My Car’s Been Totaled
My assumption was correct, the repairs my car needs exceeds the value of my car. The estimate came up just short of $4,000 and is a “total loss” on the car. So now I wait for the insurance company to call with their offer. I’m a little unsure of how to proceed from this point forward because I want to be sure that I am properly compensated for my car.
This afternoon I’ll spend looking up the receipts for the recent repairs done on my car. In January I made the difficult decision to complete a major repair on my car based on the decision that I would be driving it for the next 5 years – or that the daughter would be driving it within that time. After 155,000 miles, my car finally needed a new clutch! I am very proud of the fact that the clutch lasted that long, especially considering that I learned to drive stick in this car and my first year of driving probably took a toll on it. At that time, I also replaced the front breaks and rotors, in addition to all new spark plugs and wires. All of these repairs added up to about $900, I think. I fully expect that to be part of negotiation for my car – because the blue book value alone for a 10 year old car with more than 155,000 miles in average shape probably doesn’t factor in these recent repairs. I also have relatively new rear tires on the car, though finding documentation on that might be harder since they were replaced during our previous move and papers got shifted around a lot. This is a good reminder to file papers promptly and properly!
We’ll certainly keep the car because it gets better gas mileage than the other two vehicles we own (and we just don’t throw out cars, I guess). Hopefully the repair needed on the rear wheel that was slightly damaged will be simply, maybe just a bent rim, and we’ll still have the car and the cash value of it as well. The partner is willing to drive it to work on his 60-miles-a-day commute and enjoys the fact that beat-up cars get the right of way in most situations. I won’t drive it because the passenger door is not functional and I have vanity issues that won’t let me drive something thats looks as it does.
My only concern is if there are any traffic/vehicle safety laws in Maryland that restrict your ability to drive a vehicle with more-than-minor body damage. I’ve always heard things about properly functioning tail lights, safety mirrors, and such, but is there laws that define when a vehicle is unfit to drive? Luckily, Maryland only does safety inspections at the point of title transfer – versus other states that do them on a regular schedule. I certainly don’t want to attract any unwanted attention from state troopers. Luckily, with the partner driving, the risk is less because he is much more diligent and consistent with driving within designated limits than I am.
Punny Money
April 25th, 2008 13:04
Usually MD State Troopers only issue repair orders for improperly functioning or dangerous vehicles (but they CAN issue $50 tickets along with them for each infraction). Here’s all the things they can issue a repair order for:
http://mva.state.md.us/AboutMVA/INFO/58000-04T.htm#appendixA
There’s nothing on the list for “car looks like Swiss cheese.” :)
Of course, if a state trooper decides your vehicle is unfit to drive because of the two-foot-deep indentation in the passenger side, I’m sure he could find a way to cite you anyway. But I see so many vehicles on the road with RIDICULOUS amounts of damage, so either the police aren’t paying attention or the drivers are extra cautious.