Son's 850 and Ford Taurus Totaled by drunk driver last night

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 17 Sep 2017, 15:50

My son owns two cars for himself and his girlfriend, they park on the street and a drunk driver
hit both cars last night. Both are probably totaled, Taurus is for certain.
They were sleeping and heard the crash.
He noticed that his cars slowed the driver down before hitting a large van that probably
would have killed the drunk driver and he is happy about that. But this is a huge distraction
from his school and work. Volvo had two flat tires, and the impact broke the bead and
amazingly his neighbor worked in a tire shop so they were able to just add air and re-seat it.
Put the spare on the other side in the back and was able to drive the car home about 20 miles.
The driver's front wheel is pushed forward an inch or two and I'm thinking it needs a new LCA.
Body damage is massive but the doors work and it seems to be straight.
He is going to try to get Geico to not total the Volvo since it has so many new parts. Police
came and there is a report.

: IMG_20170917_083605829.jpg (300.07 KiB) Viewed 3399 times

: IMG_20170917_085422232.jpg (278.17 KiB) Viewed 3399 times

: IMG_20170917_083608169.jpg (292.71 KiB) Viewed 3399 times

Post by **oragex** » 17 Sep 2017, 15:59

If it wasn't for the suspension and probably dammaged wheels/tires, it wasn't too expensive to replace with two used doors + a fender.
However, the suspension may be more than just a control arm - maybe even a strut or a ball joint

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 17 Sep 2017, 16:02

New struts are from FCP, wonder if they'll give me a new one, LOL!
It drove fine, so I'll guess for now that it is okay, no new noises even.

Front tires on the Volvo were less than a year old.

Front on the Taurus were about a month old.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 17 Sep 2017, 16:29

Taurus:

: IMG_20170917_083800492.jpg (298.14 KiB) Viewed 3359 times

Post by **rspi** » 17 Sep 2017, 16:36

Use the new parts to get more $$$ from the insurance company. Looks totaled to me.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 17 Sep 2017, 16:48

If we could get used doors in black at a very good price it would not be so bad.

Yes, its in the plan to get documentation on all the parts.

Post by **June** » 17 Sep 2017, 17:32

If you accept 79% of value and fix the Volvo yourself. 80% is total and gets a salvage title. At least here in Florida. Also here there is a "like kind and quality " law which if the owner wishes the insurance company pays for a similar car plus taxes plus transfer fees. They likely will total it. June

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 17 Sep 2017, 18:34

I ran into an interesting issue with MetLife a while back. They refused to pay anything towards a vehicle that basically had an entirely new front end because it was over 6 months ago that the parts were installed. Hopefully you will not run into this garbage with Geico.

Post by **abscate** » 17 Sep 2017, 18:47

You will definitely get totaled on this, but a salvage title in NY can be driven, so a couple of doors will get you back on the road. It will be hard to argue up the new parts but, most importantly, I'm glad where they weren't when this happened.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 17 Sep 2017, 19:59

We are in CT Steve:

From CT DMV:
If your insurance company has determined that your vehicle is a "total loss" or the word "Salvage" has been stamped on the title, it is illegal to operate this vehicle upon any road in Connecticut. Technically, the registration on this vehicle has been cancelled. You should have removed the plates from your vehicle.

The DMV is aware of the status of the vehicle, since your insurance company has sent us a copy of the title stamped "Salvage".