Car should have been totaled, need advice
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 333
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From: NYC
2007 C280 4Matic
Car should have been totaled, need advice
My car was in an accident a few weeks ago (not my fault). The guy that hit me had progressive and I also had progressive. Fun part is that he didn't have enough coverage for the repair so my uninsured coverage is picking up the repair.
Long story short the adjuster came out looked at the car (2007 c280 4matic) and they assumed 8k damage. Not a problem so they decided to go ahead and fix the car. Since the body shop has worked on it the damage was much greater.
In addition to the general body work
the frame was swayed (what exactly is swayed?)
the entire rear suspension had to be replaced.
Can I refuse the car? Clearly the body shop just wants to get paid at this point. But the car should have been a total loss. Esp when I take into account depreciated value. (I will certainly be making a claim).
At this point the insurance company is going to go ahead and continue fixing the car as too much money has been put into it but I've got a feeling it will never be like it was. Is there anything I can do at this point?
Long story short the adjuster came out looked at the car (2007 c280 4matic) and they assumed 8k damage. Not a problem so they decided to go ahead and fix the car. Since the body shop has worked on it the damage was much greater.
In addition to the general body work
the frame was swayed (what exactly is swayed?)
the entire rear suspension had to be replaced.
Can I refuse the car? Clearly the body shop just wants to get paid at this point. But the car should have been a total loss. Esp when I take into account depreciated value. (I will certainly be making a claim).
At this point the insurance company is going to go ahead and continue fixing the car as too much money has been put into it but I've got a feeling it will never be like it was. Is there anything I can do at this point?
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 506
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From: Argyle, TX
10 Tahoe LT, 07 Silverado Z71, 99 BMW R1100RT
Why the car was not totaled in the first place if the estimate at the start was already $8K? Now the bill is even more than $8K?
If the body shop found more damage during the course of the disassembling and repairing it, they should have contacted the insurance company to authorize the repairs. Which I'm assuming they did and the insurance company approved since they continued working on it.
I'm no insurance professional, but I don't think you can just refuse taking the car back. Well..., I guess you can, but what happens next might not be pretty. If the car has already been repaired, I guess one thing you can do is to claim diminished value to be paid back due to the extent of the repairs. I don't think totaling it after the repairs is an option...
Good luck, nevertheless.
If the body shop found more damage during the course of the disassembling and repairing it, they should have contacted the insurance company to authorize the repairs. Which I'm assuming they did and the insurance company approved since they continued working on it.
I'm no insurance professional, but I don't think you can just refuse taking the car back. Well..., I guess you can, but what happens next might not be pretty. If the car has already been repaired, I guess one thing you can do is to claim diminished value to be paid back due to the extent of the repairs. I don't think totaling it after the repairs is an option...
Good luck, nevertheless.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 333
Likes: 2
From: NYC
2007 C280 4Matic
Basically the adjuster messed up real bad. With all the repairs the bill is skyrocketing, after the diminished value claim it's going to end up costing insurance alot more then it should have.
The biggest issue is I'm going to end up with a messed up car, even if repaired perfectly the frame will have fatigue where it was bent back into shape. The insurance company is putting the responsibility on the shop to make it perfect.
Think of a soda can tab. Each time you bend it back and forth it gets weaker and weaker and eventually breaks off. Realistically no shop can fix that. The car is now less safe then it was.
One option is of course to just sell the car as soon as I get it back. Let it be someone else's problem. I'm really hoping there is something else I can do.
Has anyone had experience with diminished value claims?
The biggest issue is I'm going to end up with a messed up car, even if repaired perfectly the frame will have fatigue where it was bent back into shape. The insurance company is putting the responsibility on the shop to make it perfect.
Think of a soda can tab. Each time you bend it back and forth it gets weaker and weaker and eventually breaks off. Realistically no shop can fix that. The car is now less safe then it was.
One option is of course to just sell the car as soon as I get it back. Let it be someone else's problem. I'm really hoping there is something else I can do.
Has anyone had experience with diminished value claims?
Last edited by zerocover; May 15, 2013 at 11:25 AM. Reason: edited for analogy
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2019 G70 6MT & 2022 Ford Maverick XL
Basically the adjuster messed up real bad. With all the repairs the bill is skyrocketing, after the diminished value claim it's going to end up costing insurance alot more then it should have.
The biggest issue is I'm going to end up with a messed up car, even if repaired perfectly the frame will have fatigue where it was bent back into shape. The insurance company is putting the responsibility on the shop to make it perfect.
Think of a soda can tab. Each time you bend it back and forth it gets weaker and weaker and eventually breaks off. Realistically no shop can fix that. The car is now less safe then it was.
One option is of course to just sell the car as soon as I get it back. Let it be someone else's problem. I'm really hoping there is something else I can do.
Has anyone had experience with diminished value claims?
The biggest issue is I'm going to end up with a messed up car, even if repaired perfectly the frame will have fatigue where it was bent back into shape. The insurance company is putting the responsibility on the shop to make it perfect.
Think of a soda can tab. Each time you bend it back and forth it gets weaker and weaker and eventually breaks off. Realistically no shop can fix that. The car is now less safe then it was.
One option is of course to just sell the car as soon as I get it back. Let it be someone else's problem. I'm really hoping there is something else I can do.
Has anyone had experience with diminished value claims?
Your soda can tab analogy is flawed. The car is a unibody chassis. It can be fixed to pre-accident strength, no problem. It happens all the time. The car will be every bit as safe as it was before.
Diminished value laws vary state-to-state, and in GA it is a joke. I did $9,000 in damage to a nearly new Civic Si back in 2008. The car was 8 months old. State Farm paid $1,040 in diminished value. I hired an independent appraiser who said it had lost $6,473 in value. State Farm didn't budge.
The truth is, though, the Civic was just as good after the repair as before. It was FWD and it ripped the front wheel clean off! It even buckled the roof a bit.
Was good as new afterwards. I don't think you have to worry.
Last edited by LILBENZ230; May 15, 2013 at 12:04 PM.
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 506
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From: Argyle, TX
10 Tahoe LT, 07 Silverado Z71, 99 BMW R1100RT
Yeah, I don't think the repairs will make the car any less safe than it was before. If the repairs are done correctly, of course. And if the car is in a good shop, that should not be an issue.
Another issue is then, of course, if the adjuster messed up. You might want to raise this issue with his/her manager. Maybe that would bring something, but don't hold your breath.
Then there is, of course, The American Way to get a lawyer and threaten the insurance company with something . Not sure if that would net you anything, either, since the lawyer will cost you something, too.
If I was in your position, I would just raise the issue of the adjuster's screw-up and diminished value compensation and see what that brings. If something, great. If not, then just take the car and sell it.
Another issue is then, of course, if the adjuster messed up. You might want to raise this issue with his/her manager. Maybe that would bring something, but don't hold your breath.
Then there is, of course, The American Way to get a lawyer and threaten the insurance company with something . Not sure if that would net you anything, either, since the lawyer will cost you something, too.
If I was in your position, I would just raise the issue of the adjuster's screw-up and diminished value compensation and see what that brings. If something, great. If not, then just take the car and sell it.
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2007 c230
I am an Field adjuster as well. I wrote a dummy estimate and he is somewhat fair and inline with what he wrote. I wrote 8800 dollars. But depending on what the suspension really looks like once he removes the wheel is a different story. If the car needs an AXLE and a Rear Subframe which are about 1000 each the car will total depending on the value of your car.. lets just say your cars value is 15k for the hell of it. He can also constructively total loss the car as well. Basically the salvage amount.. plus the cost of repairs.. plus any OPEN items (inner qtr... rear axle housing.. etc etc...) exceed 100% value of the car it can be totaled. Where did the adjuster see the car at a shop or at your house?
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From: San Francisco Bay area
C63 AMG
I had the same exact thing happen to me a few months ago when my 2005 C230 was involved in a accident. After the estimate the shop found around $4000 in extra work that was done threw the insurance. At the end the amount was well above how much my car was worth, but because $7000 of work had already been done before the rest of the issues were found, it was to late to be deemed as totaled.
Sure it sucked for the insurance company, it sucked for me too, but its just how it works. Insurance companies are really hard to deal with too, every time I would call the adjuster it would go to her voice mail, I would leave her a message and she would never call me back. That was all with AAA, I am not sure how progressive is.
Either way, good luck with everything and let us know how it turns out
Sure it sucked for the insurance company, it sucked for me too, but its just how it works. Insurance companies are really hard to deal with too, every time I would call the adjuster it would go to her voice mail, I would leave her a message and she would never call me back. That was all with AAA, I am not sure how progressive is.
Either way, good luck with everything and let us know how it turns out
