Wrecked My Baby....Next Step?

So I am not sure since the adjuster hasn't looked yet, but my 2000 Miata MX-5 (mahogany mica, a rare color) is most likely considered totaled. I am not sure whether to keep and fix her or shop for something else. I know if I keep her, she will be salvage title most likely. I owe 2800 on her still so the finance folks will get paid first, less the $500 deductible...then I am not sure which way to go. Anything I should think about or consider at this juncture? I am just in the info gathering stage so that when they do give me the numbers, I can make a good decision. Wish my Daddy were alive to help me out but am hoping for good advice here. Thanks eveyone!

How bad is it? Where is it damaged? Pictures?

They will low-ball you...that's their job. They hope you take their first offer. Don't!

Start collecting "market" comparables now. Collect your maintenance receipts. Gather as much info as you can regarding it's condition/value so that when they offer you chump-change, you can respond back from a position of strength.

Cheers and good luck.

There are several on Autotrader right now. Consider negotiating the best offer from insurance and picking your favorite to buy with the proceeds. Also, if you let your car go, be sure to strip it of anything you added that could be useful on the next one or sold. The insurance company won't give you more money for the things you've added, so they can't give you less if you take him off.

Several people have had decent luck with insurance value on totalled miatas recently, especially NBs. The salvage value will probably be under $2k, so anything over $5k is potential for a rebuild and ending up with a paid for car. Depending on condition and mileage, I'm guessing you'll get around $7k for the car.if you post some pics and description of the damage we can tell you whether its a good or bad candidate for rebuilding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cwisenheimer

The insurance company won't give you more money for the things you've added, so they can't give you less if you take him off.

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They'll usually want stock parts in place of the parts you take off. ...in other words...you can't just strip it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gator Bait

They'll usually want stock parts in place of the parts you take off. ...in other words...you can't just strip it.

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Depends. I had a turbo on a Sunburst and I told them "You do realize there will be nothing between the exhaust ports on the head and the rear bumper, right? I'm removing the turbo and the matching exhaust system" They had no problem with that. I also removed the stereo system, all dress-up items, sway bars, etc. I was clear and up-front about it and the insurance company was fine with that. I'd check with the adjuster to be sure, but it can be worth it.

They just want it to be able to load on a flatbed and sell at auction. With the advent of airbags and crumple zones, they have no intention of selling them for anything other than dismantler cars, and they don't see much difference in auction prices between a complete car and one with missing parts.

https://drive.google.com/?tab=mo&authuser=0#my-drive

Lord I hope this works. This link is supposed to take you to photos of my Miata. Insurance is offering me $4,998.00 for it and I know it is worth more. I owe 2,900.
If I do decide to keep it and fix it, the car is in Navasota, Texas where I left her. I am trying to get the one body shop in town to take a look and give me an estimate but any input you guys have here would be so much appreciated. By the way if I don't keep her, I will be in the market for another Miata. Go ahead guys, I'm all ears....

That link will open the google drive of the person who clicks on it. Not your photos.
Try a photo hosting site.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126922507@N02/

Try this link and let me know if you can see them.

Id guess that is a $3-4k repair, assuming the subframe is still basically sound. That's doing it with used parts and with a mind towards keeping the car, but no unnecessary costs. A dealer or Service King job could easily hit $6k.

The car is probably worth $2k+ as-is, and could be parted out for a fair bit more.

I think OZMDD's figures to fix it are a bit light.

Just let it go and start the search for another...

The insurance offer seems on the light side. Do you point out all the after market upgrades you have on the car. I got more than $6.5k for my 99 with 100k miles with intake/header/exhaust + coilover upgrade. Getting both airbags will cost you $$. You will possibly spending everything they pay you on the repair and than some and ends with a salvage title which makes it hard to resale! :-(

Agree, you should push for at least another $1k on the settlement.

Ok...I'm just a chick with a cute car. I have NO idea what is considered extra or upgraded on the car. But I will start trying to build my case with Nationwide for more $. Any help you guys can lend would be great in terms of thinking of extras that I could put on my list. For example, the color is fairly rare right? Other than that, I didn't do any engine tweaks or it doesn't have some great after market stereo.

Yes, it is a special edition, that does count for some extra $ from them. How many miles?

The aftermarket add-ons wouldn't really help anyway. The SE package is significant. Leather, paint, LSD, 6mt, bose stereo all do add value. Since you haven't stated the mileage, that's a big variable, but my experience in the market and basic impression from the photos tells me its a $6k-$7k car in the marketplace. That's upper-end value and assuming around 100k miles, but insurance values ought to be aligned with approx replacement cost, imho.

One big question: were you at-fault? If its your own insurance company you are trying to settle with, they are less likely to give you top value. If the other party was at-fault, then you have a better negotiating leverage.

Do you have a rental? Even if you do you could also ask for loss of use of the convertible.

129k

And yes....good old "failure to control speed" and I am the only one with the ticket. If I had not been doing at least 50 off of the exit ramp (speed limit is 30), I guess they think I could have avoided it. So OZMDD, you are most likely right but I am going to try to push back with the SE details and see what happens. So you guys just think I should dump Ruby and move on? No fixing her? I know the salvage title stuff, hard to sell, etc. Keep in mind she is in a one horse town north of Houston so I don't even know how to get her here. Damn I hate being an adult!

I wouldn't rule out fixing it, but go into it with eyes wide open. Unless you can do some of the work yourself, or at least source used parts and manage the work you have done, you are likely to spend more than you will have left after you pay-off the car and buy back the salvage. I'm going to estimate that you will be left with $1500-2k to spend after all that, assuming they raise their settlement offer to $6k.

The paint work and sheet metal/bumper alone is going to be over a grand, and you still have airbags, engine/electronics, headlight, radiator, core support, etc to fix. Even if I did all that myself and bought used parts for all of it, I don't think I could keep it under $1500, and that's really cheap parts with free labor.

If you can keep the car note in-place, you can probably afford to fix it on the cheap instead of paying it off, but you will still be making payments on a salvage car with less-than-perfect repairs. It sounds to me like to are not prepared to tackle this job yourself, so you'd be at the mercy of a body shop.

In your shoes, I would start shopping for a nice 06-07 NC Miata in the $8-10K range, push for a $6k settlement, then make a nice down payment on a the newer car and have a manageable payment for 3 years. You end up with a much newer car that will hold value longer, and you aren't guessing about the safety/reliability of your daily ride.

I'd certainly be interested in bidding on the salvage if you do opt not to keep the car. PM me before you let insurance have it if you decide to go that route.

I still disagree with OZMDD's figures. OZMDD is a pretty good wrench and all but your car got the crap kicked out of it.

Are you the DIY type? Can you pull the front end and replace all the parts that were destroyed?

Even when its all done you still have a Salvage Titled car which isn't going to help you when you go to sell it.

Here is some more information on Salvage title cars - http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles...insurance.aspx

What happen on the driver side? Driver's window break? The driver fender looks like it has dent is misaligned with the door.

The driver window is fine. We had to cut the battery cables to get the horn to stop so and the window was down. Tow guy just covered it with plastic.