Thread: Buying back a totalled car from insurance

Hey ,
I am looking for advice and suggestions or experiences dealing with buying back a car that is totalled by insurance.
Heres the deal...Long story,but please read it and tell me what you think.

Some of you may remember the Teal 200sx I basically restored,had repainted and completely rebuilt a year or 2 ago.
It had new timing chain,AC ,trans/clutch/headlights taillights,bumpers,brakes,tint,stereo,etc.etc,etc, No expense was spared on this car and it looked like new when I was done.
Well,I sold it to a friend who has loved the car and taken good care of it since.
A couple weekends ago she was rear ended while sitting stopped on the highway (there was another accident so traffic was stopped)
She was the front car of a 3 car crash.A 4x4 Dodge Ram hit the car behind her and pushed that car into the back of the B14.
The truck suffered no damage at all,the car in between was fucked,and the B14 did ok considering.
The Guy at fault had crappy insurance so my friend got screwed ..no car,no rental,and now they want to pay minimal and not let her have the car. I have suggested a Lawyer with no luck,so not sure what the options are at this point.
The car was surprisingly not that bad,but StateFarm has said 3000 to fix and totalled it wanting to pay them 1500 for the car.The trunk got pushed in,but no lights cracked and the frame is not bent.Even the rear bumper was low enough to not get hit.
So basically its
The paintjob was 2 grand,not including parts.Just paint and body.Not to mention the car is still immaculate inside and out.

I thought you could buy the vehicle back if they total it...I mean they will sell it to a scrapyard for about 300 bucks,so I would think they would sell it without a title back to the owner so we can either fix it or part it out....or even keep it and have a salvage title or something.
The girl who owns it is in college and needs a car and 1500 bucks aint gonna cut it.
I know I can come up with the parts to at least make it driveable for cheap,and then find someone to fix it right to for cheap.
A new trunk and some creative tweaking and we can easily get the car driving again,until she can save the money to have the body and paint done up.


Any help with this would be greatly appreciated...there was WAY too much time,money ,and work/love put into this car to have it go to the crusher!!!!

heres pics of the car when I sold it.













all new Nissan parts...
98 rear bumper,98 grille,front bumper,mudflaps,sunroof deflector,clutch setup,cable,TOB
plus..
New depot headlights
All red tails,yellow fogs,weathertech visors,SE-L wheels,new brakes,struts and tires all around,new exhaust,new timing chain and all engine seals. Car has ZERO issues or leaks ,or noises
Car had 28 dents and dings removed and a high quality basecoat/clearcoat paintjob with high solid clear so the car looked wet all the time. It was/is stunning

kollagreenz's had his b14 totaled when a girl blew a stop sign. He made the insurance pay him 3 grand or so for the car and he kept it. He had to fight with them for weeks, but like you he had a VE and lots of parts on the car. You have to show them the car's value from sending them forum posts on past sales. They want to pay blue book, and then come get something that is yours to begin with. I never heard of this being done before until he told me the story. If you go to my profile you will see him as a friend, maybe PM him and ask how he did it. This happened last year.

I bought my car back from insurance. The B14. It was a PITA because I had to get a special inspection which was a joke in order to have the car be re-titled as a reconstructed car so I could drive it on the road again, legally. I dunno what else to say. I would not do it again for that car and I should have let it go back then.

I am sure Florida laws vary but that is what I had to do. Buy it back, fix it with a little of my own insurance companies money (~$1800) I think it was in need of repairs. Once repaired, I had to pay extra and find a place to do the special inspection and then wait for the new title. A more costly process in the end but if you like it and want it, why not?

I'm in Idaho and negotiated with the insurance company to buy back a stock 92 SE-R. This was about 5 years ago and the hardest part was showing what the car was worth. We settled on 2150.00 minus the 150.00 buy back price. The car was then re-titled with a salvage title.

It's unfortunate that even with all you put into it, the insurance is still looking at it like it is an old pos. When I was 18 I hit a deer driving my first B14, a 1.6 same teal color and everything. My Dad and I knew it was going to be totaled by insurance so we didn't report it and a body shop fixed her back to like new. It was costly, but my Dad really thought it was a great car for me so he spotted me and I paid him back over time. Although a lawyer seems like a good idea, that whole process will only prove to be more costly and is honestly not worth the trouble. I vote buy it back and fix the car for her. I'm sure you can do it cheap and it can always be professionally fixed at a later date if she really enjoys it that much and wants to.

I've worked for insurance companies for over ten years and I've seen clients fight the claim adjuster on the value of the their car. Most claim adjusters make bonuses based on the lease amount of money paid out every month. So you need to arm your self with proof in writing. To get more you have to prove to the insurance company it's worth more. The value of the vehicle is based on what the car was worth at the time of the accident in your area. You can show receipts for new parts, check online sale, classifieds or go to your local dealership and ask them for a quote on what the car would of sold on their lot.

Good luck!

Gluck! Let us know what happens!

This is why my friend did and then when they said he could buy the car back he argued why should he buy something that is HIS. I had a laugh at that cause it worked after fighting for weeks.

State Farm should give you two prices for the amount of cash. One if they keep the car and the other if you keep the car. That's what they did for me years ago when my son totaled our Dodge Omni. Then you can start negotiating from there.

In 2009 I was rear-ended in a nice stock 92 NX2000 with 103k miles 6 weeks after buying it. I had been looking for the right NX for a while so I was pissed. It had a thick folder of maintenance records back to 60k that included mechanical and body/paint touch up.

They first offered me around $2k after they decided it was totaled. I was not happy with that so I went online and found all the most expensive NX's in the country (none were as nice as mine and none had low miles) and emailed them to the adjuster, explaining why each was not as nice as mine. I explained that I had all kinds of records on the car and that its a hard car to find in good condition.

My adjuster was a huge dick-bag, as Im sure most are. No integrity, just skeezing along screwing regular people for their mega-company bonus. My guy came back at me with all the lowest priced NXs in the country and told me maintenance records dont increase a used cars value. He couldn't give me ANY details on the cars he came back at me with (miles, condition, if it was a 2.0 or 1.6 etc). He also tried to make a big deal out of the minor imperfections on the car. All part of the game.

In Oregon you have 5 years to settle a property claim (and only 2 or 3 years for medical which is a joke, should be the other way around). Since I got a rental from the lady who hit me's insurance, I made them deal with me for a month until we agreed on $3000 and I would buy it back for $300.

I had to pay a $7 vin inspection which was just a DMV person walking out to the car and looking at the vin on the dash, and then I had to pay $77 for a new title.

Drove the $300 car for 4 years and 35k miles with the rear smashed in.