Hello Hive,
After five long arduous months since I was rear-ended in a car accident, it looks like we're heading for a settlement. The five months part was purely a problem with the insured's lack of enthusiasm for getting his own insurance company the info they needed to process the claim. Too long a story, so let's leave that part alone.
Also, I was injured in this accident but that's a different FOHI (Freedom of Hive Information) request.
Here's what they're offering for their insured wrecking my '97 Camry with almost 214K on the clock: If I surrender the car, I get over $3,700 from them. If I keep the car, I get $3,300-plus (minus $312 for the residual wholesale plus some fees they wouldn't have to pay).
Which would you take? Keep in mind, I'll be forced to re-title the car as salvage and I cannot part it out because I enjoy marriage too much. As part of the settlement, I get a rental car for a week (so I can find the next car and get to work) regardless of the option I choose. So I would have to sell the Camry as a going concern. What's a foreshortened '97 Camry worth? How hard is it to sell a crash-damaged car? It runs and drives excellently (expertly maintained by a GRM Forum member who looks a lot like me) but looks like ass. Or, in this case, no ass.
SVreX
MegaDork
4/24/17 4:34 p.m.
Take the money and run.
You'll be banging your head against the wall trying to make anything off a high mileage salvage title Camry.
Grizz
UltraDork
4/24/17 4:37 p.m.
There's no chance you'd get 3700 any other way.
BTD
Reader
4/24/17 4:38 p.m.
SVreX wrote:
Take the money and run.
You'll be banging your head against the wall trying to make anything off a high mileage salvage title Camry.
This. Clean title, good condition Camrys are all over. Why fight with selling a salvage title one?
Also, IMO that's a very good price for a 20 year old 200k+ mile economy car.
Yup. The camry aint worth the buyback. Let it go. Also, on the injury side, hope you get better and back to normal soon.
rande
New Reader
4/24/17 4:47 p.m.
Check with the salvage/pick-a-part companies in your area. If they'll give you more than the $400 difference keep the car and sell to them.
What work is needed on the Camry to make it pass the state inspection or retitled?
I was looking for maybe $750 out of the car if I sold it....
In reply to John Welsh et al: It will take some red cellophane over the brake light bulb and some brake work. I was planning on replacing the master cylinder before I got hit. I wouldn't do that obviously to sell the car as is. However, I might try a couple junkyards to see if they have any interest in it over and above the $400-dolar-ish difference.
I'm a little worried about how long it will take to find a replacement, which would be a reason to keep the car. I will add in more money to do so but this is not a good time of year for doing that.
You can buy a lot with $3700 in LA. Take the $3700 the rental and go look for a car.
In reply to aircooled:
Actually, I was thinking more Celica or Altima Coupe or.....THE ANSWER.
Thanks however for reminding me I need to be looking farther afield than LA, the land of the hacked-up salvage title.
In the words of The Steve Miller (no relation) band, Take the money and run, go on, take the money and a run.
This one might actually go up in value (make sure to check the crank nose):
https://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/6090952165.html
A mater definitely gets a bit of a premium over a Camry.
Don't know what the soapy-water pic lends to the proceedings but amusing nonetheless. I like how you shifted gears there. NA with the 1.8 is where I would go. Or a reasonable NB.
Cashcashcashcashcashcashcashcashcash.
Cash, life is too short to re-title Camrys with salvage titles.
Wall-e wrote:
In the words of The Steve Miller (no relation) band, Take the money and run, go on, take the money and a run.
Without my glasses, this looked like ...go on, take the money and a nun.
What part of L.A. are you in? Saw a nice nb for 3500 the other day
Jerry is in GLENDALE, DYNAMITERS! or whatever they renamed themselves to post 911. AND BEAT THE BELL OUT OF HOOVER!!
Take The Money and Run. The extra three bills you MIGHT get selling it otherwise just isn't worth it.
They're still the Dynamiters for football but Nitros for all other sports. So no big conspiracy here. Other than the kid in 1964 who almost burned the school down trying to set fire to a room where he thought the grades were stored of course. By the way, can you account for your whereabouts in 1964?
Okay, so I'm going to take the mo-mo and kiss the car goodbye. Really hate to see it go. Despite the mileage, we never hesitated to jump in it and drive it a thousand miles. Or drive it 35 miles up a crumbly dirt road to a remote trialhead and know it would start when we came back a week later. Now it's on to the next car. What will it be? What should I buy with my insurance settlement?
Another Camry.
Kidding.
Go look at E36's
How important are back seats?
