what to do with my malibu?

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gabriel9766

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So for right now insurance is fixing my car. The repairs are at 14000. Allstate says 16 totals it. If I get the vehicle back I know I'll never get the money out of it. I'm stuck with this car on an 84 month loan. I love the car of death. I told the people at the collision center find two more grand to total the car. I owe like 26k on the loan, I did buy gap coverage. I asked my insurance about losing value on the car and they said to file a diminished value claim with farmers. What is that? If I do get the car back isit worth trading in and getting a new vehicle my Malibu only has three thousand miles on it?
 
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Your loan and what you owe have no bearing on insurance. They are fixing your car, what else do you want them to do?
 
Sure go ahead amd trade it in, accident or no accident youll probably get a 10k towards a trade.
 
A diminished value claim is a claim where a vehicle (even though all fixed) is worth less than an identical one never in an accident. Given a choice anyone would buy a vehicle never in an accident if the price was the same. So a vehicle that has been in an accident is just worth less.

Over time the issue fades.
 
Originally Posted By: zach1900
How does one even prove a diminished value claim?


Have tge repair shop give you a pre-accident appraisal and a post-repair appraisal. If they cant do it, your dealer may be able to do so.
 
Lots of people finance for 7 years at 0.9% interest rate.

Hopefully the car gets totaled and you can buy a 2016 Accord Sport.
 
It may still get totaled. Most of the time with a car in the body shop hidden damage is revealed once it's totally apart and the body shop has an adjuster come out for a supplement because it needs more work.
 
What is the value they assessed the car to be? Because the definition of totaled is when the cost to fix the damage is more than a certain percentage of what the car was worth just before the crash. Typically they use 70%, but the threshold can vary by state and by insurance company. Gap insurance was definitely a smart purchase.

The good news is that you won't get a salvage/branded title since it wasn't totaled.

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It may still get totaled. Most of the time with a car in the body shop hidden damage is revealed once it's totally apart and the body shop has an adjuster come out for a supplement because it needs more work.


This.

The cost to fix a car *properly* without cutting corners an be staggering. it's not just putting on new body panels. ALL the mechanical parts underneath need to be replaced, the structure, airbags, wiring, etc.

If the assessment is 14k before it's in the shop, it'll almost certainly cross the 16k threshold once they actually look at the car.
 
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
what to do with my malibu?


Get rid of it and buy something you can actually afford?

Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
Yea 7 yr loan. Got a low interest rate and payment I could afford. I'd prob end up buying another malibu.


You didn't learn the first time through, so you're going to do the same thing again? The finance companies thank you for your support.
 
Do you have gap insurance? If the car is only worth $16k and the payoff is $26k, the last thing you want is for the car to be totaled. If it does get fixed, I would pursue a diminished value claim since the damage was significant and the car is so new. Here is a link with a lot of good information.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/880666/
 
So here in Oz, all the major insurance companies have a clause where if a new vehicle is written off (totaled) within the first 2 years, it's replaced with another brand new one. Is that not a "thing" in America?
 
First off, understand now your gap insurance works. Any gap policies I have ever seen only pay the shortfall between the market value of the car and what you owe. They don't pay you back your downpayment. In your other thread you say you used all your money for the downpayment on this car. How then will you buy another if this one gets totaled? I would think the last thing you want is for the car to be written off.

Also, stop listening to all the doomsayers in your life. Collision repair is not like it was in the 70's with gallons of bondo slapped on a car and paint peeling off in a year. A reputable shop will have the right equipment to measure all relevant points and correct misalignment within very small tolerances. Paint can often come out better than the factory with less orange peel. It is simply not true that the car "will never drive right again" if it is repaired correctly. Get the car back and drive it for a while before you decide it's not right.

Things happen in life. I think you made a poor decision buying a brand new car you couldn't afford. Don't rush into compounding that mistake by pushing the body shop to get the car totaled because it MIGHT be repaired incorrectly. It's unfortunate that this happened to you, but it's not as big a deal as you might think. The car is a 2015 Malibu, not a '59 fuelie Vette. If it's not right, take it back to the shop and have them make it right. The work should be under warranty.
 
Drive the car. A good shop will fix it well enough that it would take CSI-level examination to know it had ever been hit.
 
pottymouth,

I agree the repair technology is much better than 20-30 years ago.

But the quality of work form repair technician is very important.
 
Originally Posted By: hpb
So here in Oz, all the major insurance companies have a clause where if a new vehicle is written off (totaled) within the first 2 years, it's replaced with another brand new one. Is that not a "thing" in America?


People would total their car on purpose to get a brand new car. I know, it sounds dumb, and could hurt yourself. But don't count out the general public to figure a way to make it work! I got a lemon, I can put a brick on the pedal and ram it against the wall. lol
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
what to do with my malibu?


Get rid of it and buy something you can actually afford?

Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
Yea 7 yr loan. Got a low interest rate and payment I could afford. I'd prob end up buying another malibu.


You didn't learn the first time through, so you're going to do the same thing again? The finance companies thank you for your support.


he can't! He will be driving an econobox. It will hurt his image with the ladies. lol
seriously though, I agree. Most people can't finance the same car for 7 years, he will be upside down on the car each time he trades it in.
 
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