Total Loss Accident... What do you think???

bad bad news, I just picked up an e30, 1990 318i in very good condition and runs excellent... stock. Was excited to do a few mods and upgrades. Tuesday night I was in an accident, rear ended a jeepat maybe 15-20 mph. oddly, I hit the spare wheel on the jeep, pushing my hood back, or bending it and pushing the grille in a little. the bumper/valence was untouched. It looked as if nothing in under the hood was touched either. Really, all that happened was the hood buckled upward and the grille came in a little, no liquids leaking at all.

Here's the thing, Geico has it at an approved shop and the adjuster called to tell me its a total loss! I can't believe that. I don't know these models in and out at all. But It really seemed cosmetic. I started it back up and drove it about 30 feet to an open spot on the curb and it drove fine. The adjuster said that real issue was that in this year and model, the front left and right fenders and radiator are one piece. the parts and labor for this he said are allegedly 3000+. I can't argue since I don't know, but I'm very skeptical that such little damage is totaling out a very clean car.

I thought this would be a good place to get some opinions on the reality of their findings. I know you can't give definitive answers not seeing the damage personally, but does this sound real to you? I thinking of having a second opinion. I want this car and might even take it as a salvage.

any thoughts?

from your description ITS NOT TOTALLED!!! get a new hood and your set
at most from a junkyard the hood will be 75 bucks, get it painted at a respectably automotive shop 75 more buck...
if the front crossmember is bent up pretty bad that might be a little more, see if you can just buy the car from the insurance company and fix it yourself, my car had almost the exact same thing happen too it and unless you bent the frame (doubtful) get the car and have it fixed at a different body shop


any pics?

If they write the damage at $3000 then figure that's what it would it cost for a professional shop to fix it.
They are stating obviously that your car ain't worth three grand. What ARE they saying it's worth?
In the real world you can replace the parts, which all bolt on, with good used for a few hundred dollars. You may even get lucky enough to find them in your color.
Most ins. cos. will "sell" you the vehicle for salvage value and let you keep it and the check. In most cases you'll come out smelling like a rose, until the next insurance bill arrives.

I'll send some pics when I get them from the adjuster. I took some on my iphone at the scene but it was darker and the iphone's camera is ****e. is there any truth to the claim that the front fenders are connected as a single piece? I have a hood and a new grille on my eBay watchlist now for a total of $180. He did say I could opt to take the car but it would be a salvage title. This bothers me some, but I planned on keeping this for the long haul anyway.

Originally Posted by LOADED!

I have a hood and a new grille on my eBay watchlist now for a total of $180.

how much is the shipping gonna be on that hood???, i think u better get it at the junkyard.

Originally Posted by LOADED!

I'll send some pics when I get them from the adjuster. I took some on my iphone at the scene but it was darker and the iphone's camera is ****e. is there any truth to the claim that the front fenders are connected as a single piece? I have a hood and a new grille on my eBay watchlist now for a total of $180. He did say I could opt to take the car but it would be a salvage title. This bothers me some, but I planned on keeping this for the long haul anyway.

BS on the salvage title, it should never change hands. Not that it makes much difference though.

Yeah, the shipping is almost the price of the hood, but I was more looking at it for a going rate on used hoods. I will be at some salvage yards this weekend. But the grille is cheap at buy it now and minimal shipping.

No the hood fenders and all are seperate. Goto "Tear-Apart" junk yard off of Redwood Rd. Just north of I-80 by the airport. They have a few E30's there and you can get a good hood, etc.. I was there yesterday. You can PM me and if you need help... i would be happy.

Originally Posted by LOADED!

Here's the thing, Geico has it at an approved shop and the adjuster called to tell me its a total loss! I can't believe that.

heres where the problem is. insurance companies look at the "total" price of that car on todays asda price. so if the car had 175k+ on it, it was considered highly used and "unreliable." so basically, they would give you $500 max for a totaled car. plus with a vehicle that isnt quite considered a classic (depending where you live), it just another clunker to them.

so with them classfying it as totaled, they can give you the total amount they could give you, and you can use that to fix it yourself. many of my friends did that, the insurance company doesnt know that you fixed your car, they think your driving it in a totaled state

yep! which is almost better sometimes the insurance company lets you buy cars that u still owe alot of money on for less and then u no longer have a payment and you have a perfectly fine car... not tha accidents are ever good but my friend with a 2004 Dodge Neon SRT paid a whopping 1400 for his car after he "totalled" it

Originally Posted by noexceptions325

yep! which is almost better sometimes the insurance company lets you buy cars that u still owe alot of money on for less and then u no longer have a payment and you have a perfectly fine car... not tha accidents are ever good but my friend with a 2004 Dodge Neon SRT paid a whopping 1400 for his car after he "totalled" it

one of my friends drove his camero through a puddle and it seized the motor. insurance paid for a new car, he bought a brand new ls4 with supercharger, paid off the car, and got half of his motorcycle payment paid for.

Originally Posted by downhiller

one of my friends drove his camero through a puddle and it seized the motor. insurance paid for a new car, he bought a brand new ls4 with supercharger, paid off the car, and got half of his motorcycle payment paid for.

GM quality

Originally Posted by LOADED!

bad bad news, I just picked up an e30, 1990 318i in very good condition and runs excellent... stock. Was excited to do a few mods and upgrades. Tuesday night I was in an accident, rear ended a jeepat maybe 15-20 mph. oddly, I hit the spare wheel on the jeep, pushing my hood back, or bending it and pushing the grille in a little. the bumper/valence was untouched. It looked as if nothing in under the hood was touched either. Really, all that happened was the hood buckled upward and the grille came in a little, no liquids leaking at all.

Here's the thing, Geico has it at an approved shop and the adjuster called to tell me its a total loss! I can't believe that. I don't know these models in and out at all. But It really seemed cosmetic. I started it back up and drove it about 30 feet to an open spot on the curb and it drove fine. The adjuster said that real issue was that in this year and model, the front left and right fenders and radiator are one piece. the parts and labor for this he said are allegedly 3000+. I can't argue since I don't know, but I'm very skeptical that such little damage is totaling out a very clean car.

I thought this would be a good place to get some opinions on the reality of their findings. I know you can't give definitive answers not seeing the damage personally, but does this sound real to you? I thinking of having a second opinion. I want this car and might even take it as a salvage.

any thoughts?

downhiller is right, and they did the same thing to me. someone had their head in their phone and merged into my back end and threw me into a "semi." apparently, to buy and hang 2 new doors was 2500. i found both doors for about 300 (used of course) and hung them myself. i would take it as a salvage if i were you. by the way you make it sound, it's not really worth losing.

yeh salvage titles are a joke, and like he said if you hold it long enough the salvage title goes away

Originally Posted by noexceptions325

yeh salvage titles are a joke, and like he said if you hold it long enough the salvage title goes away

Salvage titles go away ????? when and is that state specific ?

Thanks for the info... You all have some fortunate stories with the Insurance pay outs. But in my life's experience, this kind of stuff doesn't happen to me. He did say if I decide to to keep it, it would be the value of the car minus the salvage. I absolutely do not want to get rid of this car, I just got a it few months ago and was excited about putting some money into it. In fact, about 4 hours before the accident, I ordered shocks, lowering springs and rear shock mounts.

Here's the "preliminary" damage report. They have the valence listed as needing replacing. That wasn't even touched. The big thing is the line 22, the Radiator support. This is what he was telling me was a single piece with the front left&right fenders.

anyway, I really want to keep this car. However, I do not have the hookups when it comes to shops and tools. So a lot of this would most likely need to be done at a shop unless it wasn't a crazy process. I'm hoping to go look at it tomorrow.


1991 BMW 318I 4-1.8L-FI 4D SED RED INT:
ODOMETER: 152141
AIR CONDITIONING REAR DEFOGGER INTERMITTENT WIPERS
CLIMATE CONTROL TINTED GLASS BODY SIDE MOLDINGS
DUAL MIRRORS CONSOLE/STORAGE ELECTRIC STEEL SUNROOF
REAR SPOILER CLEAR COAT PAINT POWER STEERING
POWER BRAKES POWER WINDOWS POWER LOCKS
POWER ANTENNA POWER MIRRORS AM RADIO
FM RADIO STEREO SEARCH/SEEK
CD PLAYER ANTI-LOCK BRAKES (4) DRIVER AIR BAG
4 WHEEL DISC BRAKES LEATHER SEATS BUCKET SEATS
RECLINE/LOUNGE SEATS 5 SPEED TRANSMISSION OVERDRIVE
ALUMINUM/ALLOY WHEELS DELUXE WHEEL COVERS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NO. OP. DESCRIPTION QTY EXT. PRICE LABOR PAINT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 FRONT BUMPER
2 R&I R&I BUMPER ASSY 1.0
3* RPR COVER 1.0* 1.5
4 ADD FOR CLEAR COAT 0.6
5 REPL VALANCE 1 267.32 1.0
6** REPL QUAL REPL PARTS SPOILER UPPER 1 88.00 0.8 0.0*
7 GRILLE
8** REPL QUAL REPL PARTS RT GRILLE SIDE 1 20.00 0.6
9* REPL LKQ GRILLE CENTER 318I, 318IS 1 31.25 0.3*
+25%
10** REPL QUAL REPL PARTS LT GRILLE SIDE 1 20.00 0.6
11 FRONT LAMPS
12* R&I RT SEALED BEAM OUTER 0.4*
13* R&I LT SEALED BEAM OUTER 0.4*
14 HOOD
15* REPL LKQ HOOD +25% 1 156.25 1.0 2.5
16 ADD FOR CLEAR COAT 1.0
17 REFN UNDERSIDE 1.3
18 R&I INSULATOR 0.4
19 R&I HINGE 0.8
20 REPL EMBLEM 1 32.02 0.2
21 FRONT STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS
N 22* REPL LKQ FT INR STRUCTURE 318I, 1 625.00* 5.0* 2.0*
325 SERIES W/O 325IX +25%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUBTOTALS ==> 1239.84 13.5 8.9

LINE 9 : SUPPLIERS PART DESCRIPTION: GRILLE ,CENTER
LINE 15 : SUPPLIERS PART DESCRIPTION: HOOD NICE CLEAN BODY SHOP QUALITY
COLORRED TAG #38966-NICE
LINE 22 : RADIATOR SUPPORT

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRIOR DAMAGE NOTES:
T/L

PARTS 1239.84
BODY LABOR 13.5 HRS @$ 40.00/HR 540.00
PAINT LABOR 8.9 HRS @$ 40.00/HR 356.00
PAINT SUPPLIES 8.9 HRS @$ 26.00/HR 231.40
----------------------------------------------------
SUBTOTAL $ 2367.24
SALES TAX $ 2367.24 @ 6.8000% 160.97
----------------------------------------------------
TOTAL COST OF REPAIRS $ 2528.21

ADJUSTMENTS:
DEDUCTIBLE 500.00
----------------------------------------------------
TOTAL ADJUSTMENTS $ 500.00
NET COST OF REPAIRS $ 2028.21