A drunk crossed Center Line and hit my 2005 Carbon Fiber Edition. His Insurance Co. has admitted he was in the wrong. Kind of hard to deny when there are 2 different Videos that show what happened. His Insurance Co is talking about totaling my Car. I would of course like it to be fixed. Car starts and seem to run okay. I had it towed because the Fender was rubbing against the tire. Car had no issues before the wreck. I know it's hard to tell from just Pictures but does anyone have a general idea on what the repairs would be. Hood, Bumper, Fender and Headlight. It was a pretty low speed collision so I wouldn't think there is any frame damage. If I can't get them to repair any idea what a reasonable price to would be accept would be? Car has about 110,000 miles.

 

Used parts won't be too bad at least they aren't in the UK. Front bumper is around £200 or so, bonnet around £500 and the front wing around £100 depending on the colour and condition. Then it's just labour and stuff. The front headlight might not be cheap and you have all the parts inside that look smashed up. I think you could probably do it all for around £2k? But someone with more experience will have a better idea with this car.

 

Sorry to hear that. It does not take much damage these days to total an XK8 / XKR. Hope you are able to squeeze enough money out of the insurance company to repair the car if you so choose. Keep us posted....

 

sorry to hear, glad you are ok and hopeful the insurance will repair vice total.

 

After going getting hit a number of times by inattentive drivers, here are some lessons I've learned (as someone who is not a lawyer):

0. You are an amateur going up against pros in this game. If your Insurance Company (IC) isn't liable for the costs, then they are going to be your best friend. Otherwise, you have to treat your IC as an adversary.

1. If possible, keep your car in your possession.
Make their insurance adjuster come to you at your convenience to inspect the damage.

2. Demand that their IC gets you a comparable rental car with full insurance coverage.
The mounting price of this will pressure their IC to not drag their feet on the settlement process. But also see #7 below

3. My buy-back price of a totaled car was ~10% of the payoff amount, but you will now have to title your vehicle as a salvage vehicle. My impression is that most ICs won't compensate you for full value if the vehicle gets totaled again. But some do.

4. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
The IC for the kid who totaled my old audi convertible offered me a very low ball amount. I refused it and I had my IC (who wasn't having to pay for the wreck) to send out their adjuster, who correctly assessed it at 2x the first estimate. I took my IC's settlement and let the two ICs fight it out.

5. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
They will look for comparable vehicles in the region and pick the worse ones. Demand to see their list of comparables. I researched and contacted some of their comparables and discovered they were using parts cars and non-runners off craigslist to generate their numbers. Come up with your own list of comparable values.

6. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
The adjuster will generate a comparable number, then come out, inspect your vehicle. If the adjuster is from the IC that is paying, the adjuster will lower the assessed value substantially based on any flaws they can find on your vehicle, such as rock-chips, worn seat/carpet, oil on the ground, dents etc. Don't allow this as it double penalizes you because your vehicle's current As-Is condition is already reflected in the average price of the comparables, which are also "As-Is" and not perfect. Next time I get hit, I'm immediately getting my vehicle professionally detailed by a mobile service before any adjuster sees it.

7. Don't expect a fair value assessment from their IC.
Once their IC offers you their low-ball settlement offer, that starts the clock for you to lose the rental car in a day or so, even if the offer is ridiculously unrealistically low. No matter how nice they seem, the other persons IC and their inspectors have your worst interests at heart.

8. You will take an unfair loss on this.
You won't be compensated for your lost time or the fact that you are now being forced to unwillingly sell your vehicle that you had no intention of selling (if it is totaled out). Both of these have a real value that you won't be able to recover from the other driver's IC.

9. If your vehicle is not totaled and is rebuilt, research getting compensated for "diminished value" due to the accident and rebuild now showing up on its carfax history.

The bottom line here is that there is little reason for you to be nice or polite or reasonable about any of this situation. That drunk driver made an intentional choice that put your life at risk and now they are costing you your precious time and focus dealing with the aftermath, with no compensation to you other than repairing/totalling your car.

 

This is fantastic advice that I sure hope to never have to heed!
If you don't mind, what's the coverage in your insurance policy? I didn't opt for Haggerty's Cherished Salvage, but maybe I should?
Thanks!

 

I have three X100s insured with Hagerty. I got declared value and the Cherished Salvage Coverage 'just-in-case'.

A customer of mine got a 1998 XK8 in nice condition insured with Hagerty for a declared value of $15000.00 and Cherished Salvage for 300 or 400 hundred dollars a year.
No arguing when you have declared value.