see if any of them have moved and require more extensive work on the unibody. I once had a car that got rear-ended at low speed and the original estimate was to replace and paint the rear bumper skin. When the new skin didn’t fit, the shop discovered the hit was hard enough to wrinkle the spare tire well and move all the rear suspension mounting points, so the final repair ended up being more than five times the original amount. Concealed damage like that can make the car undriveable if it’s not fixed correctly.

Also, talking with your insurance company about tracking the car may not be the wisest move, no matter what your policy says. The perception of the aduster is all that matters.

My general rule is your always better off having a car totaled. And maybe sometimes buying the car back. Looks like it could go either way with your damage

well im worried if the B pillar had to be replaced and welded that this was going to affect the integrity of the frame. i didnt tell my insurance that i track the car.. but in the back of my head i was thinking crap.. this might not be good. i told my adjuster about the suspension issues but i guess he never put it down in the estimate. i could clearly tell the suspension was messed up at the scene of the accident. my rear pass wheel was bent inwards. since then he left the company.. was just told that he no longer works for the company and the owner of the shop has taken over my case. this isnt a small mom and pops shop too.

i would love to have the car totaled.. but its seems like the shop and my insurance want to fix it.. also to note.. not even a month before the accident i was rear ended but someone at a stop light and total damage was around 3800

you should also get diminished value

As the B-pillar is damaged it should be totaled. The entire integrity is damaged they should laser the car, not that you have 3 tracks in the snow.:frusty: afterwards.

Fight for it to be totaled out!

is that with my insurance? because the other lady doesnt have insurance

Let her go you'll never be happy .Downtime and rental fees also

Of course you want to have the car totaled; I would too - and even if it weren’t, I wouldn’t keep it. The car’s already been broken twice, and what percentage of the fixes won’t be as good as OEM? Life’s too short to worry about it, especially when your butt is on the line at the track.

There are lots of possibilities here for concealed damage - pursue them all. For example, does the right-rear wheel track 100% true? What about the alignment at both ends? Did the fuel filler neck get moved enough to compromise its integrity where it attaches to the fuel tank? And then find out if the driver of the other car has any money (or a job) to get what you can from this situation. Diminished value will be very hard to prove on a mass-produced vehicle that the “experts” feel can be repaired for normally acceptable driving conditions.

You cant file for DV against your own insurance company. You can file for it as long as you can file against the at fault party in most states.

As a licensed rebuilder, I will guarantee they total that. Period. Not one insurance company I deal with, will fix a double airbag deployment due to future liability.

Oh no! Not another!
 

Just wow. What is it about drivers who lack the discipline to come to a complete stop for red lights or properly come to a complete stop at stop signs, look, and then only proceed when Traffic is clear? Happened to me back on March 31 and nearly identical to yours except no air bag(s) deployment. My estimate for damages $11.3k. My car is being repaired, and I should get it back I’m told this coming week (finally!). As you can see, the whole quarter panel had to be cut out and replaced (b and c-pillar) but fortunately no suspension damage. As for diminished value, here in GA you can claim DV even from your own insurance per law. Once I get it back, I will be having a 3rd party appraisal done. As for totaling a vehicle, especially when within 2 years of build date, the cost of repair must equal or exceed 70% of fair market value. So, I had no prayer for being considered totaled. I wish you the best whichever way it goes. I can only pray that mine will be like it was before the collision. Consider me a guinea pig, I guess, as I will be tracking soon. If it has issues, then it looks like I’ll be going for a ZL1 as the 2019 SS front end does not inspire me...unless I find a 2018 still out there either 1SS or 2SS 1LE.