My VX... is TOTALLED??

[TheUltimateMan]

Who wants to hear a (not very) funny story...?

So last week I was driving home around midnight. I was on my street, and about a block away from my house. The street curves a bit there, and is narrow, but not at all a problem to navigate when you're driving at a normal speed (it is, afterall, a residential side street).

Well, as I was driving along the curve, I saw there were two cars parked on the opposite side of the street. I know to be careful driving when there are cars parked along the curve because you can't always see oncoming traffic. Well, another driver apparently didn't know to take caution, because he was driving in my lane coming right towards me! He was just doing this to get around the parked cars, but he obviously didn't see me because he was also speeding at least 40mph on this quiest residential side street!

I quickly swerved to right to avoid the oncoming driver, but then to avoid hitting a tree, I had to quickly swear back to the left. Unfortunately, when I sweared to the left, I hit one of the parked cars in the most interesting way.

The VehiCross sits relatively high above the ground, while the parked car was sitting very low. Instead of just hitting the car, my VehiCross drove up onto the parked car, and then... tipped over onto it's side.

I think.

It all happened so quickly, all I knew was that my VX was suddenly lying on it's passenger side, and I had to climb out of the driver's side door (now above me) to escape! The other driver who had almost hit me was already long gone, and probably didn't see what had happened, and therefore probably didn't give the near collision a second thought.

The ONLY damage on the parked car was a tear in the body above the driver's side front tire... and then my poor VehiCross lying on it's side beside it.

I wish I had taken some pictures, but I was in SO much shock from what had happened that it honestly never crossed my mind.

The aftermath was that the driver who owned the parked car I had hit was able to drive away with only some body damage. After a tow truck pulled my VX rightside, I was also able to drive away, only with some minimal damage to the side of the car.

Minimal. Seriously. Well, minimal considering that the car was lying on it's side I suppose.

The point is, after all that, the only noticable difference in the VX's function was that it now drove a little bit to the left. That's all. Otherwise it drove fine.

The morning after the accident I took it to my mechanic, he told me that something had bent in the front suspension (I forget what), and as far as repairing the body work, it wouldn't be that difficult to fix.

To fix. Not replace. Fix. Which I was fine with. Considering what had happened, I was just lucky to be alive, and considering how much worse it could have been... well, let's just say that I'm thankful that it happened the way it did.

Now, enter the insurance company. I have great insurance, the other driver will be taken care of, and so will I... or so I thought.

I haven't heard back from the insurance yet, they only just saw the damage this morning. But I did talk to the mechanic, and he said that the insurance company wants to claim TOTAL DAMAGE to my VehiCross.

As in, the price of parts to replace the damage is too high, so they will write me a check for what they believe my VehiCross is worth, and take it away. Probably to a junk yard.

My VX still runs. Perfectly. But because of the cost for replacement parts, (to REPLACE body, not FIX it- they don't deal with that) my insurance wants to TOTAL it.

Again, I haven't talked to my insurance yet, but according to my mechanic, I do have some options...

-I can buy my VehiCross back from the insurance, and still be insured, but only for liability.

-I can (maybe!) ask them to only pay for the minimal repairs to get it working, so fix the dented part, ailignment, passenger mirror, and tell them I'll take care of the rest myself. (I know the mechanic, he'll be able to FIX everything up for me for cheap anyway)

-I can take the Insurance check and kiss my VehiCross goodbye.


...I hope I explained my situation well enough to understand. I'm a little overwhelmed right now, and not really sure what to do. Again, I haven't heard back from the insurance company yet, but according to my mechanic, that's what's happening.

I'm sure there must have been stories of this type of thing happening to other VXers out there- where the cost of repair outweighed the total cost of the vehicle... what did they do?

What do I do??

I don't know... just wanted to share with all of you...

Thank you in advance for any comments or suggestions!






Here are some pictures of the damage (thank you VX KAT for showing me how to upload them!) You can see that the ONLY damage to the vehicle are some dents and a broken passenger side mirror:





...has since been fixed and is as beautiful as ever! Thank you for all the advice everyone!

[atilla_the_fun]

So.. if its un modded, your most profitable route may be taking the insurance check (they base their values on dealer prices and NADA book values) and buying a new one. They should probably offer in the upper 9s or 10s.

With that you go out and by another VX and pay for 10 years of annual detailing.

[Triathlete]

Or try explaining to the insurance company that the VX is a rare vehicle and that junking it is not an option. I believe this worked for someone here not to long ago...it's worth a shot!

[VX crazy]

take insurance check and buy back existing vx, thats what I did, spare vx for me except your is fine!

[H3_VX]

I agree with VX Crazy. Take insurance check and buy back VX, depending on the figure it would cost to fix. If its mostly just cosmetic fixing, its worth fixing IMO.

[CoastieCosta567]

Sorry to hear that Mae, hope it all works out for you and ur VX. I love my VX, so I would never get rid of it, I'm to attached with mine, so if u feel the same, then keep it, or buy it back, but if not, then just get ur self a new one, plus it's an Ironman. Once an Ironman, always an Ironman, so if u get rid of it, Ironman is still the way to go, . Take care n God bless.

[VXorado]

The insurance company will estimate what they can get at auction for the totaled VX and offer you a lesser amount to keep the VX.

In 2008 (pre-VX for me) I had a 2003 Explorer "totaled" in an intersection. The insurance company offered me $9K or $7K if I wanted to keep my totaled Explorer with a salvage title.

Keeping the VX might be worth it if the damage wasn't too bad. You may end up on top financially and just have a salvage titled VX.

[rsteinmetz70112]

If they "total" your VX because it costs more to fix than they think it's worth, there is no reason there should be a salvage title.

[nocturnalVX]

Sorry to hear that your VX was messed up by one of Chi-Town's idiot drivers. I say keep it and fix what needs fixin', but don't worry about all the cosmetic stuff. Then convoy out to Moab with us next month!

[VXIRONwoMAN]

take insurance check and buy back existing vx, thats what I did, spare vx for me except your is fine!

Sorry to here about you baby! That's crazy...

Do what Lisa did! I've heard it so many times... I know you love your baby and getting another one with a ton of problems isn't worth it. Buy her back.

Good luck.

[VXorado]

If they "total" your VX because it costs more to fix than they think it's worth, there is no reason there should be a salvage title.

I think that's the actual definition of salvage title. When a insurance company feels the damage is more than 70% of the total vehicle worth, they mark it as a total loss which typically makes it a salvage title. Although some states will inspect vehicles before making issuing a salvage title.

Actual damage isn't always necessary as many states salvage title vehicles that have been recovered from GTA.

All of this is open to interpretation, I'm not an expert... just a Google search genius.

[Riff Raff]

Do this option-- Don't claim anything on your insurance policy, and fix/repair the faulty parts "out of pocket". Then you'll still have your VX without a bad salvage title. Sometimes it's best to not get the insurance company involved at all, and to fix the vehicle on your own with your own pocket money. Have the insurance company fix the parked car damage, and pay to have your VX fixed yourself.

[mborodi]

similar situation here, however Geico GAVE me the CHOICE to total it or repair it.. they deemed it a value at 8900.. I paid 5800 for my vx.. the repair shop quoted 5000 to fix.. repair & replace some parts.. I chose to fix.. because I can.. You can have it fixed, find another 3 mechanics, get 3 different quotes.. tell them what you want to accomplish.. if you want to total it, do so.. insurance co will cut you a check for the "deemed value" like 8 grand.. and you buy another.. OR you fix for the lowest bidding mechanic.. I just got a check from Geico for 4 grand, I get another check today from Geico for another 1800 bucks.. geico deems repairs over 79% of the deemed value a total loss.. mine comes under that 79 percent.. I fix mine for about 2 grand, and keep the change.. if you total it, they tow it away and issue a certificate of destruction.. and hand you a check to buy another.. it should be your choice.. get more estimates.. I got 4.. the highest being 7200 to fix.. 4500 from another place.. but I can get my parts all by myself and do the minor mechanical work cheap elsewhere.. for about 2 grand..

[mborodi]

fyi.. Im buying a wrecked foxfire, and stripping the parts I need, then parting out the rest.. I'll know more by the end of today if I won the bidding on dealer auction site. (I have an advantage as I work for a car dealership).. I would never total loss my vx.. it's a boat load of work & research.. but you can get it fixed for less than what the insurance co says.. they just want it to be done with.. and cut you a check.. they're going to make a boat load on yours if you total it out.. dont do it. put your foot down, tell them you want a open claim to add supplements after 3 estimates.. there is just no way it's totalled unless the frame is trashed.. if it is.. then you'd still get a check from the insurance co for over 8K.. according to kelly blue book value..

[vt_maverick]

Well I have a ton of recent experience with this situation. My first experience was having my VX totaled by a drunk driver. In that situation even if the body had been repairable, the frame was creased on the passenger's side so totalling it was the only option. I haggled with the insurance company for about 2 months to get a check for $12K or so. BUT that included the replacement costs for my mods, an adjustment for the relatively low mileage (73K), and a little extra for the rare color (Foxfire). I had to get Richard Payne (member here, he owns a dealership in Colorado) to write an estimate of what he would charge for my VX on his lot in pre-crash condition for them to go that high. I bought it back as salvage and ended up trading it to Buffy in exchange for his labor to put the 5-speed in my new VX. The way they set the salvage price (at least at GEICO) is by taking the max price that a junkyard offers them when they list it on their auction site. I paid $1400 for a VX with a bent frame but otherwise intact powertrain (engine, transmission, transfer case, etc).

The second situation occurred while test driving a VX in Colorado to replace my totaled truck. I rear-ended a guy on the freeway in Denver; turns out when a guy in a Kia comes to a near stop in the middle of the interstate to change lanes and your car has bald tires and no ABS it's hard to stop in time. The adjuster out there told me that it would likely be totaled during our first conversation. I told him that was crap because the damage was minor and the vehicle was worth much more than he thought. Basically I told him to do his research and call me back. When he did he said he was wrong and that it was no problem to get it fixed.

So a couple of suggestions and questions for you. First is you need to get multiple written quotes to repair the damage. This should be pretty easy since you can still drive it around town. (Btw, I'm not sure why the insurance company thinks replacing the entire right side of the body is somehow better than repairing it considering they would probably have to cut the existing section out and weld the new section in - seems like that would decrease structural integrity going forward.) Then you need to get some quotes together as to what your vehicle is worth. Start with KBB, NADA, AutoTrader, and Edmunds, then if you know a dealer who would write you a fair quote go ahead and get that together as well. Unless your mileage is really low I can't see you getting $8/9K for a '99 VX, but you never know. In any event doing that legwork will make you very prepared to argue with the insurance company.

Have you filed a claim yet? If not, I would wait until you get all the info together. Once you start the claim I'm not sure that you can cancel it, and then you're more or less at the mercy of the insurance company when it comes to totaling or salvaging it. Once you do file the claim don't be afraid to hold out. In many companies the adjuster (and the claims office as a whole) get rated by how quickly they close claims, so they will become increasingly likely to make you a better offer the longer you drag it out. Again you have a huge advantage in that you can still drive your VX, so there's no reason to be in a hurry.

One of the things you need to decide during this process is whether you intend to keep your VX forever. If that's the case, who cares whether you end up with a salvage title? If you have no choice but to have it totaled follow the suggestions above to get as big a check as possible, get your cheap mechanic to fix it for a lot less, then laugh all the way to the bank. If you are concerned about resale value then you need to fight as hard as possible for a high valuation and a low repair estimate.

Hope that helps, here's a link to my thread after my crash. Might be interesting reading.

Is This the End?

Good luck!