2006 V70 -- Hit Last Night on Commute Home Topic is solved

Post by **E Showell** » 26 Sep 2018, 05:36

Volvo for life folks. Commuting last night on I-78 West in Union, NJ (a/k/a Death Race 2000) traveling in the express lanes minding my own business. Black Nissan Rogue traveling westbound in the LOCAL lanes loses control and crosses OVER the concrete curb and divider separating local from express, comes across my car from right to left at a 30 degree angle. Trashes my passenger side front fender, headlight, bumper cover continues past me at an angle, impacts the concrete "Jersey Divider" that is to the left of the left most express lane, bounces off the Jersey Divider and comes back at me at a about a thirty degree angle now headed for my driver side front fender. Destroys the driver side front fender and slightly crumples the hood. I'll be claiming against her insurance company. I walked away from the accident. No air bags blown although I do have an airbag message on my dash, I am thinking from the seatbelt tensioner? Other driver's SUV is destroyed. Both back wheels at an angle to vertical, full side curtain airbags blown on both sides. Tailgate destroyed, rear passenger quarter panel and rear passenger door destroyed, similar types of damage to driver's side. She told the Trooper she "lost control of her vehicle." FedEx driver behind me stopped to see if I was ok and gave me his name and number, which I promptly gave to my insurer and the State Trooper who responded. Determining liability on this one should be easy.

Anybody know what percentage of damage most insurance companies use in assessing whether a vehicle is a total loss? Right now I see damage easily totaling 50% + of retail value. Two front fenders, hood, front bumper cover, both headlights at a minimum.

Georgeandkira · Post by **Georgeandkira** » 26 Sep 2018, 06:32

Highway Billiards....glad you're OK.

I don't know insurance companies' formulae but if you are presented with the opportunity to cannibalize parts please PM me. I'll be right down from Hackensack cash in hand.

Post by **abscate** » 26 Sep 2018, 06:51

Glad you walked away, most important thing.

ITs a crappy end to these cars when they are 10 years old, because we know the real value is driving a luxury car for another 10 years on a economy car budget.

Ill swag the insurance company total number at 60% of NADA.

She chose both a poor state and a poor person to hit if she tries any legal shenanigans....

How about we take the total and drop the engine into the 1999??

Post by **June** » 26 Sep 2018, 07:41

In my experience 80% of value is automatically totaled but the adjuster can total it for less depending on the damage. They can write you a check for 79% of value and not total the car which allows you to keep and fix your car without the title being touched. At least here in Florida.

Yesterday a 80s Mercedes convertible in light blue being towed lost it's hard top in front of me on 295 (the beltway) in light rain. Luckily I was the front of a pack traveling at 80+ in a 65 so i has the three lanes to myself and the pack behind me must not have realized i maneuvered quickly to avoid something that big in the road and had a terrible accident. Behind me 18 wheel trucks and cars so it was a big mess. A BMW really got it bad from what I could see returning in the other direction shortly later. Commuting can be so dangerous, it's reassuring to know that Volvo has engendered safety in so many ways into our cars. For me yesterday the DTSC and predictable handling allowed me to avoid a situation that would have likely totaled my car. Had I hit and lost control I feel quite sure I would have opened the door and stepped out unhurt.

Amazingly this happened within a mile of where I was hit earlier this year in a 2018 XC90 service loaner. Which I posted pics of in a thread How important is safety to you. June

Post by **E Showell** » 26 Sep 2018, 09:00

I am not taking for granted that I was very lucky. There happened to be a gap in traffic so I avoided any secondary hits. Not so sure about her.

What I am most amazed about is that I managed to maintain lane control throughout.

Some people knock these cars because they don't have pin sharp handling, but I'm ok with being able to maintain a lane through a high speed hit.

This was, however, a powerful lesson in maintaining a safe following distance for those who like to drive fast.

Post by **chrism** » 26 Sep 2018, 09:52

Recently my wife was "lightly" rear ended at a stop light while driving her 05 S80. The offending driver was in an older, jacked up, Chevy pickup - a real Georgia "mudder". The truck had extended frame rails in front to accommodate the occasional attachment of a tow bar. One of those frame extensions poked a hole through the Volvo's bumper cover and the trunk lid was also bent in slightly. The other driver's insurance company, Mercury Insurance, sent us to one of those big huge corporate collision centers for the estimate and repair. That had me worried. I told the estimator that we wanted REAL Volvo parts and not the usual Chinese knock-off stuff, that the estimator himself admitted don't always fit real well.

Being a 15 year old car with 200,000 miles, I was totally prepared for them to say the car was not worth repairing and that I would have to go to battle with Mercury Insurance over the value. What's the blue book value on that car? $2500 to $3000 on a good day?

Once they started dismantling the rear bumper, it turned out to be one of those "damage was more extensive than originally thought" situations. But at that point the insurance company already owed the body shop something for the dismantle time, so maybe that's why they decided to continue with the repair. In the end, the repair bill was $3600 and the rental car bill was $400 = $4000 in all.

To my elation, the workmanship appeared flawless! Nothing nicer than a band new bumper cover to replace the old suitcase-scraped up original. The Ice White paint matched perfectly.

At the end of the day I was quite surprised that the insurance company chose to repair vs total the car, but I was happy that they came to that decision. I could just imagine myself handing them back their settlement check and telling THEM to go find a comparable replacement for $2500 or whatever they felt was a "fair" value. Plus my wife was starting to look at new cars - Yikes!!!

Why am I boring everyone with this story?!?! I guess to provide encouragement that not ALL accidents and the ensuing insurance actions have to be a recipe for financial ruin.

Post by **matthew1** » 26 Sep 2018, 10:06

Glad you’re ok! I think my life would have flashed before my eyes in that situation.

I need a dash cam.

Post by **abscate** » 26 Sep 2018, 12:27

Evan - from your earlier thread

from some Lysol wipes/Magic Eraser treatment. Willow green metallic (confirmed, paint code 471-- looks almost like silver but ...

Post by **E Showell** » 13 Oct 2018, 06:14

So to close the loop here, not surprisingly, the car is a total loss. $8,600+ to repair. Initial insurance offer (New Jersey Manufacturers) was $4,200 as total loss settlement. I studied their third-party contractor's valuation and noticed five missing components of value:1) metallic paint, 2) integrated child booster seat, 3) rain sensing wipers, 4) autodimming rear view mirror and 5) dealer installed Volvo brand integrated Bluetooth phone setup.

I looked at the valuation company (CCC One's) comp analysis and found they had missed $455 worth of value items (leather seating and moon roof) from one comp and the ads for the others were no longer available so I could not review those comps. (I have been down this road with CCC One comps before).

To make a long story short, I suggested to NJM that $5k would be a fair settlement. They agreed.

I know I had said this before here, but there are a couple things to remember when dealing with insurers:. 1) they don't know the market for used cars as well as you do if you are an enthusiast.; 2) they most likely use some kind of database for market valuation reports ( and the comps used frequently do not either comply with State regulations as to what comparable vehicles are, or they fail to accurately include/adjust for items of value, 3) be present when a repair estimator examines your car on behalf of the Insurer. I was and he still missed five things, 4) assume your vehicle is a total loss if it has extensive damage and point out every conceivable feature -- heated mirrors, child booster, etc. 5) be polite and respectful throughout the process. It may actually be that the Insurer is ignorant or has made honest mistakes ( or is relying on third parties) and is not really trying to screw you, 6) get your car and home insurance through a mutual company (exists for the benefit of it's policyholders) and not a stock company (exists for benefit of shareholders).

I have pretty detailed knowledge of the NJ Administrative Code regulations regarding an insurer's obligations in adjusting total loss claims (not so much on partial losses) that I am happy to share with those in NJ.

P.S. My salvage was computed based on the ACV (actual cash value -- the loss settlement amount). If I had not asked a few questions to determine this fact, I would have lost out on the increased ACV based on my negotiation with my insurer and accepted a salvage bid based on the insurer's original, low offer. It wasn't a huge difference, but every little bit helps.