The 91 LE may go to the junk yard heaven

[clm2112]

It's amazing how little damage to a car that old will result in a Total Loss

Florida uses the 80% rule if I recall correctly...if the damage estimate from the insurance company adjuster exceeds 80% of the book value of the vehicle, it's written off and gets either a rebuildable or a non-rebuildable salvage title.

On a car with a book value of less than $1000...it doesn't take much damage to exceed that magic 80%.

Trick is getting the insurance company to write it off with a rebuildable salvage title. If they hang a non-rebuildable title on it, then the vehicle can never be registered again in Florida without major hurdles and creative thinking.

With as little true damage to the structure of the car, I'd work the adjuster to get the most money as possible from the car without the insurance company writing it off and taking posession of the title. (i.e. car retains a clean title.) Fortunately, with no one injured, it should be pretty straight-forward... assuming Don feels like trying to rebuild the front end.

[WhiteArrow3800]

Whoa, glad your mum is ok.

Sorry to see this

Good luck on the repairs/parting out or however you come out of this.

[Jrs3800]

It's amazing how little damage to a car that old will result in a Total Loss

Florida uses the 80% rule if I recall correctly...if the damage estimate from the insurance company adjuster exceeds 80% of the book value of the vehicle, it's written off and gets either a rebuildable or a non-rebuildable salvage title.

On a car with a book value of less than $1000...it doesn't take much damage to exceed that magic 80%.

Trick is getting the insurance company to write it off with a rebuildable salvage title. If they hang a non-rebuildable title on it, then the vehicle can never be registered again in Florida without major hurdles and creative thinking.

With as little true damage to the structure of the car, I'd work the adjuster to get the most money as possible from the car without the insurance company writing it off and taking possession of the title. (i.e. car retains a clean title.) Fortunately, with no one injured, it should be pretty straight-forward... assuming Don feels like trying to rebuild the front end.

well if at all possible I would like to rebuild the car... There is no rust... And I have put too much into the car to toss it in the trash... The front clip is bent out of shape on the passenger side.. But it looks to be fixable once the parts are removed... It would be a good time to strip it down to the bones and paint it...

I need to see what the insurance company does... I want to buy the car back... I hope it can get a rebuildable title as the car is not a total loss..

[LeSabreUltra]

Glad to hear your mom is okay, but sorry to hear about your car, that's a shame. :sad5:
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[shortstuf212559]

glad your mom is doing okay.

Now this is the perfect oportunity for you to start striping and moving parts from the SSE. now you Def have a reason to do it. stick mom in the 95 while you do it. you cant let the LE go! its been a great car for you.

[Jrs3800]

Devon, I just don't know what to do at this point... She loves the car to death... I have to see what the insurance is going to do first.. Then I will go from there... I won't touch the car until I have it looked at... I have to set up an appointment with the local body shop to get estimates on the damage... I know from looking at it that it will be a TL by the insurance company..

But if I can get the car back with the proper title then I may just piece it back together.. There is no rust under this car... 18 years and it still looks like this underneath

[clm2112]

Welp, I'd wager the estimate from a body shop will be in excess of $2000. Not that it really costs that much, nearly all of it will be labor and paint, the actual cost in parts as you can probably guess is about $400.

That little frackess in Jax a few years ago (where mine got tapped in a three car collision) generated repair estimates from $800 to $1600. I never saw a dime from the uninsured looser, I ate the $300 worth of parts and fixed it myself.

[GoldenBullet]

*dang*, im sorry to see this. thank god your mom is okay, thats what really counts.

[RJolly87]

Total it out, buy it back for pennies, and drop that L27 into the 91 SSE.

Give your Mom my best (a kiss from the better-looking Bill, as always).

Ahem, LN3?

LOL. Glad to hear she came out okay. any pics of other car?

[Jrs3800]

No pics of the other car.... It wasn't all that pretty... I looked a lot more like the passenger rear wheel rode on top of the hood.. When I got there the rear bumper was just barely on the car( ripped off with one bolt still holding it ) The rear wheel components were buckled... Wheel was crooked and parked in the top of the wheel well.. There was a decent bit of rear damage to the car.... Makes me wonder if the ladies car will be a total loss.. its an 03 Malibu, and we know they don't hold their value very well..

[skypilot]

Always a blessing when our loved ones survive undamaged, and definitely gives us perspective as to the importance of our relationships as opposed to material possessions.

One thing that makes owning mature American vehicles a blessing is the greater probability of walking away from an accident whole. I have always gotten a certain satisfaction, assurance and pride from owning American. I have also through the years walked away from a couple of accidents that lesser vehicles would have allowed me to be injured in.

Take your time in deciding how to proceed in relation to the car, and give thanks that your Mom is ok.

[Jrs3800]

Yes, very happy that she walked away fine... She is still doing good and so far feels no ill affects... She loves that freaking car... But the car did a good job in protecting here.. The Allstate guy was here today... Funny he used to be a Body guy as his father owned the shop.. He agreed with me that the car would be considered a Total Loss by the insurance.. He told me I should buy it back with a rebuildable title and fix it.. He also felt the damage was mostly cosmetic with the exception of the corner front of the frame which wouldn't take a lot to straighten.. He seemed to like Bonnevilles... Commented on how nice they all are.. We'll see what happens with my insurance as they are handling this junk... He still felt the car was more than worth buying back and replacing the parts as these cars are hard to find... Other than my paint peel he felt the car was in really good shape for an 18 year old car.. Said it was a real shame the accident happened..

[Bugsi]

Well I've already been beaten to the punch to say "That'll buff right out." As with everyone, I'm foremost glad your Mom is okay.
Looks like you'll need to find a decent donor for front end parts, but otherwise, looks fixable. I know nothing about Florida insurance law, but if you can buy it back for cheap, that sounds like a good way to go!

[GonneVille]

Welp, now that the adjuster has seen it, get on it and pull that fender off so we can see if any damage is hiding underneath. As long as you don't have any damage aft of the strut structure, you're peachy to rebuild it.

[95SLE]

Don:
Glad your Mom is doing fine. As you said the Bonny did its job and protected her. Are these great cars or not. Able to take a licking and protect the passengers.

[Jrs3800]

The car is down at the local Body shop State Farm deals with... They will estimate what the repairs will be for the insurance company.. Allstate was out to look at it yesterday...

Its really funny tho... I went to the body shop to get the ball rolling and low and behold the Malibu was there... I got a good look at the car and the area thats damaged almost looks like it could total the other car..

I talked to the owner of the shop and told him " you know this gets even better " He wondered why so I said " Because the malibu that turned in front of my mother is sitting right there "....

He was surprised... I told him, yeah see the white paint on it... Yeah thats from the 91... But it didn't take on as much damage as this Malibu did...

We'll see what happens

[lash]

That's a bit ironic that you both ended up at the same shop.

Though, now that I think of it, you would both be using the same insurance and therefore, in a smaller town like yours, likely the same shop as used by that insurance company. Still funny though.

[Jrs3800]

Yeah Mine is through State Farm, theirs is through Allstate.. But I believe that they deal with several insurance companies or they wouldn't be in business..

Mom gave her statement to state farm today... So thats another thing out of the way..

I was asked by the tow truck driver today " Does she run " I was like " Uh yeah !!! " ( I was almost offended by that question )

He went to open the door and the car was locked... I handed him the keys with the remote.. He was looking at the keys and I told him just hit Unlock on the clicker... He looked at the car like WTF it has Keyless??? kind of look...LOL

We'll see what happens in the near future..

[PRD2BDF]

Don, I'm grateful that your momma is ok. Like others and yourself has said, that's the most important thing.

If you really wanted another car, that's a good excuse.

[myfirstbonnie]

I hope you get to keep that car on the road. There is just something about that gen that just says drive me. Of the three I have I like driving the 89 the most. I like it for the nice ride and cruisability of it. Now when I want to play and have fun........................the 2k come to mind.

Good luck.