Best Friend's Mom Totaled My Car

[anabolice30]

Don't settle.

Seriously. Drag it out. Insurance companies hate for stuff to be drug out. You are the victim.

The car is still yours. If it's registered in your name, they can't come and physically take it. It's not theirs until you settle with them.

His insurance company isn't backing him, they are trying to fuck you. All insurance companies do this. Just wait out the claim, they will keep making offers until they can get it off their desk, you have to agree to the claim. Go get an estimate from a body shop, get an independent appraisal of the car, do your due diligence, don't get screwed.

Cool, I did not know this. Feels good having r3v help me through this. This really is a great community :D

[gtdragon980]

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! Sounds like a really shitty situation being that it is your friends parents, but all in all, they owe you the money to repair the car. Whether it be insurance or out of pocket, they need to fix the damage. If insurance totals it, get all your receipts together, grab some comparable e30 ad's in your area and show the market value plus whatever you put into the car and get the total amount back. Then buy the car back, fix it up and boom, you have extra cash to do whatever you want with it.

Oh and do not let up! Those insurance companies love to process a speedy claim. Fuck that. Like others said above, drag that shit out.

[GillesBigCowboy]

And if they offer a cash settlement, there will also be an option for you to take the cash minus the "salvage value" of the car, so you will have the option to take some cash and the car.

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[Q5Quint]

This happend to me- was rear ended by a car and the cop said it looked like less than $900 in damage so he didn't write a ticket.

Body shop repair cost: $2200 new rear panel and bumper, paint matched.
insurance company: no ticket no claim.
Asshole that hit me: stopped answering his phone.
Found a bumper for $150 and pulled most of it out with a jack. Fuck people for being assholes and not taking any responsibility for their actions/mistakes.

Daddy is lucky she crunched a 20 year old bmw and not a brand new one.

Asshole move for you: Tell him he has one chance to make it right or you will take his wife to small claims court. Everybody knows she did it, everybody knows the right thing to do is pay up and make it right. Being in her driveway is no excuse- she is lucky it was just your car and not a small child. What excuse are they going to make? Duuhhhh she didnt see it and oops screw this guy? I am sure the judge will love to hear that.

Nicer move for you: Price out all the damaged parts and get them agree to buy them. You still have to put in your time and energy FOR FREE to fix it. This is the middle ground to taking it to a body shop who will likely have to charge $2k + to actually fix a hood, quarter panel, bumper, and paint it. Make your friend help you fix it.

Mom fucked up your $2200 car- Mom has to fix it. What the hell does daddy have anything to do with it? If he is the checkbook holder then great- that means he has to fix it. It seems like he is acting like a dick and trying to get out of it.

In this situation I would take a $500 check and call it a day. Daddy should know that is the best way for him as well. If this was a 40k new m3 daddy would be in deep doo-doo.

[Roysneon]

You did nothing wrong, you should be componsated in such a way that you are not at a loss because of someone else's inability to not drive into things.

[anabolice30]

This happend to me- was rear ended by a car and the cop said it looked like less than $900 in damage so he didn't write a ticket.

Body shop repair cost: $2200 new rear panel and bumper, paint matched.
insurance company: no ticket no claim.
Asshole that hit me: stopped answering his phone.
Found a bumper for $150 and pulled most of it out with a jack. Fuck people for being assholes and not taking any responsibility for their actions/mistakes.

Daddy is lucky she crunched a 20 year old bmw and not a brand new one.

Asshole move for you: Tell him he has one chance to make it right or you will take his wife to small claims court. Everybody knows she did it, everybody knows the right thing to do is pay up and make it right. Being in her driveway is no excuse- she is lucky it was just your car and not a small child. What excuse are they going to make? Duuhhhh she didnt see it and oops screw this guy? I am sure the judge will love to hear that.

Nicer move for you: Price out all the damaged parts and get them agree to buy them. You still have to put in your time and energy FOR FREE to fix it. This is the middle ground to taking it to a body shop who will likely have to charge $2k + to actually fix a hood, quarter panel, bumper, and paint it. Make your friend help you fix it.

Mom fucked up your $2200 car- Mom has to fix it. What the hell does daddy have anything to do with it? If he is the checkbook holder then great- that means he has to fix it. It seems like he is acting like a dick and trying to get out of it.

In this situation I would take a $500 check and call it a day. Daddy should know that is the best way for him as well. If this was a 40k new m3 daddy would be in deep doo-doo.

Yea, I got quoted $3k to fix it at a body shop. Dad is the checkbook holder which is why he is involved. Paint matching is gonna be a bitch, god this whole fucking ordeal. I see a ruined friendship on the horizon.

[Mr. Burns]

I was cut off in my Brother's vert years ago. He hit the ebrake on me and made me hit him. Anyways he got in trouble and we only got 700.00 for the damages. It looked JUST like what happened to you. I got a hood, fender and bumper from a local junk yard. Then got the new headlight setup for a replacement. Believe he spent roughly 250 for all the parts. Granted the hood did not match, the car was back in one piece in two days of gathering parts.

Take the 1,300...then search the forums/junk yards for a fast replacement and wait out color matched panels. You will make out on this.

do exactly this.

this is more or less a "blemish" so to speak.
the most $$ part would be paint matching.

$1300 and some DIY skill and patience, you'll get this back on the road in no time

accidents happens, I'm sure your buddy's mom feels pretty shitty enough as it is.

[anabolice30]

do exactly this.

this is more or less a "blemish" so to speak.
the most $$ part would be paint matching.

$1300 and some DIY skill and patience, you'll get this back on the road in no time

accidents happens, I'm sure your buddy's mom feels pretty shitty enough as it is.

But that would be $1300 before I buy my car back, which would then have a salvage title.

[Mr. Burns]

I see a ruined friendship on the horizon.

nah man, don't be like this

is this your 1st car?

if anything it's a good story to boot
this isn't your friends fault. don't let a 25 year old car come between you guys.

stuff like this will happen in life, keeping your shit cool with a level head will make you the better person in the long run.

[Mr. Burns]

But that would be $1300 before I buy my car back, which would then have a salvage title.

I gotcha, sorry didn't read the entire thread.

money sucks.
seriously.

friendships lost aren't worth it.

however, the mom (or parents) should be held accountable.
at the very least have your car the way it was, the way when you parked it there to begin with.

but don't bitch our your friend tho, he's not the one who did this, and he sure as hell shouldn't be punished for it.

[rturbo 930]

I would hit up a junkyard for the parts you'll need (headlights, bumper, hood, fender, etc) and have your friend's dad write you a check. Shouldn't cost you too much.

I wouldn't involve the insurance co.

[KIRIEIW]

Get a Quote from http://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars
Apparently a couple of the "good" insurance companies use that sight for cars that aren't on kelly blue book. That or tell them to pay you 1k and just go hit up a junk yard, probably have some extra change in your pocket too and still carry a clean title, assuming it has one. If you buy off craigslist you'll pay too much, though if its the same color parts it might be worth it.

[iansane]

What a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles. I can't stand people who drive around not paying attention. You should tell your buddy to get his mom a rear view camera as a gift.

Like others have said, fight it. Just don't give in until you think it's fair. It's no skin of your friends nose if he's already decided to take the ins premium hit. Drag it out. Grab ads from comparably equipped e30s to show value. It's not worth waht kbb/nada/whatever show because there is a decent cult following that makes it hard to gauge value. When my trans am was totaled they put a guy on the claim that specializes in older hard-to-value cars since their estimate was so far off of what I wanted in reimbursement.

[jalopi]

this isn't your friends fault. don't let a 25 year old car come between you guys.

Sorry, I have to disagree with this.... at 17, your one and only car (especially if it's 'sporty') is essentially lifeblood.

Bro, you're not dealing with a money issue here, you're dealing with an issue of principal. You didn't mention how long you've known your friend and his family, but imo it sounds like daddy is trying to fuck you. If the person you call friend is actually your friend, he will take your side on this matter. If not, depending on his attitude on the situation, dispose of that friendship like a used condom.

I know how things are at your age... like if you've known someone [what I consider only] for a year or two they're good friends, you don't want to just throw them away, ect... but when money issues arise (read: the situation you're in now) peoples' true colors come out. This is when you'll see the qualities of people that you might have to depend on in a dire situation one day... it's up to you to judge whether they're dependable or not based on their actions.

But my opinion? Go out and buy a new fender, hood, drivers' side grille, ect; get receipts for everything and send daddy the bill. He doesn't wanna pay? Be a dick (moreso forceful) about it. Being nice never gets you anywhere in this world.

[arthb7]

Everyone is right! Don't let the insurance take your car away the damage doesn't look bad at all, definitely something you can fix. Make sure you show your quote from the body shop to the insurance representative who will be inspecting your car. Also make sure you let them know you need this car fixed exactly how it was before.

As far as your friends parents it definitely seems weird why he would want to buy the car from you. No relationships have to be ruined you just need to let them know you need the car completely fixed and since it’s their fault they need to pay up. You might have put $2200 into the car but a decent e30 value is 4k. Don’t sell yourself short.

Hope it all works out well in your favor.