So Thursday rolls around and I get the long awaited call from the insurance. I missed the call but listened to the voice mail. The insurance adjuster says the car is a total loss. In California, Damages to a vehicle need to be 100% of the value of the vehicle for it to be declared totaled. In my case, the car was valued at $8,900 (total BS). Insurance was going to offer me $7,900 after deductible to total the car or $6,900 if I kept the car. If the car was kept, it would be under a salvaged title.
I called the adjuster back and requested the damage appraisal to be sent to me. The rough estimate showed $7,500 dollars in damages, with $1,100 being labor cost for paint work to the hood and bumper. $6,600 dollars in parts, which included 2 new headlight assemblies. I took the parts list and sent it over to Alex Meschi at Irvine BMW. Alex corrected the part numbers on the list as there was several errors, including parts for 330s with automatic transmissions. Once the list was corrected the part cost, at list price, was $7,000. However, net price was $5,500 dollars.
-Quick aside, If you are in Orange County and in need of parts, Alex is your man. I've been ordering parts form him since I've owned the ZHP and he has been informative, helpful, and very professional. He stocks most common e46 parts, and can get the rest in a day or two. All my parts will continue to come from the Irvine BMW parts department-
So with a $5,500 parts list in hand I went to go see my ZHP. The car is at a Copart north of L.A. I met the insurance adjuster and continued to argue the salvage title with him for the next hour. Long story short, I could have had my car's value reappraised, and if the value went up significantly, the car would not be considered a total loss. However this process would take 2-3 weeks. I put everything aside in my mind and set up to do a minor tear down of the car. I was allowed to do minor work to the vehicle, and I many removed all the plastic bits that were broken or in the way of the sheet metal.
It took 3 hours to get parts out of the car, evaluated, photographed, and inputted into my spreadsheet. There was no structural damage to the car, no engine damage to the car, the car did not over heat, and the original appraisal included a lot of parts I found to be in good condition. All the damage, minus painting, was to parts that are bolted into place.
My parts cost were down to $5,500 and just by going after market for the headlights, I was down to ~$2,650 dollars in parts. OE headlamps net at ~$1,200 dollars and list at ~$1,400!!!!
From the $2,650 dollar parts list, I removed the cost of the front bump, license plate bracket, and other trim parts. Down to ~$2,000 in parts. The bumper fared well considering and there is only minor cosmetic damage.
From the $2,000 dollars I subtracted the fan & shroud, which is about $480 dollars. The fan was intact, and the shroud was 95%. One small plastic part broke off as I pulled it from the car, but it has not structural or functional purpose. Down to ~$1,500 in parts. Even the radiator was in good condition! That is how minor this accident really was. The front panel was bashed in, but did not contact the radiator. The radiator support was bent as well, but not near the radiator itself. I believe the radiator to be in good working order, but it was on the maintenance to-do-list, so I kept the cost on the list.
After a thorough examination of the vehicle, i decided to keep it!
No way was I going to let it go for $8,500 dollars for what I believe to be around ~$2,000 - $2,500 dollars of parts and maybe $1,000 in labor for painting a hood. I could have gone the route to argue the value of the vehicle, and realistically could have gotten 2 or 3k more for it, but I cannot go 3 weeks without a car, and would have to rent one in the meantime.
After deductible, I have $7,000 dollars in hand to fix the vehicle. It will have a salvage title, but I do not intend on selling this car. My insurance rate will go up due to the accident but I can still get full comprehensive insurance. My registration fee will go up by $20 and I will have to pass a safety check, but none of my airbags deployed. California is actually pretty easy when it comes to salvage titles. The only way I would get screwed by this is if I got into another accident.
My car is awaiting my pick up next week. I need to find a shop for it and am still working on some of the details. My current plan is I would do the tear down, I would then pay a shop to install a new hood and the front plate / radiator support as that is were the hood latch is. I'd then have the car towed to my place to finish the work.
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Originally Posted by johnrando
