Project "butthurt"

Well the interesting thing here is, you could say "Hyundai is buying back all 2019 Kona's in the US because of the battery issue. They are paying in full what I paid less a deduction for mileage. If your insured hadn't hit me I was going to receive $40,000 for this car in a few weeks (or, whatever you paid, plus tax, minus mileage) so you might want to look into that some more so we can work this out without any attorneys involved".

I mean on the one hand it's a stretch, on the other hand... it's entirely true. Hyundai was going to pay you a lot more than $27k for this car before she hit you.

one more note: typically the insurance company owes you what the car was worth prior to the collision. The question is , of course, what was the car worth? Well if you were selling it private party maybe it was worth $27k or $30k. But since Hyundai was buying them all back, it was kind of also worth (whatever that is, $40k, etc). You may want to discuss with an attorney either way here, it's tricky but like I said, it's true. Fact is you were going to be paid a lot more than $27k for that car and now you aren't b/c their insured totaled it. You shouldn't be out $10,000 or more due to her negligence. If you want to get serious about this, contact Hyundai about the buy back, go through the process, and see what they offer you and then you have written proof and then the insurance company is on the spot big time. The caveat here is you must have had P29 applied already by the dealer, if you did, you can get the offer from Hyundai without anything else being done or anyone seeing the car. Don't tell them it's wrecked, etc., that's not the point, the point is what would they have given you for it to buy it back before she hit you. If it were me I'd totally want to go this route or at least try to.

 

That’s not surprising. They also charge WAY too much for a premium. As a MA resident, I avoid any insurance company that operates through the classic agent network in MA.

Did you end up sending them those recordings?

 

See this would just motivate me to get the buyback offer from Hyundai and then tell LM here’s what I was going to be paid for the car before your insured wrecked it, that’s what you owe me, pay up or the next letter will be from my attorney.

As someone who was in the insurance business for many years it was my experience that certain companies would deny all claims and just fight even to weasel out of 20% of the damage. They took that as a win and just playing the game.

 

I think I would have gotten the other drivers info, I trust no one

Totalling cars: Insurance companies love it

Badly damaged car that racks up 70 percent damage, if it is brand new and not your fault, you can sometimes get diminished value added, rental car and hidden damage can result in payouts over what was planned, They pay 30k or more out of pocket

Total the same car and they pay you 40k[or whatever they can chisel you down to]
They then sell that car at auction for 18k.
They are out of pocket 22k, or less. No brainer
Guy who buys it bangs out the panel frame pulls it and in a week with a grand in materials sells it for 28k

 

Something important you left out is the vehicle would have a salvage title at that point, which greatly diminishes the value. To me I would never buy a salvage title vehicle - but I would considering keeping my own vehicle if the insurance company totaled it, because I know the car and I know exactly what kind of impact it received and what the damage was. You just have to run all the numbers and figure out whether you think you can fix it for less than they give you. What they pay you will be value before the accident minus salvage value of the wrecked vehicle. Example: if the vehicle was worth $20,000 and is now only worth $500 wrecked, you can either take $20,000 or keep the vehicle and still get $19,500. But of course you assume all responsibility at that point and no matter what happens the insurance company will not pay one more penny after that. So you better be sure you can and want to fix the car for the amount they're going to pay you.

Very very very few wrecked vehicles will sell at auction for $18,000, just fyi. More like $300-$2000. Go to copart.com and look for yourself if you don't believe me. Also, what the insurance company can get for the vehicle is not part of the equation when determining whether to total a vehicle or not. That isn't a part of the calculation and there are two reasons for this:

• First, the most obvious reason is it is the owner's car, not the insurance company's car. Even if the car is "totaled" the owner of the vehicle always decides whether they want to keep the car or not, the insurance company cannot take the car unless the owner doesn't want the salvage vehicle. Obviously, if the owner keeps the car, what you can get at auction is only an estimate. You total someone's $25,000 car and then try to tell them you're going to deduct $18,000 for salvage value if they want to keep it, you better have a very good explanation or else there's going to be a lawsuit involved. I was an insurance adjuster for many years for 3 different companies, I never had any car that had a salvage value over $10,000 and maybe had 2 over $5000. Most were worth $300 - $1000.
• Second, the insurance company only cares about one thing: limiting their exposure. Mathematically they have determined that when the repairs reach 70 or 75% (different companies use slightly different numbers) of the pre-accident value, they are better off just totaling the car at that point rather than risk the repair bill going from, say, $20,000, to say, $28,000, and also taking 45-60 days to fix which means they are paying for a rental car for the owner of the vehicle while it is being repaired. In other words, the insurance company in no way shape or form thinks "let's see if I can make some money here". That is just bunk. All they want to do is figure out "is it likely I'll we'll pay less if we just total the car now, or if we fix it". To suggest otherwise is simply not true. I worked in the business for several different insurance companies including one that was terrible and unethical in my opinion - even that company did not think or operate this way. Even that company handled totals the way I described above: is it cheaper to total it than to fix it? A company NEVER wants to get into a repair and end up paying $25,000 to repair a vehicle (or $22,000 for a repair and $3000 for a rental) when the vehicle was only worth $23,000 before the accident.

 

Kinda true, but you oversimplifying the rebuilding process a tad. I imagine it varies from state to state but in my province you are required to rebuild a vehicle to OEM and best national insurance/autobody practice standards. Rebuilt salvage vehicles need body integrity and mechanical inspections. Panels are predominantly replaced( not cost effective to "bang" them out), if a frame member is bent or kinked they need to be cut and replaced to OEM spec , damaged high strength steel needs to be cut and replaced, frame pulling is mostly utilized to get the damaged parts into approximation before they get cut out. The profit margins are smaller than you would imagine. Plus salvaged titled vehicles are more difficult to sell, typically banks won't provide loans on them so it has to be a cash buyer.

 

Not all states have salvage titles or strict methods of inspection
Yes a salvage vehicle is worth less, but this happens every day.
GO check out copart.com and look at what vehicles sell for

 

Great news, I'm glad they gave a much more reasonable offer the 2nd time around.

 

Oh, I am very familiar what they sell for, I have rebuilt more than a few in my time

 

Woah!

 

I'd say get a hobby but it appears you have one!

 

Drive? What is this "drive" of which you speak?

 

It’s where you put your car while waiting for it to spontaneously melt down