Claim adjusters for the insurance companies

[yuckmoon]

I just thought of something. Is anyone worried that if they get into an accident with their SMART that the insurance company will always say it's totaled because it's so small and they wont know enough about the SMART? I'm just asking because I've run across so real "intelligent" claims adjusters in the past. I think I would be a bit paranoid and insist that the claims adjuster speak with the mechanics at the dealership.

[rawlus®]

it would be very easy to total this car. considering foreign parts in short supply, OEM-only, repair only at authorized dealers, etc. this combined with the relatively low price... woudn't take much to do several thousand dollars worth of damage.

[Dunerunner]

However, considering the resale value, usually more than what the car was purchased for; I wonder what the insurance companies are paying smart owners whose cars are totaled?

[Flashman]

Most insurance companies go by cost of repair. If the estimate to repair is 60-75% (the actual percentage will vary) of the value of the car, they find it safer to just total it, since most repair estimates have "change orders" and can run higher than initial estimate. So, if the car is $13,000, that means they just need 7,000K in a repair estimate to total it. These days, that's like a two week repair. So if will take more than two weeks to fix, not worth it.

[rawlus®]

a resale value higher than MSRP is hypothetical as far as insurance is concerned.

i think that's something smart owners tell themselves to validate their decisions.

i don't think enough used smart cars are being sold for more than their original cost to consider it a determining factor for the size of the insurance check. the premium some would pay over MSRP fall into the "collector" category - what an enthusiast would pay, not what normal people would pay - i would expect MSRP minus any determined depreciation, unless you have special coverage which guarantees replacement cost instead of market value.

[yuckmoon]

I guess I'm just going from the few (thank God) pictures on here of wrecks and people saying their car was totaled. The cars didn't seem to have that much damage to me (at least not that I could see from the pics). I could agree with the coast of parts, or lack of and the depreciation. But I'm not buying it doesn't take much for such a small car. My last car was considered small, not this small, but it got smashed 4 times! I still have trouble understanding how it wasn't totaled, but not matter what insurance I had they aways said it was fixable. And then the dealer fixed her.

BTW - None of those 4 smashes were my fault. They were things like stoned person running a red light, or (my favorite) the guy in the huge pick-em-up truck that went to turn around in a parking lot and backed up over my cute little red car.

[JanetMermaid]

Originally Posted by Flashman

So if will take more than two weeks to fix, not worth it.

Sad but true. We really are a disposable society. Almost nothing is worth repairing these days.