Thanks for your help with this. Nice to speak with someone who is knowledgeable about the situation.
My daughter was by herself in the car when she had the accident. She had just dropped me off at a shopping center to get a birthday present for her brother and she was driving to get ice cream. We were at a new shopping center with a very confusing layout. She stopped at a stop sign and thought the lady further down the road had also stopped. My daughter pulled out to make a left turn and the lady ran straight into hitting the left wheel and driver's door. The impact forced my car to turn 180 degrees in the opposite direction. I was told that night that the tow guy said I had a cracked suspension and car was totaled. That has not been the consensus though by the adjuster and the repair shop.
This a Nationwide Blue Ribbon repair shop; it was my choice to go this one. They apparently give a much discounted rate to Nationwide on their labor. They said they got the paint from the Mfg...whether they did or not...it did not blend as well as it should have. I met with the adjuster out there yesterday and he did agree that the blending was not good enough. We agreed to blend that entire side of the car, up to where the black molding strips at the roof line. They are working on that now.
The near total comes from the fact that the insurance adjuster said the car was worth $10,008 and at 75%, $7500 in repair would total it. This was Nationwide's formula for the ACV, I guess. Something I don't have access to. They said that the NDA was close but not the same. I have taken better care of this car than any car I have ever had and that has come back to hurt me. My fairly new tires and very low mileage added value to the car.
They had an original repair estimate of $6123.72
Parts $3315.97
Body Labor 27.0 hrs @ $ 42.00/hr $1134.00
Paint Labor 16.6 hrs @ $ 42.00/hr $697.20
Mechanical Labor 4.0 hrs @ $ 65.00/hr $260.00
Frame Labor 2.0 hrs @ $ 40.00/hr $80.00
Paint Supplies $325.00
Sublet/Misc. $87.72
SUBTOTAL $ 5899.89
Sales Tax $ 3315.97 @ 6.7500% 223.83
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GRAND TOTAL $ 6123.72
There was also some hail damage from a previous claim that had never been fixed. That hail repair amount came to a little over $1200. When I went to pick up the car the other day, the actual cost of repairs came closer to $5,800 (not including hail). That amount was before I pointed out to them several things that hadn't been fixed and that the new tire flare was cracked...they have already fixed those things. Do you think they did those repairs for no added cost? I did go ahead and drive the car, yesterday, while the adjuster was there. It seemed to do well but the steering wheel turned much more freely than before. They brought the mechanic out to talk to me and he explained that the right side of the car (non-damaged side) was out of alignment and that the shims(?) had never been adjusted. I have had the car aligned on numerous times (always pulling to the right) but he thinks the other mechanics have just been adjusting the tow, nothing else, and a tighter steering goes with that and a looser steering goes with a better alignment. He said it was now aligned back to how it was when it left the factory. All repairs do have a guarantee for as long as I own the car.
After the test drive, I also found a dent in the driver's door by the window stripping and that the stripping wasn't sitting right - funny thing, they only showed up after I was inside the car and rolled the window down - pressure of window staying up had kept it straight...purely accidental find! I had already pointed out where the outside stripping by the window that had been bent. All of those things are being fixed now. Again, just wonder, will they be fixing those items at no extra charge since they had already said the car was fixed?
Since the adjuster didn't accept the paint job, do you think the all over blending will be at no extra fee or will it be at an additional cost? My agent has assured me that if there are things done to the car, even after it is fixed, that brings the total spent to over $7,500, the car could still be totaled. Is that what Constructively Total Loss is? The rental car time ran out, which they reminded me would happen, but luckily for me, my son will let me use his car whenever I need one so that won't be forcing me to take a car before it is completely ready. Funny thing, they were trying to get me to go ahead and take the car the other night when I pointed out that the paint wasn't right. They said to take it and give it thirty days to change color and if it wasn't good then, they would fix it. It was Monday after daylight savings time and so got dark quickly that afternoon couldn't compare paint well for them and since I had found the damaged flare and a few other problems, I left the car. Before going back, I called my agent and said I wasn't happy and didn't want to wait 30 days to see if the paint ever changed. He is the one that told me not to take it if I wasn't happy. When I went back to the shop the next day, they had replaced the new flare but it was raining. Even in the rain, I could still see that the car was not blending. We agreed to let the adjuster meet with all of us and so that is what we did yesterday. I was afraid he was going to accept the job and at first he was but when I pointed out the color differences seen from a variety of angles, he agreed it was unacceptable. Right now they are saying it will be ready by tomorrow afternoon...we'll see.
I guess what I should also do is have some sort of structural inspection. Can I accept the car on contingency that it passes my mechanics inspection? Or do I have them take the car to my mechanic before I accept it? I can find the visuals but I know nothing about what is under the hood!!! I did have the car in for maintenance and repairs a couple of mos before the accident and so the Misubishi mechanic was the last one to work on it and he has the most recent knowledge of my Montero. More ideas from you will be greatly appreciated. Do you have access to the ACV for a 2003 MITS MONTERO SPORT 4X2 XLS 6-3.5L-FI 4D UTV Burgundy Int:Grey with 48,747 miles? No sunroof, no power seats, cloth seats, CD, navigation, running boards, and automatic windows and locks. I have a pdf file of the entire estimate that would gladly email to you if it would help.
I know I'm asking for a great deal of free help and I appreciate what you have already said and any other suggestions you can give. I'm a single mom of fairly strong character I'm also a very nice person and can be an easy pushover. When it comes to the auto world, have continuously run into the "she's just a b@#$%y female" syndrome. I try to be as knowledgeable as possible so I don't get run over and that is why I came to this forum. As I said, I do have a mechanic that I do trust and maybe I should have him review the car before I have the final signoff. Is that a usual option??
Thanks so much for your words of wisdom,
MaggietheGeek
