Insurance buy back of a totaled car. Anyone have input?

[PhoenixM3]

Last Wednesday, we had a pretty destructive hail storm, and fortunately, I took my Fiesta ST to work vice the GT350R. Long story short is that I just got word that the Fiesta’s damage is too extensive to cost effectively repair.

Does anyone have experience with buy back of a totaled car from the insurance company? I know of instances where guys around here have done it, but don’t know how much money I’d be willing to give to have the car back.

The car has a bunch of mods (turbo, FMIC, lights, brake lines) so it is a bit of work to return it to stock before giving it back.

I should just take the money and run to get another newer FiST. They are great fun.

 

[BOOGIE MAN]

Put the drivetrain in a smartcar

Posts and likes are not mine.

 

[Ohio Snake]

It depends on the insurance carrier and what your policy states. I have State Farm as an example. They use the Actual Cash Valuation ( ACV, Not trade-in ) for starters. Using KBB and NADA will help establish that value as a comparison.

Accessories ( rims, supercharger, paint protection, carbon fiber parts) can get tricky. State Farm will need receipts of those items ( according to my policy) to determine a Cash Value.


Know these terms:
(ACV) means depreciated value.
(Replacement Cost) means value to replace that item at todays cost today.


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[ON D BIT]

Pull the items you want off. Then find a replacement. They are great fun and relatively cheap to replace. Still sucks to hear.

 

[PhoenixM3]

Pull the items you want off. Then find a replacement. They are great fun and relatively cheap to replace. Still sucks to hear.

Leaning this way now....

 

[Ohio Snake]

Leaning this way now....

Read your policy. You dont want have a situation where removal of accessory items from the car decreases the ACV of the car itself or is forbidden.


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[me32]

Read your policy. You dont want have a situation where removal of accessory items from the car decreases the ACV of the car itself or is forbidden.


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I agree, but typically you have to state any aftermarket part in order to get reimbursed. But each state may differ.

 

[Ohio Snake]

I agree, but typically you have to state any aftermarket part in order to get reimbursed. But each state may differ.

That is correct and they typically want a receipt. Im glad you recognize each state different. A lot of people think all states are the same.


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[svtfocus2cobra]

Take your mods off before giving them the car and then put them on my car! Lol. My boss just did a buyback of his 03 Suburban that got slammed into while parked by a drunk kid in a 4 series BMW. Barely swayed the front frame rail and basically just wiped out the fenders, hood, and everything from the core support forward. We had my old shop I worked at pull the frame rail back and then we bought all the parts to put it back together and it ended up being a good deal for him.

In your scenario though, dealing with hail damage is a different story though because you are talking about multiple panels needing to be swapped or fixed which I wrote a few totals in the past with hail damage and the estimates exceeded $10k at fleet rates! That would be like $15-18k at insurance rates. It really depends on how many panels and what panels got damaged that would determine if it is worth it to you. You would probably be better off getting the parts and putting them on another ST.

 

[98 svt]

Where is the car now is the first question.
Is it in your driveway, at the tow yard, or in the insurance company's possession?

 

[buffalosoldier]

I have bought a couple of cars back, usually they will sell it back to you for what the salvage company pays. If memory serves it was about 18% of the car value. One was a corvette that I rebuilt one was a town car that I sold to a salvage yard and made a couple grand on because I had the title and it wasn't listed as totalled.

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