After a lovely week of totalling one truck and another car being pretty banged up, my girlfriend and I were discussing what we are going to do about are transportation situation. Both cars we have, a 2000 Elantra and 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier are both in decent mechanical condition, nothing wrong with them, just some scraps and bumps on the body of the Elantra. The Cavalier was in excellent shape until the accident. It has 46,000 miles on it, sat in a garage for most of it’s life and was owned by a old man. With the extent of the damage though, we may think insurance will attempt to total it out, leaving us with one primary car. We have been tinkering around with the idea of getting something alittle newer and more comfortable for us.
Since I drive a work truck Monday-Friday, I don’t need a second car most of the time. She works odd hours, but we still rarely need that second car. I’ve been looking around and it seems that it would be 400-600 to repair the Cavalier with parts from a junkyard. If we do this, she would have her vehicle again, and the Elantra would sit more then its driven.
The insurance on the two cars for six months was around 700 dollars. If we were to get a new/newer car, are insurance would be about the same for full coverage as opposed to liability for two cars. Of course, we would also have a auto loan for a car, which we can afford around 400ish a month for a loan.
My question, what would you do, would you keep the two current cars, fix the Cavalier, and wait a few years until they start to fall apart? The more I think about it, the more I don’t think we NEED two cars, but again, both are paid off and low on the insurance.
Discuss in advance with the insurance adjuster that you don’t want it totaled before he even looks at it. Try to locate the parts (at a reputable yard) before he looks at it. In Pensylvania - once the adjuster says it’s totaled, thats it. You will have to buy it back from the ins co, repair it, get it inspected & do the title work - all on a car that may not be worth the hassle. If you like the car & want to keep it, then you do not want it totaled.
Don’t expect it to be fixed with all new parts, either. This will make the decision easier for the adjuster to total it right away. If it is only worth say $1000, than it won’t take much in the way of parts to total it.
Of course this is assuming you have full coverage on it. If you just have liability, than it’s all on you. I don’t know the details of the accident.
I lost big time a few years ago on a DD that had a small fender bender that was my fault. The adjuster (for my ins co) totaled it on the spot stating they couldn’t locate parts (hood, fender, grille, headlight, bumper for a 1995 Accord - not a tough car to locate parts for). I didn’t want it totaled, but they did. I then bought the car back for $300, fixed it for about $800, but I then had to get a reconstructed title. I never drove it afterwards & later sold it for $1200. All this on a car I had already spent $3200 to fix after an accident that was not my fault & the person who caused it had no insurance. SCUMBAG!
We only have liabitily with full tort on both cars. I’m waiting to hear from my insurance guy about the guy who caused the accident. I don’t know if he has insurance or what. But if he doesn’t, we may just sell it on Craigslist.
Check with your insurance company and see if you can’t get “seasonal” (under 8,000 miles a year) coverage for the car you drive less. I have this on my Integra that sit’s in the garage most of the time and it cut the insurance bill by more than half.
The Tiburon is by no means a daily driver. I just finally got my wastegate in for it and have yet to get it installed. We are throwing around the idea of fixing the Cavalier, or picking up a decent mid 90’s SUV for winters and roadtrips.