[RogerMcGowan]

Hit and run. 2013 328i with 128,000 miles. Body shop guy says it's hard to say if it's even repairable. Any one with similar damage/experiences?

[IMG][/IMG]

[Billfitz]

A new door skin and rear quarter panel isn't going to total it. That would require damage that's not visible in the picture.

[Desertnate]

I'm curious what it looks like if you open the rear door and look at the unibody structure around the impact area. Even if that has been bent, I'd be surprised if it couldn't be straightened.

It looks like the wheel might have taken some of the impact and I wonder what might be damaged on the suspension and subframe.

[RogerMcGowan]

Originally Posted by Desertnate

I'm curious what it looks like if you open the rear door and look at the unibody structure around the impact area. Even if that has been bent, I'd be surprised if it couldn't be straightened.

It looks like the wheel might have taken some of the impact and I wonder what might be damaged on the suspension and subframe.

Unfortunately I was too 'shocked' to think about opening the door and checking for damage there. I honestly don't even remember taking these pictures. The suspension and subframe are my main concerns...those 'unseen' things. I love that little car, but want it 'right' so I am torn between wanting it to be totaled and repairable.

Link to the accident video if anyone is interested.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TOz...ew?usp=sharing

[Billfitz]

The door frame is part of the rear quarter panel, so that's all going to be replaced anyway. Damage to the suspension and subframe is where costs can go up real quick, though it's not as bad in the rear as in the front. I doubt that's the case, as it appears the car took a glancing hit.
The cops should be able to get information on the owner of the car that hit you by checking credit card transactions and surveillance video at the station around the time that you got hit. Something weird was going on there, as you can see that the rear door on that car was open.

[RogerMcGowan]

Yeah, I couldn't tell if the door was open or if paint was faded. You'd think the cops could get information, but they are acting like they don't want to work on it. They keep telling me since they can't see a plate they doubt they can find him (or her). They seem dumbfounded when I suggest cameras at the gas station, both inside and out and credit card transactions. Even if they made a cash purchase, they could get video from that. I'm not hopefully they'll be found....mainly because the police don't seem interested.

[Billfitz]

So who did you talk to, Sheriff Andy or Barney Fife? I bet they'd have had a different attitude if the gas station told them a black dude gave them a counterfeit twenty.

[RogerMcGowan]

Just got word back from the body shop and they've declared it a total loss. Probably a lot of unseen damage underneath. Oh well.....now what should I get?

[Desertnate]

My experience was the insurance company had to declare it a loss and not the shop. Is it because the shop thinks the damage can't be repaired?

Even with potential hidden damage I wouldn't have imagined the car being written off.

[RogerMcGowan]

Originally Posted by Desertnate

My experience was the insurance company had to declare it a loss and not the shop. Is it because the shop thinks the damage can't be repaired?

Even with potential hidden damage I wouldn't have imagined the car being written off.

Yeah, something weird is going on. Called insurance company a few minutes ago just to get some updates and they said their guy thought it was repairable. The body shop guy seemed to think it wasn't. The insurance company also thought the car was still at the tow yard and had no idea it had even been transferred to the body shop. So they have some older information. The car, from what I've researched, is probably worth $9,000-$9,500. I read somewhere that in North Carolina (my home) insurance companies will total a vehicle if repairs gets to be around 75 percent of the car's value. I could easily see $6,000+ in repairs once you figure in paint, labor, parts. Add any towing fees and storage and it keeps going up.

It's safe to say the body shop guy was probably guessing it would be totaled, but I am sure he's done enough of this stuff to make an educated guess. In the meantime I'll just chill in this Toyota rental......and about that.


I went to switch out my rental today and discovered someone hit it while I while I was at work. So we will be adding that charge to the mix. I guess if bad luck is going to hit, it might as well get everything out of the way at once.

[Desertnate]

Wow, that is bad luck.

What you going through seems odd on many fronts. Last year my wife re-ended someone and did quite a bit of damage to the front of her car. The body shop told us they could not make any determinations at all and any discussions on the topic would be with the insurance company only. They were pretty emphatic about the fact their role at that point was only to document the damage after a full tear down and build a repair quote. The rest was up to the insurance company. They also mentioned a percentage, but I don't remember what it was. Believe it was higher than 75%.

The whole conversation freaked out my wife who felt bad about the whole thing already, but the guy who did the initial walk around with us took her aside and gave her the "you didn't hear this from me" bit and assured her he didn't think it was a loss. Turns out he was right.

[Th3Walrus]

Up here, generally if the repair is more than 50% of the value of the vehicle, it's a write-off.

[Billfitz]

It depends on what the car's worth parted out. If the insurance company pays out $10k to total it instead of paying out $6k to fix it that's because they know they can part out the salvage for well over $4k. If they think that the salvage value is only $2k they'd probably pay as much as $8k to fix it.

[RogerMcGowan]

Also....I have rental coverage on my insurance. Depending how long it would take to get the repairs done, it might be worth it for insurance to just write it off so they wouldn't have to keep paying my rental fees for the next month or however long it would take along with the cost of repairs.

[Billfitz]

I've had worse than that finished in 2 weeks once the parts were in.

[RogerMcGowan]

Ok, wanted to give a final update on this. Insurance called yesterday and it is officially totaled. The body shop estimate stopped counting at $9,300.

[Billfitz]

There must be some serious damage beyond what the picture shows. It's odd that the cops were no help. Seeing that video with the rear door of the other car open and their being in no mood to hang around I'd conclude that they didn't want cops looking inside their car or at the driver or passengers. If I was still an insurance adjuster I'd do some investigating to see if damages could be recovered as well. I guess ten grand isn't what it used to be.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by RogerMcGowan

Ok, wanted to give a final update on this. Insurance called yesterday and it is officially totaled. The body shop estimate stopped counting at $9,300.

No one was hurt and at least the outcome is known and now you can focus on getting a replacement vehicle.

What vehicle is on your shopping list?

[Mikevee23]

Is this an expensive fix? seller says no frame damage. It needs bumper fender headlight and slight chassis pull to align hood properly. Is this worth fixing , i am in new york and dont want the cost repairs to exceed 5k. Thank you

[Desertnate]

I think the cost to replace the missing body panels (and maybe the headlights) and repaint them would run you 5K easily.

How can they say the frame isn't damaged if it needs a chasis pull to align the hood? The car is a unibody constuction, so the "frame" is the chasis. If it need to be pulled to straighten out the front, that's roughly "frame damage".

I wouldn't touch the car. It will be expensive to fix.

[Desertnate]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

There must be some serious damage beyond what the picture shows.

I was thinking the same thing. I'd love to see the itemized list the shop gave the insurance company.

[RogerMcGowan]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

No one was hurt and at least the outcome is known and now you can focus on getting a replacement vehicle.

What vehicle is on your shopping list?

I ended up buying a 2017 Jeep Cherokee. Had to consider the growing children.