Ram Rearended my Protege

[mazdamonky]

I was involved in an accident today. Sadly my 2002 protege I have had since junior year of high school (13 year) was rear ended by a gentleman driving a Ram pickup. It is more than likely totaled. I am waiting on his insurance to call. I imagine the car will be valued at under 3k and from the three shops I have spoken to thus far, repairs are going to be around 2k.

I am more upset about losing this car as a whole than anything. It has quite a few memories, and I have taken good care of it. It has driven me all around the United states and the motor and trans have plenty of life left.

I am hoping his insurance will just pay for repairs and call it a day. Otherwise, I suspect I will be selling it to them and buying it back to repair.

 

[CKN]

They WILL NOT repair the car.

 

[Wolf359]

That's what I'd expect a ram to do, ram a tie fighter.

You could probably price out a trunk lid and bumper on car-part.com and shop it around to some body shops and then see if it's worth it to buy it back.

 

[skyactiv]

My dad is a retired attorney and had his own firm being a general practitioner.
I don't know how it goes in Arkansas. In California you might get $20K for being in such an accident.
My dad would get his clients an easy $8K for such a minor accident in Ohio.
Remember, their insurance company will do all they can to screw you on your car.
So if they total it you will have the unpleasant experience of shopping for a car or buying yours back and repairing it
and you will most likely need more money to replace it than they will give you.
Don't you have a headache or ringing in your ears..... ? I'd see an attorney first thing on Monday.
We can go on how it makes insurance cost higher.. .

 

[Leo99]

Take the check and buy something else. Once it's totaled you'll have to jump through hoops to get it registered and insured again depending on your state and insurance company. It served you well.

 

[CKN]

My dad is a retired attorney and had his own firm being a general practitioner.
I don't know how it goes in Arkansas. In California you might get $20K for being in such an accident.
My dad would get his clients an easy $8K for such a minor accident in Ohio.
Remember, their insurance company will do all they can to screw you on your car.
So if they total it you will have the unpleasant experience of shopping for a car
and you will most likely need more money to replace it than they will give you.
Don't you have a headache or ringing in your ears..... ? I'd see an attorney first thing on Monday.
We can go on how it makes insurance cost higher.. .

Please explain why someone should get this kind of money if he is not hurt.

 

[Wolf359]

Please explain why someone should get this kind of money if he is not hurt.

Didn't you get it? It's that ringing in his ears. I think his back might hurt too. Neck is also a little sore.

Someone tried that one me, except they were the ones who hit me. I guess the ambulance chaser didn't read the case that closely. Probably one of the passengers was suing and picked the wrong driver in the case.

 

[skyactiv]

Please explain why someone should get this kind of money if he is not hurt.

Largely for the hassle of dealing with the situation of needing to replace the vehicle with something else for what they will give you.
How would you like to have an older vehicle you maintained religiously, wanted to keep a few more years to be totaled by someone rear ending it?
Now you gotta find something to replace it with the money they gave you. The problem is that you most likely wont find something as good as what you had and the accident ends up costing YOU money, since your now making a vehicle payment or paying more for a later model car.

Auto accidents and suing isn't some new trend that is going to escalate the cost of insurance. That has already happened decades ago.

 

[Rand]

Maybe its just me but I'm thinking a junkyard bumper cover and trunk lid
keep driving it.. ??

pocket the 2k they pay you?

 

[CKN]

Largely for the hassle of dealing with the situation of needing to replace the vehicle with something else for what they will give you.
How would you like to have an older vehicle you maintained religiously, wanted to keep a few more years to be totaled by someone rear ending it?
Now you gotta find something to replace it with the money they gave you. The problem is that you most likely wont find something as good as what you had and the accident ends up costing YOU money, since your now making a vehicle payment or paying more for a later model car.

Auto accidents and suing isn't some new trend that is going to escalate the cost of insurance. That has already happened decades ago.

Your absolutely right....and we are all paying for it. I own property (more than one)-and the reason can been seen in some of the posts above-why I have to have a million dollar umbrella along with a massive amount of collision and liability on my policies.

With all due respect to the OP-I don't think he is going to have a hard time "upgrading his ride" based on the pics alone.

 

[Blinker]

Sorry to hear about this. Insurance will probably total it and pay you probably $3-$4k. I think $4k is GENEROUS.

Someone mentioned there’s a possibility getting paid $20k for this. HA! I about fell off my couch reading that.

 

[Wolf359]

Sorry to hear about this. Insurance will probably total it and pay you probably $3-$4k. I think $4k is GENEROUS.

Someone mentioned there’s a possibility getting paid $20k for this. HA! I about fell off my couch reading that.

If you punch it into Nadaguide.com, you get slightly under 2k for retail for the base model DX , and a tad over 2k for the LX. What was interesting was that after deducting for high mileage, it said that the rough trade in value was -$100. That means you pay them $100 to take the car off your hands. Insurance company will offer retail. You could get up to 20k or more if you have injuries.

 

[dishdude]

You really got rammed.

 

[Blinker]

If you punch it into Nadaguide.com, you get slightly under 2k for retail for the base model DX , and a tad over 2k for the LX. What was interesting was that after deducting for high mileage, it said that the rough trade in value was -$100. That means you pay them $100 to take the car off your hands. Insurance company will offer retail. You could get up to 20k or more if you have injuries.

Yeah with injuries I could see $20k, depending on the injuries of course.

 

[Number_35]

I was involved in an accident today. Sadly my 2002 protege I have had since junior year of high school (13 year) was rear ended by a gentleman driving a Ram pickup. It is more than likely totaled. I am waiting on his insurance to call. I imagine the car will be valued at under 3k and from the three shops I have spoken to thus far, repairs are going to be around 2k.

I am more upset about losing this car as a whole than anything. It has quite a few memories, and I have taken good care of it. It has driven me all around the United states and the motor and trans have plenty of life left.

I am hoping his insurance will just pay for repairs and call it a day. Otherwise, I suspect I will be selling it to them and buying it back to repair.

Sorry to hear this - our '01 Protege was one of my favourite cars ever. As basic as they come - 1.6 l, 5-speed MT, no AC, crank windows. Excellent to drive, very good on gas, and easy to work on. We bought it in '05, and retired it in 2016. The tin worm got it eventually. Don't see many around anymore.

I hope you get a good settlement!

 

[atikovi]

Now you gotta find something to replace it with the money they gave you. The problem is that you most likely wont find something as good as what you had and the accident ends up costing YOU money, since your now making a vehicle payment or paying more for a later model car.

I wish more people would ram some of the cars I'm driving. The insurance payout is the dream price every seller wishes he could get for their car. OP will be getting a check for $2-$2,500 for a car you would have been lucky to get $700 or $800 for on Craigslist.

 

[Lubener]

My dad is a retired attorney and had his own firm being a general practitioner.
I don't know how it goes in Arkansas. In California you might get $20K for being in such an accident.
My dad would get his clients an easy $8K for such a minor accident in Ohio.
Remember, their insurance company will do all they can to screw you on your car.
So if they total it you will have the unpleasant experience of shopping for a car or buying yours back and repairing it
and you will most likely need more money to replace it than they will give you.
Don't you have a headache or ringing in your ears..... ? I'd see an attorney first thing on Monday.
We can go on how it makes insurance cost higher.. .

I have ringing in the ears and I wasn't even rear ended!

 

[mazdamonky]

Your absolutely right....and we are all paying for it. I own property (more than one)-and the reason can been seen in some of the posts above-why I have to have a million dollar umbrella along with a massive amount of collision and liability on my policies.

With all due respect to the OP-I don't think he is going to have a hard time "upgrading his ride" based on the pics alone.

Youch on the upgrading comment. Sadly, this car has quite a few modifications worth more than the actual car. With receipts for suspension upgrades, a custom exhaust, custom intake, and several other performance oriented parts it is hard to "upgrade" in my opinion. I have a 2018 Mazda3 and this is the car I hop in 5 out of 7 days a week unless I am going on a long freeway drive. This thing is a lot of fun on mountain roads, has amazing visibility in traffic, and makes for a really enjoyable drive.

Sorry to hear this - our '01 Protege was one of my favourite cars ever. As basic as they come - 1.6 l, 5-speed MT, no AC, crank windows. Excellent to drive, very good on gas, and easy to work on. We bought it in '05, and retired it in 2016. The tin worm got it eventually. Don't see many around anymore.

I hope you get a good settlement!

Sadly, this one has an automatic, But yes, this has been an awesome car. I have had it since high school and it is still the car I drive most often and I would trust it to california and back. I recently drove it from AR to Ohio and averaged 32 MPG. Living in AR this car is amazing to take on mountain roads. Many of my other friends that cruise with me are always surprised what this thing does on sharp turns and the fact it is so stable and planted. Last cruise I took it on was with a bunch of Z cars and a couple corvettes. Somehow I got stuck as the lead car and I received many compliments on how unexpectedly this car was pushing the others around highway 123 and highway 23. Many were surprised a 4 door economy 4 banger was hitting corners at the speeds I was.

 

[ZX11Rebel]

These Proteges are excellent handlers. It’s one the reasons I kept mine around even after I had an accident. I fixed it myself using a combination of aftermarket and OEM parts. Duplicolor spray paint was good enough for the final coat.

 

[JHZR2]

Sorry to hear this. They were great cars...

Id see what they’ll give you and what you can buy it back for. Have data and prior sales to justify your price.

I couldnt look that closely, but it doesn’t seem like the worst damage. Any body bending? Bumps in the roof? Bulges where there weren’t before? If not, you might get away with junkyard parts and a repaint. If the car means that much to you, a repaint might be a good splurge anyway!