Learn me: Totaled car buy back

I won't go into too many details as of yet, but I was involved in an accident.  Prior to an actual inspection my insurance company advised that based on mileage and year my car may be totaled. The insurance also said there may be an option to buy back the car.
 

I'm thinking the wheels, exhaust, and a few other aftermarket parts might be saved. No engine/trans/diff and the interior is clean. Almost all of it was body damage or damage to the radiator by the tow truck. I would like to replace it with the same type of car.  Are the aftermarket parts factored into the total price? Or is it just a general comparison of cars on KBB? Do they look at similar cars for sale currently? Like dealers FB CL? 
 

I've never had this happen and never thought of buying a wrecked car. I do have the room to park it for dismantling. But what happens when I get done to a bashed up body nobody wants? 
 

And what is the break point of buying back and parting out, vs just letting it go?

I had a guy, drunk, run into my parked Ford Econoline Pickup in the 70s. Since I had them by the sack I squeezed . . . hard. In court they would have lost a lot bigger. I had recently put in a bigger straight 6 with headers and a 4 bbl. They asked me about what it was worth, to pump up the value, because they had to justify paying for their poor handling of the situation.

Hope everyone is ok.

It's pretty simple.  They'll come up with a value most likely not reflecting those aftemarket items.  You can negoitate with them on that value.  For example when my Miata was totaled they only had automatic Miatas as comp vehicles.  I am a stuborn SOB and held out 6 months until I got them to where I thought it was worth.  So after you agree on value they will tell you how much they'll sell it back to you.  In my case it was like $360.  They took that out of the check they sent me and after I sent them title they returned it as a salvage title a few weeks later.  

After you're done you can get a junkyard to take the rest for enough to buy some good whiskey.

Or cut it into quarters and put one piece in the dumpster at a time

Thanks, I should have been clearer. Everyone is ok. I have some sore ribs but it was me and my son and he is 100% ok. Airbags didn't deploy, but there were trees involved which is why the body panels are all jacked, and they said it may be totaled.

bentwrench said:

Or cut it into quarters and put one piece in the dumpster at a time

I do have a sawzall 

Step 1 is setting a value to your car in its pre-accident condition. 

Start shopping via CL/FB as well as autotrader, cars.com, cargurus, etc.  Look for cars that have within 20k miles of your same model year.  Save copies of these listings.  Your insurance company will do similar research.  What you want to be sure is that your results are similar.  Said another way, "can you really buy a car like yours for the money the insurance company wants to give you?". If not, then press the insurance company for a higher value using your supported documentation.  Ask for the the insurance company's documentation.  This would be how Stampie learned that in his situation they were only using Miata automatic trans versions for price comparison with a auto Miata being less desirable and therefore cheaper than a manual Miata

At least with my insurer at the time (Progressive) they did not account for any of the aftermarket parts on my manual-swapped BMW wagon when it was totaled. It's an unusual (and typically somewhat ratted out) car in stock form as it is, and they came up with some value around a fifth of what I ended up getting based on other beat up examples for sale at the time. I spent a lot of time explaining the car and sending past ads, and while there were limitations on age of ads and how far they could be from me, that seemed to help. They also had a process where I gave them pre-wreck pictures of the car and they talked to various dealerships in the area to understand what it would have been worth to them. Between those two processes, we were able to get to a fair value.

Step 2 is then determine a repair cost.  This will done through estimates written through body shops but some insurance companies write their own estimates.

So, Pre-accident value minus repair estimate will then lead the insurance company to a decision if the car is worth fixing.  

Some caveats:

The repair estimate is just that an estimate or guess.  There can then be further damage discovered once the work starts.  There can be project over runs and expenses for rental cars.  There can also be the need for return or warranty work after the job is done.  Given these factors, if the damage estimate is pretty close to the actual value the insurance co may just elect to "pay out" rather than repair.  Also remember that if the insurance company deems the car a total value loss and pays out then the insurance company will then own the car and they can recoup value from selling off the damaged car at salvage auction.   

What make, model, year?  

Are you willing to share pictures of the damage?  

A previous thread of mine:  Guess that damage amount

Thank you

I'm not putting the detail and pics out there until it is all sorted. 

Why are you going through your insurance?  Is this a one car, you're at fault deal, or is there another party at fault?

You are always better going after the at fault driver's insurance, unless that's you.

You reminded me of a question I've had for years after it happened to me.

So you own a car, you, not anyone else. It's paid off, and you make payments for insurance, so don't owe them anything between payments.

Then the car gets wrecked, so how on earth does your insurance company suddenly become "owner", offering to sell it back to you. They don't have the pink slip, you do, so how can they ask for money from you so that you can get it back? What am I missing?

kb58 said:

You reminded me of a question I've had for years after it happened to me.

So you own a car, you, not anyone else. It's paid off, and you make payments for insurance, so don't owe them anything between payments.

Then the car gets wrecked, so how on earth does your insurance company suddenly become "owner", offering to sell it back to you. They don't have the pink slip, you do, so how can they ask for money from you so that you can get it back? What am I missing?

If they are paying you for the value of the car, they take ownership of the car as part of that payment. You can certainly elect not to take their payment and keep the car if you want.

Ah, I understand now; it's two separate numbers, what they pay you as a total loss, becoming the owner at that point, then you buying back the wreck.

It will depend on many factors.

First, you might be able to let the junkyard take your car and still let you take some things.  My ex's Tercel got totaled by hail damage.  The buyback was $200.  No-brainer.  I accepted the $3500 (minus the $500 deductible and the $200 buyback).  They gave me a check for $2800 and she drove a golf ball for another three years.  They basically bought the car but I kept the [salvage] title.

That car later got actually totaled.  A trucker lost a wheel which she hit and ripped off the front right suspension which sent the car into a concrete wall.  She was fine, but the car was wasted.  I showed up while they were clearing the accident and gave the tow driver the title, and they had no problem with me stopping by later and taking the good head unit out of it.

They are accepting the car to most likely be a crush credit.  They don't care if it has factory steelies on it or 20" chrome rims.  Some 'yards might want to hang onto the goodies to sell for a little profit.

- what is the buyback price?  Most insurance companies assign their own values.  Once you find out that price, just do the math.  Will the money you get selling the goodies be more than the buyback?
- check with your insurance company.  Did you claim the aftermarket upgrades as part of the policy?  If not, they are insuring a stock vehicle and they don't even know about the upgrades.  How that plays out (whether or not you are allowed to keep them) is up to whoever is towing the vehicle, unless the insurance agency steps in to claim insured property.
- Do you want the headache of parting out a car?  If the buyback is $500 and you think you can get $1000 for the parts you sell, is it worth the labor of getting those parts off, and the disposal of the vehicle when you're done?  That's all up to you.
- what are the insurance laws in your state.  In CA, the car was mine until I sign and hand over the title, so theoretically I could have had it towed, but kept the title so all of the things in or on the car still belonged to me.  In my case, they didn't care.  I could have removed the engine if I wanted.  They were just going to crush it for credit.  In PA, the car ceases to be mine when I accept the claim (or cash the check after the claim... I forget).  At that point, the car belongs to the insurance company regardless of who holds the title.  Once the insurance company pays me for the car, it is theirs.  The title is immaterial because the junkyard can get a salvage certificate for $14 regardless of whether or not I give them a title.
- is the claim already done and accepted?  In many situations you can deny the claim if you've yet to accept it.  You can initiate the claim, hear the numbers, and say "no thanks, I don't want to report this claim."  Then nothing happens.  You still own the vehicle without a salvage title and you can do with it what you want.  Take the wheels and pretty things and then file the claim.  Due research needs to be done though before you play with insurance laws and the terms of your contract with your insurance company.  Don't be afraid to ask.  Many times insurance claims are handled by a third party.  When they have a totaled car, they "sell" to a sub-contracted company to handle the details.

99% of the time, insurance companies are dealing with stock vehicles.  It's a slam dunk.  Here's your check, car gets towed to a junkyard, go buy another hoopty.  When they get a "special" situation like yours or mine was, they might completely balk at you taking parts, or they might just say "take what you want."  Best practice I think is to just ask before each step.

kb58 said:

Ah, I understand now; it's two separate numbers, what they pay you as a total loss, becoming the owner at that point, then you buying back the wreck.

Correct.  You are insuring the value of the car.  If it gets totaled, you get what the car is worth before the accident/loss.  Your buyback is what it's worth after the accident/loss.

well... the buyback is a generic number.  Like in my hail-damaged Tercel example above, I bought it back for $200 because it was just cosmetic damage, but the buyback would have still been $200 if it got run over by Grave Digger's monster truck.

Time for one of the residen insurance adjusters to chime in.

Aftermarket accessories are a losing proposition. I'll use wheels as an example. Say your car came with aluminum wheels from the factory. You replace them with blingtastic spinners or something. Still has aluminum wheels. Does it add significantly to the resale value of the car? Very little. The car is valued as a WHOLE as to what it is worth on the open market. If you have receipts for your mods they can be added for consideration but you will only see a small percentage of the cost added to the value. One person's desirable mods are the next person's reason not to buy the car.

So, if you have wheels and a cold air kit on your car it is wisest to swap the original stuff back on if you have it. If you don't...then you have a more difficult decision to make. You may be able to just remove the stuff you want and not replace it but the insurer will deduct the parts from what they pay you. This rarely works in your favor.

So an 'owner retention' (you civilians call it 'buy back') would be the cash value of the car (it's pre-loss value) less the salvage value (amount they will likely get at Copart). Depending on the state you may be required to get a salvage title first before the insurer will pay you. Take off what you want and sell the rest for scrap or to a salvage yard. U-Pull-It yards will always buy private salvage cars.

Most cars are valued by CCC Automotive Services, a third party vendor the insurers use. They will use book values, dealer cars and (groan) occasionally dealer quotes. Each state has different requirements so unless you live in PA I can't give you an accurate answer. Remember, your car is valued as a 'private party' vehicle (if you look it up on KBB) and NOT 'retail'. Read the fine print about the categories. Retail in the valuation world is the asking price on the dealer lot, not the 'take' price it actually would sell for. Lots of people argue with me after looking up 'retail' value thinking their car is worth way more than market.