DEALERSHIP TOTALED MY CAR!!!

[jrsimon27]

Call a good lawyer dont pay them nothing!!

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[jasonstang]

Looks like the guy rear ended another car.

 

[Blk2015GT]

Legally its up to the dealer cover the actual value of the car at the time it was wrecked. Not buy a new car.

That looks like 25mph or less. About 20 years ago when I first started driving I rear ended someone on icy roads and it was MAYBE 10-20mph range and damage looked about the same. Or he did nothing wrong and someone hit him; very possible too it wasnt the mechanic's fault at all. No one knows yet but it's irrelevant to you really as the dealership's insurance will pay and go after the other driver for subrogation if the other driver was at fault. Not your problem there.

But the above is truth of the matter. The dealership/their insurance owes you book value of the car based on age and mileage; or a car worth that much.. If you can salvage your mods/wheels 100% then those are going to get paid out and dont factor into the equation.

The hangup is the insurance giving a brand new $44k car to replace a 2 year old one now with miles on it and worth $31k (whatever the real numbers are). That's obviously not something they want to do nor have to do per your policy (absent some "new car" policy term like I believe Liberty Mututal or one of those has, generally in the first year of ownership though).

TECHNICALLY, the insurance could pay off the loan in full, give you the extra $2-3k equity and say hit the bricks. And that's still perfectly legal. You could go then get a new loan and new car. They typically won't but it's an option since the loan owed is still near the car's value.

If there is a used one with similar mileage to it, it may be much easier to swing with everyone. But it sounds like the dealership wanted to do right plus some; their insurance likely said no way we're paying that out for a new 2017.

But no matter how many people say lawyer up and get a GT350 on Ford GT or some crap that ignorant. Yes lawyer up but have realistic expectations.

Source, I'm an actual lawyer and not just play one from my armchair.

 

[thet33]

But no matter how many people say lawyer up and get a GT350 on Ford GT or some crap that ignorant. Yes lawyer up but have realistic expectations.

Source, I'm an actual lawyer and not just play one from my armchair.

You'd think a lawyer would be smart enough to know those comments were made in jest.

 

[5.0 Probie]

Dealers "Garage keepers" should cover this right away as long as they selected "Direct Primary" and not "Legal Liability.

All those saying lawyer up are spot on. Do not continue to speak with the lot at all.

While it is sad this happened, I am glad you had not been driving.

When you speak to a "Good" lawyer, you will get this behind you and be in a new car before you know it. You will however, just to be clear, only get what the value of the vehicle was at the time of the loss. No magic bullet to turn this into some unicorn GT-350.

Good luck, have patience and just know you can only get out of them what is just. The one "NOT" blowing their top will prevail. Let the anger flow in them as your attorney chews the snot out of them. These things happen all the time. Just sucks it happened to you this time.

 

[GT Pony]

However I found out on Friday that my bank is not willing to do a collateral substitution on the loan and now the GM has changed his attitude on the entire situation. He is saying that I have to think of the value I am getting with this new car which basically means he wants me to come up with more money to the table. I told him that the new vehicle value for me is $0 as he has to think of the value of all of my losses I had to go through and this basically makes me whole again. Let me know what you guys think.

Tell the dealership it's going to cost them much less to just get you into a new car with $0 coming from you then it would be for them to respond to a lawsuit. That's what the dealership has insurance for ... your insurance company should be paying zero, and they should know the dealerships insurance should be used to cover a situation like this. If there was another car involves where it was their fault, then their insurance company would have to fight it out with the dealerships insurance company. If the dealerships insurance only wants to pay the current value of the car, then the dealership themselves needs to eat it and make up the difference. Like mentioned, they should realize that will be cheaper than a lawsuit against them.

It doesn't quite look like a total to me, unless the whole frame is twisted out of shape or the engine it totally damaged from the front impact.

 

[Andrewg]

Sorry to hear that mate. Hope you get taken care of as quickly and painlessly as possible.

 

[Marino]

Actually that damage looks about right for a 25 mph crash with another vehicle. Keep in mind if both vehicles are doing 25mph it's essentially a 50mph crash. Of course this all depends on how much mass and velocity the other car had, angle of deflection, transfer of energy...etc.

I rear ended a stopped vehicle at 20mph about 10 years ago and my car looked like this.

Regardless, it matters not how fast he was going or where the wreck occurred...the dealership has insurance for this. If you haven't already notified your insurance agent I suggest you do. Then find a motor vehicle lawyer, pony up the retainer fee and let him work for you.

Actually if both cars are traveling the same speed and of the same relative weight, it would be like a 25mph impact into a brick wall. They busted that myth on Mythbusters.

 

[WarrENDeatH]

LAWYER UP.

Do NOT speak to the dealership anymore. They have failed at this point. Do not give them a penny. They are trying to find a way out of this situation, unharmed and clearly, trying to make a buck out of this (or minimize losses). This is THEIR FAULT.

Lawyer up. Yeah, you might have to pay a few hundred bucks, but I'd rather you do that than give to a greedy dealer. Then, once that headache is done, you will get what you want

Also, in this event, hiring a lawyer, and them making a 'simple' call, will make this ALL go away.

Good luck.

 

[Schism]

What everyone said!
Get a lawyer and get as much $ as possible with current mods. Get a new loan for a 2017 GT when financing gets to 0% (from a different dealership) Try to get the modifications swapped or at least try to buy back the car from the insurance company after they settle what they will pay. I've bought two cars back from insurance after they were totaled for pennies on the dollar, they don't get much from scrap yards and it saves them a lot of time just selling it back to the original owner. Project car, parts pig, etc..

Sucks though, that was a beautiful car!

 

[kwpony]

sorry this happen to you OP.
Give the dealership a chance to make this right to your satisfaction. You'll instinctevly get the feeling if they are on the up and up. Try to get copies of anything they show you etc. If dealership backtracks or tries to get you to pony up any money of your own that you feel that you shouldn't have to pay, then immediately get a good attorney to take up the matter.
Good Luck.

 

[kz]

Jeez man that was your car? I saw that the other day and was wondering what the hell happened to get it smashed up that bad :-/

I think people need realize that smashed bad is an aluminum hood and lots of plastics in the front.... They would be smashed at pretty much any speed...

 

[jasonstang]

I would work with the dealer see if they can get you a pre owned one in similar condition.
I mean it is a used car so getting a new one if possible is great but most of the time it won't happen.

 

[thet33]

I would work with the dealer see if they can get you a pre owned one in similar condition.
I mean it is a used car so getting a new one if possible is great but most of the time it won't happen.

Yea but you know that has to be rough (especially if you're OCD like me), not knowing how the previous car was driven, maintained etc...
Maybe a certified preowned with service records might give him a little peace of mind but still...

 

[Bullitt]

I would work with the dealer see if they can get you a pre owned one in similar condition.
I mean it is a used car so getting a new one if possible is great but most of the time it won't happen.

This ^. Sorry again to hear about this man. It's a crappy situation but all any insurance company is required to do is make you whole and get you back to where you were before. Before the accident you were driving a used 2015. So expecting anything more than another used 2015 is going to be an uphill battle. It's a shame that the dealership wasn't able to follow through with the loan transfer. I don't know what finance company wouldn't want a 2017 as loan collateral instead of a 2015. From their perspective, if they ever needed to repo, they'd be in a better position with a 2017 than with a 2015. Something doesn't add up there to me. Good luck with it all and hopefully they can get past whatever the hold up is and follow through on their original agreement to you.

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