Another Z goes down....

[z32loverboy]

Well, I find out in a few days if my Z is going to be totaled out or not.. A local police officer was wanting to buy my car and was trying to talk me into selling it. So him knowing that i wasn't looking to sell it, he was going to have to pay a pretty penny for me to sell it. We talked about it a good bit and he wanted to test drive it to make sure before we talked dollar signs. He got in with me and I drove the first half and I let him drive back. When we got a block away from his house we ended up hydroplaning. We jumped a curb, took out a fire hydrant and hit a small group of trees.
Here's the damage at the scene:


Here's after we got it towed home:

His insurance is going to cover the damage as long as its not totaled, seeing as he was driving. I went to the body shop today and checked it out on the lift. It has a broken lower control arm, bent tie rod, shock is shot, wheel is bent, obvious fender and door damage. Under the hatch the rear bumper support is bent, the spare tire space its all beat to hell and the differential rear cover has fins broken off of it. The entire rear bumper assembly (everything from the hatch down) is misaligned from the support damage. Basically I'm more than likely going to be left high and dry and he's gunna be alright, seeing as this is my daily and I don't have something else to drive....

[Nismovs]

Man I'm sorry to see this happen. Hopefully his insurance will cover repairs if it isn't totaled.

[z32loverboy]

Yeah, I'm really bummed about it.. the body shop said I had about 3k of damage before they even thought about looking at the rear bumper support and the spare tire area.. and with that stuff it's going to be about 4500. Everyone knows that the insurance low balls the value of older cars, like the Z32. So, they're telling me that it's worth MAYBE 4k and if it is worth 4k and the damage is valued at more than 3k of work, it'll be totaled.. On top of all of this college starts back in two weeks and I have to find something reliable before then so I can get to school. Happy New Year to me..

[greendusk]

That Sucks. How did that happened.

[DCaff300ZX]

TOTALLY sucks man, my condolences big time on your Z!!!!
Hate to see any Z go down and especially yours since it was so nice, and a CRP brother to boot...BEST OF LUCK to you with this.

[gsrteg]

NO I LOST ANOTHER CHERRY RED PEARL BROTHER :'(

[z32loverboy]

I know.. but my plan is to get another one that the interior and exterior is shot but is mechanically sound, swap everything from my crp Z to it that's good and with the money left over get it painted crp and then have an even better one. There's one in ATL that I have my eye on already. if worse comes to worst then i can swap the motor from my original to the new one since its still in good running condition. Though this still sucks. I don't think any Z will replace Becky (my original one).

The story of how it happened is in the original post

[Ace2cool]

Oh man, it's 10,000 times worse when it's not even you driving it when it happens....

[300ZXttZMAN]

Damn man sorry to see this.

Why would he not be responsible if the car gets totaled? He was driving the car when it got wrecked so he should be responsible. Is that not how it works in your state? In Louisiana he would responsible to fix or replace (as long as he has an insurance policy that covers multible cars), NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

I suggest you get in touch with a lawyer just so you know what your options are.

Best of luck brother.

[z32loverboy]

Yeah, he's responsible and does have to fix it(if not totaled) or the insurance company will "cut me a check for the ACV of the car". The "ACV" is the supposed "actual cash value" that the insurance company assigns to the vehicle. Basically if the car blue books for say 4k, then they give me a check for around that, maybe less. He won't be required to replace my Z, his insurance will only be required to give me what they tell me my car is worth. That's why I'm in such a hole, because there is no way that I'm going to be able to get a car of even close to equal value of the one that got totaled.

And the fact that my Z is my daily makes it suck 10x worse. It's funny that we're all told how much better police officers can drive, but he couldn't even handle a stock N/A Z at 35 mph with out losing control. I'm a little bit bitter about it, but I think it's understandable.

[addicted4life]

That's too bad buddy, it was a clean Z by the looks of it.

[Z-owned]

Sorry to hear about the Z. His insurance should pay for you to have a rental well they assess the claim though. I would also look for other Z's being sold in your area and find some that are worth more than what kbb shows on your's and print the ad's out so that you can show them when they lowball you that your car is worth more than what they are offering you. Remember you can refuse their initial offer(s) if you think they are below a decent offer, they are in business of trying to get out of it as cheap as possible which put's the burden of proof as far as value goes in your hands to some degree.

[SBC300]

Ack. My advice:

1: Dont sue a cop. It always ends up being bad even if you win.
2: If they total it ask if you can buy it back.
3: Dont let anyone drive any of your cars ever again.

Good Luck!!!!!!

[z32loverboy]

Z-owned- Thanks for the advice! I'll have to look into that and see how much I can talk them into giving me, maybe even how much it's actually worth!

SBC300- Yeah, I will for sure buy it back! I can't let my baby go that easily. I don't plan on having anyone drive one of my cars again, even a "test drive". I'll let them ride with me, but never again someone else drive my car again.

[zcar93na]

I have most of the parts that you need on my parts car, I'm about 3 hours away from Nashville. If you're interested shoot me pm, I'll be pretty cheap

[zswap0429]

I have a parts car that matches what you are looking for. No interior,engine coming out, only missing a few body panels. But has the parts that you need. Im a little outside of atlanta if you are interested.

[Ziggy1621]

That really sucks dude! Keep the thread updated as you fund out what's going on

[DCaff300ZX]

I would also look for other Z's being sold in your area and find some that are worth more than what kbb shows on your's and print the ad's out so that you can show them when they lowball you that your car is worth more than what they are offering you. Remember you can refuse their initial offer(s) if you think they are below a decent offer, they are in business of trying to get out of it as cheap as possible which put's the burden of proof as far as value goes in your hands to some degree.

What Chris says here is critical advise for you regarding the claims process, which I promise will be excruciating to get the best value settlement possible. Been there done that with my NA unfortunately, and in a few other vehicles as well.
Copy EVERY receipt and ad and anything else you get for your value purposes, and as Chris says be ready to turn down several offers and to stand your ground as best you can- it could take weeks to settle, and you may have to demand to negotiate with the head claims person if they stonewall you.
Seems like there's some guys around with cars who can help as well, hope this all works out for you!

[z32loverboy]

I hope it gets done sooner than that, I have to have something to drive starting the 18th so I can get to school.. but my parents are gunna leave our insurance company if they try to stonewall me. I would think customers of 24+ years would have a little pull. But thanks for the info guys! I'll let y'all know what the body shop says is the final ruling on it, I'll also get a full list of all the parts I'm going to need

[canadian booster]

Heartbreaking i bet your heart was in your throat

[z32loverboy]

I'm not going to lie, I cried when I got home. It sucked! But I should know for sure tomorrow if it's totaled or not.. :/

[Ziggy1621]

No shame in it bro. My wife knows mine is my girlfriend, so I'd probably cry too

[z32loverboy]

Yeah, I was pretty depressed. Mine is my girl too! People that know me refer to her by name too, they don't just call her my car lol. I will get her fixed though, it'll just take time.

[z32loverboy]

Alright, it's update time. I talked with the body shop today and looked her over again. I told them that if there's anyway possible, that I want them to fix it to be drivable (I don't have a truck or trailer) and then I can fix the body panels and body damage myself IF State Farm with cut me a check for parts and labor AND not total it. This way I don't have to deal with state farms BS and the body shop can get some income from having it sit in their shop for a week. Maaco is running a half price deal right now so that they'll do a full base paint job starting at $300. As long as you know how long/the quality of work the painter has done its usually pretty dang good work. A guy I go to church with has his mazerati's painted there that he restores. I'm sure I can get a medium quality paint job for not much more than that. Hopefully I can get the body work fixed and have some left over for a full car paint to original color, I LOVE the crp. Ill know for sure how it all will play out in the next few days.. School starts next Tuesday so I'm on a fairly tight schedule.

[Ziggy1621]

As a former bodyman, do not go to Maaco. Its more about quality of paint and prep than the painter. You can take crappy paint and make it look good over an unprepared surface. If you want to go cheap, find a local single guy body shop and ask him to shoot a Nason brand (made by Dupont) , single stage on it. It shines like nothing else, and a gallon of materials will only cost $100. And by finding a one man shop, you usually get a good price, and a guy who 'usually' puts quality down right.

[mechanicalmoron]

Obviously do everything you can to get the work done on the cheap, source your own parts, cut deals, whatever, but also don't neglect haggling with the insurance company.

The actual value varies from area to area, and car to car. Anything special on the car increases the value, especially if you have reciepts, as does general clenliness, etc. As has been said, find ads nearby for similar cars that exceed kbb value, and all that kind of thing.

Between the two of those, you should have a good chance at not having it totaled. Just the fact that you don't take their offer and start talking like you know what's up and like you have a special car with special value-raising factors may make them cover it, instead of put resources/time into lowballing you, which they might not even succeed at.

You can probably hire a lawyer to repersent you to the insurance company, without bringing any sort of action against the cop personally, and it may be cheap enough to be a good deal, if the company ends up covering everything. Find insurance lawyers in the area who will give you a free consultation and a set price... I don't know if they will, but see if one will agree to only change you that price, if he wins for you.

And make sure the interior's spotless, and everything that was not damaged in the accident is factory-new looking, if it needs to be seen by a claims-adjuster. Be there, and be polite but know what's up and present the car in it's best light (figuratively)

You are generally entitled to a rental car until they handle your issue. This can also help put pressure on them, if they're paying daily for a rental, and you're rejecting their lowball offers. They may decide that it's cheaper to quickly cut their losses and pay up.

[z32loverboy]

Well, they wont be totaling it and after the body shop does what they need to, I'll have 2k to do what I need to so that i can fix her up. i can get a new door and bumper for 150 and then the rest should be for paint. If i have enough left over maybe even coilovers, but i highly doubt i'll have enough. Will the whole car need sanding down and priming for it to be painted or can they shoot the CRP over the crp that's on there and the paint last? All I've ever known of is sanding it down to metal and then starting fresh..

Surprisingly they did not get me a rental car and if they try to short change me then I'll use that and pulling our business as bargaining chips. I'm not going to stand for BS from the insurance company, I'm going through enough trouble with doing most of the work myself. It's going to cost them WAY more for the body shop to fix everything then for me to fix it so, they have some wiggle room to give me some more money.

[Jagdman]

Sorry to see yourself and your awesome car going through all these man. Hopefully everything gets settle in your favor and don't let those insurance totes give you the fast one. Though learn your lesson never ever EVER NEVER lend your dd meng =). Hopefully you'll have her turning faces on the road once again pretty soon.

[z32loverboy]

That's the plan! I actually just bought a new member to my Z family yesterday! I'm the proud owner of a CRP 93 n/a 5 speed slicktop! She has a blown engine so my plan is to swap my good engine over to her and rebuild the bad on to put in my 90 n/a and also fix the body damage as I go. After everything's done I plan on using the slicktop for drifting and my spare parts car. Maybe sell later down the road to fund a TT swap for the 90. I'll post pics in a few.

[Fearspect]

I'm up in Canada, so maybe this doesn't apply to you. I know that there are generally 'tuner appraisers' out there (I forget their proper name) that will assign a realistic value to your tuned car based on mods and quality of work. Keep in mind that it will never exceed what you've actually put in, but should raise it far beyond the book value.

This story has reaffirmed my thoughts on going through that process. Sure it costs to get the appraisal, and you'll pay more in premiums (once you find an insurance company that accepts the appraisal), but at least you would be looking $10k+ for a clean car with quality mods.