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My 1996 Saturn was "totaled" last June. I was rear ended and pushed into the SUV's hitching post in front of me. The hood was pushed in from the top. The rear bumper was pushed in with the muffler unhooking from the body.
Damage was $3400 so the insurance "totaled" it. A body shop said he could repair the damage for $4000.
I did most of the maintenance over the years and it was in good mechanical shape. Since it was only body damage, I bought the car back for $120 and had it smog and safety certified. I decided to leave the body damage and am driving it to/from work. I used the $3400 for a down payment on a weekend/backup car.
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Thanks for the anecdote norse.
It's good to know this. I have a late 90s ES300 w/160k miles that is a great car mechanically but the bluebook is only $5k. It had some very minor bumper and rear quarter panel damage when I was lightly rear-ended last month. However, that minor damage cost the other party's insurance at least $3k ($2800 in body work + $200 in car rental). I was worried that they'd "total" it and give me $5k. There is no way I'd be able to find any used car for $5k and expect the same reliability.
It's good to know that if they did that I'd probably have the option to buy it back for, hopefully, cheap and fix it myself.
Posts: 599
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Wailer wrote:
Thanks for the anecdote norse.
It's good to know this. I have a late 90s ES300 w/160k miles that is a great car mechanically but the bluebook is only $5k. It had some very minor bumper and rear quarter panel damage when I was lightly rear-ended last month. However, that minor damage cost the other party's insurance at least $3k ($2800 in body work + $200 in car rental). I was worried that they'd "total" it and give me $5k. There is no way I'd be able to find any used car for $5k and expect the same reliability.
It's good to know that if they did that I'd probably have the option to buy it back for, hopefully, cheap and fix it myself.
I had to pay about $90-100 to have a brake and light inspection (with certificate), pay for a smog, and DMV fee to get it back on the road legally.
I pushed out the trunk to be able to close the trunk lid properly. I also re-bent the muffler to body strap and re-bolt it into place. The rear bumper facia is cracked and the front top of the hood is dented. Not a clean body but drivable.
