Wife and baby girl in a wreck and I need some auto/wreck/insurance advice! (Pics)

[FiveO]

My wife and daughter were in an accident today and both are just fine (thank God!). However, our car is NOT.

We bought a 2004 Toyota Camrey SE V6 three months ago and it has a mere 4,000 miles on it and my wife loves it. Well, today she was T-Boned by a 17 year old girl with her head up her ass. The initial estimate places the damages at around $9,000. The body shop guy said that would not "total" it and in all likelihood the insurance company would want to have it repaired.

Needless to say, I am very, very upset about this. My wife takes GREAT care of her vehicles and the Camry is supposed to hold it's value very well so we splurged and got a nice one with V-6, moon roof, leather, and all of that... Nice, I tell you. A friend has a Lexus and there are very few differences IMO. I counted on the fact that it would maintain it's value.

Anyway I really am at a loss. As a Deputy, I have never worked wrecks nor have had one I had to deal with insurance companies on. We are insured by Alfa, the girl with State Farm.

I do not know if I should claim through my company or hers. I have been told that it is often easier to go through yours as they know they will recover through the other company but that it could "count against you" an possibly lead to higher rates. Plus there is the deductable and in my case, no rental car (although that is of secondary concern as we have my truck and department vehicle).

I am VERY concerned about the loss of value in the vehicle and have heard a bit about "diminished value" payments made by some insurance companies to cover the loss in resale value.

Does anyone have experience with this type of crap? I am particularly interested in info on diminished value claims.

Thank you very much!

[paradizecityz]

ooo, looks bad
sorry

[PtBaller]

Aww man thats horrible. Glad to hear that your wife and daughter are fine.

[epborden]

I haven't ever been in an accident that thorough so I can't relate completely. Because of the extensive damage done though and the cost of repairing it, this will diminish the value significantly.

[Camdaddy]

Looks almost the same with my 03 Camry LE, loan it out to my younger brother to drive and it got T-boned, in my case the car spun and landed on the sidewalk taking out a fence. Galdly no one was hurt, for one thing, the camry design is good for crashes, nothing to the interior, looks horrible on the outside but interior is solid would counts, I was insured through state farm and they just totalled the car and I got most of the money I paided for it back since the car was financed. In my cost the damages cost more then half the car, it was estimated at 13 grand, I bought the car for 21. Usually most of the time when the damages are more than half the cost of the cars value on the market it would be considered totalled.

[ReZn]

I would worry too much, the car should retain its clear title since it wasn't a salvage. Though the laws differ slightly from state to state.
I'll give you a similar example from my personal history.
Three years ago I hit a deer and did some major damage to the bumper cover, headlights and housings, hood, right fender and passenger door, etc. My insurance company cut me a very large check for the repair since I opted to do the work myself and could get parts at cost. I was told that since the repair wasn't done by one of their agents the value of the claim would be deducted from the amount (pro rated of course) I would recieve should the car be deemed a total loss in a future accident. Since I knew I was going to be selling the car within the next year this didn't bother me.
7 months later I sold the car and it went for just under N.A.D.A value adjusted for mileage. I told the buyer about the accident and repair before he saw it on the CarFax report. As long as the quality of the repair is high and everything appears factory then the resale value should not be effected.

[Camdaddy]

Oh yeah any airbag deployment, I heard on the news today that Toyota is recalling their 02-04 Camries due to airbag failure. When in my incident the airbags didn't deploy neither but there was frontal impact and the airbags didn't deploy. I called Toyota and they followed up on it saying that there wasn't enough impact to cause the airbags to deploy, which was kind of tricky cause I asked my insurance company to look in to it with there experts and they came back telling me that it should of deployed, local bodyshops and police told me they seen less damage on cars and airbags deploy. I am going through a paper trail now trying to figure it out with the airbags, sucks that the car is gone now, no way of tracking it anymore since the insurance said it was totalled and Toyota took it for investigation.

[kasimmmmm]

First of all, i'm sorry to hear about your car.
I was in a similar situation when I got into an accident with my 2003 camry (totalled) and bought a 2004 V6 rite after. If you're not at fault, go through your own company. Its easier because they do all the dirty work for you and will deal with the other party's insurance company. Even if your insurance goes up, it will not go up by much. You should call your insurance broker and ask them for advice and they'll tell you if your insurance will go up or not. You can decide what you want to do from there. Good luck!

[Admiral]

looks real bad. glad everyones ok. i think that it will depreciate the value of the car a lot and I dont know of insurance company that compensates for that. my brother was rear ended and the insurance isnt copensating for it. Actually his car had a little less damage then yours and was about $9000. I heard that state farm has been under heavy legal scrutiny regarding this issue so they might be more willing to give you more money for the diminished value. Its been almost 2 months and my brother still hasnt got his car back, so good luck with yours.

[Marvelicious]

Hard to tell for sure from pics, but it may be better than it looks. You will get brand new doors, fender and probably rear quarter panel, so that stuff shouldn't be a concern. The question is how much damage is done to the door pillar, etc... the non replacable parts the shop actually has to FIX. If it were me, I would drop it in the lap of my own insurance co., but keep a close eye on everything that happens. Insist on OEM parts (doubt they have much aftermarket out yet though) and go over the thing with a fine toothed comb when it is finished. Pay attention to the inner fenders inside the hood, the door pillars etc... also suspension components if the front wheel was hit. The insurance co. probably will insist on fixing it, so its up to you to make sure it gets done RIGHT!

Oh yeah, get several estimates, then cross check them. If one is cheaper but lists fixing something instead of replacing or if they simply omit an area, point it out to the ins. co. Someone may be trying to slide something by to get the low bid.

Good luck and glad no one was hurt!

[Rapeacivic]

I'm happy to hear that your Wife and kid are ok

[hclee25]

Glad nobody is hurt.
I was in a similar situation, ur insurance won't go up, cuz u r not at fault.

I was rear ended by a drunk guy, it made me hit a power pole, when I was trying to avoid the cars in front of me, totalled my VW golf. The guy doesn't have insurance, so I went through mine, they issued the check, and I only paid $500 deductible, after that my insurance will work to get their money back from the drunk driver I guess. Since I wasn't at fault my record stay clean.

Beside that, I'm sure that if you call the other girl's insurance they won't listen to you until she place a claim, so the best way, is go trough ur insurance, it's always easier to push your own insurance company, cuz u r paying them, than the others.

When there is no frame damage, the value of the car will most of the time stay ok!

[jhbhatia]

go through your own ins company. It looks really bad. Glad everyone was ok. Count your blessings and move to a newer camry.

[Sportivo Concepts]

Hi, I'm sorry about what happened to your wife and daughter, but I'm thankful , that they are okay.

From a legal standpoint, notify your insurance carrier, but go through the peson who hit you insurance. Also, even though both your wife and daughter are okay, you should get a medical exam just to be on the safe side of things especialy since her side was directly hit.

If you got any other questions you can call 1-888-519-6400 and ask for Anita. She would be able to help you out with what you should or shouldn't do.

[FiveO]

Thanks for all of the well wishes and great advice. I'll update as it moves along.

They delivered a rental a few hours ago (a 04 PotiYac Grand Prix GT). So far her ins. co. is kissing my ass. I am not falling for the little stuff, I am gonna DEMAND diminished value compensation. I have already talked to a lawyer who owes me a favor.

Thanks again!