Husband was in Car Accident

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by robk

I am glad that your husband is ok. That is the most important thing.

You are correct for wishing for a totaled car. If the vehicle is not totaled you will have a seriously reduced value, dirty car fax, and possible (depending on your state laws) a branded title. You are always better off when your car is totaled. That is, of coarse, if you, in fact, are in a positive equity situation. Even if you have a little bit of negative equity, count it as a blessing if they total your car. A dealer can tell if a car has been wrecked from a mile away and will use it against you when you go to trade.

We should be in positive equity. I looked it up. Same Model, about the same Milage. It fits our profile.

[ksotto333]

Originally Posted by wolfstraum

Glad he is ok! Is he still in military???

Start reseaching your vehicle's value.....go to KBB.com and Autotrader.com and find as close a match as you can....the insurance company will ALWAYS lowball the value....you have the right to negotiate the value....on my Eclipse, they started off offering me $2600 + tax...... I ended up with $4997.50 + tax....I found comparable models and insisted on dealing with the adjuster's supervisor.

Another issue is fault - if the other driver is at fault, then your adjuster is spending HIS insurance money, not his employer's money.....the first adjuster did not realize that, the supervisor made the comment during a conversation that the other guy took full responsibility for the accident and his property insurance was $5000 - state minimum.....so with the 2 cars I found online for sale, I got their average (4995 and 5000, hence the 4997.50).


Lee

Glad he's fine..but this above is great advice. The first offer will more than likely be a lowball offer...They will come up..be prepared..

[Gharrissc]

Glad he's ok

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted by wolfstraum

Start reseaching your vehicle's value.....go to KBB.com and Autotrader.com and find as close a match as you can....the insurance company will ALWAYS lowball the value....you have the right to negotiate the value....

Yes! Do not just automatically accept what they offer you. I've only had one totaled vehicle, but I was able to negotiate a higher price than they wanted to pay too - in my case they had not included some aftermarket things added by the previous owner of the car, such as a high end stereo and alarm system, and even a couple of things that were original equipment.

[mycobraracr]

I'm glad he's okay!

USAA is really easy to work with. I have always had good luck with them.

[Freestep]

Glad your hubby is okay! It sucks to be without a car, though. Are they giving you a rental?

[Mrs.K]

We are so screwed...

Well, the car is totaled. However, it is paid off so we don't have to worry about that. The insurance paid around 13 000 and had a 2000 dollar gap which is covered by gap. However, we don't get a new loan, because surprise, surprise... some of you know what's going on since I spoke about it before.

So yeah, I am seriously stressing because I have to get biotmetric fingerprints and the greencard package in like yesterday and I can't do that without a vehicle... december 1 is my second anniversary and if I can't get it in by then, they can deport me... I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to do now.

[Jax08]

Can you have a friend take you? Why can't your husband get a loan?

[Mrs.K]

Everybody is away because it's a four day weekend. I haven't reached anyone except for one friend and she'll take me tomorrow to clear the car.

As for why we don't get a loan... let's just say I've been paying off debt for the past year and there are still open accounts. So far we are down to three open accounts. It's not much. It's laughable, not even 2000 Dollars worth of debt. But even if we settle, pay that off, it won't be enough to get a car loan because they said that our , credit needs to recover first. It is unbelievable. We've been in good standing with them. We paid every month more than we are supposed to and they can't/won't give us another loan.

The only other option is timebuyer and take a friend who really knows cars so we won't get screwed over.

[Jax08]

ok...that doesn't make sense. When you buy a car, the dealership will run the loan thru several banks. All those banks said No? Over $2000? You may have to pay higher interest but they rarely are not able to find financing.