Thread: Need some advice - car totalled

$8k can put a nice down payment in something's that not fwd and has more potential. Yea the miles are low but Grand Prixs are a dime a dozen.

8000 minus salvage value will leave you with plenty for a down payment on a second vehicle.

5k down payment on LS2 gto, 3k cushion money, boom

^ boom

Originally Posted by camopaint0707

Curious how that is 5500 worth of damage.

I hit a deer 2 weeks ago. I got a check for $1525 (damage was $1775) and all it did was crunch the hood, headlight and header panel. I can fix it for about $300 myself.

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

Labor is probably about 80% of that. They estimate total repair cost, not part cost.

This.

When a car is totalled it takes more than just fixing the car to make it road legal again. You have to jump through a ton of loops just to be allowed to even register the car again. Take the $8000 and buy another car.

Originally Posted by sLpGPGT

5k down payment on LS2 gto, 3k cushion money, boom

A Gto isn't right for everyone. Maybe he needs a family car, either way obviously this guy likes well taken care of, low mileage vehicles, and it's going to be hard finding a Gto that hasn't been beat to ****. You don't just stumble upon an under 50k mile almost 14 year old car.

Originally Posted by stealthee

When a car is totalled it takes more than just fixing the car to make it road legal again. You have to jump through a ton of loops just to be allowed to even register the car again. Take the $8000 and buy another car.

A DMV inspection is all it takes to obtain a "previously salvaged" title in Nebraska. So long as it runs, and drives there shouldn't be any issue. My 05 gp had a previously salvaged title when i got it and the bags were still deployed, glass was still cracked all over and the rest of the damage was still there. I'm not exactly sure how the previous owner did that one, but point is... it's not hard to get the car registered.

OP isn't in Nebraska. I know in PA it's a lot more difficult than it is in Nebraska. You have to show all kinds of stuff, like the work done to get it back to drivable status and much more.

Another factor to consider. Even if you can fix it and get it registered, you are going to have a car with a R title, and that is going to cut the value in half making it even harder to sell in the future.

I kept my el Camino after it got totaled and kept driving it. It won't have a rebuilt title if he keeps it it'll have a regular title

Originally Posted by stealthee

Another factor to consider. Even if you can fix it and get it registered, you are going to have a car with a R title, and that is going to cut the value in half making it even harder to sell in the future.

This is a good point. I would also check out the title situation and verify if it would have a R title or not.

Originally Posted by dsmuts

I kept my el Camino after it got totaled and kept driving it. It won't have a rebuilt title if he keeps it it'll have a regular title

If he keeps it WITHOUT insurance paying him for it it will have a regular title. The damage estimate is at a high enough value to where it is considered totalled. If he takes the money to fix it, it will have an R title because he is attempting to fix it.

This is why it would be smarter to just take the $8,000 that they (over) valued it at

Factor in parts etc as well and see if its worth it to you to fix it. I had a few buddies that ended up trying to fix their cars that were in a similar situation instead of taking the check and all but one ended up being overwhelmed by the cost of parts and paint that they really just gave up. If the frames tweaked...chances are it won't drive the same even after repairs. Gotta weigh the pros and cons and make a decision. You may not want a GTO for example and may need something more family family but 8k can pay off a lot of cars or be a hell of a down payment and or keep some of the money banks and then finance another car.

Originally Posted by stealthee

If he keeps it WITHOUT insurance paying him for it it will have a regular title. The damage estimate is at a high enough value to where it is considered totalled. If he takes the money to fix it, it will have an R title because he is attempting to fix it.

This is why it would be smarter to just take the $8,000 that they (over) valued it at

The lady i hits insurance paid me for my car i kept the car and it had a clean title

What was the payout, and what was the car worth?

Payout was 2700 car was worth the same

Maybe Ohio laws are a little different, but I can tell you that most places, you would get an R title/salvage certificate under those circumstances.

That was in IN but i get what you're saying