My poor car!

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
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I got backed into by a freaking Suburban today while waiting in line to pull out in the street. There's no liability dispute, she admitted it was her fault and her insurance company (Geico) accepted responsibility. The lady absolutely lost it when she hit, she ran around screaming something about how if her husband found out about this he was going to beat her. My car is a 1993 Mazda Protege with about 167k miles on it.

Seriously, I loved this car. It gets 45 mpg highway and hasn't given me a single problem in the 4 years I've owned it. However, the blue book on this thing can't be more than like 500 bucks. The damage to it:

Pic 1

Pic 2

With how old the car is I can't imagine they're not just going to simply total it. Is my only option seriously to take this up the ass or accept a 300 dollar or so check from Geico? The damage seems mainly cosmetic but it's pretty severe :( This is my first accident so I'm rather clueless.
 

ravana

Platinum Member
Jul 18, 2002
2,149
1
76
I don't think they are gonna offer you that little.

You'd definitely get more than what it's worth.
 

amdskip

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
22,530
13
81
Does the hood open? If you can find a way to keep it closed I would just keep driving it.
 

fuzzybabybunny

Moderator<br>Digital & Video Cameras
Moderator
Jan 2, 2006
10,455
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Uggg... I don't know what I'd do if my car went through that.

2000 Toyota Echo, 110K miles, 45mpg highway, 40mpg average, traveled across the US and back numerous times in this thing, been through rain, shine, sleet, mud, ice, thunderstorms, etc. I've slept and dined in it. It's pretty beat up but boy do I love the thing. The most I've had to do to it is change the oil, change the air filter, and fix part of the exhaust system that had rusted through due to Ohio winters and salt on the streets. Like your car, it's probably only worth $500 because it's got some exterior aesthetic damage.

Take the check and go find yourself a reliable, high mileage, used econocar? Echo, Civic HX, xA, Corolla, etc.
 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
1
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Originally posted by: amdskip
Does the hood open? If you can find a way to keep it closed I would just keep driving it.

It does kind of open. I'm thinking if I banged on it enough I could get the hood to latch shut as well. That's probably what I'll do if they total it and offer me nothing for it.

Then again, I've heard moderately good things about Geico's claims adjusting, so maybe I'll get lucky and they'll simply fix it. That's my "hoping for" scenario.

I wish I'd somehow had a video camera or something to catch the woman's reaction when she hit me. She kept screaming (literally) about how she was worthless and shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car, and her 5 or 6 year old daughter who was in the passenger seat kept going "No mom, you're not worthless, just calm down" and the mom would just lose it and start screaming nonsense words. It was a little creepy.
 

eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,015
3
81
www.integratedssr.com
Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I got backed into by a freaking Suburban today while waiting in line to pull out in the street. There's no liability dispute, she admitted it was her fault and her insurance company (Geico) accepted responsibility. The lady absolutely lost it when she hit, she ran around screaming something about how if her husband found out about this he was going to beat her. My car is a 1993 Mazda Protege with about 167k miles on it.

Seriously, I loved this car. It gets 45 mpg highway and hasn't given me a single problem in the 4 years I've owned it. However, the blue book on this thing can't be more than like 500 bucks. The damage to it:

Pic 1

Pic 2

With how old the car is I can't imagine they're not just going to simply total it. Is my only option seriously to take this up the ass or accept a 300 dollar or so check from Geico? The damage seems mainly cosmetic but it's pretty severe :( This is my first accident so I'm rather clueless.

oh no! now your car looks like a piece of shit!
 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
1
0
oh no! now your car looks like a piece of shit!

Driving around with it looking like that is a magnet to get pulled over by the police. I'm aware it was a beater before this.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
15
81
fobot.com
that isn't too bad, just take the check and save it until you need a new car

bang on the hood a bit with a large hammer to flatten it a bit, no worries

i have a 1990 Mazda Protege with about 199k miles on it


or you could get a hood from a junk yard and change it yourself.
 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
1
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that isn't too bad, just take the check and save it until you need a new car

I kind of agreed to send it to their garage. If they give me a check it'll be because they totaled it, so I won't be able to keep the car.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
15
81
fobot.com
Originally posted by: Agentbolt
that isn't too bad, just take the check and save it until you need a new car

I kind of agreed to send it to their garage. If they give me a check it'll be because they totaled it, so I won't be able to keep the car.

they told you they'll take your car? why? it is your car, why would they take it?
 

Gunslinger08

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
13,234
2
81
Originally posted by: FoBoT
Originally posted by: Agentbolt
that isn't too bad, just take the check and save it until you need a new car

I kind of agreed to send it to their garage. If they give me a check it'll be because they totaled it, so I won't be able to keep the car.

they told you they'll take your car? why? it is your car, why would they take it?

If a car is totaled, they own the title. You can buy it back usually, but it's probably not even worth it for this car.
 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
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I'd guess minimum you'll get $1500. Probably more like $2000.

Man, I wish. They go by "appraised cash value" generally, from what I've read, and a good general estimate of your car's worth is edmunds.com trade-in appraiser. My car scored a big ol' 251 dollars. :(
 

Dirigible

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2006
5,961
32
91
Originally posted by: joshsquall
Originally posted by: FoBoT
Originally posted by: Agentbolt
that isn't too bad, just take the check and save it until you need a new car

I kind of agreed to send it to their garage. If they give me a check it'll be because they totaled it, so I won't be able to keep the car.

they told you they'll take your car? why? it is your car, why would they take it?

If a car is totaled, they own the title. You can buy it back usually, but it's probably not even worth it for this car.

Yeah, you can often buy it back for really cheap. A friend's old corolla was totalled. He took the check from the insurance company and also bought the car back for $50. We took a Sawzall and cut off the messed roof and a few other pesky unnecessary bits (like most of the rest of the body). Viola! Instant open-air touring mobile, and a fun day.
 

Agentbolt

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2004
3,340
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Poor little protege... they are good cars. I have one, but 10 years newer.

That's the thing, in a vacuum this car is probably worth even less than 250 bucks, considering the mileage. But when you consider this thing has been absolutely ROCK SOLID for 4 years, and it gets insanely good gas mileage, I mean, I'm not going to be able to replace it with something comparably reliable and efficient for 250.

I forgot to put the drain cap back on the oil pan one time and drove it like 100 miles with no oil. This was like 3 years ago and there's been no problems from that idiotic mistake. It's the automotive equivalent of Brock Sampson.

You don't have to accept their offer.

That's true, but then I have a car with a cranged-up hood and missing front plate and I'd have to pay to fix it out of my own pocket. So that's a crappy solution too.
 

maziwanka

Lifer
Jul 4, 2000
10,415
1
0
hopefully you'll get enough cash to fix the car and then some. sorry to hear about your car troubles.

a similar situation happened with my gf's parents. they had a great honda accord and someone totaled it; the value they received from insurance wasn't enough to buy another car. freaking sucked. i hope you get enough to fix your car.
 

Tyrant222

Senior member
Nov 25, 2000
802
0
0
Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Poor little protege... they are good cars. I have one, but 10 years newer.

That's the thing, in a vacuum this car is probably worth even less than 250 bucks, considering the mileage. But when you consider this thing has been absolutely ROCK SOLID for 4 years, and it gets insanely good gas mileage, I mean, I'm not going to be able to replace it with something comparably reliable and efficient for 250.

I forgot to put the drain cap back on the oil pan one time and drove it like 100 miles with no oil. This was like 3 years ago and there's been no problems from that idiotic mistake. It's the automotive equivalent of Brock Sampson.

You don't have to accept their offer.

That's true, but then I have a car with a cranged-up hood and missing front plate and I'd have to pay to fix it out of my own pocket. So that's a crappy solution too.


you misunderstood. If you feel that what they are offering you is unacceptable, counter offer.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
This is how people get screwed. I had a 1986 Honda DX hatchback in 1992ish when I started UF, it was my wife's car. I was a bike ride from campus. When we were down on spring break it was rearended and totalled. The car was absolutely like new, low low mileage (like 35k on it). I just had new struts/shocks and tires put on, and all the maintenance. It was about $2500 that same month. They totalled the car for $1250 (I think...it was way freaking less than we could replace it for). The said everything we bought was considered wear items. We ended up taking it to court as in the accident my wife's neck was also broken. We got a fair payout for the vehicle. It was still less than it's retail value + the $2500...but we could replace the car with a like quality one at that point.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
15
81
fobot.com
yeah, just counter offer to get some dough, and keep that nice car, and fix it , sort of, yourself
it isn't really that bad
 

legoman666

Diamond Member
Dec 18, 2003
3,628
1
0
I rear ended someone a few years ago and my car ended up looking a bit like yours. (the person I hit only had a scratch on his rear bumper, I was only goign 15-20) I ended up just un bending the hood, buying a new front grill, couple headlights, and I bounced up and down on a few things under the hood that had popped up. It still looks a bit funny, but it still runs fine.
 

brxndxn

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2001
8,475
0
76
You have a lot of negotiation room...

On 11/27/02, I got in a huge wreck where my 97' Tbird was totalled.. Beautiful car.. I loved that car..

At first, they tried to give me $6400 for it.. Bluebook was somewhere around $8400 retail at the time. After a bunch of haggling and yelling and screaming, I got $9600 out of them for it.

My arguments were that I just spent $500 on new tires, $800 on repainting two panels on the car (someone keyed it), and I spent nearly $1200 on stereo equipment that is now worth nothing to me without the car..