Leafy, we hardly knew ye....

[Bob]

"Surprisingly, my insurance company thinks it's worth $33k."

Sell it to them.

Bob

 

[peterm]

"Surprisingly, my insurance company thinks it's worth $33k."

Sell it to them.

Bob

I was trying, but they only buy it if it's totaled. Which it is no

Not too often I hope for a big battery problem, but I am in this case!

 

[TimLee]

...
Looks like damage is $15k, so they are fixing it. I can't get them to total it. This is sad. Under NC law, I may be able to get 'diminishment of value' from Geico.

I'm thinking of trading it in for a 2015 when I get it, but I have a bad feeling I'm going to come out on the losing end of this battle.

Surprisingly, my insurance company thinks it's worth $33k. I think a bit high.
...

$33 k is a really high number.
When you bought it in April you said you got out the door for $32 k, but you didn't elaborate on taxes, fees, etc.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16352&start=10#p361717" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Still hard to see how "market value" is more than $24,500, what you will have in it after you get the $7,500 federal credit back next spring assuming you have that much tax liability.
Not sure if NC has any rebates or tax credits. In states like GA with a large $5,000 credit, car would only be worth around $19,500.
In that case insurance would "total" in many states.
But unfortunately insurance is regulated at the state level.
Great in some states.
Truly awful in some states.

They really seem to be overlooking that Nissan brought out the 2015 extremely early in June, and that it has the hopefully improved heat resistant battery.
That has to have badly impacted 2014 market values.
With Nissan ~$6,000 replacement battery cost announced in June, seems like 2014 would have dropped at least $3,000 in value above and beyond the significant drop that happens the moment you drive a new car off the lot.

Just be sure it is repaired completely.
A drunk driver rear ended my fairly new Taurus quite a few years back with much less damage.
Even though repair looked OK, it never was quite right on rear end alignment.
But I did drive it another 90,000 miles.

Not sure best way to have vehicle repair inspected and confirmed 100% correct.
Others may have some suggestions.
But I agree the major damage and repair will impact resale value for most potential buyers.

Your better $ might come from Nissan dealer on trade in.
If it ends up at auction the repair may not have as much impact on price.

 

[Zurc]

OUCH.
If that was me I'd let them fix it and then drive it directly to the dealer and trade it in on a new one.
Hard on the pocket book perhaps but a new car means the car is up to date, it has warranty, its never been in an accident and therefore it will never let you down because of that.

I lost my bronco to a daydreaming driver on a 3 Lane highway and it was really hard to let it go to the wreckers.
I was doing 80KPH and slowing down for traffic when a 5 ton truck rear ended me.
it hit so hard that it ripped both batteries out of their brackets and took out the drive train. it took out the rear window and tailgate.
It pushed the pneumatic bumper a way out of alignment. My seatback collapsed and I ended up laying flat down with the seat belt doing nothing while I struggled to get upright to regain control of the truck still doing 70KPH and nobody driving. I managed but its no picnic trying to regain control of a standard with no seat back and no idea what the traffic situation on either side is and there's no power, just an idling engine. I got it over to the outside lane and got it stopped and then I spent about 10 minutes trying to regain my memory and senses. I was lucky, it could have gone a whole lot worse. And the 5 ton truck? yeah, a little paint damage on the bumper and plenty of glass all over the truck.
It suddenly became necessary to retire my 20year old bronco that I'd bought new in 1982. Not even remotely impressed with that situation.
Insurance? well with a little help from a lawyer, I managed to get 5K for a bronco that I paid 14K brand new. No complaint there but I'd rather have had my truck back if only to give it a proper burial in a recycling bin.

Zurc.

 

[kubel]

It looks like a good hit, but I don't think it's totaled. Remove the hatch and the bumper cover and that's what you need to worry about. Doesn't look that bad to me.

 

[peterm]

It looks like a good hit, but I don't think it's totaled. Remove the hatch and the bumper cover and that's what you need to worry about. Doesn't look that bad to me.

because they are unibody the frame as well. It will show up as 'serious frame damage' on the carfax reports

 

[johnrhansen]

If you found another one with a wrecked rear end, you could weld the 2 front ends together. Then if you run out of juice all you need to do is get out and get in the other front, turn around and drive off. And no backing up ever again.

 

[Zurc]

If only it were that easy. :lol:

Zurc

 

[mbender]

And never get rear-ended again!

 

[nlagnew]

...

Surprisingly, my insurance company thinks it's worth $33k. I think a bit high.
...

$33 k is a really high number.

Not sure if NC has any rebates or tax credits. In states like GA with a large $5,000 credit, car would only be worth around $19,500.

Not only does NC NOT have any rebates or tax credits, but it also charges us an extra $100 per year to register the car because we are not paying any gasoline tax. I had suggested to my state rep that they could charge us a per-mile fee based on mileage as reported in our annual inspections, but no... the 6K mile per year driver and the 15K one both pay the same $100.

And hybrid owners do not pay extra (I am pretty sure), even though they are not paying their "fair share" of gasoline tax. That is how they fund the highways here - our gas tax is the highest in the Southeast, I believe, and apparently in the top 10 in the country.

 

[Zurc]

Seems to me that NC is going to have to change the name of that tax as more and more people start driving electric.
Could be that at some point, the gasoline tax may get shot down.

Zurc.

 

[jelloslug]

Not only does NC NOT have any rebates or tax credits, but it also charges us an extra $100 per year to register the car because we are not paying any gasoline tax. I had suggested to my state rep that they could charge us a per-mile fee based on mileage as reported in our annual inspections, but no... the 6K mile per year driver and the 15K one both pay the same $100.

And hybrid owners do not pay extra (I am pretty sure), even though they are not paying their "fair share" of gasoline tax. That is how they fund the highways here - our gas tax is the highest in the Southeast, I believe, and apparently in the top 10 in the country.

That's one of the reasons that I ran (not walked) when I got the opportunity to leave NC.

 

[peterm]

Ok, long delay. I apologize.

Leafy has been repaired! Looks just like new (will post a pic when I get it washed). It was done about two months ago.

The only real negative is that I lost the 'new car smell' and it smelled like paint for a couple of days. But otherwise everything seems to be working.

Total cost of repair was $18k and change. Trying to deal with Geico on the loss of value and they are not returning my calls :evil:

Glad to have the Leaf back as I read about Tesla's 400+ mile roadster :/ I have gotten better at driving though and it suffices for a majority of my trips.

 

[TimLee]

...
Leafy has been repaired! Looks just like new (will post a pic when I get it washed). It was done about two months ago.
...

It took 75 days to get a 2014 with significant crash damage repaired :?: :shock:

 

[peterm]

...
Leafy has been repaired! Looks just like new (will post a pic when I get it washed). It was done about two months ago.
...

It took 75 days to get a 2014 with significant crash damage repaired :?: :shock:

30 days was spent wrangling with the insurance company and hoping they would total lit.

40 days spent actual repair - maybe 2 weeks of that waiting for parts then another week troubleshooting codes (finally sent it to Nissan to replace some airbag sensor)