Write Off?! Please help

Hey guys,

My dad recently bought a Mazda 3 MPS to serve as a spare car in the family however I have been driving it quiet a bit lately as he has been overseas.

The car was purchased 10 days ago and I haven't had an accident since I started driving.

Yesterday going down a highway approaching a intersection with lights that went from red to green I slowed from 100 to approximately 70km/h to keep the flow of the traffic consistent whilst leaving a gap in front of me as cars began moving off. Before I could even respond, the car in front of me stopped as the genius in front of him decided to pull a u-turn in the middle of an intersection with traffic lights. Here comes me smacking
the work ute in front of me.

Need your help guys, Dad is in Vegas atm and really dreading to call him about what's happened.

Write off you think?

And, kids, that's why we don't tailgate. Looks ****ed mate. Often airbags deployed (2? I only see one)=written off. Do you know if there is any frame damage? Is the motor still whole? I'd be very surprised if that isn't written off sorry to say. :(

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Not in the insurance game myself, but from past experience I've been told that if the repairs are going to come to 75-80% of the insured value, the insurance company will usually just cut you a check. They'll sell it as a repairable write off and recoup their losses that way.

If if your car is insured for ~15K, If hit over 11-12 grand in repairs, they'll just write it off. Not sure how much damage you did, but as @Lachlan said, the airbag alone is a bad sign, expensive to replace. Plus airbag going off means the chassis/frame may be damaged, they can be straightened on a rack, but it's hella expensive (when I had a similar accident in my mr2 I bent one of the chassis rods. The rack cost alone was 1500 bucks. Whole repair was 4200).

But as I said Lachlan I genuinely was not tailgating as specified there was a massive truck behind me also and as I seen a green light with both cars moving off I slowed down to match the speeed of the other cars. The truck driver said he would act as a witness for me if i want to take it to court because from his elevated point of view I was always going to hit the car in front of me whether I was doing 70km/h or 40km/h. I understand there is partial negligence for rear-ending someone but if it is caused as a result of an illegal u-turn surely the blame can be split. Even the person I hit said it wasn't my fault.
But both airbags went off luckily, the car was smoking everywhere and coolant sprayed all over the ground. So scared to tell my dad **** sake

Air bags gone off usually means write off :( with the smoke + coolant going everywhere, I'd be checking the engine's health as well...

I rear ended another car doing 10-15 kph, and the bonnet + bumper took 5-6 weeks to come from Japan... So, either way, you're going to have to tell your dad...

Did you get the details of the guy doing the turn? I guess you'd have to prove that he actually caused you to hit the guy in front of you (like if he swerved into your lane or something to avoid the dodgy turn and got hit, that kind of thing). Doesn't seem likely, but maybe you get lucky.

At least you aren't hurt (that's the best bit to tell your dad really) and worst case you pay whatever the insurance excess is and go shopping for another MPS :D

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Sorry to hear that, geezz, I hope insurance can cover this for you. Were the police any help with the illegal u-turn - that might help for insurance purposes. Atleast you walked away so it is a good day overall.

Tell Dad to put a few extra hundred on black while he is in Vegas.
That should even things up :2thumb:

Prime example of why a dashcam is imperative really

Few questions,
- is the car insured?
- are you a nominated driver for said insurance?
- does the insurance offer a not at fault claim? (May need to find out what proof they require)

If its yes to the above I suggest you get in touch with the insurance company and find out what they will be looking for to determine whether a write off or not, and also what excesses you will be up for. Then tell your dad armed with that information I reckon.

A bit of race tape and it will look like new.

Hahaha @MrCrudley i wish he did, but he is back and not happy lol. I got the registration of the driver who committed the offence - because guys I understand you are negligent for rear ending someone but I can plead partially negligent as an illegal act of somebody else was a part cause of the accident., See what happens.

As for insurance, I am not a listed driver and I am under 25 so I am up for a $2,000 excess fee. But the policy does cover you even if it is your fault, because I actually helped Dad read the 40 pages terms & conditions.

Just need to organise an inspection soon. If it gets ridden off I will be shopping for a newer one, hopefully 2011 upwards :D

Bit of hit and miss with what Insurers call a write-off. Massivley depends on what the insured value is, market value and what the demand for the cars is. The car will get assessed (my guess around $15k to $20k repair quote depending on what structural components are hit). That said seen Mazda 3s with less damage deemed as a repairable WO. The insurer will weigh up what they can get salvage on the car for and make an economic decision (i.e. repairable write off). Doesn't look like it'll meet the criteria for an SWO so, if they decide to write it off, you can ask to buy the salvage back. You pay the excess and get paid out (assuming you have full comp) and they deduct the salvage value from the payout. The car is then yours to do what you want with. Nothing wrong with a repairable write-off, just means the Insurer decided they won't repair it but it doesn't meet the SWO Criteria.

Biggest piece of advice, don't like to your insurer! Never good if your investigated! PS that car also has an Event Data Recorder so dont lie about your speed :car1:

Good luck!

Unfortunately, even if you got the rego details of the guy that did the "illegal" U-Turn, the onus is on you to be able to prove that he did the wrong thing.. Unless you have footage or independent witnesses it's a he said, she said thing. So, the insurance company won't take that as evidence to take any liability away unfortunately.

You're considered 100% at fault in a rear end accident (the only road accident when some liability isn't automatically assumed by the other involved party) in the eyes of the insurance company and police if they're involved, unless you can provide evidence and prove otherwise.

And, if you don't have any independent witnesses or footage, all the other person has to do is give a different account to you and it'll be case closed and they're off the hook.

It sucks mate, but unfortunately that's the way it is.. I found this out the hard way, after I had another car change lanes in front of me (taking my safe stopping distance). Then, before I could create the space again he slammed his brakes on, due to a car in front turning right and I went up his bum. All happened in the space of 2-3 seconds. Unfortunately because all of the witnesses were in the respective cars, they weren't considered independent. Thus as soon as there was any inconsistencies in the stories the insurance companies were unable to transfer any of the liability away from me.

a koala could run out in front of the car in front of you - the one you were too close to, and yet it will never be the koalas fault... If the car in front of you managed to stop from hitting the terrible terrible person who made a u-turn, you should have been able to stop had there been enough distance between you and the car in front.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by matt88

a koala could run out in front of the car in front of you - the one you were too close to, and yet it will never be the koalas fault...

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Take the furry little bastard to court and see who wins then!