So yesterday I was rear-ended pretty hard in Minneapolis, and never having been involved in an accident before I'm just looking for any advice that might help throughout the insurance process. It's a 2011 STI sedan. I was stopped in traffic on Cedar just north of 31st in Minneapolis yesterday afternoon and got rear-ended pretty hard by a mini-van and launched into the vehicle in front of me. My rear bumper is smashed, trunk lid pushed in, trunk pan slightly crumpled, exhaust wrecked and dragging, passenger-rear tire popped somehow. In the front my hood was buckled, bumper of course smashed, coolant was leaking, air bags did not deploy though. The driver of the vehicle that hit me stopped and we exchanged information. Waited an hour for the police and called two more times but they never showed. But we exchanged information and everything is fine there. The driver of the vehicle I was pushed in to stopped but had no significant damage so left shortly after the accident. I have full coverage with Liberty Mutual. Today I was contacted by State Farm, who the driver who hit me was insured by. They are accepting 100% fault so they are wanting to take over responsibility for inspecting and repairing my car if it is repairable, including my deductible, a rental, and personal injury (probably nothing serious but I definitely have a sore neck and a jammed wrist). I'm just looking for any advice that will help me to not get screwed by an insurance company and get my car fixed the right way if it is fixable. Some questions I have: Do I hope it's totaled or not? I don't want a mostly-straightened-out car that nobody wants to buy in the future back from this BS that wasn't my fault. State Farm says I have the option to proceed through my own insurance company and get reimbursed vs. having them handle the claim. Is there a preferable way to handle this? I think it's simpler if I let them handle the claim from here on. But I'm not sure if this affects whether the car gets totaled or not and what I get out of the car if it is or what I get reimbursed to fix it if it's not. Regardless of which insurance company I proceed through, I guess I have the option to get it fixed anywhere. Recommendations of a place that will 150% fix it right? Thanks much for any advice. So far both Liberty Mutual and State Farm have been very good to work with, but what a PIA. My feeling right now is that I hope they just total the car, I pay off my loan and am done with it all.
Probably totalled. Pics of the trunk? Rear quarters ok? Have the adjuster come look at it. If it's fixable take it to the shop youre most comfortable with (plenty of good options there, lots of searchable threads as well). Only reason i would use my own insurance is if communication is poor on their end or way better on your end. Or if coverage is skewed between policies. We're a no fault state so you have the choice to use either. Check both policies (especially if medical bills come into play) and go from there. Make sure you get checked out at the hospital. Head/neck injuries are no joke and they often creep up later. Get it documented now in case related issues pop up down the road. Good luck. Stay safe.
I have State Farm as my insurance. They have been a breeze to deal with. The wife and I totaled 2 cars 8 weeks apart 4 yrs ago She went to the hospital from the scene. They paid all her medical bills no problem. (She was fine, just sore from the airbag) On mine (8 weeks later in the new car) they reimbursed my towing (from eau Claire) and paid for almost a year of chiropractic care because my neck and back got all tweaked) The closest thing to an "issue" I had was after my accident, when the car was totaled (wife's 2009 Prius) the first offer was lower than expected. I think I made a "hmmm" noise or something and the claims guy immensely asked if there was a problem. I said it was lower than expected as the Prius was a pretty high model. He said he'd call me back that afternoon after more research. 15 minutes later they called back offering us $3000 more.
What things can I do/say to try get it totaled? So the original plan was that a Liberty Mutual adjuster was going to look at the car on Wed. to determine whether it is repairable. But now that State Farm is handling it, their plan is just to have the car moved from the tow lot where it is now to Lehman's Garage in Eagan (because it's close to the tow lot and a State Farm 'Select Service Repair Facility') to have them do an estimate. They'll use that estimate to determine whether it's repairable I guess, and then I can have it repaired wherever. So I'm not sure why State Farm is handling it this way vs. sending out an adjuster? Just the way they do it? Is there a shop or type of shop whose estimates would tend to be higher that I should be requesting just for the estimate? I guess possibly if State Farm doesn't call it totaled that I could still have the Liberty Mutual adjustor look at it. Thanks a bunch for the help everyone. Here are a few pics I snapped at the scene, not great. I thought it was leaking coolant, but now looking at these pictures I wonder if it was just water from the AC and I'm an idiot. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwn_lPXgn1zdT3pFZHl1NzUyc3M https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwn_lPXgn1zddTBkenJKX3JhZXM https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwn_lPXgn1zdMlZUQjNYem1SblU
Have both look at it. Work with whichever one will either total it or give you more. I would say usually the smaller companies but still private will be more expensive, so like a lehmens garage, Raymond autobody etc. as apposed to an abra ir whatever.. Tell them you don't want aftermarket parts put on your car either, it is your car and you have the right to have oem parts. If they do total it, you can tell them you want to buy it back and then you can either fix it yourself with the remainder of the money they give you and have a salvaged title or.. Part it out!
I would also look into LaMattrys. I have been extremely satisfied with the work I have had done with both the Eden Prairie and New Brighton locations. I can give you names of who to talk to at either, and they will take fantastic care of you.
Go through State Farm , it will be fine. It would have to be pretty severe underneath the bumper to get it totaled. I would have the bodyshop do an estimate first, then have State Farm do theirs. IF, IF it's somehow totaled which I doubt, then start fighting for more, at which point you will usually win a few hundred or even a thousand more. Unless we are talking $13-$16k in damage I would doubt it will be totaled. People don't get screwed as often as you might think, it's just when they do you hear about it and when they don't they got what they expected. Even if you get a high estimate does not mean State Farm will pay it, they weren't born yesterday. But if you have a few estimates for $10k and State Farm is saying $9k then yes they will most likely go with $10k. I get trying to get it totaled, but if it's not close then what they give you doesn't matter. Unless you decided to take the check and do the labor yourself which is only possible usually if your car is paid off. Good Luck- The neighborhood Insurance agent
Join the club, my hatch got rear ended this week too. I've only made two phone call, one to the cops and another to his insurance (American family). I told his insurer what was damage and had the guy who rear ended me confirm the story and they asked me where I wanted to get my car done and they setup my appointment. Still haven't got an adjuster to look at it but maybe when I bring it in for repair. All of this got done in just three days and I'm not sure about the communication between them and my insurer. From the looks of your photos I hope you can total out but it seems like the total cost of repair won't come close to the car's value. My previous car had it's front smashed in much worse than yours and the repair cost for that came up to about 6g. If it's roughly about the same for your Sti plus some additional stacks to repair the rear, the damages might only be half of the car's value. What do I know though has I'm giving a very rough estimate and you are driving an Sti making parts more expensive. Good luck to you and go for the best option. I'm getting my car repair at Abra Autobody in BP, it was recommended to me by a few of my buddies so I can't vouch for them as this will be my first experience. I've got previous cars repaired at both Mr. T Autobody in BP and Schooner in Shoreview which they seemed to do an excellent job.
PM me if you need any help. I just went through hell and back again with my 2012 STi. Check out my accident thread from back in June. I have learned more than I'd ever need to know about auto insurance law, and how to ensure both the shop and insurance company treat you as their supposed to... Your damage looks FAR less serious than mine was, and they did NOT "total" my car due to my research into MN auto law. Instead, the insurance company kept telling me they "wanted" to total it in order to part it out, and make money on it... Be careful, and have/keep track of any and ALL documentation regarding both the accident, and the cars history. Again, feel free to PM me if you have any questions, or need any help. Good luck with everything!
I'm going to ask State Farm to tow the car to Raymond Auto Body in Saint Paul for the initial estimate, and work with my insurance company in parallel. If it is deemed repairable, I'm going to be persistent in insisting that my car is treated as what it is: an enthusiast's car and the highest trim level of the flagship of the Impreza (or the Subaru?) lineup. Whatever happens, I'm hoping the outcome is fair and this thread can serve to help others who find themselves suddenly in this unpleasant situation. As someone with nearly 20 years of driving experience, I feel like I should have a better understanding of the process than I do.
My new wife's 7000 mile '15 X5 got hit in the lot at work and they had State Farm. We took it to Roger's Master Collision at the dealership's recommendation (its a lease) -went very well and all OEM parts. Both companies were very good to work with. GL!
Firstly - Go see a doctor about your neck and wrist. Minnesota his a high pay for personal injury in car insurance. Heck, go for a chiropractor as it's covered. Worst thing you could deal with is a possible issue later down the road. Second - Tell them OEM part's only when repairing. Third - Take pictures of everything prior to dropping it off at the repair shop. Document every scratch and tell the service manager that if anything shows up past the documentation you'll except it to be on them. Basically make the dude do his job, which is to protect his shop from false claims. Get a copy. "I dropped one of my car's off after front end damage from someone pulling out. The shop cracked my tail-light while pushing it into a stall" Didn't get fixed, shop said it was already there. Forth- 99% of the time, you'll get more for the car than if you tried to sale it. You can also get an extra 1,000-2,500 for maintenance history showing that you well maintained the car. Never take the first right off if you feel you can't replace it for that amount. If you have to find car's for sale with the same mileage/package deal. Do so, and as always. Kill them with kindness. Don't get upset or angry, they are just trying to do their job as present by company procedures. They will tend to be more willing to budge on stuff if you're easy and reasonable the whole time. Fifth - Get a check-up by a general practitioner. Bill the insurance company.
Here's an update on this situation for anyone interested. I let both the body shop and State Farm know that i had major concerns with the car going back on the road, and preferred if it was totaled. I also told State Farm that if the car ended up being repaired that I would be filing a diminished value claim. The initial estimate from Raymond was around half the value of the car, not enough to total, but the SF agent said we could wait until the body shop did a teardown and tech inspection to make the final decision. A week later they sent me the final estimate which did go up a considerable amount, but also told me they had already ordered all of the parts and were working on it. So I quick called State Farm and spoke with the same agent, who said it was close enough that they could total it now if that's what I preferred. I think what they offered me was pretty fair, maybe I could have gotten a bit more if I'd tried to argue or maybe not. I felt like I'd already badgered them quite a bit to get it totaled and didn't feel like arguing about it any more. State Farm has been pretty good to work with throughout the process, more responsive and supportive than my own company which is currently Liberty Mutual I felt. I actually plan to get a price comparison and consider switching to SF. It's a bummer, but I think the best outcome for the situation. Raymond Auto Body was also great to work with, and quite possibly they would have fixed the car as good as new. But I know I wouldn't have bought the car with an accident on record, and I probably wasn't going to keep it forever. We replaced it with a Jeep Cherokee for now, since my wife's Vibe has close to 200k miles on it. In a couple of years once the Vibe dies I'm hoping to get another fun car, maybe a new WRX. In the mean time, I have some winter wheels and tires, WeatherTechs, T6 oil and a filter for sale over on the FS forum. I also have a K&N Typhoon intake that I haven't listed yet. Thanks again to everyone for all the advice.
I'm wondering what it would cost to buy it with a salvaged title once the repairs were completed. I couldn't care less about resale value.
If they total it,DONT accept the first offer, regardless of who offers it. They always try to low ball you. Stick to your guns, research the value on line so you know what it is worth.
