Well, this happened... :(

[devo]

You probably don't recognize me because I'm new here. I'd just gotten my car up to date maintenance-wise and was starting my plan of attack for more mods. As it was I had a stage 2 bugeye... Invidia catless exhaust, Cobb tuned, Perrin suspension stuff and pulleys, etc. Literally a week ago I replaced the brakes with better ones and replaced the O2 sensor/added a spacer to the rear sensor. My baby was purring like a kitten.



Then this...





I'd lent the car to a friend since his was broken and it was snowing. Bad combination of weather, being cut off by a minivan, lack of snow tires and perhaps a little overconfidence led to this mess.

Nobody was hurt. Friend busted his lip, but that's it.

I'm kinda heartbroken.

[devo]

So anyway... waiting to hear from insurance as to what they'll give me for it (it's a total) as well as what they'll offer for a buy-back. I'm heading up to look at 'er tomorrow to see what parts are able to be salvaged/sold, so that as well as the buy-back price will determine if I go that route... I've never done that before so any advice in that arena would be appreciated. I have access to lots of people who can help tear it down as well as a place to store it/its parts.

Also, I'm hoping to get the exact same thing, so I'll keep my eyes out here for an '02/'03 with little mods or none at all (just because I'd like to do it myself, and will already have some of the stuff, if I do buy it back).

[TalonTsi97]

ugh that sucks, i'd find a GC shell and swap everything over. Good luck!

[dugganzx3]

Damn dude, that front end took a shot, I always thought Subaru's held up a bit better in accidents than those pics lead me to believe. That sucks though man, good luck. I've had 2 cars wrecked, both totaled. The buyback usually depends on the car and the insurance company. I've never bought one back, if your set on finding the same car, or if your drivetrain is still solid, it would most likely be worth swapping over everything from this car to another Impreza, or a WRX.

[devo]

Originally Posted by dugganzx3

Damn dude, that front end took a shot, I always thought Subaru's held up a bit better in accidents than those pics lead me to believe. That sucks though man, good luck. I've had 2 cars wrecked, both totaled. The buyback usually depends on the car and the insurance company. I've never bought one back, if your set on finding the same car, or if your drivetrain is still solid, it would most likely be worth swapping over everything from this car to another Impreza, or a WRX.

Well, considering both passengers walked away virtually unscathed (despite the fact that only ONE was wearing a seatbelt)... I'd say the car held up well enough. At least it protected them.

And I do think it took quite a hit, yes. I'm sure speed and weather conditions made for an exaggerated impact. From the way it sounded, things just got out of hand really fast, in a bad way.

So yea, interested to hear from insurance. I've had others recommend the swap too (obviously). Plus the value of the exhaust and other aftermarket parts alone may be worth a buyback.

[Jjaeger240]

It probably won't be worth it to buy the car back. Everyone always thinks it is--it isn't. A lot of factors will depend on who you have insurance through.

Most policies allow an aftermarket parts allowance of $1000, however, everything depreciates. Based on your mods, you would probably just barely hit the $1000 cap. You reserve the right to choose when the shop moves your car from the towyard (note: don't push that because insurance can eventually cut off paying storage and you would be responsible if you make them hold it too long), so another option you have is to remove all of the current aftermarket parts and put on all of the stock items. You can only do this though if you still have the factory replacement parts. You would also have to reinstall all of the parts correctly and have the car in the same condition it was prior to the removal of the aftermarket parts. If not, it will lower the value of the car in conditioning on the total loss valuation.

General maintenance on a vehicle is exactly that, so don't expect a return or reimbursement of the brake job you just did or changing out the oxygen sensors. If you want the car to stay in a working, functional condition you needed to do that work--the timing just kind of blows.

And buyback; the value of the car in PA is based on the average between the valuation figures and what NADA values the car at. They then add in tag, title, and processing fees less your deductible and that's what you'll get for the car. IF you want to keep the car, they would then deduct the salvage value of the car and you would receive the remainder of the money left over and the car. Here's the big catch; this car would go for a lot of money at salvage. The more it's worth at salvage, the less of a return you get. ....And the bigger catch, the car does NOT have a high value. Street value may be high, but really this car is not worth a lot in the world of insurance. And with a high salvage and low value, it's only eating your return even worse.

All of this is contingent on the fact that you have collision coverage though. Your friend rear-ended somebody, game over. You're at fault for the accident on your policy. Just realize that insurance knows more than you so don't expect to be out for some big payday. Ask the right questions and you'll have better options.

[420sx]

Coming from someone who has bought 3 subarus back from insurance companies, I can without doubt attest to the fact that it will be WELL worth it for you to buy it back and part it out. The three subaru's I bought were all non-turbo, totaled, and one of them i spent $800 on. I turned at least a $2000 profit on all of them. Coupled with the fact that yours is a WRX and mine were all non-turbo, I cant imagine itd be worthwhile to let insurance take that away. Buy it back, part it out. For sure.

I would also go through and find any documents showing money youve put into the car. The price theyre going to give you for the car is always negotiable, and if you can back up your claim that the car is worth more than what theyre offering, youll be in a better position to ask them for more. Once you've agreed on the amount theyre paying out, then request the buyback information.

[lownslow95]

That sucks man, and now I bet you won't lend you're car to friends anymore.

[devo]

Wow- lots of varied opinions (as usual). Thanks for the input, guys. I'll consider all of it. Just trying to get the most outta my loss.
The adjuster actually seemed pretty nice. I told him I just dropped some coin on the brakes/sensor last week and he said if I can produce receipts he'll take that into consideration.

Lots to think about I guess.

[devo]

Originally Posted by lownslow95

That sucks man, and now I bet you won't lend you're car to friends anymore.

Haha! There were only a couple people I let drive it anyway... all of whom are experienced drivers with performance cars that I trusted and still do. But yea... kinda has me freaked for sure.

[AWD GS]

Originally Posted by 420sx

Coming from someone who has bought 3 subarus back from insurance companies, I can without doubt attest to the fact that it will be WELL worth it for you to buy it back and part it out. The three subaru's I bought were all non-turbo, totaled, and one of them i spent $800 on. I turned at least a $2000 profit on all of them. Coupled with the fact that yours is a WRX and mine were all non-turbo, I cant imagine itd be worthwhile to let insurance take that away. Buy it back, part it out. For sure.

If you have the time and space then yes id buy it back too. i parted a car out and made 4k off of it years ago. it just takes some time.

glad to hear everyone was ok

[xhrl]

sucks to see this happen, hope all goes well with insurance.

[PunkboySL2]

RIP ruby

[tigasTT]

Sorry to see this....

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

[russiankid]

Awd doesn't help in braking in the snow, but that sucks man.

[TROLL]

Sorry to see this... one thing you should identify if you haven't already is if the motor looks like it is in tact or not. Is anything broken on the engine, particularly the timing belt cover / timing belt assembly? If the engine is still good then that will be the biggest value in the car and you could sell a complete swap or you could use the swap into a different Impreza.
Good luck with everything!

[devo]

Originally Posted by TROLL

Sorry to see this... one thing you should identify if you haven't already is if the motor looks like it is in tact or not. Is anything broken on the engine, particularly the timing belt cover / timing belt assembly? If the engine is still good then that will be the biggest value in the car and you could sell a complete swap or you could use the swap into a different Impreza.
Good luck with everything!

We checked it out yesterday and there is some broken plastic on the front but the pulleys are all intact and move normally. I think I may get some second opinions. If the motor's not good I don't know that it would be worth the buy-back.
Though there is the full exhaust and everything that would cost a lot to replace as opposed to switching over... hmmm, lots to think about.

[devo]

Originally Posted by PunkboySL2

RIP ruby

Indeed. She was great.
But everyone's okay which is amazing.

...Turd pants is looking less and less like a Simpsons character every day.

[420sx]

If you decide NOT to buy it back, find out what the buyback price would be, and ill give you $100 on top of that for it.

[dugganzx3]

Originally Posted by Jjaeger240

General maintenance on a vehicle is exactly that, so don't expect a return or reimbursement of the brake job you just did or changing out the oxygen sensors. If you want the car to stay in a working, functional condition you needed to do that work--the timing just kind of blows.

Not entirely true, it depends on your insurance company, I know when my Impala was rear ended, I had just had new tires put on a few weeks before, granted I paid maybe $180, but they gave me back about $120. They do pay for some stuff, but you need receipts, or your garage to talk to the insurance company.