[JayKayo]

Recently, my 325Ci was totaled. I'm still currently a full-time college sophomore working almost full-time. My parents refused to guide/help me through the insurance claims process (they blame me for the collision) so if you have any idea how the insurance claims process works, please share.

Details: It was the 72 year-old's fault. He has State Farm and I have AllState, full coverage.
There were 3 witnesses and I have their phone number, cops filed a report and listed the info.
I've filed a claim already and the adjuster came and already slapped a little ID tag on my windshield, I'm guessing that it means they've appraised/calculated the salvage value on her or something. She's currently sitting at a local collision center.
I hired a lawyer and am seeing a chiropractor, whiplash got my neck and head pretty good.
I currently have a rental car, paid for 30 days by insurance. After that I'm f****d unless I get the claim money and get into another E46 but I've heard that for the money to get into my hands would take 3-4 months.

1) My vehicle registration is in the glove compartment which is jammed shut by the caved-in passenger door. Do I need to retrieve it or is it void/null?
2) Will I get more money from insurance if I show them receipts of parts that I had installed just recently? Like Vanos/oil line/hoses, headlights, angel eyes, etc.
3) What do I do now? Should I call my insurance or my lawyer to check on the progress? Or wait for someone to call ME back.

I want to buy the wreck back and part it out. Some undamaged parts are the hood (believe it or not), headlights (DEPO though), trunk, and seats. I will tell you now, the seats are comparable to new factory ones. I hand-conditioned them with Meguiar's every time I washed her and there are absolutely no creases, bumps, indents, folds, discoloration....nothing.

Feel free to make me an offer on any part(s) and/or leave me a piece of advice! Both would be greatly appreciated.

Some pictures:

 

[JayKayo]

Facelift coupe bites the dust. One less beautiful car on the road!

Sorry to see this as no doubt you are too.
What color is that car?

Silver grey.

It's going to depend on mileage and the value of the car. The insurance won't pay for any aftermarket parts you put on the car.
Another problem is that the insurance company that is going to pay you is not your company it's the other parties company, If they are actually at fault. The reason that may come into play is that the insurance company paying you is not your company so they won't be as flexible in the buy back amount for your car for your car. Since you have a salvage tag on your car, they already have an amount which they are going to pay you.
The insurance is going to pay the collision center any tow and storage fees up to the day you guys settle, so if you want to keep your car you better have a way and a place to get it out of there or else you will pay the storage fees.

Good luck with everything.

Aren't they going to pay me for the previous condition from what they can assess currently? The title was clean before the collision; it was around 112,xxx miles when it happened.

see my thread, good luck, hope you feel better

Will do, thank you.

 

[JayKayo]

Sorry about the accident. I hope the insurance from the other party pays you up quickly.

The registration being in the glove box will not affect you, unless you have your title in the glove box too. Once the insurance declares the car as total loss, you just give/sign them the title and they give you a cheque. But you might want to get the registration out of there anyway, you don't want your information going to someone else. That car is going to go in the auction after they take possession of it.

And no, the insurance will not pay for the maintenance you have done in your car.
If you have receipts showing the aftermarket parts (which didn't come with your car) you have put on the car like sound system, deck, (may be try for the headlights and angel eyes) they might pay for it but not for the mechanical(maintenance) parts.
Go through your insurance rather than the lawyer if you don't have bodily injury, because lawyer fees are high. And insurance company has their lawyers standing by all the time.

And buying the car back from the insurance without having time and place to work on it would not be a good idea. You will get rid of some parts quickly but then after it becomes a very slow waiting game.

Hope it gets resolved soon and you get well soon too.

Thanks.
My passenger door's jamming the box, so I will have to ask the guys at the collision center to pry it open for me to get it out. Will insurance pay for the labor cost or should I just kick down the door? (Probably not, I know...)

I do have aches/pain, and I had to miss class/work to see a chiropractor. Currently going on a regular basis; my lawyer contacted the other guy's insurance for me already.

I most likely won't buy it back then, I don't have a place to store the wreck. Shame....even the ///\/\ steering wheel's undamaged, airbag didn't pop.

 

[JayKayo]

A few months ago some guy totaled my 330ci I had full coverage with allstate, and they had progressive. The other parties insurance is going to talk to you, get documents ready, such as a note from you employer stating how much wages (how many wages?) you lost due to sick time. Theyre going to give you money (at least in my case) for pain and suffering, I then had them pay the remainder of the car rental bill, I had a $22/day car for 30 days, allstate covered $20/Day for 14 days and I had to pay upfront but was reimbursed by progressive. I told them I wanted my hospital copay, as well as the cost of gas because I had just filled up ~$70. it was my first time too and I was scared lol and looking back i could have got more because I had just got a $1,700 transmission repair but I didn't know to fight for that. Progressive had sent a claims adjuster to my house a day or so later so it was pretty easy, she was real pretty too, Hey Nena but what ever settlement you sign for the money will also have you agree not to pursue further action against them.

Ahh ok. I've kept the receipt for gas, had to fill my rental up right after I got it (cheap rental companies, always give you a car with a near-empty tank) and I also have been told that I would be paying around $4 a day on top of insurance for the rental. With all the documents, should I just give them to/contact my lawyer and have them sort it out or is it safe for me to talk directly to the other party's insurance?

Damn, glad your OK. You may want to consider picking up a beater for the time being. With that said, I have dealt with State Farm in the past. They are normally pretty quick with claims, hopefully you will have a similar experience.

Thank you. I currently have a rental car, paid for by my insurance.
I hope you're right about my case too. This Jeep makes me realize just how much I took my E46 for granted. :tsk:

 

[JayKayo]

wait, you're paying on top of what your insurance company authorized for rental?

Yes I am. My insurance covers up to $30 a day for up to 30 days for a rental car, but Enterprise told me that they are charging me about 4 bucks extra per day for taxes. I think they also talked about taking my deductible or something, they called my insurance. I heard I was able to pass this payment onto the other party's insurance and they'll cover it, is this true?

I worked at a body shop and I know they offer you current market value, which on an old e46 325 with 112k isn't going to be a huge amount.
Some of these cars are being sold for about $8,000...whats the real number if asking is around $8k?

Around my area, they're going for around $10,000 in the condition it was in before. KBB quoted a $10,640 at very good, which is honestly the condition that it was in before. I'll admit I wasn't very knowledgeable in the mechanics of the car (engine, transmission, etc.) so I had professionals handle that. But I was meticulous in its appearance so the paint was waxed/clayed regularly, interior panels/windshield lining/dash/etc. Armor-All'd, etc. Leather seats to this day are still firm and in near-perfect condition.
The adjuster obviously couldn't tell how it was running because it was totaled but just by looking at the interior, I hope it up'd the value because it's definitely nicer than most of the cars up for sale in the "Complete Cars" section of this site.

Whatever you do, do not talk to the other party's insurance company or their attorney! That is what you have insurance for. Let you insurance company deal with them. They have experience and are trained in these matters. You are not and you could cause more problems by talking to them directly. Don't do it.

Ok, that settles that. The only contact I've had since the accident was a voicemail left by his insurance. I didn't call back, told my attorney and had them call back.

 

[JayKayo]

I thought in michigan you have no fault insurance and You cant sue any one but Your own insurance co? Thats why they call it no fault?

I'm not actually from or living in Michigan, I just put that to keep myself fairly anonymous. A lot of people I know have E46's and I don't know if they are members here but I don't want to attract attention to myself.
Although I'm sure my wreck and possibly my mugshot are somewhere out there on the Internet. While I was calling AAA next to my car that night, a car or two stopped in the middle double yellow lane and snapped some pictures with their iPhones. :flipoff:

 

[JayKayo]

I got reimbursed for my clutch replacement after I totaled my Audi. I had paid for that clutch replacement a month or two before at a cost of over $1000, and they added a portion of that onto the check they wrote for the car. Wouldn't even be worth it to you to mention that air filter you replaced, or that oil you just changed.

$400 DEPO HIDs
$130 Duralast battery non-refundable
Plus labor costs for custom professional wiring of the headlights. I already gave up on the idea of reporting these costs, I've already heard too many firsthand accounts as well as from professionals that they won't reimburse me for them.