How in the heck is this car totaled??? I am getting scammed

[First_Civic]

I understand that you're upset but, you essentially caused the accident. Just be glad they wrote off your car, there's no scenario where anybody would want to drive a car that was that severely damaged. OK, let's say you got your car fixed and everything went smoothly. What's there to say you won't encounter major repair issues down the road with your repaired Civic? I would be grateful if the body shop wrote off my car. I was in an accident with a drunk driver. Had trouble getting a rental, and the body shop took their sweet ass time doing subpar work. Shit happens man. As long as your insurance provided you with a rental, I really don't see a problem. Just buy a new car, since it's over. If you can't afford a new car, don't buy a 34k car in the first place. BTW 34k for a Civic Touring is just ridiculous, no matter what packages or services they added on.

I would advise everyone to buy a dash cam. It is well worth the investment.

Sponsored

 

[kvnhmmd]

Do you have bad credit? Are you not able to get another loan for a new civic?

It sounds like you have a second chance to drive away in a new civic while owing less out the door.

Some insurance companies offer GAP insurance, so you don't need to finance GAP from the dealership. This ends up being cheaper usually.

Also, there's plenty of information on this forum on haggling the price of a touring.

When in the finance office, don't buy anything extra. Nothing. Get GAP from your car insurance company. Buy the extended warranty separately from somewhere such as http://www.saccuccihondacare.com or http://hyannishondacare.com
If you can't afford to buy an extended warranty out of pocket, you can still haggle the cost of the extended warranty. They can even lower your interest rate in the process.

Also, you should be offered a smaller interest rate, as long as you never paid late on your last car loan, and have not added anything negative to your credit.

It sounds like you will be forced to buy a new civic, so start doing your research now. Don't let the dealer bend you over backwards. They will see you as a repeat customer.

 

[Bamaaviator]

I understand that you're upset but, you essentially caused the accident. Just be glad they wrote off your car, there's no scenario where anybody would want to drive a car that was that severely damaged. OK, let's say you got your car fixed and everything went smoothly. What's there to say you won't encounter major repair issues down the road with your repaired Civic? I would be grateful if the body shop wrote off my car. I was in an accident with a drunk driver. Had trouble getting a rental, and the body shop took their sweet ass time doing subpar work. Shit happens man. As long as your insurance provided you with a rental, I really don't see a problem. Just buy a new car, since it's over. If you can't afford a new car, don't buy a 34k car in the first place. BTW 34k for a Civic Touring is just ridiculous, no matter what packages or services they added on.

I would advise everyone to buy a dash cam. It is well worth the investment.

The $34k they had quoted was the total I would have paid over the 5 year loan with the interest rate I learned. Total amount ended up being 29.7k with all the service packages and GAP, with those removed its only 25.5k, so not too bad.

 

[josby]

Total amount ended up being 29.7k with all the service packages and GAP, with those removed its only 25.5k, so not too bad.

Considering you had a $5k downpayment (your trade-in), $25.5k is pretty bad. Even considering your state's fairly high sales tax on cars, a halfway decent deal would've had it at $21.5k. ($25k for the Touring, minus $5k trade, plus $1500 tax)

 

[Dead Pool1]

Do you have bad credit? Are you not able to get another loan for a new civic?

It sounds like you have a second chance to drive away in a new civic while owing less out the door.

Some insurance companies offer GAP insurance, so you don't need to finance GAP from the dealership. This ends up being cheaper usually.

Also, there's plenty of information on this forum on haggling the price of a touring.

When in the finance office, don't buy anything extra. Nothing. Get GAP from your car insurance company. Buy the extended warranty separately from somewhere such as http://www.saccuccihondacare.com or http://hyannishondacare.com
If you can't afford to buy an extended warranty out of pocket, you can still haggle the cost of the extended warranty. They can even lower your interest rate in the process.

Also, you should be offered a smaller interest rate, as long as you never paid late on your last car loan, and have not added anything negative to your credit.

It sounds like you will be forced to buy a new civic, so start doing your research now. Don't let the dealer bend you over backwards. They will see you as a repeat customer.

A year ago I was in a accident. A truck ran a red light and hit my passenger side b pillar. Totaled my car out. I had gap thru the insurance covering nearly 7 grand of the loan. The thing I learned was that the Gap is not payed by the party at fault. It was a new claim issued by the owner of the vehicle. Me. This meant my insurance policy raised 400 over a year. Fast forward six months and I get rear ended at a stop light. Even though I'm not at fault I get another hit against me for having a higher likelihood of accidents. My premium goes up another 200 a year. That is now 3000 more over the 5 years to have it removed from my record. Keep in mind that I have 0 tickets or actual claims considered my fault dating back 17 years. I now pay the 800 dollar dealer gap. If you ever need it. You are better off than having the insurance take the hit and raised premiums.

 

[dblshock]

I'm really sick of insurance companies, it's government sponsored theft.

 

[Newflyer3]

I'm really sick of insurance companies, it's government sponsored theft.

Aren't most insurance companies private....

 

[dblshock]

sure, but all are regulated.

 

[chicubfn]

I am also from insurance field, a car value isn't like negotiating an injury.

The vehicle has a said value. The extras you added don't add value to the car, they are driver preferential items.

 

[First_Civic]

Off topic, but I just wanted to know how the Collision Mitigation Braking System handled in the accident. Did it assist you in stopping the vehicle at all?

 

[kirkhilles]

Wow, a lot of negativity here. I never would've guessed that much to fix, but basically if you're talking about the Turbo, AC, ECM, harnesses, cooling tech, etc, then you DO NOT WANT THIS CAR ANYMORE. Whoever winds up buying this car later (probably some sucker that doesn't realize the extent of the damage) will have an unreliable mess with potentially serious occasional, tough-to-identify problems. This car would be pure hell to own long term.

In terms of GAP, geez come on. First off, USAA only recently (in the past year or so) added ANY option for GAP or similar, so if your dealer throws out a huge number (like $1,000+), you'd be a fool to take it (at least statistically). It's ALWAYS a great deal if your insurance offers it, but at the dealership is a completely different matter. It really depends on the depreciation of the vehicle as well as the loan terms (since it deals with ONLY the amount you owe). With the ultra-low depreciation of the Civic (although the Touring is a little higher), it's probably smarter to get it although it depends on your loan. a 5 year loan means that it has value for much longer while a 2 year loan will have you into the positive quite quickly which makes it less of a "good deal".

It sucks, but again, be happy to never see that car again if everything that needs to be replaced listed is accurate.

 

[josby]

It really depends on the depreciation of the vehicle as well as the loan terms (since it deals with ONLY the amount you owe). With the ultra-low depreciation of the Civic (although the Touring is a little higher), it's probably smarter to get it although it depends on your loan. a 5 year loan means that it has value for much longer while a 2 year loan will have you into the positive quite quickly which makes it less of a "good deal".

It also depends on how much of a discount you got on the car.

E.g. I put $1000 down and the lease payoff amount on my first month's statement was $24,400, yet the NADA value was like $25,750. So no GAP needed. 9 months later, the payoff amount is at $22,552 and the NADA is $24,275 so still no GAP needed.

 

[Christo69]

@Bamaaviator Here's a good one for ya. My then just 18 yr old daughter, full time college and part time worker, was rear-ended by a ignoramus who wan on her phone not paying attention. The lady who hit my daughter also also had her 2 year old daughter in the car...this happened less than 1/2 mile from our home so I was able to rush to the scene to see what happened oh, and after she admitted to being on her phone, I went "old school", verbally ofc, on the lady who hit my baby girl. Thankfully, my daughter only had minor injuries to her neck and back from the whiplash.

My daughter had a 2015 Hyundai Elantra, her choice,not mine so don't beat me up too bad...We told her to by a Civic but, like mos 19 year-old's, she apparently is smarter than me...lol Anyways, the lady who hit was doing 30-40 mph while my daughter was waiting to turn left.

Her Elantra had less than 2000 miles and a lease, which I think saved us allot of heartache. I'm not going tot get into all the numbers but the bottom line is they totaled the car. Personally, I would rather drive around a brand new car vs. one that in a accident. There could be other potential residual issues as a result of that accident and you'd still have to make payments on a potentially "jacked up" car. If it were a lease, you'd also lose a ton of residual value as a result of the accident.

When it was all said and done, again, they totaled the car, paid for a rental, and she was able to get into a 2016 Civic EX, again, a lease. FYI, in case you didn't know, GAP is standard on most, if not all, leases.

The moral of the story is this...it's only a car. Suck it up and go get another one and, if you can't afford a new one, get a good lawyer and go after the idiot who didn't have insurance in civil litigation but, chances are, if they didn't have insurance then they probably don't have shit that you can get in a civil suit. So, while I do sympathize, you're probably screwed and it totally sucks.

FWIW, my daughter loves her Cosmic Blue Civic. Personally, I'll be getting an SI or CTR when they come out...decisions, decisions...

Good luck brother!!

 

[nicoled985]

Sorry man, good luck. Car accidents are not fun.

You buy a new car. That's it that's all. You're not left owing anything. You're left whole to start a new. Just be happy you're alive

 

[JudgeCrater]

Did you not get GAP insurance?

Also, while the possibility of them milking you(r insurance) is definitely there, body damage and mechanical damage are very different things.

You can see the radiator is fucked, and in very close proximity to that is the ECU, which is likely also fucked. Your light lens may be fine, but there are other parts to it that bolt to the frame, which are likely fucked.

I don't get it - I understand you stand to lose on depreciation if you don't have GAP insurance, but would you rather drive around a car that's been fucked, and already lost tons of resale value? Or take the exact same hit and get a new vehicle?

Also, if you didn't get GAP, why the fuck didn't you get GAP on a brand new car?

I am with you. Take the loss and get a new car. I don't want a repaired wreck. Estimate looks about right.

Sponsored