Well, just got the appraisal for the damage done last Tuesday out here in Golden, CO. Looks like they're gonna total my baby :(....... A '97 Impreza wagon w/less than 60k on her. No where *near* the end of her life! I am going to keep her, it still has 10yrs/100k life left. MINIMUM!
Here's my Q's: If I keep it, I'll end up on a salvage title, no? If I'm on a salvage title and I hit someone, my Ins. pays for the damage to the other car, but not mine, right? What if someone hits *me*? What if I just drop the claim altogether, or just get the hood fixed?
Very interesting questions - and the answers will vary from state to state. Let us know what you find. I expect that if you buy the proper coverage to insure against damage to your car, you can still get paid if your car is damaged even if it has a salvage title. If all else fails, you can ask to have it insured for a "declared value". If you say your Yugo (for example) is worth $100K, and you have some basis for making that claim (custom gold plated body panels, for example), and your insurance company is willing to accept all of this and issue a policy, then you officially have a Yugo that is worth $100K if it needs to be replaced. Since your Impreza is still serviceable, it still has a value greater than 0 even if it costs more than the car is worth to repair the hail damage.
BTW, don't you have the title document for the car? If you don't give up the car (or the title), how can it become a salvage title? Where I live, titles can only be issued when ownership is transferred. An existing title can't become a salvage title; a new title document has to be issued and this is done when the ownership of the car is transferred to the insurance company - or whoever they sell the car to. The insurance company will likely make a note of the existing damage and let you otherwise continue with ownership and coverage as it is, even after they pay out your claim. They just won't pay to repair existing damage - and may deduct for pre-existing damage if the car is damaged again/additionally.
You are probably best off discussing this with your insurance agent. You might not be aware of this, but if you keep the car after it has been totaled, the insurance company will subtract its salvage value from the amount they pay you (i.e.: value of your car - deductible - salvage value = money you get if you keep the car). Your agent should be able to provide you with information on the salvage value for your car.
Followup: Well, my InsCo did total it. CCC Valuescope, a third party appraisal company, determined the "fair (HA!) market value" and came up short IMHO. Ol' #7 has one with many more miles on his lot for $2500 more than my InsCo wants to give me. I want the car as it'll run for another 10yrs/100k easy, it's paid for, has under 60k, and *was* in great shape. So now my InsCo wants THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT off the top as a salvage deductible! End result: $3300 for a car that would've sold for twice that before the sky fell.
Now, CCC has a great standing with InsCo's, but not with the public. Class-action lawsuits, etc.
In my eyes, I'm gettin' SKREWED! Can anyone offer me any realistic ideas to get them to loosen the old purse strings?? We're only talking about near a grand, but that'll buy a lot of beers to drown my sorrows.
I think the standard response at that point is to tell the insurance company to go ahead and REPLACE your vehicle with one of equal value that THEY obtain, at the quoted figure of $3300. ;-) Kind of a "I call your bluff" situation.
I don't know if this will work in CO, but in IL where I live, you can show that it would not be possible to replace your car for the price they quoted. I.e. the generally available car(s) of the same make and model with comparable options and mileage cost more than the value they set for your car, you can use that to show that your car is worth more than the quote value. If you added accessories that were not originally part of the car, you can use the receipts to show that your car is worth more than the typical model - although they might tell you to take them off your car and put them on a replacement. In IL, we also have the option of saying to our insurance company "Since you set the value of my car to be $X, go find me a replacement for that price." Then you get to point out why the car they found is substandard compared to yours.
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