Heartbroken

[David Craig]

I feel your pain. Good luck with the repair.

You may not appreciate it now but at least you were not hurt.

[Tharssus]

Well, she was totaled. About to list her on the sticky in salvage yard. There was $25k of damage not including the frame. They say the frame is torn and the title is scrap: can't be driven again on the roads of Florida. They want about $8,000 for the scrap: I don't think it is worth this, though I would love the tires and the hard top back (legally as per the earlier conversation).

[Tharssus]

I forgot to add the Happy Ending: I found an even better orange Elise just 250 miles away form me with 7,055 miles on it: touring and sports package in meticulously cared for condition. I've got my dream car back... and even better than before!!

[Surge]

Great to hear you found another car! Take care and enjoy!

On a side note - we shouldn't take these "salvage values" at face value. There's no way your car is worth $8K. The buyer will strip it and sell the undamaged parts and make a large profit! I just hate the insurance / auto body repair industry. They lie and cheat us, their clients!

[Heavyweight]

glad it worked out for you

[Aedo]

Originally Posted by Surge

Great to hear you found another car! Take care and enjoy!

Hear Hear!!

Originally Posted by Surge

On a side note - we shouldn't take these "salvage values" at face value. There's no way your car is worth $8K. The buyer will strip it and sell the undamaged parts and make a large profit! I just hate the insurance / auto body repair industry. They lie and cheat us, their clients!

I disagree with you on this. The primary salvageable parts on that car are probably worth ~$8k (rear clam, engine and gearbox, wheels, seats, hardtop) - but no matter how you slice it you aren't going to make a large profit out of it.

[Tharssus]

Now you got me thinking. If I use lotusgarage.com, knock 65% off list price I get the following:
Engine: $4,655
Transmission: $3,036
Good bits*: $4,639
Total: $12,329

So about 50% "gross margin" profit or, put another way, about $4000 profit less the cost in time and transport to get the car, extract parts, and sell them... not a bad deal, if the 65% discount is right.

And all I want is the hard top!

I call good bits: rear clam, seats, hard top, (new) tires, A/C compressor, and wheels.