Go through Insurance or buy a new car

[sun244]

Friends,

Weird situation:

My car got into an incident (the front portion) hit a unlevelled road two weeks back. I had to find a local guy to do quick fix (he had to hammer the bar down) supporting the hood. The front hood is not fully closed (It is latched and safe to drive).

I took to few body shops and the estimates range around $6000.

As I see, I have two choices:

1. Go through Auto Insurance (Amica) and pay my deductible ($1000) and fix. I am not sure whether Insurance will give me hard time since I went through local guy and there are visible marks of him hammering the bar down. Another drawback with this option is, most likely I will be paying increased premiums for 3 to 5 years. My question here is, can they reject my claim because I used local guy to fix and it is couple of weeks? In case if they reject my claim, what are the chances of them updating vehicle history which may affect insuring or selling in future.

2. Go through some online site and sell the car and make use of the demand for second hand cars. The Car has very low mileage (24000) and It is five years old. Comparable vehicles are available with 30 day waiting period.

Can some of you please help with any suggestions and answer my queries based on your experiences?

Thanks

 

[romeroaaron]

Not a Texas agent, but really it comes down to your ability to sell that car and be able to buy another one, all for a lower net cost than having it hit your record & your insurance premiums going up. From the price changes I see in my state, it might be worth it to map out exactly how much it could cost to do both.

 

[fed up]

To answer your question:
1) Should not make a difference in whether the claim is paid. Prying a fender away from a tire so a vehicle can be moved is a similar quick fix. You may also have a claim against the municipality that controls that road if repairs had been started and the mess was unmarked
2) Could be a 30% increase in premium but may be excused due to condition of road. Hope you took some pictures. Could be treated similar to "black ice" and ni increase or surcharge. Go back and take pictures!

 

[sun244]

Thanks for the responses. I will go and take pictures. In this whole episode, few weeks have passed, will this cause any issue?

 

[fed up]

No

 

[ehall2]

P & C agent for 49 years. I would file the claim. You paid the premiums for the company to pay when you have a claim. Insured's call me constantly asking if they should file a claim and I hate for people to be afraid to file. If the company increases your rate, and they probably will, shop around and find a company with the lowest rate.

 

[Allen Trent]

were you driving the car? the way you started the post was a bit odd with you saying your car got into the incident versus saying "I was driving my car & hit unlevel road". Maybe innocent wording, but it may impact how your carrier treats you going forward if someone else was indeed driving your car, etc

 

[adjusterjack]

I am not sure whether Insurance will give me hard time since I went through local guy and there are visible marks of him hammering the bar down.

They won't. If you read your policy you'll probably find the provision that says you protect the property from further damage. That's what you did.

Another drawback with this option is, most likely I will be paying increased premiums for 3 to 5 years.

If anything it's likely to be only 3 years if they surcharge at all. Seems to me if you can fix your car for $1000 on the insurance company's dime and pay a few hundred a year extra for 3 years you are way ahead of the game. Especially with only 24,000 miles on a 5 year old vehicle. 5 years is usually 75,000 miles with average use.

A word of caution. See if your insurance company will require a rebuilt/salvage title. You don't want that.

My question here is, can they reject my claim because I used local guy to fix and it is couple of weeks? I

No.

Just make sure you get a dated invoice for the work as documentation.

In case if they reject my claim, what are the chances of them updating vehicle history which may affect insuring or selling in future.

To reject your claim they would have to open a claim file. Then the claim gets reported to C.L.U.E whether it gets paid or not.

2. Go through some online site and sell the car and make use of the demand for second hand cars. The Car has very low mileage (24000) and It is five years old.

$6000 worth of damage will make it difficult to sell unless you sell it for dimes on the dollar.

In this whole episode, few weeks have passed, will this cause any issue?

Shouldn't. Just make sure you have documentation of the quick fix and photos of the road to correspond to the damage on the vehicle.

I took to few body shops and the estimates range around $6000.

A word about that. Take it to a few more shops. Tell them you have no insurance and you want it fixed for the lowest possible price, used parts, etc. See how that goes. If you can get it fixed for a couple of thousand that way without having to get a rebuilt/salvage title you'll be ahead of the game.

By the way, why do you have a $1000 deductible when it's obviously painful to you. You could have bought a $500 deductible for a slightly higher rate.

 

[jadynshay]

Going to a few more shops and negotiating for the best deal sounds like a smart move. It's amazing what you can achieve by being upfront about your situation and exploring all the options! And about that deductible, totally get it – it can be a pain! Maybe consider checking out different deductible options to find a balance between cost and coverage. By the way, stumbled upon this site, a1autotransport.com – might have some useful info or services for your car situation. Worth a peek!

 

[adjusterjack]

Rolf's brother?