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Options when insurance company wants to total your Mustang

SBR70.3

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My car is in the "my babies got beat up" post. Mustang got hammered by hail Tuesday evening. State Farm called today. Without even looking at my car, they want to total it. I declined and requested they send an adjuster to evaluate it in person. No can do on their part. They suggested I take my car to what sounded like a salvage yard until their adjuster can look at it. No fucking way I am doing that. We settled on FaceTime call with an adjuster on Oct 8th.


I would prefer to keep my car. I have owned it since Feb 2016 when it had only 1,000 miles on it. I have spent a ton of money on mods making it the way I thought I wanted it to be, I love my car and V8's with a manual in any car are getting more and more hard to find. No shit.....this last weekend I bought RE71RS's and some new slotted rotors for track use. Just put long tube headers on. Here is the way I see it:

Option 1: State Farm totals it, gives me a check, I buy it back and repair it myself. This, of course will be contingent on what they deem the value to be. Has anyone been in this circumstance and tell me what they valued your car at?

Option 2: I return the car to stock as much as possible (remove Procharger, long tubes, maybe some suspension parts, put crap stock mustang wheels on), let insurance total it, use money to buy Mach 1 (the car I really want given my affection to track it). Put TSP long tubes on Mach 1, E85 tune, call it good. I can use the race wheels/tires, brakes on the Mach 1.

Option 3: You tell me!!!!! I want a car to track HPDE events. I have no interest in drag racing or autocross. My goal was to take my Mustang to COTA next year. I'd like a car sub $70K to do that. But it also has to be something reliable that I can work on myself. Sorry Audi RS3 and Porsche Cayman S. I really do not want to go to the dark side, but there was an amazing ZL1 1LE at Hallet a few weeks ago and it was absolutely smoking everything there.
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Johnny maverick

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You can buy it. You can work out the details with your company. Fix the the thing. Get a salvage title. Run it into the ground. Or turn it into a track stomper. I know about attachment to a new vehicle. EZ fix. It's just nuts and bolts. It could be worse

20230503_092605.jpg
 

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TonyNJ

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MAGS1

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Will depend on your state’s insurance laws. Some states will not allow the owner to buy back a totaled car (depends on why it was totaled). Hail damage should be an allowable buyback in most states I would assume but that’s something you need to research.

That said, if a Mach is what you’ve really been eyeing, go with option 2. Can get a well optioned, low mile non-HP Mach for a pretty good price these days. HP Mach’s seem to be holding value pretty well since there’s not as many of them.
 

Boyd

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Sparky1337

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To bounce off what Mags1 said, some states also make it difficult to register and insure a branded title vehicle. General costs to insure a branded title are also 20% or more vs what you were paying in most cases. And some places won’t let you insure past liability.

Mods don’t add value to the insurance company, so it would be best to return to stock and either sell the parts or see what you can transfer to the new Mach1.
 

Biggsy

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It depends on how much you are willing to spend. If you really want a M1 for track use, I feel as though you can build one for less if you piece one together.

prices on the used market:
tremec 3160 + driveshaft+ clutch = $4.5k give or take a few hundred depending if you go aftermarket
PP brakes= $600
Front knuckles/hubs = $700
diff= $750

I love the M1 for the way it is out of the box but if I already have a car with pretty much similar engine, I would just build it to be less than what it cost. If they cut you a check to where it makes sense to just buy one from the lot then Mach 1 it is. You may even jump up to a tremec XL and "should" still be under what it costs. Depending on where you live you will still have to do all the proper cooling to the car.

Thats just my two cents. I hope its at least worth that lol
 

Bob Lob Law

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To bounce off what Mags1 said, some states also make it difficult to register and insure a branded title vehicle. General costs to insure a branded title are also 20% or more vs what you were paying in most cases. And some places won’t let you insure past liability.

Mods don’t add value to the insurance company, so it would be best to return to stock and either sell the parts or see what you can transfer to the new Mach1.
When I totaled my camaro in 2010 my insurance paid extra for my Moser 12 bolt, RPM t56, and various other parts with receipts. It was not everything I had in it, but, it was the big parts. Then even bought the car back and sold the parts and the car seperately.
 

WItoTX

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For my money, keep it, make it a track monster. I have a hail damaged trunklid I got from a junkyard that I mounted my wing to. I hardly even notice the dents anymore unless I am looking at it just right, and I have had folks say they don't notice it at all. Whatever you do, absolutely, without a doubt, do not get the ZLE. They are notorious for killing cats with track use. So then you are looking at a delete, and now you are fighting a tune, noise restrictions, and heat issues.

Or, if you REALLY want a new car which would be a track monster (it sounds like you don't), go C6Z and never look back.

A friend had a ZLE. He sold it because of the mentioned issues, among others, and went to a C5Z.
 

Sparky1337

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When I totaled my camaro in 2010 my insurance paid extra for my Moser 12 bolt, RPM t56, and various other parts with receipts. It was not everything I had in it, but, it was the big parts. Then even bought the car back and sold the parts and the car seperately.
Insurance companies post Covid want to pay nothing if they can. When my GTI got rear ended and totaled earlier this year I was getting 5% of the value of my modifications. They used an amortization model that just junked prices for anything older than a few months.

To be reimbursed like you mentioned, you’d need agreed value with your current insurer, and even then I think you’d have a problem if this was an accident situation vs comprehensive.

I was hit twice in 6 months in my GTI by people who had State Farm and it was miserable. My body shop guy said they’re the easiest to work with….
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