Car accident - damage might be > value of car...what's my play?

[z28dreams]

So last night, around 2 am in the pouring rain, a 16 year old asian kid on a cell phone decided to pull out into a major road without looking, and I t-boned him at around 20mph or so (slammed on my brakes pretty hard).

I've got an older car, which is worth probably around $3-$4000.

The damage isn't awful, but it affected quite a few parts (hood, bumper, quarter panel, driver door), so I'm expecting the damage to be up there.

If the damage exceeds the value of my car, am I pretty much screwed having to pay the difference for repairs?

Obviously I could just take the money and put it towards a new car, but since mine is paid off and only has 75k miles on it, it doesn't make any sense to do that.

Am I going to be shafted here if repairs exceed the car value?

[cdxx]

find a good trade-in place. sometimes you'll get $1-2k for a wreck

[z28dreams]

cdxx - it's definitely not a total wreck. the front bumper is scuffed to all hell, and the hood got bent up.

The driver side door took the worst damage, because the kid was an idiot and actually hit me -TWICE-, once on the first blow, then he took a quick u-turn to get out of traffic and rammed me again.

My ballpark estimates:
- Car is worth around $3500
- Car is worth a LOT more to me because while old, it's in great shape and low mileage.
- Damage would include replacing hood, front bumper, a headlight assembly, and driver side door panel.

I've seen repairs for $1500 for simple quarter panel damage, so I assume this is going to be in teh ballpark of 3.5-4k.

I -really- don't want to come up with $500 for repairs, or trade it in for a car with similar mileage and owe another $7k.

Is it possible to take someone to small claims court for the difference in value? (I assume not)

[gol4pro]

If he pulled out in front of you I don't understand how this wreck could possibly be your fault. You clearly have the right of way in the situation described.

Am I just reading this wrong?

[iron81]

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Is it possible to take someone to small claims court for the difference in value? (I assume not)

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It would be if you had called the cops and they had found the asian kid at fault. The kid's insurance would then be responsible for all of damage to your car, not just the difference. Since I gather you didn't, you'll have a hell of a time proving your case in court and you'll probably lose.

That said, I can't imagine spending more to fix a car than its worth unless it has sentimental value. The value of a car takes into account its mechanical condition and mileage.

[ QUOTE ]
Using your own money to repair your car if it's totaled would be pretty dumb

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Not to mention illegal. But totaled doesn't mean costs more to fix than its worth, it means that the car is so badly damaged that it is no longer safe to drive regardless of resonable repairs.

[Klompy]

If the repairs would cost more then the value of the car they'll declare it totaled and give you the value of your car. In theory this shouldn't screw you at all because you should be able to find the exact same car for the money that they give you.

Using your own money to repair your car if it's totaled would be pretty dumb unless it's a very small amount or if the car has some sort of sentimental value to you.

[z28dreams]

FWIW,

A police report WAS filed. However, here in virginia, cops are not allowed to decide on the accident scene who's fault it is.

The problem with the actual 'value' of my car is that it would be near impossible to find a similar car because:
(a) they usually give a trade-in value or similar, which sucks
(b) it's damn hard to find a car that cheap with that low of miles on it

[4 High]

Am i missing something? what about insurance?

[z28dreams]

Both people had insurance.

The problem is, if there is more damage than the car is worth, they just give me the 'value' of the car.

However, this 'value' is almost always lower than what it would actually cost to replace the car.