What would you do with insurance-totaled project?

[bcar240]

My project 86T was hit by a guy running a red and was totaled by insurance. The car was in pretty good shape, much better than most I see around. It still runs and drives, most everything works. Driver's rear quarterpanel is toast along with rear bumper. Might have frame damage due to door no longer shutting correctly and steering pulls now. It was fairly low miles (~140k) had the potential to be pretty much fully restored, which was my goal. But now, I just don’t have the money/motivation to deal with repairing the crash damage with all the other repairs/mods I was planning. Due to the laws in my state, if it gets totaled I would have to have it rebuilt to some degree by a licensed rebuilder or apply for a temporary license to get it onto a salvage title, so even though I can still drive it in its current shape I wouldn’t be able to easily re-title/register it, I have been told this process is more trouble than it’s worth. I don't have the skills or tools to do the quarterpanel (I have heard this is a b****), so I'd have to have a bodyshop in on that and that would probably wipe out the whole insurance check. I just hate to see the car go as I have grown quite attached, but I can't seem to justify sinking a ton of money into it. Trying to make up my mind and welcome any thoughts and opinions.

[G-E]

How much did they give you? In some parts of the states you can easily find rust free shells for <$1500, if your driveline is still in good shape, you should be on the lookout for non-running cars primarily, save money, then swap everything over...

The "pulling" might be destroyed bushings or a bent trailing arm too, if you are serious about saving the car you have now, get a proper frame inspection, or download the service manual and do the measurements yourself, you're not the first person to have to recertify a car...

I don't know about your local regs, but you don't have to fix the body to look perfect to be legal, safety is the issue, if your frame is straight, and you don't have holes everywhere, you could deal with any dents later no?

[bcar240]

Sorry for slow reply, busy weekend. Well, I am still negotiating value, but from what I hear of the likely ballpark cost of the repair, not enough. I have learned a little more about the title situation, basically a salvage title here means "parts car." The specialty, licensed rebuilders are mostly for priceless antiques where money is no object. The dealer and body shop I talked with said even they cannot touch totaled cars and their quote about a specialty rebuilder was, "take what you think it will realistically cost up front, and double or triple it."

I am unclear on what the state even requires to be rebuilt, if it is only cosmetic damage in the first place, I am not sure why I would have to pay thousands to fix that as it's not safety related. But there seems to be some mandatory requirement to have a salvaged car "rebuilt" before it can be titled again. I don't believe you can just have it inspected without proof of repairs. The other option I have seen was taking it to another state to be rebuilt and retitled, but that sounds like a possible mess in the making.

I have a few feelers out on people who might want to buy it and leaving the option open with the insurance. I also am on the lookout for a rolling shell, but honestly I probably don't have the time to undertake that sort of a project right now unless everything just falls in my lap. I think they offered $400 or so I can keep the car, but I don't have anywhere to store it long term, so unless I can unload it or do the swap right away I won't be able to do that. it all might come down to what's immediately on the table when I am forced to decide with the insurance company.

[evildky]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, I hate insurance companies, they suck!
The truth of the matter is that the car is likely not worth repairing. The worlds nicest AE or SS low miles cream puss is only worth about 10k. Form the sounds of it the unibody would have to be pulled and then the quarter replaced then the fit and finish work so you're talking around $5k maybe a little less, maybe a lot more. The only reason I'd buy the car back from the insurance company is if you have a lot of high end parts that are salvageable which I doubt form the sounds of things is not the case. Then the question becomes value. What's it worth? This is where the fun begins, they will make you an offer to take the car outright, you have the choice to accept or argue. If they offer you a fair value great, if not, start shopping for comparable cars in your area and present those adds to the insurance company, they might decide to be reasonable and up their offer to match supporting documentation. If they do not offer a fair value at which you can reasonably replace your car, get an attorney. I hate lawyers but less than I hate insurance companies, the legal fees will be added to the settlement and it might take a long time but you will get a reasonable sum for your car int he end.

[bcar240]

Sounds like you've been there yourself, definitely a trial in patience! It took the other driver's insurance company 3 months to even conclude their person was at fault. I was actually about a week away from filing on the other driver in small claims after having given up on them. I asked around and talked with a couple lawyers and they said they couldn't take the case because the profit margin was too small to be worth it, but I'm talking with one on a favor-based consulting level. He's pretty much saying the same thing as you, but cautions me that for the amount I am apt to get in the end, the trouble of going the legal route is almost surely not worth it.

I've been struggling to find comparable cars. I can find Z31s for sale, but few lower-mileage turbo models in top 20% condition. To actually replace the car, I would probably end up having to travel half way across the country to find one for sale. I realize the car itself is probably not technically worth that much, but to buy a specific model that's not very common on the market, I'd have to be committed to jump on one and pay a premium. So starts the never-ending blue-book vs market replacement value argument with the insurance. I'll have to present what I have found and see where they go from there. At least I've decided that unless something changes between now and then, I will just let them take the car. It's tragic, but even ignoring the money, it just isn't worth the effort that would be involved in a massive rebuilding process to end up with a car I probably couldn't even properly insure or sell due to having been once totaled.

[evildky]

There are tons of salvage title cars on the road, it's really not that big of a deal. A salvage title car is worth less but depending on the model and history it can reduce the value a little or a lot. Many 350 and 370z's with salvage title go for a 25% less than a clean title car assuming they are put right again. Most econoboxes will fetch about half as much with a salvage title. There are lots of S2000's and Lotus Elise's and other low production cars that once put right the salvage title has little effect on value. Again the quality of the work really does matter. The difficulty in titling a rebuilt car will vary from state to state, here in KY it's actually pretty simple, a little extra paperwork and a very basic inspection is all it takes. What part of the country are you in?

If it were me I'd take some ads for similar replacement cars to the insurance company and show them how much it will cost to replace. If they still won't pay I'd tell them I want my car fixed which will likely cost them as much or more. remind them you are the victim and it is their job to "make you whole", be sure to use that wording. You can an individual sue them without an attorney for the value of the car. You might have better luck getting judge to agree with your replacement cost.

[bcar240]

This is going down in Alabama. I was told that the laws here have been changed in "recent memory" (probably in the last 20 years or so) from nearly anything goes to the very strict laws on the books now about having to be licensed to conduct rebuilding and keeping detailed records of where the parts came from (VIN numbers of donor cars with notarized bills of sale for the parts, etc). A lot of emphasis on making sure the parts are not stolen, must have been a big issue in the past. I actually used to live in KY and rebuilt a car there and it was just like you said, just show up at the courthouse for an inspection, maybe bring some receipts for a few parts and you have a new title.

I did find at least one really good comparison on AutoTrader (mileage, condition, and trim), a few more of those and I should have good price range to present.

[AZ-ZBum]

When I took my unfinished project back to have it looked at, they didn't ask me for any of that stuff. Unless they know what was damaged before, how would they know what you replaced? Chances are, that's the insurance company's discretion.

All the DMV is going to do is make sure the car passes their list of requirements. You can' probably look those up on their website as to what's required. Generally it's things like lights, glass, wipers, etc.

[bcar240]

I poked around and found the actual rebuild application form on the DMV website, there is a special form for owner retention of a total and I am not sure I am reading it right, but there are some newer revisions of the law that appears like the owner is permitted to fix the damage themselves, but the second they take it to a shop that shop must have a rebuilders license (all or nothing deal). It does specifically state that the reason the car was totaled must be addressed, but that's a good point, unless that is well documented how would they know what that is? I mean, the damaged is obvious, but whose to say what actually totaled the car. Safety wise (as long as the frame is not bent and I replace a couple lights) I think it's good as is, although I really wouldn't want to be driving it around all wrecked up so I would have to fix the body anyway.

[bcar240]

Had a wild thought here guys, would appreciate any input on this (good/bad idea, etc). I have a basically stock S13 I have always wanted to do something with, and I was wondering if there might be any way to reuse some of the Z31s components to integrate into a DE-T turbo setup, and if so what parts could I use. In particular, is there anything other than the turbo itself (obviously need a KA manifold for it) that would work? And is the turbo even a good match for a KA? I just spent about 20 minutes researching this and got myself pretty confused again, (it's been over a year since I had seriously thought about turboing the car and I forget a lot of what I had figured out back then.) I have pretty tame power goals 220-250hp or so to be fun, want to keep the boost pretty low for reliability. Wanted to see what you all thought before I got too excited.

[G-E]

You'd be better served doing the vg30 swap into the s13 as a whole... then do your upgrades, it will be far cheaper and more reliable

You will need the front sump pan from a maxima and other fiddly bits, but it's an easy swap since you have the whole car...

[bcar240]

I was considering that too, but from the research I did into swapping in a VG, the amount of custom fab is beyond my skill and limited tools so I would have to have a lot of it done by a shop (probably eliminating any cost savings). If I was able to get all my ducks in a row ahead of time, moving the turbo over seems like it would be fairly straightforward (i.e. pretty standard turbo installation) except for that odd 7 bolt flange on the Z31 turbo.

[G-E]

The secret to doing fab work without a budget is simple: get scrap metal/off-cuts, hold everything in place with screws/tape/jacks whatever you can, then once you have all your marks, take it to a welder to finish it...