Got hit, recommendations? Will my car get totaled? KBB doesn't go beyond 1993(pics)

[Figit090]

Hi all I've been away for quite a while again, personal life and my budding business keep me from really doing much in the car world.
synopsis: Do you think my car will get totaled? Whats your guess for outcome and do you have any tips for me? I plan to pick a shop from State Farms' list and have it looked at as normal, and get a rental car while (and if) it is in the shop.

Anyway...I woke up at 3:30am to hear tire tread struggling to get grip outside, and despite being sick and half asleep I knew someone slid down our driveway, which is shared with neighbors. I dreaded the worst, and well.. I got somewhat close to that. Toyota meets Toyota, but my car was on bottom. :aigo::icon_mad: Great.

I was sick with a stomach bug, so after I took pictures and got info I promptly went back inside to thaw out, and throw up some more. Too sick to care. :cry:

I was blessed with a nice dent in my front fender, smashed turn signal, damage to the lower lip on the side portion and some miscellaneous damage because the truck kinda sat on my car. I am assuming that State Farm, the party at fault's insurance, will bluebook the car to see if it is "totaled" or not, but I'm new at this. I was wondering if I could get some pointers so I get the best I can out of this.

My car is a black with tan interior 1986.5 (hardtop N/A of course) with a "clean" title. I say clean in quotations because someone wrecked it in the past, but the title doesn't show it. I see the folds behind my seats that were pulled out so I know better. This shouldn't hurt the value in the insurance company's eyes, though.
Anyway, any tips? Could this end up totaling and paying out the value with no repair, letting me keep the car? I see that as the best and entirely possible scenario here (my dad was paid and kept the totaled truck he still drives), but I've never done this, and I have no real clue what my car is worth as KBB only goes back to 1993 now...

Here are some images of the silliness, this car has been through a lot going by the damage I've discovered while owning her, but it still looks sad:



[URL="http://s58.beta.photobucket.com/user/rcfreak090/media/DSC_9843_zps145abb28.jpg.html"] [/URL]

 

[AbsoluteSpeed]

I went thru this with my last supra. Insurance will write it off if the damage exceeds 3/4 the value of the car.

If there is any frame damage (witch I highly doubt) it is a goner but if it is cosmetic you might just be safe.
Looks like bumper, fender, signal, nose piece and grill will have to be replaced and painted. Issue being most of these parts are not available new. If you want to save your baby you can try working with the insurance company and source used parts yourself.

Best of luck with everything, keep us updated.

 

[Figit090]

3/4...good to know. I wish I knew what they will value my car at.

No frame damage from this wreck but it's had plenty in the past, which is why I'm actually hoping for money out of this rather than a fix, because this car is about done. I want to save her but not in the sense that she will look new again. Just save from a crusher or being sold. I was thinking someday using the chassis for a race or drag car, somehow hang onto it.

 

[AbsoluteSpeed]

I can't remember exactly but I think they assigned mine a value of $2000 maybe less. It was pretty rough with rust and high km's.

If you have any recent maintenance receipts submit them to the insurance company. They gave me something like 40% of the value of any upgrades done. Having rebuilt the engine with forged internals and other goodies they ended up paying me out $7500. (I was trying to sell it for much less so I was happy)

You also have the option of buying it back from the insurance company and parting it out or something. But it may not be worth it being a pre 89 NA car.. Depends on the price I guess.

 

[Poodles]

They'll try to lowball you (as it's their job to pay the least they need to). Getting a real value is easy, look around on craigslist or on ebay and see what cars in your shape and age ar going for.

IMHO it's not totalled as it doesn't look like the damage is bad at all.

 

[Grandavi]

Doesnt look totalled to me. Not quite sure if the bumper is just cosmetic (repaint), but partswise, its pretty cheap to repair that area... (from what I can see, damage is to bumper, fender, possibly inner wheel well, not sure of the front valance (under the nose cover). It looks pretty easy to fix though.]

cant figure out how he hit you though.. back up over the front??

 

[Figit090]

Cool thanks everyone, I was thinking it might be possible to hit the value of my car since it's the oldest of the mkIIIs and I might need to get crafty trying to keep it but get paid for the damage. I'll schedule the repair and see how it goes, and report back with news.

I hadn't washed it and have been parking in the shade for weeks, so it looks gross, hopefully that doesn't hurt the value, lol.

Yep he backed up over the front, or rather slid off the hill and backed up simultaneously, onto my car. very steep hill and driveway he backed down. The first image of the truck shows the driveway, the shot taken from about 5.5 feet up (bit lower than my height) from a mostly level drive that slopes down toward my car a bit. the front tire of his truck is a good 4 or more feet higher than the back as it sat, over 5 feet than the articulated tire against my fender..

 

[Grandavi]

I have found that 86.5 to 88 seem to have roughly the same value with 89-80 being slightly higher. 91 and 92 are highest and rarest from what I can tell. (I dont recall ever seeing a 91... odd now that I think of it).
Saleswise, I have seen them 2k - 6k roughly, but would try to use about a 4.5k - 6.5k value for insurance.

Mine is appraised though. I wouldn't let it out of the garage if it wasn't.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

@Grandavi: GOT_BOOST's red car was a '91.

Get the estimate, but let the adjuster know that you're willing to look for parts. There are enough of these being parted out that you should be able to fix it.

If it's mechanically sound, and you never plan on selling it, it may be worth your time to fix it even if they do write it off. Don't know about there, but here, they let you buy it back for 10% of what they would settle for, so if they tell you it's worth $3k, you buy it back for $300, and get a cheque for $2700. That should buy a fender, nose, bumper cover and signal light, and if the car is otherwise good enough to pass an inspection, you're good to go. You'd probably end up replacing those parts on your own to save on labour costs, but they're not too difficult.

Of course just getting it fixed is best, so start looking for price comparison.

 

[te72]

Sorry to hear this bud, I still remember the first time my 88 was hit, my stomach about sank to my ankles. Was enjoying an otherwise great evening with friends at Village Inn, texting the girl I was with at the time, and my ears perked up when I heard the staff mention, "I wonder who's Toyota that was?" Oh shit, I thought to myself... and yeah. Guy backed right into me. Not quite as bad as your case though.

Good luck, and keep us posted with how it turns out.

 

[Figit090]

te72, sorry to hear that, I would dread that happening. Guess I kinda got lucky though because whether he wanted to leave or not, he was stuck on my car and I was able to get insurance info no problem.

Grandavi, Dan, thanks for your posts. Looks like the body shop couldn't get KBB on it, and the other value he found was on the order of $6k, so hopefully the insurance doesn't say otherwise, and the damage receipt was about $2300. The body shop said this insurance company takes care of people and that I could consider getting a check and paying for the repair, or not if I want to.

I think I'm going to take the money, keep driving the car as is, and use the money to fund my photography business, which I was so desperately needing! I may attempt to do some bodywork myself, it looks like I can punch the dent out myself without much trouble.

What's behind the plastic portion of the bumper though? sheet metal? All in all I could go at a worse repair and I think I can fix this, perhaps without painting, myself. I have tools for painting too if I have to.

HOW ON EARTH does Toyota have a fender still in stock? That shocked me, I almost want to buy that sucker just to have a spare, lol!

 

[Grandavi]

You can get used fenders for about 50 bucks.
The Bumper sits on top of a steel "crumple bar".. (best way I can describe it)
Is fairly simple to get off and it has a foam pad fit into the urethane that may have broke, but not critical.

Overall, almost everything you need to fix that should cost you about 500'ish imo. Just takes a bit of hunting... providing nothing is twisted to make stock part replacement difficult.

I have spares in my garage for this type of an event. More than I want.. lol.. but I have to organize them so I can tell what I need and sell the rest. My theory is we should all have 2 supras in storage as parts cars..
I know I have a 88 Front bumper hanging on my wall (grey and in near perfect shape but I put the pad into my Shine Auto Gracer replica bumper), the 88 grilles, the Valance metal piece (fits under the nose), the signal light. Only thing I am missing is the fender.. lol. 88 Bumpers are easy to find and cheap.. everyone goes to the 89+ style (which you might want to consider yourself). The Gracer 89+ one is from Shine auto and sells for 200 bucks, but would need prep and paint. Nicer bumper though imo.

My motto with these cars are.. anything that goes wrong is a good excuse to upgrade....

Oh.. my only concern regarding your car is that it doesnt get a salvage title. Apparently thats hard to get rid of in the states...

 

[Silver MK3]

Sorry to hear about your car.

Here are some places that have values on our cars. Maybe this will help

http://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars/1986/Toyota/Supra/3-Door-Liftback-1986-5/Values
http://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/HVT/VehicleSearch/Report?vc=1345784

I think there is another place that does values on classic cars, I think the name starts with a V, but I cant think of it right now.

 

[Figit090]

Thanks Grandavi! Great to know, and I'll look at that bumper. Honestly though with this car, my plan was to give up on it when the engine quit, because I can't justify putting more in for a daily driver. It's had frame damage, the engine isn't worth more money, the AC is dead, electronics are having issues, door fitment needs adjustment, the hatch leaks, there's body damage that should be addressed for nice aesthetics, the rear subframe needs replacing, the clutch cylinders and maybe the clutch need replacing, and the transmission and diff don't feel happy. It's about to hit 150k, which isn't much, but it's had a hard life and it shows when driven. It is a certifiable money pit, I spent a lot replacing the braking system the last time I worked on her, and that took a lot out of my reserve for this car, mentally, if that makes any sense. Too much for too little...I could put work into a more pristine car with more potential but this just needs work everywhere, and it drains my mind just thinking about the parts and labor for me to get it where I want it.

I would need a fresh unmolested unwrecked supra to even think about beginning to upgrade, it's just my style I guess. This car would need work in almost every area, and that would be SO expensive, I could buy a new car, or a MKIV in decent shape! (can't afford either). It's a sad truth, when you pay less than $2,000 for an old sportscar, from what I've learned, it better be a single owner peach from a 60 year old because if it isn't...it's going to cost a lot more!

I may keep it for a track car when I get another car (down the line, have to buy a camera right now) though, perhaps part out the interior (I have been told my tan cloth interior is rare, or at least better sought than maroon or BLUE for example, lol). I thought it would be fun to put a new engine in, maybe even a SBC and some suspension, make it an autocross car for fun. I'm not sure it would be at all competitive with it's weight but it would be fun, and I could keep it for sentimental value that way, albeit a bit changed.

Silver MK# - thanks, I'm sorry too, it's been through a lot. Some evidence of prior accidents tell me it has been severely damaged in its past a few times, which is why I haven't the heart to keep spending on it, the chassis is probably tired and I get nervous driving it sometimes knowing the hacking I've witnessed below (random steel sheet and shitty welds holding the rear A-arm on!! Solid welds and holding but honestly...the welds are messy and I'm better off without that risk). I'll be getting a new daily driver for my business as soon as I can afford it, but for now this runs and drives and has for years so I trust it enough for basic driving. I just think I should consider my own safety and look for a safer, mechanically sound vehicle.

It could use a new rear subframe though, badly. I thought about nabbing a $500 parts car, gray N/A supra, perhaps he'll let it go for $100 and I can resurrect that car, or...hell I dunno. I just want a running finished condition JZ mkIII, no more old abused stuff. :/

 

[OneJArpus]

NADA.COM it'll be in the "Classic" tab. IIRC 6500 is the going rate for the supra classic stats. Stand your ground at all times!!!

 

[te72]

te72, sorry to hear that, I would dread that happening. Guess I kinda got lucky though because whether he wanted to leave or not, he was stuck on my car and I was able to get insurance info no problem.

I think I'm going to take the money, keep driving the car as is, and use the money to fund my photography business, which I was so desperately needing! I may attempt to do some bodywork myself, it looks like I can punch the dent out myself without much trouble.

I got pretty lucky and he stayed after hitting my car.

As for using the money for the photography business, it sounds like a case of strange blessings to me.

It could use a new rear subframe though, badly. I thought about nabbing a $500 parts car, gray N/A supra, perhaps he'll let it go for $100 and I can resurrect that car, or...hell I dunno. I just want a running finished condition JZ mkIII, no more old abused stuff. :/

Tee hee, you might be after the wrong car my friend...

 

[91Supra313]

I dont know where you are located but I have an 88 front bumper, support bar ( crush bar ) and foam pad sitting in the basement. Come and get them if you are anywhere near Clarksville TN and they are yours. I have been wanting to get rid of them for quite a while now since I took my last one to the scrap yard. Taking up room now. I figure it would be my good deed for the year. lol.

 

[Figit090]

I got pretty lucky and he stayed after hitting my car.

As for using the money for the photography business, it sounds like a case of strange blessings to me.


Tee hee, you might be after the wrong car my friend...

Yes indeed, I was saving for a $1400 camera body, and about halfway there after a few months of saving, because working for yourself is difficult in the beginning! Now I don't have to wait and I can double or triple my income because I can do weddings now, assuming the check does come. I haven't heard from the insurance company yet but I don't want to pressure them and get denied a check...and told to just go get it fixed.

As for the car, LOL yeah it does sound contradictory. What I want is a car that has been taken care of though, I mean that I want a professionally installed known-mileage or fully rebuilt engine in a car that doesn't have more than 150k on the clock, from a newer vintage, and was taken care of. There are examples like that out there. I do NOT want a backyard or even small-shop swapped 1jz or 2jz setup from an anonymous Japanese clip that has no mileage recorded and wasn't rebuilt, thrown in a dirty chassis with interior issues and the need for paint.

I want a peach of a swapped car, one that looks new still and looks stock and clean under the hood, and inside. It will cost a lot but it's still a more realistic goal than a MKIV, and they do turn up. I've seen some change hands over the years and just drooled. Like that two-tone tan/brown MKIII with brown rims and I think a 1.5JZ setup, clean as you could hope for and probably turning 400hp on street gas.

I dont know where you are located but I have an 88 front bumper, support bar ( crush bar ) and foam pad sitting in the basement. Come and get them if you are anywhere near Clarksville TN and they are yours. I have been wanting to get rid of them for quite a while now since I took my last one to the scrap yard. Taking up room now. I figure it would be my good deed for the year. lol.

Thank you so much! I live in California or I would take you up on this, that's very kind of you.

 

[Grandavi]

Your car got hit, so their insurance has to pay you? (thats how it works here)
I would get as much as possible out of it, whatever they offer you I would ask for about 15% minimum more...

of course.. i dont know how your insurance works there, but I would be valuing the car at 4500-6000 and stand my ground as much as possible. Talking to a lawyer is free as well. (most people shy away from involving one in a mishap like this, but sometimes its worth it)

 

[Figit090]

Your car got hit, so their insurance has to pay you? (thats how it works here)
I would get as much as possible out of it, whatever they offer you I would ask for about 15% minimum more...

of course.. i dont know how your insurance works there, but I would be valuing the car at 4500-6000 and stand my ground as much as possible. Talking to a lawyer is free as well. (most people shy away from involving one in a mishap like this, but sometimes its worth it)

Sorry for the late reply, I was in the middle and got doing something else.

Yep, they apparently have to, or at least did, pay me upon my request. I should be receiving a check for the estimate of the damages in the mail in the next few days! I'm pretty happy about it, because as unsightly as the dent is I did need money and I want a new car, so this will allow me to buy a second camera to start doing wedding photos. That will bring me a new car soon enough, and it would have taken months longer if I hadn't had this happen.

The car was not totaled as far as I know, the value that the body shop appraised by researching online was around six grand, and I am not certain what the insurance company decided but I am guessing it was not totaled because they never called to tell me so and when I asked for a check he said he was going to get it taken care of the next day.

Thanks for the advice, I'll come back if something happens but it looks like I benefited from this accident to an extent, or rather traded my car's aesthetics for more important things.