How bad does it have to be to be totaled?

[Biturbo27]

I recently got rear ended at about 40 mph by some stupid woman in a celica, i drive an audi a6 2.7t, when i looked in my rear view her front end was folded in like an accordian, my car at first glance dosnt appear bad. However when i opend my trunk i knoticed the compartment were the spare tire sits is pushed upwards and it seems like the trunk has been pushed in, the trunk cover itself wasnt touched, only the rear bumper, the right muffler hangs lower than the left, its hard to tell if the frame is sandwitched inward. another thing that i knoticed was that under the rear talelights the side panels dont sit flust, the petrude out alitte. I kind of wish it was totalled but i dont know how much the frame would have to be affected anyone have any thoughts...

[sjpgoalie]

dude did this happen today? sorry to hear. did u get hurt? best of luck, i think if the repares are close to the current value of the car, i think the insurance will say its totalled. Hope it works out so i can still race u sometime lol.

[marlinspike]

It has to be 75% of the fair market value of the car...of course if you've put a lot of parts into it recently and have receipts they owe you for that too. I just dealt with this.

[marlinspike]

If you're looking for them to total it, go to some kick ass body shop and get your quote from there (they can't force you to use their body shop). It'll likely be more than 75% of the market value, and then they'll total it.

[Biturbo27]

it happend yesterday i was fine, i was pumped when i got out of the car cuz i knew it was her fault but she was a basket case. i have no mods to the car and its not in excellent condition by any means it has about 115,000 on it and probably kelley blue books at 9 max. The bad thing is it dosnt visably look fucked, so im hoping its just small hard to fix shit

[Biturbo27]

if not totalled, i kno the muffler is hanging low and the tip is bent inward, so hopefully it has to be replaced, do you know what the legistics are to how u use the money insurance gives u. Id like to be able to get aftermarket mufflers at least if they end up needing to be replaced... or do u need to put the stock back in because it was already stock

[marlinspike]

Wait, so do you want them to total it or not?

[marlinspike]

Oh, and the insurance company won't give a crap, just tell the body shop what muffler you want to use so they know when writing up the quote. If it costs more than stock, then the insurance will care, but even still you can always tell the body shop that you'll put $xxx on top of what the insurance pays so you want them to use the aftermarket instead.

[marlinspike]

BTW, if it will only get $9k on the market, and you got rear ended at 40, the insurance company will at the very least try to total it.

[Biturbo27]

i want it to be totalled, you have to realize im a 17 yr old kid and my parents wouldnt go for telling an autobody to total it

[Biturbo27]

it blue books at about 10,000
but i highly doubt its worth that because of all the interior stains and exterior dings, the front of the car is fucked from driving 95 because of the rocks

[Biturbo27]

i plan on getting a new car in june away, i would rather this just speed the process up

[marlinspike]

NO, I'm not saying tell the body shop to total it, I'm just saying take it to a good body shop, not the el cheapo one recommended by the insurance. Take it to the best damn body shop you can find. They'll give you a quote, probably like $10k from what it sounds. If blue book is 10k, insurance will tell you its worth $7500, so yeah, they'll total it.

[Biturbo27]

so i should take it to like a dealer body shop
the thing is the damage ist visable horrible which is wat im afraid of, i got under the car and the compartment were the spare sits is bent inward and for some rreason the muffler and pipe of the left exhast hangs, both front tips are bent inward

[Biturbo27]

so you dont have to take it to the recomended bodyshop?