dmbshu
07-20-2007, 01:52 PM
So the other day I was in a pretty minor accident. It could have been fatal for the other driver but I responded almost instantly and managed to just barely clip her.
The story:
I was going north on a semi-hilly four lane road (2 lanes both ways). The right lane was completely stopped and was just a line of cars. I was in the left lane, doing about 40mph (speed limit is 45 methinks, 35 at the least) and I was approaching the crest of a small hill with a + intersection at the top. The intersecting road had a stop sign, and there was a girl driving an '04 Hyundai Elantra at the stop sign, facing west, trying to make a left-hand turn to head south. There was a white Suburban at the front of the right lane, waving the girl on to let her make the turn. She was creeping out and finally hit the gas, but right as I was coming into her view. I saw her in time to get onto the brake and swerve to the right, just barely clipping her rear left quarter-panel. I have pictures of my car and I plan on posting them soon. We both decided we wouldn't call the cops. I didn't want to handle this through the insurance company, but she had called it in before I had a chance to call her and discuss things.
My car is still 100% driveable. It basically only has cosmetic damage to the front left fender/headlight area, but since the price to repair the car and get it to a point where it would pass inspection is greater than 80% of the value of the car, it's considered "salvage-branded." Any car with a salvage title can be neither registered nor driven. That may sound strange, but that's what the Pennsylvania DMV website tells me.
The Decision:
The insurance company appraised my car and gave me two options:
(1) Hand the title over to them, they pay me $556.50. I think this figure is subject to change a bit, as the salvage yard will give me an exact number when I bring the car to them, based on the current state of the car (ie radio/no radio, stock alloys/no stock alloys, etc.)
(2) Hand the title to them, apply thru the DMV for a "salvage title." Once I can prove to the insurance company that I have the salvage title, I get the car back and they pay me $484.06. From there, in order to drive the car again, I need to obtain a rebuilt-salvage title (http://www.dmv.org/pa-pennsylvania/salvaged-vehicles.php#Registering_and_Titling). Clearly it's a pain in the ass to get one of these, and you have to prove that you've made the repairs before you can get the rebuilt-salvage title. It just seems like one massive headache to keep driving it. My other option is to get the $484.06 and then sell the car, thereby maximizing my profits.
The Car:
The car is in good mechanical and aesthetical shape. I have relied on it to get me 45-60 minutes to work each way for the past three spring/summers and I've kept it at school with me in the city for the winters, driving it home about an hour approximately every other weekend. It does have 260,000 (majority highway) miles on it, but I've changed the oil and rotated the tires every 3,000, and recently did a good deal of work on primarily the front end steering/alignment components (inner/outer tie rod ends, upper/lower ball joints, sway bar bushings, upper cntrl arm bushings). It idles smooth at ~800 - 1k. I would say it will be needing a decent amount of work in the near future, most notably a fuel pump, dist cap & rotor, RF half-shaft, struts. The only time it has ever broken down was due to (1) dead alternator, or (2) popping a water hose and nearly over-heating. Other than that, she's been good as gold. I'll post much more detailed info soon about it's status inside and out.
I'm wondering what you guys think I could get for the car selling it whole or parting it out. I would think I could get more by parting it, but that's obviously more of a hassle and if someone would be interested in buying it as a whole, I'd definitely do it for the right price. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers
The story:
I was going north on a semi-hilly four lane road (2 lanes both ways). The right lane was completely stopped and was just a line of cars. I was in the left lane, doing about 40mph (speed limit is 45 methinks, 35 at the least) and I was approaching the crest of a small hill with a + intersection at the top. The intersecting road had a stop sign, and there was a girl driving an '04 Hyundai Elantra at the stop sign, facing west, trying to make a left-hand turn to head south. There was a white Suburban at the front of the right lane, waving the girl on to let her make the turn. She was creeping out and finally hit the gas, but right as I was coming into her view. I saw her in time to get onto the brake and swerve to the right, just barely clipping her rear left quarter-panel. I have pictures of my car and I plan on posting them soon. We both decided we wouldn't call the cops. I didn't want to handle this through the insurance company, but she had called it in before I had a chance to call her and discuss things.
My car is still 100% driveable. It basically only has cosmetic damage to the front left fender/headlight area, but since the price to repair the car and get it to a point where it would pass inspection is greater than 80% of the value of the car, it's considered "salvage-branded." Any car with a salvage title can be neither registered nor driven. That may sound strange, but that's what the Pennsylvania DMV website tells me.
The Decision:
The insurance company appraised my car and gave me two options:
(1) Hand the title over to them, they pay me $556.50. I think this figure is subject to change a bit, as the salvage yard will give me an exact number when I bring the car to them, based on the current state of the car (ie radio/no radio, stock alloys/no stock alloys, etc.)
(2) Hand the title to them, apply thru the DMV for a "salvage title." Once I can prove to the insurance company that I have the salvage title, I get the car back and they pay me $484.06. From there, in order to drive the car again, I need to obtain a rebuilt-salvage title (http://www.dmv.org/pa-pennsylvania/salvaged-vehicles.php#Registering_and_Titling). Clearly it's a pain in the ass to get one of these, and you have to prove that you've made the repairs before you can get the rebuilt-salvage title. It just seems like one massive headache to keep driving it. My other option is to get the $484.06 and then sell the car, thereby maximizing my profits.
The Car:
The car is in good mechanical and aesthetical shape. I have relied on it to get me 45-60 minutes to work each way for the past three spring/summers and I've kept it at school with me in the city for the winters, driving it home about an hour approximately every other weekend. It does have 260,000 (majority highway) miles on it, but I've changed the oil and rotated the tires every 3,000, and recently did a good deal of work on primarily the front end steering/alignment components (inner/outer tie rod ends, upper/lower ball joints, sway bar bushings, upper cntrl arm bushings). It idles smooth at ~800 - 1k. I would say it will be needing a decent amount of work in the near future, most notably a fuel pump, dist cap & rotor, RF half-shaft, struts. The only time it has ever broken down was due to (1) dead alternator, or (2) popping a water hose and nearly over-heating. Other than that, she's been good as gold. I'll post much more detailed info soon about it's status inside and out.
I'm wondering what you guys think I could get for the car selling it whole or parting it out. I would think I could get more by parting it, but that's obviously more of a hassle and if someone would be interested in buying it as a whole, I'd definitely do it for the right price. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated.
Cheers