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I am pretty sure I totaled my Lotus... input needed please!
I had an accident 1 week ago, it was my fault and my car was the only vehicle involved, speed was not a factor so to be short I made a mistake and my Lotus Elise is now in bad shape.
I made a claim with Progressive insurance several hours after the accident and several days later after the tow yard was open they picked the car up and had it towed to their site.
The adjuster called me and told me they were 99% sure that car was going to be a total loss but they cant be positive because they weren't able to establish a value for the vehicle. Since they have no value for the Elise they have nothing to compare the repair estimate to so they determine if its a total loss yet or not.
They informed me that they have a 3rd party that researches vehicle values and they would have that company search in a 150 mile radius at dealerships to find similar a similar make and model to get an average value. I told them that I was just at a dealership that had 3 Lotus Elise's on their lot and that I knew of another dealership that had 1 on their lot and gave my adjuster the info. I told them my vehicle has several factory options that would change the value and my adjuster told me they would document those at a later date.
The insurance adjust told me that they would have a value within 2 days, it has now been 6 days (including the weekend) and they still haven't figured it out. I am now getting worried that they might try to repair the car. It seems like it has some pretty serious damage so I would think that it would be totalled...
Here is the damage that I could tell by a simple visual inspection: The front of the vehicle is where the impact happened and then the passenger side got hit after the initial impact. The front clam is broke in half, the windshield is broken, the crash structure is broke in half, the passenger lower side is cracked and broken, the passenger door is cracked and broken, the passenger side rear clam is cracked and broken, both mirrors are broken off, the lower diffuser was ripped from the front and bent backwards, and several of the front lights are missing and broken.
I imagine that since the crash structure got hit and broken it could have sent some of that stress into the aluminum bonded chassis/frame. Is there any way for them to verify that the chassis/frame is undamaged and still safe? I have read there is no way to repair the chassis/frame.
If the car isn't a total loss I feel that I will be getting screwed because the car would lose value and that's unacceptable especially since the Lotus Elise appears to be rising in value, at least in my area anyway.
I have attached several pictures, what do you guys think about the damage, is it something that you think the insurance company might repair? It seems like I have seen Lotus's totaled for a lot less damage than this...
I had an accident 1 week ago, it was my fault and my car was the only vehicle involved, speed was not a factor so to be short I made a mistake and my Lotus Elise is now in bad shape.
I made a claim with Progressive insurance several hours after the accident and several days later after the tow yard was open they picked the car up and had it towed to their site.
The adjuster called me and told me they were 99% sure that car was going to be a total loss but they cant be positive because they weren't able to establish a value for the vehicle. Since they have no value for the Elise they have nothing to compare the repair estimate to so they determine if its a total loss yet or not.
They informed me that they have a 3rd party that researches vehicle values and they would have that company search in a 150 mile radius at dealerships to find similar a similar make and model to get an average value. I told them that I was just at a dealership that had 3 Lotus Elise's on their lot and that I knew of another dealership that had 1 on their lot and gave my adjuster the info. I told them my vehicle has several factory options that would change the value and my adjuster told me they would document those at a later date.
The insurance adjust told me that they would have a value within 2 days, it has now been 6 days (including the weekend) and they still haven't figured it out. I am now getting worried that they might try to repair the car. It seems like it has some pretty serious damage so I would think that it would be totalled...
Here is the damage that I could tell by a simple visual inspection: The front of the vehicle is where the impact happened and then the passenger side got hit after the initial impact. The front clam is broke in half, the windshield is broken, the crash structure is broke in half, the passenger lower side is cracked and broken, the passenger door is cracked and broken, the passenger side rear clam is cracked and broken, both mirrors are broken off, the lower diffuser was ripped from the front and bent backwards, and several of the front lights are missing and broken.
I imagine that since the crash structure got hit and broken it could have sent some of that stress into the aluminum bonded chassis/frame. Is there any way for them to verify that the chassis/frame is undamaged and still safe? I have read there is no way to repair the chassis/frame.
If the car isn't a total loss I feel that I will be getting screwed because the car would lose value and that's unacceptable especially since the Lotus Elise appears to be rising in value, at least in my area anyway.
I have attached several pictures, what do you guys think about the damage, is it something that you think the insurance company might repair? It seems like I have seen Lotus's totaled for a lot less damage than this...
