My '96 was rear ended by an SUV last night while stopped at a traffic light. Because of the difference in the height of the vehicles, the license plate area took the brunt of the impact. The body of the car just below the trunk is now bent inwards enough that the trunk won't even close (the trunk is also a little bent too). I'm a little heartbroken since this car has been a constant project for the last few years and only has 95,000 miles on it. I can't imagine this is going to be repairable but I can't get it assessed until Monday at the earliest.

Is this going to be a write off? Should I start pulling aftermarket parts from the car?

 

 

 

Thanks, that's good to hear! I'll post an update when I hear from insurance.

 

Pull the carpet up and look at the floor of the trunk. If it's intact and flat, you're fine. If it's buckled, you're gonna have a hard time getting it fixed.

From the pics it looks like you are gonna be good to go.

 

 

I guarantee that it will be totalled by the insurance. These cars have such a low value, that a door ding will be considered totalled.

you will get some money from insurance for the car and you can opt to keep it and fix it if you want out of that payout

 

Having gone through a few totals, I agree with borka.

 

Actually an NA in nice condition is appreciating these days. OPs car looks exceptionally nice. I've had almost the exact same hit and was not totalled (actually, the hit I got did both the back and front -- and got the trunk lid pretty good too). And we're talking about a much higher mileage car (near 250K) but in similar well-maintained condition in my case.

I'll be really surprised if this is a total. You'll find out on Monday. You might want to ask for an adjuster rather than shopping it around for estimates. In my experience (a couple of times now), adjusters like these little cars -- especially clean examples -- and will be fair with you.

 

this car book values for MAX $2000-2500. it might be worth more to a miata enthusiast, but this means nothing to the insurance companies. all they look at is book value, and if repair cost exceeds 50% of that value, the car is written off.

this damage to repair properly, is way more then $1000 at a good body shop that repairs back to factory specs.

 

 

Maybe we should get a betting pool started? My money is on no-total, I don't even think it's that close.

I thought for sure I would be totaled when a Peterbilt pushed me into a minivan at a stoplight back in 2012. I got an estimate for $2800 and the adjuster's estimate was $3200. The car was repaired. I think my car's value at that time was a bit less than @Stealth97 . . . $3500-4000. Calculation for the insurance company was simple . . . $3200 < $3500 and I was willing to accept a repair => car not totaled.

Different percentages get used depending upon insurance company and state, although I've never heard of anything as low as 50%. A lot of times, an owner prefers a total especially if the "loss of value" from having an accident in the vehicle history is significant. In those cases, insurance companies may be generous with the percentage just to get the dispute behind them and avoid legal fees.

BTW, the grill of a Peterbilt looks enormous when it's pushing your car with the top down.

 

 

I am gonna bet it is around $3k in damage. It will depend what they value the car at if it is totaled or not. That said, that is very fixable damage. A bottle jack, a sledge, and some pulling will get it back into place and then a new trunk lid and finish panel and you will be good.

insuance valued my 1990 with 145k miles in not quite as nice shape at 3800 in november of 2016 when I hit a deer.

 

Got a few estimates, it looks like repairs are going to be around 4k. Waiting to hear from insurance on when they'll send out someone to appraise the car.

I'll post another update when I have more info.

 

100% totaled.

 

I agree. Time to buy it back, have a body shop pull everything straight, source your own parts, and have it resprayed. Insurance companies are notorious for estimating new OEM parts (if they can) to raise the estimate. As your body shop if you can supply your own parts w/ the understanding there isn't any warranty.

 

A few years back I was rearended in a junk civic. Insurance shockingly didn't total it, and estimated damages at $3600. I asked for a check, they printed one out, I went home and "fixed" it with a sledgehammer and spraypaint.

Your miata looks too nice for that, but if it's not totalled requesting a check + at home repair would be my approach. I would think you can source a few used parts (bumper cover, finish panel, tail light) and get this thing looking nice by yourself, and have enough cash left over for a mkturbo kit.

 

Insurance companies want to increase the amount of money they owe on claims? That makes no sense . . . . Insurance companies don't want to "total" cars, they just want to minimize what they pay. Econ 101.

There are laws in most states that require insurance companies to estimate this way though. Back in the day, insurance companies were notorious for estimating cheap, secondary source parts or used parts. Laws were passed to prevent that.

Anyway, with a $4K estimate, you're awfully close . . . .

 

By increasing the estimate, they total the car, thus paying less than the repair. Then, they sell the car at an insurance auction. Cars with more usable parts sell for more. Miata's at insurance auctions typically go for much more than you expect (according to a friend who works for LKQ). The few I looked at a few years ago were going for around $2-2.5k and I was buying wrecked ones from private sellers for $500-1000 depending on model.

If it does fall under the value to be repair and if you use one of their contract repair shops, they will often bargain with the shop to use non-OE parts to save cost. My mother worked at a dealership owned body shop in billing and was witness to this many times.