Collision damage to older car.. possibly totaled.. what now?

[brettS4]

My beloved 2001 Audi S4 had a close encounter of the worst kind with a deer a couple weekends ago. It came running full throttle out of the tree line on a narrow country road mid afternoon directly in front of me, and had a very brief union with my car's front end. It scrambled off into the opposite tree line leaving me with a fully functioning car that didn't look as pretty as it did a couple seconds earlier.

A quick survey showed that the damage was all cosmetic... hood with a major dent, grill cracked, both headlights with broken tabs that hold them in place, bumper missing a section, and fender with a small ding by the headlight.

I was grateful that the car was still completely driveable since I was 100 miles from home. But now I'm wondering how I should handle the repairs. I got two repair quotes ranging from $4k to $5k thanks to the incredibly high prices of Audi parts. Since the car's value is somewhere around $6k (if even that), that would put me in the neighborhood of having it considered a total loss by insurance.

I will absolutely be keeping the car and getting it fixed up properly. But should I have the insurance company total it and take the check, assuming I can buy the car back? Or would I be better off finding a way to keep the cost under the max limit that the insurance company will consider a repair so I don't have to deal with having a salvage title and insuring the car in the future?

Anybody deal with something like this?

 

[TTQ B4U]

I would only get it totaled out and take the check if you could do the work yourself, but even then the dollars aren't that high so would it be worth it? I had a friend total a Gen 1 CTS-V and bought it back for few grand and did the entire repair job himself and now he has an amazing Caddy and cosh in pocket.

 

[Rsurfer]

Sell the meat!

 

[supercharged75]

Total it and buy it back. Verify you ate in a buyback state first though.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[GSKR]

My beloved 2001 Audi S4 had a close encounter of the worst kind with a deer a couple weekends ago. It came running full throttle out of the tree line on a narrow country road mid afternoon directly in front of me, and had a very brief union with my car's front end. It scrambled off into the opposite tree line leaving me with a fully functioning car that didn't look as pretty as it did a couple seconds earlier.

A quick survey showed that the damage was all cosmetic... hood with a major dent, grill cracked, both headlights with broken tabs that hold them in place, bumper missing a section, and fender with a small ding by the headlight.

I was grateful that the car was still completely driveable since I was 100 miles from home. But now I'm wondering how I should handle the repairs. I got two repair quotes ranging from $4k to $5k thanks to the incredibly high prices of Audi parts. Since the car's value is somewhere around $6k (if even that), that would put me in the neighborhood of having it considered a total loss by insurance.

I will absolutely be keeping the car and getting it fixed up properly. But should I have the insurance company total it and take the check, assuming I can buy the car back? Or would I be better off finding a way to keep the cost under the max limit that the insurance company will consider a repair so I don't have to deal with having a salvage title and insuring the car in the future?

Anybody deal with something like this?

75 percent of the car value.If it exceeded that percentage its totaled.

 

[oneheadlite]

Glad you made it out uninjured, though definitely a bummer your S4 got sacrificed.

I had that exact scenario with my avant.

Driving home, Bambi's dad came sprinting from the woods giving me a fraction of a second to pile drive the brakes. Hit him with my RF, he cleared the windshield but dented the driver's A-Pillar and smoked the mirror off. Hoof scuffs on the roof rail.

Long story short, bodyshop quote was $10,xxx if I remember right. I elected to let the insurance company total it and I bought it back. As a technician, I did everything myself. (New headlights, matching color boneyard hood, black mirror assy - you hardly notice though). I think I spent $2k or $2500. I can't remember what the cash value/buy back prices were, but I came out ahead for sure ($6k?)

Only bummer is they won't let you keep full coverage on it unless you get it certified that it's fixed up perfect. I debated getting the rest fixed up, but gave into the fact that it's just an awesome commuter, not a show car.

Be prepared to do your homework and provide realistic comparable cars for sale. Especially based on the condition I'm sure yours was in vs the thrashed ones that'll be on the market. My insurance company was good about the cash value, but I know others have been seriously low-balled.

Good luck - hope you come out ok!

 

[brettS4]

Thanks for all the input. I finally got my insurance adjuster to look at it this morning. Good news is that he is a younger guy and an Audi enthusiast himself. He told me that in our state they will actually cover damages up to 100% of the car's value if the car is over 7 years old. So no worries that the car will be totaled. His estimate of my car's value was actually a little higher than what I figured, which was also nice.

His damage estimate came in around $4950, at 76% of the car's value ($6500). But it being over 70% means he has to send it in to the claims dept for review before I can do anything.