Insurance and wrecked Mazdaspeed

Yes, esp. when another insurance company's driver is at fault. I'd likely fight for a new car. Is your neck sore?

some insurance companys have a policy that states that," if you total a car less then 1 year old they will pay for a new car"... larry Hill

I don't think it will be totaled. I'll do my best. L.

Pretty rare that an insurance company will pay for more than fair market value or actual cost of repairs. You will probably have to threaten legal action for the depreciation which is not unreasonable to do. If the car is not totalled then I would make sure that the body shop does a complete tear down of the car to find hidden damage. Sometimes the cost of the tear down and the hidden damage is enough to make the car a total loss. You might also be entitled to compensation for "pain and suffering" or your significant other may be compensated for "temporary loss of companionship" hehe.

I guess it all depends on how far you want to go with your claim. One time a fellow rear ended my brand new Explorer. My wife was driving with my 2 babies in it. The other driver had really bad insurance and they didn't want to pay for squat. My only recourse would have been to sue the negligent driver, but he was such a nice guy that I didn't take it any further. He was almost crying over my kids and called every day to see how they were doing. Body shop fixed the Explorer, but it was never the same. It was a leased vehicle anyway so I didn't worry about depreciation. The dealer that leased it to me did the repairs so they couldn't complain when I turned it in.

Good luck with the repairs. If a good shop does the work you will never be able to tell it was ever wrecked. Some of the work can be better than new.

The real problem, even with a good repair is that the car is worth quite a bit less than before the repair. A repaired car is not the same as a never damaged one. Besides, a record is kept by states and insurance companies, and used to help justify a lesser replacement value on a subsequent repair.

You had a car that was 2 months old, and not wrecked. By law, technically, as I understand it, you are entitled to at least that. Any other reasonable expenses are also part of the entitlement. You might have to hire a Lawyer to collect all that the laws allow. At least, talk to a lawyer; the first visit is generally free. You might argue that the loss of value due to the accident is equal to or more than the depreciation on a 2 month old car. Remember that the new car warrenty is also at risk, and an additional loss, since the dealer/mfr can argue that various failures are due to the accident and not warrenty failures.

I am so sorry to hear of your Miata woes! My first Miata, a '93 white, got smushed with a T-bone accident (my fault, couldn't see above stopped traffic). I didn't fight the the Insurance agency. They originally wrote me up at 2.5K repairs but total "fix" was at $8K. (ouch!). Car ran fine after fixes so no worries there (except irritation. I know!). Sounds like you want additional payback beyond the fix? Not sure if that will happen but fight for anything you may deserve. Insurance companies are a boatload of not-so-brights. Best of luck to ya!!! Anyhow, I'm sitting pretty with my third, paid-off ('01 Silver LS with hot wheels in Austin)Miata so am praying no one runs into me anytime soon.

All the best,

Kris

It's my understanding that in some states you can demand to be compensated for the amount that the vehicle value is deminished due to having been wrecked and repaired.

If you do a Google search on the term "diminished value" you'll find a lot of information.

John ('94 white Miata)