Had a 2010 Camaro for 20 hours then...

It only becomes the insurance companies problem if he insured it for the full amount that he paid for the car. Otherwise it is only their responsibility to pay out the insured value of the car. Beyond that it is time to take it out of the hide of the person that hit him. I was hit by and uninsured driver and in a hit and run. Both times the damage was repaired by shredding the person that hit me apart using the insurance company and the courts, even had the hit and run guy tossed in jail that was fun.

It is much better to work with the insurance companies and destroy the idiot that hit than it is forget about that person and try and go after your insurance company because they have deeper pockets. They also tend to have better lawyers and don't mind footing the bill to go after someone else.

I thought full insurance covered, damage and repair or replacement, take it and get it fixed, it'll probably cost less to fix that then replace it. Didn't R&T have a 3 series that was damaged to the tune of 28000, and it cost 28001 to replace, so it got fixed.

If he was smart, he bought gap insurance. Insurance companies will generally insure a car for more than its worth, if you're willing to pay for it. So he could insure it for what it would actually take to replace it (given the gouge he paid). Generally speaking, if you borrow more than the insured value of the car to buy it, the lender will make you purchase gap insurance (for the amount between the insured value of the car and how much you owe on it).

But rebelgtp is right, generally speaking "full coverage" insurance on the car only pays for book value.

so if theres no book value yet, the ins. company gets to just make up a number?

How fast was dumbass going?! Id have a hard time keeping my composure if that was my camaro. Id probably have to go to jail that night for beating that stupid punks face in. I get upset when i see a new scratch on my 17y/o truck....

There was more information about the accident if you looked around a little bit on that link, although the intelegience level of that board is below average. I guess the owner is getting another one without too much hassle.

cwh wrote: Do headrests actually do anything for this hit?

Yep. They do quite a bit. Some companies are even introducing active head restraints that move forward with your head (in the event of a front collision) and prevent it from snapping back after the impact.

In this case, you have the rear crumple zone (trunk), a strong cabin, and your seats. I'd rather be rear-ended than do the rear-ending. My neighbor was hit when she was waiting to make a turn into my old neighborhood by someone who was going the full 45 mph speed limit. She was in a little Escort and was just fine (my dad drove by the accident and gave her a ride home).

Like rebel said the insurance company is not responsible for people overpaying. Say you buy a AE86 for $7,000 because it is super clean and it is your dream be a tofu delivery guy. Book value of the car is $1,700 given the low mileage and condition. Guess which amount you would receive if some idiot hit you.

It happens all the time at the buy here pay here places. An old roommate of mine way overpaid for a Hyundai with over 100,000 miles on it. It is not the ins companies fault he owes $6,000 on a $3,000 car.

Book on that Camaro would likely be near MSRP of a new one.

My mission after that would be to make that kid's life as miserable as humanly possible.

Gad, that is infuriating.

My Dad had an Accord V6 that got rear ended (not that hard) when it had 20 miles on it. He stormed to the other car and screamed at the guy "you'd better berkeleying have insurance!!!"

I don't know how that Camaro guy could resist beating the snot out of that kid. Honestly, I don't.

Greg Voth wrote: Like rebel said the insurance company is not responsible for people overpaying. Say you buy a AE86 for $7,000 because it is super clean and it is your dream be a tofu delivery guy. Book value of the car is $1,700 given the low mileage and condition. Guess which amount you would receive if some idiot hit you. It happens all the time at the buy here pay here places. An old roommate of mine way overpaid for a Hyundai with over 100,000 miles on it. It is not the ins companies fault he owes $6,000 on a $3,000 car. Book on that Camaro would likely be near MSRP of a new one.

That's why you should always get GAP coverage on a loan. For instance, thanks to changing market conditions and the fact that I put a lot of miles on my cars, my 750Li is worth substantially less than the current loan amount. If it gets totalled tomorrow, my collision or comprehensive insurance or the other guy's liability insurance (depending on how I total it) will pay the fair market value of the car. The GAP insurance I purchased with my loan for $299 will pay the difference, leaving me with no loan balance. Now, if you overpay and pay cash, then you're screwed unless you can show the car is worth more than the average market value. On a new Camaro you might be able to do that, and given that the car was delivered less than a day before it was totalled you could convincingly argue that the value of the car was what was paid for it. Otherwise you'll be like my brother in law, who was still making loan payments 2 years after he totalled his Camaro years ago.

mistanfo wrote: My dad has the awesome set of tools...

"..I CAN FIX IT!"

"You can't fix this car.."

This kinda stuff worries me so much about restoring an older car.

Say I put in the thousands of hours required to make my 280Z exactly what I want and I touch every nut and bolt on the car and do all the work but the actual paint job and then some asshat in a beater plows into me and totals the car. Sure I'll have Hagerty or some other classic car insurance on it but how do you replace a hand built car (built with your own hands) with a check?