What to do: insurance has deemed my car totaled?

[cunninglinguist]

I'm looking for advice regarding insurance. My 318iS has been declared totaled after a somewhat minor hit from the rear. I carried only liability insurance, and the other party's insurance is offering about $1000.

I'm not wanting to pay out of pocket to have it fixed. Can I collect some amount of money from the insurance and then sell the car?


Here's a more detailed thread:

http://www.m42club.com/forum/index.php?topic=18767.0

[nrubenstein]

You should consider getting it appraised. A $1k valuation is absurd and completely unsupported by the market. You ought to be able to get them to pay out $3-5k for a car in that condition. I got $1,800 out of FedEx's insurance after they damaged one of mine. (And they did not try to total it.)

[DrJosh]

That thing is worth much more than 1k. Get it appraised and fight for your car/money.

[Wschnitz]

Yeah holy crap, i got 7k for a normal 325 SETA, you should be able to get like 6-8k for that if you provide the right examples.

[gwb72tii]

be prepared to back up your argument, and don't settle until you get what you want.
my 2002tii was rear-ended some years back, and it took a month of haggling the insurance company to give me a check for the repair estimate and to not label the title.
but i had i think 3 separate sources backing up my estimate of valuation, plus after the repair was done, my tii was going to be worth more than it was before the accident because of new paint and cosmetic repairs.
they finally relented and wrote me a check for $5000 and i kept the car even though, at the time, $5000 was the approximate market value of an unrestored tii.

research and gather documentation that supports your point of view and present it to the adjuster in an organized fashion, like a 3 ring binder. eventually they are going to want to close the file and get rid of you. inspire them to your point of view. a 318is is a baby M3 after all..........

[Red_liner740]

Just tell the retards to go ebay or craigslist a 318iS and come back to you with a more realistic settlement.

All they would have heard from my end of that phone conversation was laughter and banging noise as i slap the desk infront of me from laughter followed by "lawyer up!"

[ST1G]

Just tell the retards to go ebay or craigslist a 318iS and come back to you with a more realistic settlement.

All they would have heard from my end of that phone conversation was laughter and banging noise as i slap the desk infront of me from laughter followed by "lawyer up!"

Don't do this.



Do as others suggested, don't settle. You will get more, don't be afraid to tell them what's up.

[f4tj0n]

My buddy recently got rear ended in his e30 and they totaled it. He got $2900, and kept the car. Same type of damage as yours too.