I am beside myself: Black Betty vs an International 4400

[Thunderchildd]

Some complete degenerate POS ran a red light and t-boned Black Betty with a f'ing furniture delivery box truck @ 35-40 mph. I saw him at the last second and had the chance to make a small defensive maneuver or it could have been worse. The a-hole was looking at his GPS and ran the light. I am glad the Passat is such a champ in a crash and that me and my passengers are ok, but I am absolutely distraught about the car.

Rear axle is snapped also. Is she totalled?

[cheapa55TDI]

Wow! Glad you are ok. Another testimony about the quality of this car. I'm glad I got this as my family car.

[atcssg]

Oh wow, side airbags came out and everything. I'm glad everyone is safe. I totally feel your pain about your loss. I hope things turn out for the best. I'm already planning some upgrades for mine once I get it back from the shop just to make myself feel better about the whole thing. My only piece of advice is to not let the insurance companies drag their feet and get them working ASAP to recoup your loss.

[TDI Brad]

Dang that looks like a hard hit. Broke your rim!

[Thunderchildd]

Dang that looks like a hard hit. Broke your rim!

It was super hard. It pushed me 50+ feet and turned the car all the way around.

[JennyDriscoll]

Wow! Glad you and your passengers were all ok. Sorry this happened to you!!!!!!!

As for the rear-axle... a snapped rear axle <> totaled.

[teknokrat]

certainly glad everyone is ok. car took it like a champ. sorry it happened, though.

[Volcombug]

Glad to see the passat held up and you are all alright! Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[mmhs19]

Wow - glad everyone is OK. Your car took one hell of a hit, but it protected your family when you needed it to. I'm sure many of us will drive to work feeling just a bit safer tomorrow.

[turboDSG]

I am kind of surprised none of the glass broke!!

[sfccryder]

I think if air bag deployed = total

[DasCC]

Nah they'll fix it.


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[mknieri]

Glad you are OK. It's amazing that there is no glass breakage. The car did it's job protecting you. Out of curiosity of the deployed side air bags...any pictures of the inside you can share with us?

[Thunderchildd]

Glad you are OK. It's amazing that there is no glass breakage. The car did it's job protecting you. Out of curiosity of the deployed side air bags...any pictures of the inside you can share with us?

Thanks. I am sure the adjuster will be taking pictures. I will post the inside pictures when he shares those with me.

[r11]

she is a tank of a car, protected the occupants like a champ. Them totalling it is the best way to go, as opposed to you spending a month waiting for repairs and ending up with a car that will have major accident on record.

Good thing she wasnt a diesel, even if you had a check today, would be hard to find one readily available.

[JennyDriscoll]

I think if air bag deployed = total

Not a chance.
If I'm not mistaken (and I could be since I'm saying this from memory) the total cost of the repair has to exceed something like 70% of the current value of the vehicle.

I know one thing for sure... if what I said was incorrect, someone will correct me

ETA:
It bugged me so I looked it up...

A car is considered totaled if the insurance company decides that it would cost more to repair the car than to replace it, the car cannot be repaired safely or if state laws require the company to define the car as a total loss due to extensive damage.

Insurance companies determine the Actual Cash Value (ACV) of the vehicle to determine whether it is totaled. This is done by noting the mileage and condition of the body, tires and interior. Based on this condition, the appraiser will find similar models being sold and base the total loss estimate on those comparable models. Insurance companies differ; some declare a vehicle totaled if repairs are 51 percent of the ACV, others might not declare it totalled unless repairs are closer to 80 percent.

[1998redwagon]

dude, your dad is so going to kill you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pGImPcgOTA

seriously, glad you are OK - so sorry about your car. hopefully something good will come of it.

[Seki]

Glad you and your passengers were all ok

[Thunderchildd]

dude, your dad is so going to kill you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pGImPcgOTA

seriously, glad you are OK - so sorry about your car. hopefully something good will come of it.

Haha! I saw this commercial last night when I got home. I'm in better spirits today, but I am really hoping she's totalled. There might be frame damage. My Mazda was never the same after they "fixed" the frame. Not to mention the CarFax blemish. Ugh.....I've had the car less than 6 weeks.

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone.

[diesel86]

There are much cheaper ways to get your wheels to "poke."

In all seriousness, I hope they total it for you, because even if the car is technically "right", it will never be the same in your mind...at least it wouldn't be for me. But then again, I have OCD when it comes to my cars. I wonder how successful people have been at haggling with insurance companies over compensation because of the negative effect of a Carfax blemish? I know car dealers look at that before they take in a trade. And even if it's a minor accident, potential buyers will hit you hard. My father in law just bought an '01 Porsche 911 Cabrio with 24k miles for under $25k because the there was an accident on the Carfax. In reality, the car was rear ended slightly just enough to scrape the bumper shell but other than that is untouched.

[Rico1]

Your Passat (the OP's) is obviously a beautiful car. I say "beautiful" in this context because it did what it's designed to do in such a case as this: protect the occupants. In the worst accident we've ever had, my wife was in such a wreck...and she came off with a few bruises from the seat belts and air bag. That was a beautiful car, and it could be and was replaced. Things can always be replaced; people cannot.

[DantesGTI]

maybe you can make it worth your while and collect money for pain and suffering. I was able to get 18,000 between my 05 gli and my pain and suffering last year. 18,000 definitely covers a 6 year old car and the pain and suffering from the accident. Not to mention the fact that it was a company that this happened with. I'm definitely not saying sue the man for everything he's worth, but reimbursement is for everything is warranted. Also dont worry so much about the driver or the owner of the company, because thats what they pay insurance companies for.

[Rico1]

maybe you can make it worth your while and collect money for pain and suffering. I was able to get 18,000 between my 05 gli and my pain and suffering last year. 18,000 definitely covers a 6 year old car and the pain and suffering from the accident. Not to mention the fact that it was a company that this happened with. I'm definitely not saying sue the man for everything he's worth, but reimbursement is for everything is warranted. Also dont worry so much about the driver or the owner of the company, because thats what they pay insurance companies for.

When I served on a jury, we actually spent most of our time in deliberations convincing two people that the money insurance companies have actually come from those who pay premiums, and isn't from some giant pot 'o gold.

In other news, judges normally prohibit a jury from any consideration of whether or not insurance was involved. It is not introduced into evidence, and jurors are prohibited from either discussing it or taking it into consideration in determining awards.

[TDI Brad]

I almost joined the club tonight. I was heading home from dinner with my wife and 6 month old daughter in the car when some dumb ass pulls right out in front of me across three lanes. If I had been going faster or hadn't slammed on the brakes, blew the horn and have them the finger I would have been T boned in the drivers side by a ****ty old jeep. I was watching them though because I thought they were going to pull into the center lane but nope. Man I would have been pissed, wait I am pissed. My wife stopped me from following them which probably wouldn't have ended so well for them. But at least all of us and the car are ok, thanks to good brakes. Sorry to steal your Thunder, haha, but I just needed to vent.

[brsexton]

WOW..sorry to see your nice car got hit. I hope it all works out for you.

I do have a question though, did the "Crash Response System" actually do what it was supposed to do (Kill the engine, turn on flashers, and unlock the doors)? Im just curious if this does what they claim it does.

[jkinzel]

WOW..sorry to see your nice car got hit. I hope it all works out for you.

I do have a question though, did the "Crash Response System" actually do what it was supposed to do (Kill the engine, turn on flashers, and unlock the doors)? Im just curious if this does what they claim it does.

Very good question.

[Thunderchildd]

I almost joined the club tonight. I was heading home from dinner with my wife and 6 month old daughter in the car when some dumb ass pulls right out in front of me across three lanes. If I had been going faster or hadn't slammed on the brakes, blew the horn and have them the finger I would have been T boned in the drivers side by a ****ty old jeep. I was watching them though because I thought they were going to pull into the center lane but nope. Man I would have been pissed, wait I am pissed. My wife stopped me from following them which probably wouldn't have ended so well for them. But at least all of us and the car are ok, thanks to good brakes. Sorry to steal your Thunder, haha, but I just needed to vent.

Glad you were able to avoid the accident, especially with your family in the car.

WOW..sorry to see your nice car got hit. I hope it all works out for you.

I do have a question though, did the "Crash Response System" actually do what it was supposed to do (Kill the engine, turn on flashers, and unlock the doors)? Im just curious if this does what they claim it does.

Yes, Yes and Yes. It did all three.

[DantesGTI]

I am now educated on how it works if it goes to court, mine never went to court, It's what the insurance company and I settled on. You should definitely let us know what becomes of the car


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[Thunderchildd]

I've finally been issued an insurance adjuster and Betty has been towed to the body shop. They are going to start tear-down/estimate today.

[Thunderchildd]

Bad news is she isn't totalled. Good news is there is no frame damage. Someone requested pics of the airbags, here you go:

[SEBZX79]

FYI you dont want the car any more, more then likely it is totaled so I would not worry about it but if they give you a choice move on. I am in the salvage biz and I would not want this fixed. Insist on replacement and get a TDI next time

[SEBZX79]

I call that BS there is damage to the unibody. There is no frame on this vehicle, they need to take the whole rear quarter apart and weld a new one in. Push their insurance company to replace the vehicle!!!!

[darrelld]

Sorry to hear about your car, but glad everyone was ok.

[Thunderchildd]

I call that BS there is damage to the unibody. There is no frame on this vehicle, they need to take the whole rear quarter apart and weld a new one in. Push their insurance company to replace the vehicle!!!!

FYI you dont want the car any more, more then likely it is totaled so I would not worry about it but if they give you a choice move on. I am in the salvage biz and I would not want this fixed. Insist on replacement and get a TDI next time

Obviously I will push for a new vehicle, but the car cost $30k there is about $15k in damage, they aren't going to total it, and I test drove a TDI and it is not for me.

[turboDSG]

that is a decent amount 50% before getting too involved in the repairs which usually always cost more once it gets going.. then there is the rental car costs, etc. These hard headed insurance companies are so foolish sometimes. My mom and I were rear ended in her 2001 2.7T A6 by a big 4 door dodge ram at about 50mph. Thankfully besides some chiropractor visits we were fine and the car didn't even show much damage on the exterior. Open the trunk though and it looked like an accordion. We were able t drive it home and to the body shop.. what a car that was...

They fixed it.. and it took 6 months with all the parts delays getting parts from germany many of which were backordered.. it was only a few months old that was the first year of the 2.7T.

our rental car bill which insurance paid was almost $15K on top of the damage which was about the same amount.. granted it was nearly a 50K dollar car but that is just stupid. We had ourselves a nice pontiac bonnaville for 6 months that I learned to drive in and off road in the AZ desert.