Totalled Car....now what?

Question

I was in a wreck yesterday, but only have liability insurance. My car has been totalled out. Is there anything I can do to recoupe some of my money?

Answer 1

with liability only, and you being at least half at fault, i think you already understand that the ins. co will not pay you anything. what you are asking is about the wrecked value of the car?

there are a lot of unknowns... but yes, someone will pay you for what you have. how much is dependent upon what type of car, how new, and how much of it is salvagable.

if it was hit just hard enough to make the repair cost just more than the replacement value, there may be people who will buy it (VERY cheap) with the intent to buy the parts themselves and make it whole again. others may buy the car for the usefull parts left on it. some junkyards may buy it from you whole - however they will only give you a 'bid' after seeing the car, which usually means towing it in. this means that they CAN say, "oh, that's mostly junk. i could give you $50 for it, but it's not really worth any more to me;" knowing that you'd rather leave it there than pay the tow truck driver to drive it back to your place. at very least, many metal recyclers will pay for a junked frame. (some will require that it be stripped in order to pay "scrap value.")

another option is to part the car out yourself. to do this, you obviously need a place to store the car for some period of time (preferably out of the weather,) where it can slowly be dismantled. you would likely get the most $$ out of it this way, but it's also the most work. engine and trans usually fetch the most. some models have big markets for seats. newer models have a higher the demand for body parts, specifically the front end parts (hood / fenders / headlights etc.) Ebay is good for small stuff like door handles, or radio, cig lighter, etc... for example, i sold both driver and passenger headlights on my '92 acura for $360 on ebay, because they're the expensive glass housings (and the car is pretty rare.) Look at the car and figure out what is still in good working condition.

when you're tired of the hunk of junk sitting next to the house you have to pay a hauler to take it to one of those metal recyclers, or sometimes the scrap metal yard will pay the tow bill if you give it to them (and it's stripped.)

if it's not that much damage, and you're not into the work of parting it out - there are quite a few people out there who will buy it to fix it themselves, but they're going to want to buy it cheap enough to make it worth THEIR time too...

Answer 2

I take it you wrecked your car.
Then liability helps anyone else in the wreck NOT YOU. The best you can do is scrap the car at a salvage yard and get what you can out of it.
If the other guys caused the wreck then it is his insurance that will reimburse you not your insurance company.

Answer 3

Well that depends. With liability only, your insurance will pay NOTHING. If this was someone else's fault then you can file against that person's insurnace, and they would explain the process to you.

Answer 4

Not if you are at fault and you have liability only. Any damage done to your own vehicle, (if you are at fault), will be an out-of-pocket expense,.....Sorry :(

If the other driver was at fault, then you get to claim it under their insurance and get some compensation for your lose.

Answer 5

If you're at fault, not much. Contact a salvage yard & see if they'll take it off your hands.

If you're not at fault, and another person is responsible--have their insurance handle your damages.

Answer 6

If it was your fault your screwed liabilty dont cover your car just the persons you ran into or damages you caused

Answer 7

Part it out or sell it to a metal recycling company.

Answer 8

yea, sell what's left of it piece by piece on ebay .

Answer 9

probably only what your insurance can give you...

Answer 10

im happy you are healthy and alive