Question about my wrecked car

[melaniek]

I am new here but not new to the Aurora. I fell in love with my 1999 Aurora 8 years ago. It had 135,000 miles when I bought it. It now has 206,000 miles. On the 14th (last Wednesday) a young man who had eyes only for his phone swerved into the turn lane where I was stopped and hit the back passenger corner. Ouch. Then he took off. The estimated damage is over 4000. Sadly on that previous Monday I had spent close to 500.00 to have the radiator replaced. Last month I had a new battery put in plus oil change and tires rotated. In August I had car trouble while on vacation and the thermostat needed to be replaced.

Having never been in a wreck I am wondering this:

If my insurance totals the car. (am.pretty sure they will) should I take what USAA offers or would it pay more to sell it out for parts? It still drives but the tail lights don't work and the parking lights won't go off - I had to take out the fuses for those lights.

So I guess I am just asking for advice on what you would do.

My mechanic that replaced the radiator said the engine is still in great condition.

Thank you
Melanie Woodruff

[Paulaurora]

Do u have full coverage ? i would sell it for parts or fix it and just had salvage title . if you dont wanna bother with it then just take USAA

[Toronado3800]

That is a shame.

I bought back my Toronado after hail damaged it. Depending on the damage in the accident it may not be the best idea.

Personally if I can't do the repair work myself I hate paying someone to mess with it. I would be tempted to get my new radiator out and sell ot for even $50 though.

[human]

I hate to hear that. I hope you got the license number of the idiot who hit you and I hope the insurance company makes you a decent offer. Travelers offered me an insultingly small amount for my '98 when I wrecked it in 2009. I eventually got them to come up by threatening to go to the state insurance commissioner. Don't be afraid to play hardball. It's the only thing they seem to understand.

Daily Driver: 2011 Impala LT
Weekend Toy: 1995 Aurora

[kaytrox]

I got rear-ended in my 2001 by a 95 Suburban doing 40. Didn't even move the car, or move me in my seat. I only had the car 1 1/2 months, and his insurance totaled it, and paid me $2920 for it. I only paid $1475 for it. I took the keep the car and get a reconstructed title option. All that really happened, was that the trunk lid get bent up, the trunk frame got pushed in, and the bumper cowling got destroyed along with the fog lamps. Didn't even break the tail lights. I tied down the trunk lid, took off the cowling, and actually drove it like that for 10 months. It did nothing to the chassis or the rear quarter panels. So I bought a parts car for $400, picked up a '91 Mercury Capri convertible for $800, paid a frame shop $750 to fix the trunk frame, and stuck nearly a cool grand in my pocket on top of that.