HELP!

Question, guys and ladies!!

A little over a month ago, I was stopped at a red light. The light turned green, so forward I went! Unfortunately, I don't have peripheral vision and failed to see the school cop speeding through his red light, and he didn't have sirens on so there was no way I could hear him coming. BOOM. T-boned, toward the front end of my car though cause I would have been seriously injured or not here if he'd hit my door. My car spun, and the back end hit his car. So I'm thinking he was going well over the posted 35 mph limit? Anywho, it's been about 5 weeks now.. the estimated damage on my 2013 Accord V6 was 12,500.. once all the body work was done, they decided to turn the car on and realized it needs a new transmission. Seems sketchy at best; when I go pick up a bike, I make sure it kicks over before I make an offer and start dreaming of all the cool cosmetic stuff.. so throw in another 3,000 for a new transmission. 15,500 is TOTALED, amiright?! But no, they replace the transmission.. I was supposed to pick it up Monday, but some stuff I don't fully understand happened. Something about running codes, and something self destructed, and two sensors in the front seat aren't working.. the parts are ordered, and two more days to get here, and then installing everything. WHY ISNT MY CAR TOTALED?! Any advice is much appreciated.

First off, glad to hear you are ok and that Emmy Lou was not with you! Or at least I hope she wasn't.

Sounds to me like the initial estimate was low enough and the insurance company ok'd the work, then the repair shop found the hidden stuff and the insurance company is now "in for a pennie in for a pound" so they say, they have already fixed the body panels etc and are now going to pay whatever it takes to get the car out the door regardless of it should have been a write off. I would try to argue the car won't be safe anymore and see if you can get a settlement and make them sell the car off, so you can buy a new one.

Maritime said:

First off, glad to hear you are ok and that Emmy Lou was not with you! Or at least I hope she wasn't.

Sounds to me like the initial estimate was low enough and the insurance company ok'd the work, then the repair shop found the hidden stuff and the insurance company is now "in for a pennie in for a pound" so they say, they have already fixed the body panels etc and are now going to pay whatever it takes to get the car out the door regardless of it should have been a write off. I would try to argue the car won't be safe anymore and see if you can get a settlement and make them sell the car off, so you can buy a new one.

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And the insurance company will end up taking the repair shop to court for not checking out the mechanical stuff before they estimated it. Could get messy there.

I would see if you can get a second opinion on the grounds that the shop was obviously inept. That car is not safe.

Also...I hope you didn't get a ticket Nd the cop got suspended.

Glad to hear you are alright after that!

When looking at totaling a car, insurance companies (at least the ones I have worked for) use a general rule of 70% of the total vehicle value. So if the vehicle damage is over 70% of the vehicle value then it would be considered a salvaged vehicle, depending on all factors involved.

Using a rough estimate of mileage and not knowing which option package your accord is (ex-l or touring) the trade in value was a little over $23k and retail over $26k. If they were to consider totaling the vehicle it would have to be over $16k on the initial repair estimates.

Glad your ok, sounds like the axle got drove in to the output on the trans. that car should have totaled. MAKE THEM EAT IT INSURANCE COMPANYS ARE THE SCUM OF THE EARTH

Glad yall are safe and sound Go
+1 on the fight it. Keep at it until they total it.

It was ex-l.. Paid 29,500 for it. The shop knew there might be mechanical problems but didn't factor that into the estimate. The car wouldn't reverse. Pretty bad oversight. No babe in the car and I wasn't hurt


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the real question is how much are you going to get out of the city/county from that dumbass cop running a light with NO EMERGENCY LIGHTS ON

Has the insurance company supplied a rental car for you while you are waiting to get your car fixed? They should at least be doing that.

They did for 30 days.. Now the body shop is paying for it bc insurance would only cover 30 days


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go mama! said:

The shop knew there might be mechanical problems but didn't factor that into the estimate.

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Why the Hell not?!
The shop should've overwritten the estimate, and let the insurance adjuster decide what they were going to cover.

Liberty Mutual sucks, btw. Regretting the switch.


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I used to work for a pretty large Dealership in the service/body shop department and have seen this a few times. Usually an adjuster is involved directly with the shop on repairs over 10k and they do a weekly check-in to make sure supplements are still in budget. If the insurance company missed it, and the shop didn't bring it up, it's both their fault. Try to get them to tell you the amount it takes to total the car. Then Try to get the Shop to argue your case for you. If they won't they know they screwed up. Nothing is better than getting paid for work you don't have to complete for a shop.

Also make the insurance company and shop guarantee the work for life. If they won't do that, start bringing up the topic of lawyers. Granted they have them in their back pocket, but it sounds like they screwed up and are just covering tracks.

And isn't this covered by the cops insurance?

It is still "under investigation".. The city is allowed 4 years to respond to accidents. Liberty Mutual isn't doing their part, I had to remind them 5 weeks in to contact the witnesses.


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Basically, my insurance is covering it then trying to recover the money from the city


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go mama! said:

Basically, my insurance is covering it then trying to recover the money from the city


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Yet magically your insurance premiums will go up. It's such a scam.

I guess I'm going to try to go up the ranks at Lib Mutual.. My car was transferred to a dealer for the transmission replacement. The manager over there called me to tell me what was going on, and we got to talking bikes.. Turns out he's got a cafe project, we talked for a good bit, then I started talking to him about the car again and he was more honest about the fact the insurance should have totaled it.


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Try to get the dealer to deem the car unsafe after repair. Or that it will have lost value. Key points in your future negotiations.

BCBarker said:

Try to get the dealer to deem the car unsafe after repair. Or that it will have lost value. Key points in your future negotiations.

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Gonna try this, too!

Hope this works out for you! Yeah insurance companies can be a PIA My son got rear ended a couple of years ago, totaled the car and state farm (the other guys ins.) wouldn't pay it off . luckily I had gap ins. on it. Anyway good luck with it!!