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Hit tree at 25MPH 04 kia sorento

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  cmar 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi just wanted to share some pics of my 04 kia sorento after hitting a tree at 25MPH.

Hit a patch of black ice and lost control.

still looks pretty good it held up nicely, i was able to drive it home,
its mostly cosmetic.

here are the links i cant get the images to upload on this

http://s1321.beta.photobucket.com/user/kerim587/media/IMG_1794_zpsf17c9756.jpg.html
http://s1321.beta.photobucket.com/user/kerim587/media/IMG_1793_zps3f904a2f.jpg.html
http://s1321.beta.photobucket.com/user/kerim587/media/IMG_1796_zps138a57d0.jpg.html
http://s1321.beta.photobucket.com/user/kerim587/media/IMG_1801_zpsfbea9fc3.jpg.html
http://s1321.beta.photobucket.com/user/kerim587/media/IMG_1799_zpscb34031d.jpg.html
 
#3 ·
Welcome Kerim1...
Sorry to hear about your accident. It doesn't look too bad but insurance companies like to "total" older cars rather than fix them...
This is good and bad.... You usually can "buy back" your car after they total it and they give you a settlement. The buy back price is usually very cheap and they can deduct that amount from your settlement figure...
A regular poster here just did it with I believe another Sorento. They paid off his car loan....gave him a check and the car! He put it back together with used parts and continued to drive it... They may want the car's title to be changed to a "salvage title". If so then you will need to buy the parts with the DONOR VIN# on the sales receipt from a junk/salvage yard (keep the receipts) and have the car inspected usually by your state's highway patrol.. Do a google search for CT salvage requirements... They want to be sure you did not use "stolen" parts and the car is safe...A few hoops to jump through but well worth the agrivation...
Keep us posted on what you find...
Dave
 
#5 ·
DavesSpectra is exactly right... Here in Georgia they will salvage the title and when you have it repaired you must have it inspected for safety. I cannot stress this enough KEEP ALL RECEIPTS.... Here in Georgia the state wants all the info on how you obtained your parts and they want to be able to track where your purchases came from.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Interesting, here in Australia, they have two types of write off, a repairable write off, ie usually an older car where the repair cost exceeds 1/2 the vehicle value, and a total write off, where the vehicle is considered too badly damaged physically to be repairable. A total write off must be either scrapped, or parted out for parts, that VIN can never again be registered. A repairable write off can be bought back from the insurance company and fixed, but must pass a roadworth inspection, and depending on the damage, maybe a structural check if you do it yourself, and are not a qualified panel beater or mechanic. If you buy one at auction to fix yourself ie it was not previously your own car, then it must also pass an independant identity check by a certified inspector to establish the cars identity and history before you can register it.
In this case you have to leave the car with them so they can look for evidence of changed or altered VIN or engine numbers or identidy plates.

This was introduced because a popular way to sell stolen cars was to buy a totalled car at an insurance auction, steal one the same model and colour, and then switch VIN plates and sell it as a "repaired car"

Another dodge was that unscruplous panel shops used to buy two late model totalled cars, cut them in two and re-weld them back together to make one new car with the idendity of the front half of one of the cars. Whilst if done properly this is probably OK, in practice it rarely was, and a number of these cars came to light when owners took them in to get wheel alignments and found that the shop couldn't get them right because the bodies were too far out of alignment, or when cars cracked in half in a minor collision!
 
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