<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/28004/sienna.jpg"></center><p>Earlier this week, a cable company subcontractor (in a Dodge Dakota) ran a light and hit my wife's minivan at 50mph. Luckily, he just clipped the back end, putting signficant energy in spinning the minivan. While the back end is destroyed, the accident was not so violent at the front, probably due to the spin. Nobody was in the van besides my wife driving. He admitted fault so the insurance company of the cable intstaller company is paying.

Well I want to get an A6 Avant to replace the Sienna, and she wants a Suburban (the rental car they gave us a 2003 Suburban, less than a month old, shown partly in the picture.) She says that its her car and she should make the choice. (This paragraph is the Audi content part, but not the immediate concern).

The autobody shop put the damages on the order of $10,000, but with three weeks of a rental car at around $40 per day and undiscovered damage, the cost goes up to around $11,000. He says I'm about $2,500 away from having the car totaled. (The retail blue book value is $18,100.)

The reality is that van is seriously f*cked up. The back end is twisted around and I fear will never be the same. A 50 mph hit can do some significant damage. The insurance company is sending their own appraiser, but basically says I'm out of luck. Even if the damage to the car is $11K, they won't let me have the cash but will only fix the car, and certainly will not have a declared a total loss.

The said I could hire an independent appraiser, and have him write up that the accident diminished the value of the van by $X, even if the frame, etc is straightened out.

Has anybody ever tried hard to have a car totaled? Anybody ever work with a diminished value appraiser? What can I do? (I'm in Virginia and under Virginia law.)

 

Interesting quote:
"Most cars are safer than the average sports utility vehicle [SUV], while pickup trucks are much less safe than all other types. Minivans and import luxury cars have the safest records," states the report, "An Analysis of Traffic Deaths by Vehicle Type and Model," which was prepared by Tom Wenzel, an energy analyst with Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division, and Marc Ross, a professor in Michigan's Applied Physics Department...The safest SUV, the Suburban, has at least a 40 percent higher combined risk than the three safest midsize and large cars, the Avalon, Camry, and Accord," the scientists state in their report.
"

The site:
http://enews.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/EETD-SUV-Safety.html

Lots of facts here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/rollover/etc/before.html

Life with a truck:
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/driving/articles/46586/article.html

Kind of greenie, but valid:
http://www.suv.org/safety.html

Kinda touchy feely:
http://www.bib.net/suv2.htm

Has she driven an Allroad ? Maybe the extra height would make her feel better. It certainly is heavy enough to absorb all kinds of crash energy, while having better brakes, handling, and ergonomics.

If she still wants a truck after all these links and going over the facts, then let her have one and hope evereything will be fine until it is time to trade it in.<ul><li><a href="http://poseur.4x4.org/reasons2.html#Safe">an excellent anti-suv site</a></li></ul>

 

I'm not sure who the "expert" is that is able to make this proclamation or declaration...but a similar thing happened to a 4.2 owner here last year...it was nearly totaled but repairs would've been several thousand less than totaling it...but somehow he got an "expert" to state that even when cosmetically and allegedly structurally repaired, it would not be safe or as safe as the original...and the insurance company agreed to total it.

 

Bent frames are bad, especially with unibody. Might have to fight the insurance company. Let your wife choose what she wants. 1. Otherwise she'll hold it against you the rest of your life (been married 28 years) 2. If you have problems with the vehicle, and she made the decision, you're permanently off the hook. 3. I let my wife pick her latest car, she did all of the driving-she picked the 2001 A6 2.8Tip

 

glad to hear you wife is okay. to make sure its totalled, get a sledgehammer and finish the job....

 

We all know the damn thing will never be right again, but the insurance co. will fight to the death to repair it. So short-sighted.

You need to somehow convince the wife that, in spite of common sense, might doesn't always make right in car accidents. The quality of the design and the knowledge of the engineers is what matters. If I have to have an accident, give me a European car of any make over an SUV. My Saab just took a $4K bullet for me when I was rear-ended, and I was totally unhurt. In fact, I was helping direct traffic and consoling the woman who hit me and totalled her car.

 

I know the 2003 Allroads are supposed to have a 4.2, but $$$ is always an issue.

 

Glad your wife is Ok. I love to see f*&amp;?ing minivans destroyed!!!

 

Its situation like this that makes me want to lease car from now on. Instead of outright ownership.

A helpful hint. Go ask your toyota dealership that sold you the van, and ask them how much they will give you for a trade in. And present this number to the insurance agency and hope for the best.

But, most important of all, your wife is ok.

 

Throw yourselves a little carbeque, that will finish it off. ;-) Glad to hear no injuries!