Possible Write Off, What Are The Chances Of Getting To Keep The Car?

[xntrq]

As some or many of you know, my 34 has been in an accident recently and it may be an economical write off. The thing is, I have my head unit in there, a couple of other trims that I replaced to get it looking nice and clean and quite a few lighting mods.

I don't want to have to buy everything and rewire everything again since it will be a great pain in the rear end.

Just want to know from those who had previous experiences, how did you get to keep your written off car? What things could I do to convince them to let me keep the car?

[Hadouken]

ask them how much they want for the wreck

or start stripping and then give it to them

[xntrq]

ask them how much they want for the wreck

or start stripping and then give it to them

I stripped my HIDs and little things like LED for my dome light. but everything else is still in the car and at the smash repairs. Even my beloved Impul shift knob and genuine nismo pedals

[Tai1or Made]

Or start stripping and then give it to them

Helicopters.

OT.

Sorry for your loss.

[cree]

Just go down there and say that you want to take parts out

[R31Nismoid]

Car is now part of a claim and AFAIK it's illegal to alter it so you cant "just go down" and start stripping bits off, especially if they are listed on the policy. If not then, well, thats kinda silly as you cant recoup the value in that respect.

Some policys include salvage rights, some do not. So call your insurer and take it from there.

[sydking]

so your car is written off as it will cost more to repair then the aggreed value?

say they give you 10k - but theres 15k worth of parts you can sell off. Pretty much meaning with the 3k insurance you paid. your at a loss

in any case would you not get the car lookied at first before actaully making a claim? therefore if you know its a write off, YOu can keep your no claim bonus. Keep your wreck and sell it for parts.

[xntrq]

so your car is written off as it will cost more to repair then the aggreed value?

say they give you 10k - but theres 15k worth of parts you can sell off. Pretty much meaning with the 3k insurance you paid. your at a loss

in any case would you not get the car lookied at first before actaully making a claim? therefore if you know its a write off, YOu can keep your no claim bonus. Keep your wreck and sell it for parts.

1 - Yes

2 - your figures are very close

3 - I had a few ESTIMATED quotes of about $5K in repairs and I'm not at fault so I shouldn't be paying a cent. Due to the fact that my insurer and smash repairs require genuine and new parts to repair the car with, and being a R34, it would have to be ordered from Japan and shipped over which will inevitably add a few thousands on top not to mention the parts are rare/not readily available.

It's not confirmed as a write off but it has been assessed today and I'm waiting for them to contact me and deliver the news. Just preparing for the worse at the moment.

[Ph@t-G]

Firstly, sorry to hear the bad news, especially since it wasn't your fault.

From what I know, you just have to weigh up the value that they put on it and whether it is economically viable for you to 'buy' the wreck off the insurance, and start stripping it for parts to sell.

[GTR-N1]

What does the NRMA PDS booklet say Ricky about "salvage rights" as Ash alluded to?

My booklet has a paragraph on it. So too might yours...

[xntrq]

What does the NRMA PDS booklet say Ricky about "salvage rights" as Ash alluded to?

My booklet has a paragraph on it. So too might yours...

There's no real salvage rights in the PDS. I called and asked them, they told me that I would have to have a reason to keep it and that they may deduct a salvage fee to the money they pay me out for.

[NISSAN GTR]

1 - Yes

2 - your figures are very close

3 - I had a few ESTIMATED quotes of about $5K in repairs and I'm not at fault so I shouldn't be paying a cent. Due to the fact that my insurer and smash repairs require genuine and new parts to repair the car with, and being a R34, it would have to be ordered from Japan and shipped over which will inevitably add a few thousands on top not to mention the parts are rare/not readily available.

It's not confirmed as a write off but it has been assessed today and I'm waiting for them to contact me and deliver the news. Just preparing for the worse at the moment.

5k is that all , sounds like you dont want your car to be repaired more like it !!!!! My car had 20k damage and valued at 25k

they said it could still be repaired still but i took the 20K from the insurance company and sold the car to the crash repair owner for 7K

is there a chance you can do this rather than part it out as its a pain .

Edited October 2, 2012 by NISSAN GTR

[sydking]

who are you insured with ricky?

[R31Nismoid]

There's no real salvage rights in the PDS. I called and asked them, they told me that I would have to have a reason to keep it and that they may deduct a salvage fee to the money they pay me out for.

Did you ask what the fee was?

[xntrq]

5k is that all , sounds like you dont want your car to be repaired more like it !!!!! My car had 20k damage and valued at 25k

they said it could still be repaired still but i took the 20K from the insurance company and sold the car to the crash repair owner for 7K

is there a chance you can do this rather than part it out as its a pain .

$5K is only a brief look over and guess figure from local repairers that I wouldn't really have them repair, not a full itemized list and labor.

Did you ask what the fee was?

Only the assessor who is to contact me can tell me.

who are you insured with ricky?

NRMA

[Iron Mike]

It's a no brainer. Let them pay you out whatever the sum may be, then buy back the wreck from them. I had a friend who did this with his s15. It got written off earlier this year so he got paid out 18k from which he then went and bought back the wrecked car for 4k. He stripped it of all the parts he wanted and sold them off, then sold the remaining wreckage for 7k!! Just from doing that he ended up making another 4-5k on top of the 18 he got paid out If in your case you did this and your car was valued at lets say 18k, you may be lucky to buy back the wreckage for 4-5k and if repairs are truly 5k or even a bit more as you were quoted, then you're making money!

Edited October 2, 2012 by Iron Mike

[iwanta34gtr]

Key piece of info, whats your insurance type? (Comprehensive or Third Party?)

Without knowing this, not sure how helpful I'll be will be but anyway, if you have third party insurance there is obviously no 'agreed value' for your car.

If the accident was not your fault and your car is a write off then the other parties insurance company will determine market value of your car and put forward this figure to you, as there is no current 'agreed value' for pay out. This may / may not work in your favour however can be reviewed if you provide info justifying the value of your car (Example from local sales of cars similar to yours - etc.)

In the mean time, the car will also be assessed for salvage value by an external company.

Once the pay out figure for the write off has been determined (and accepted), you will receive two cheques. One will be from the insurance company (minus the salvage value of the vehicle) and the other cheque will be from the salvage company.

At this point, it is up to you if you accept the salvage offer, or keep the car as it is still your property.

Again, this is just a high level summary of the 'Third Party' process.

[iwanta34gtr]

^ Further to the above, for Comprehensive (And im no expert so theres every chance I could be wrong).

You could have the conversation with the insurer and advise them that you would like to purchase the wreck, however depending which insurer it is, they may just advise you it the vehicle is going to auction as per standard process and you are welcome to bid on it.

[Cowboy1600]

If the repairs are going to run at around $5k, it's touch and go whether it will be a write-off. Most insurance companies will go to around 60-70% of value before writing it off. $5k is arguably ~50% of the value of your car.

Either way, if the insurance company can offload the car to you for a few grand, they will often prefer that than having to go through the process of auctioning it off. Once the quote comes back and the insurance company makes their decision whether they are going to repair it or not, tell them you wish to purchase the wreck (assuming it's a write off). They will estimate what the car will fetch at auction and offer it to you for that which they will simply remove from the payout figure.

Whatever you do, remember that the insurance companies will be out to make sure you get the smallest possible amount either by giving you less for it or over estimating what the wreck is worth. Don't accept their first offer as there will be room to negotiate a better outcome for you. Just hit them with facts such as current adds on Carsales and SAU if they offer your too little for it. Also, being not at fault, you have more room to negotiate as essentially you are negotiating with the other insurance through your company and you have no agreement with the other company therefore are not bound to accept what they offer.

[sydking]

i didnet think nrma insured grey imports? or does the R34 not fall under this?

When looking for insurance, Its always good to sus the company is how they go come time to claim-

I know even with alot of life insurance we sell at work- Yes the premuims may be quite a bit cheaper for a select few , But come time to claim, You sepnd forever trying to get the money your intitled to. End of the day, there a company and they are there to make a profit.