Bob 2KS4

All,

I was recently stopped at a red light behind an SUV with a hitch on the rear. A guy hit me from behind and pushed me into the SUV in front of me (the guy that hit me from behind was also driving an SUV).

So, my question is: I have looked up various 2000 S4's that are for sale and I get numbers ranging from 4K to 7K. Mine is in good shape (or at least it was). I have 112k miles on it and it's a TIP. The rear end needs a new bumper or at least some TLC. The front end is a mess. I need a new bumper, radiator, headlights, etc, etc.

I had a guy out to look at it this morning (not the insurance company, but someone that I trust). His instinct was that the insurance company would just want to total the car. So the question becomes, what should I pay for it to get it back?

Any comments/questions are welcome.

Bob

Flyboy

Somewhere between 1200-2500 probably for the salvage buyback.

roof_rack

They go off of book value, in which case our cars arent worth ****.

I have a santorin blue 6 speed sedan that now has only 72k on it. A rather rare car. The book value iirc is around 5 or 6 thousand dollars. Yet i could sell it for upwards of 10 no problem.

Bob 2KS4

They put the value of the car at $8K (I'm speaking in rough numbers here). The repair costs from the insurance adjuster was $8K. So the car is totaled. They will give me the 8K and take the car or they will give me $6.2K and let me keep the car with a re-constructed title. So the salvage value is $1.8K.

If I do the work myself, I think I can get it back on the road for $3-4K (I haven't dug into the front end yet to see what is really damaged, but it does run)

I know I can grab the $8K and find a comparable car. In fact I can get this:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...des=SEDAN&mmt=[AUDI[S4[]][]]&listingId=280034364&listingIndex=15&Log=0

for $4.2K!

OR this:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...des=SEDAN&mmt=[AUDI[S4[]][]]&listingId=337022500&listingIndex=12&Log=0

For $9K.

I don't know. To me, the car was worth more than this $9K car because I owned it for 8 years and I know that it was well maintained... I suppose I'm grieving the loss

Comments welcome.

Bob

Flyboy

Who is the insurance adjuster, a collision repair shop or an insurance appraiser? I'm wondering how reliable the $8k in repair costs is. Did they do a really detailed inspection, or just tabulate the immediately apparent stuff and once they reached the approximate market value stopped at that point knowing the car would be totaled. If the second is the case you may have even more repairs to do.

These cars are getting to be really cheap, look around for a while and you can find a decent one for around $6000 if you want another S4. I don't know about sinking a bunch of money into repairing your car if it will have a rebuilt title.

I wouldn't take the insurance companies offer without determining if it is fair, they're in the business of paying out as little as they can. Look into an auto appraiser who can generate a market value for you. They'll be more objective and should cost less than $100. I went that route and the $70 I spent on an appraiser enabled me to receive an additional $1500 on the payout. I think 9-10k for your car would be a reasonable payout.

Bob 2KS4

The insurance company sent out their 'adjuster' and came up with the $8K number for repairing the car. I have two other guys working on an estimate for me, but don't have the numbers yet. In the mean time, I have pulled the front clip off and found that it really is not so bad. As far as I can tell, I just need a radiator, condenser, bumper and bumper cover (along with some other random stuff that should be relatively cheap).

I feel like I can get it back on the road for 3 to 4K and I don't know why I need a reconstructed title for this car.

How do I fight the insurance company on this? The car runs fine and if I do the work there is no reason to put an R title on it. It is literally a new front end. No big deal in my opinion.

Bob

Peter Badore

I have repaired three crashed B5 S4s. New OEM crash parts are expensive.
I would take the insurance money and buy a 6 speed S4 but that's just me as a stick shift driver.

Flyboy

I suppose if you have a couple repair estimates that are significantly less you might go after that aspect first. The actual percentage of repair costs to vehicle value where a car is declared a total loss is maybe something they'd tell you. I'd guess 50-75% repair to market value to be in the ball park.

If you want to fight the payout off the first thing is to not accept the $8k payout. Tell them you first want a copy of the valuation report. That will show you the comps they pulled to establish the market value of your car. Go over it closely, there's a good chance there are errors. Do your own research on what similar S4's may be selling for and hedge toward ones that are commanding a higher price. The insurance company has most likely pulled comps that lower the market value. With the prices of these cars being all over the place it isn't hard to find some comps that raise or lower the market value depending on where you want it to land.

If you can show some comps that demonstrate your payout should be higher present them along with what you believe is a reasonable amount for the car to the insurance company and see what they say. They'll probably stick to their first offer. That's where having an appraisal clause in the insurance policy comes into play. You can hire a licensed auto appraiser to research the market value and give you their opinion, which will probably be higher since they aren't making a payout to you like the insurance company is. The appraiser would represent you in arguing for a higher payout, if they determine the market to be higher than the insurance company.

JeffinMd

I know this probably isnt what you want, but if 3/4 of the car is intact as it seems, I think you have a lot more than 1800 worth of parts to sell there.