Help! Smashed my 240SX--State Farm wants to total it

[pinballmap]

I unfortunately clipped the back bumper of a Maxima and smashed the right front end (headlight, fender, hood and bumper only) of my 95 240 SX.

I was slowing for a stop, so the damage is limited to these four parts...everything else, including radiator and engine are fine. But the insurance company (State Farm) says they can't find used body parts to get repair costs down, so they want to total it! I want it repaired, as the damage is just cosmetic and limited.

My questions....does anybody know a good place to get these body parts used? Or where to advertise for the parts? I'm in northern California and would really like to repair vs. total.

Also, is there any good way to fight the "total loss" decision? Apparently it was close, the adjustor said.

Thanks for any help you can offer...AL

[240Titan]

why would you have full coverage on a 240sx? it doesnt even matter what year you have because even the 98 is over 7 years old, and once a car reaches 7 years old,(correct me if im wrong, i think its 7) the ammount u get from totalling it goes down. and if u have liability, then they wont pay for it anyways. my friend crashed his 240 into a pillar going 35 mph and the insurance totalled it... he paid 6 grand outa his pocket to get it fixed... my advice would be to look for a slightly dammaged 240 and try and buy it for cheap, one of my friends bought one for 120, that had a fair body and a blown engine, and my other friend bought one for 200 that had a fair engine and a crappy body. and i bought mine for 500 that had no engine problems and a minor accident on the front right quarter panel/bumper/light, that i just banged out myself. it shouldnt be that hard to find one. just look around... i looked for about a week driving for 2 hours at a time through neighborhoods asking ppl if they were selling their 240's... good luck man i hope u can get it worked out...

[pinballmap]

Thanks man...not a bad idea to look for one with a blown engine, I hadn't thought of that. I live in a small town, and a 240SX was pretty hard to find (had to go to the Bay Area, 100 miles away), but I could spend some time looking around down there again.

[AJ1356]

ok that whole thing about not getting full coverage makes as much sense as driving your car off of a cliff. as far as fixing your car goes, you are not gonna find a s14 with a blown engine for 200 bucks or whatever, this is california not texas. and if you do and it has a nice body don't destroy it by using it for parts. in my opinion, let the insurance company total the car and buy it from them they'd sell it to you for really cheap and give you some money at the same time. then go by stock parts from the dealer for less than a grand , or just by after market fenders and the rest, paint it and you have a noce car with soem money still left in your pocket.

[pinballmap]

Yeah, I'm thinking maybe that's what I'll do if they offer me enough to offset what I can buy it back for. Salvage title doesn't matter that much I guess, as I'm not looking to resale for quite a while.

I'll find out tomorrow what the $$ numbers are.

Thanks for your opinion--I'll let you know how it turns out.

[HashiriyaS14]

Yeah, you might just wanna let 'em total it and then buy it back.

Make sure you FIGHT with them about the total value though. It needs to be whatever it'd cost to go out and buy another one, which will be HIGHER than the KBB value.

Go do some research on what equivalent cars are selling for in your immediate area, make sure they match those prices with their total settlement.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, you might just wanna let 'em total it and then buy it back.

That's what I was going to suggest. That WILL put a blemish on the title, which could affect future sales. Of course, that may not matter to you.

They'll try and screw you with the buy-back price, though. Just make sure you're well informed so you don't have to let them. Make sure you know your stuff and have done the research Hashiriyas14 suggested. Keep the ball in your court.

[TheOne]

yeh do some research on what they'll pay ya and for how much you can buy back.

i got a friend who got some front end damage, the ins totalled it, gave him i believe $3000 or more, then he bought the car back for like $200.