Quote: Originally Posted by Dontcallitaneon
damn...n if my understanding is right. they will pay the value of the car straight to the bank *since i am financing* right? they wont try n replace the car or give me the money?
It all depends. I agree that it looks totaled. You said that you have a lien holder, so if it is totaled, there are a couple of possible scenarios:
Situation 1:
You are upside down on your loan, meaning that you owe more than the value of the car. All money will go directly to the lien holder, you will not get any money. Your insurance company is required to pay the lien holder first in this situation. Any balance left over on the lien you will owe to the lien holder. If you have GAP insurance, it will pay the full balance of the loan off, but typically less a deductible and less any rolled in balance from previous loans. Most likely, you will not be able to retain the vehicle. The lien holder will want to collect as much as they can towards the balance of a loan they no longer have any collateral on. If you want to retain, the insurance company will deduct the salvage value of the vehicle from the amount they are paying, since in it's totaled state, the vehicle still retains some worth.
Situation 2:
Low equity. You owe $19k on the car, and it is worth $20k. Your lien holder will get $19k and you will get whatever is left. Again, you will not be able to retain the vehicle. In order to retain, again, the insurance company will deduct the salvage value, say $5k, so that means there will not be enough to pay off the lien holder, so the lien holder will probably not allow you to retain the vehicle. And, yes, the lien holder does have a say since they are, in a sense, owners of the vehicle too.
Situation 3:
Plenty of equity. You owe $10k, car worth $20k, salvage is worth $5k. Your lien holder will get $10k, and you will get $5k if you retain it ($10k in equity minus the $5k salvage value).
There are some disadvantages to weigh VERY carefully if you choose to retain. First off, you will be required to get a salvage title for the vehicle. So even if you get the vehicle totally repaired, that salvage title will be with it forever and the value will be drastically reduced, typically around 50%. The other issue is *most* insurance carriers will not sell you comprehensive or collision coverage since it has a salvage title. You will most likely be only able to buy liability insurance, which is the insurance that pays for other people's damages if you cause them.
Work with the insurance company. See what they tell you your options are and call you lien holder to find out how much you owe. The other piece of advise is that most insurance companies totally suck at valuing cars, especially ones that are somewhat rare, like your commerative edition SRT-4. Get a copy of their evaluation and work with them respectfully if you disagree with the value. Also, have an idea of what the car is wroth if it is a total before they call you. Have support for what you feel it is worth. This is typically more than whatever Kelly Blue Book and NADA say. Most adjuster will not even look at those sources.
But then again, it may be repairable and none of this will apply
Sorry for the long responce, but hopefully it helps!
and 2nds on the mats those are nice ....ya they should give u some money for it
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