Is the insurance company giving me a fair deal?

[jagec]

So basically I was rear-ended a while ago, as detailed in this thread.
Turned out the other guy didn't have insurance, so I thanked my lucky stars that I'd opted for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. I got an estimate...$5100! The only real damage was broken plastics, but they had fork tube replacement, swingarm replacement, and gas tank replacement on the list. Basically if there was so much as a scratch on any component, they were going to replace it. My insurance company took some pictures, and later gave me a call and said that it was totalled. They're offering me ~$7500 (-$100 deductible) to buy a replacement, and will let me buy back the old bike with a salvage title for $2600.

Now the $7500 is a great deal, considering that I'd be buying a pre-farkled bike on the used market anyway (lost my chance at an '07 ABS just a couple weeks ago). Does it seem like $2600 is a good price for an '07 DL650 with minor farkles and a salvage title? I would say Yes, but I figured I'd run it by you guys first. Anyone dealt with the market price of salvage title bikes? I might be trying to fix the plastics, sell this bike with an explanation of the salvage title (no mechanical problems...I could show them the estimate and explain why they listed the higher-dollar items), and buy another one. So basically it comes down to whether YOU (as the used-bike market) would buy a salvage-title 07 for >=$2600.




PS: Get insurance!

[jdub]

$2,600 sounds like a good price to me, but if I'm following everything here you'd be selling the damaged bike and buying an identical one ('07 650 Strom?). Why not just take the insurance money, buy the wrecked bike back, fix it and pocket the change? Might seem to a potential buyer that there is something else wrong wih the damaged bike, that you're scared of it or else you'd be keeping it for yourself.

Good luck which ever way you go. I got rear-ended once on my old Duc 750SS, fortunately I wasn't hurt and the bike was still rideable home. The driver who hit me got out of his SUV swearing about his "worthless ABS", like he thought it had magical powers to keep him from ever hitting anything when he wasn't paying proper attention to driving. His insurance fixed my bike back up though, just some slight cosmetic damage.

[drewtherev]

Kiss this bike goodbye. Take the money and buy something else to replace it. I guess a few questions to ask yourself is
* If you saw this bike on CL would your buy it for $2600 and fix it up?
* If you wanted to resell it how much would it cost to fix it for resale?
* Are buyers going to be scared of the Salvage Title?
* Would you buy a bike off CL with a Salvage Title?
* Call the DMV and ask What does it take to get a plate on a bike with a Salvage Title.
* Have you done this kind of project before and enjoy doing?

That is my 2 cent

Andrew

[drewtherev]

My bike is cursed...or maybe just sleepy.

I just read the other thread and the title says it all. To get rid of the bike.

[soewe812]

Ask your insurance comapny how much they would pay if it had a salvage title and was in an identical wreck. Then ask how much less your premiums will be due to the much smaller payout. Now go get a different bike after they tell you the premiums are the same. Just sayin'

[MC-Leather]

If I could buy it and ride it, if it just needed some plastic over time, sure I'd pay $2600. But I can tell you as a dealer if I had two perfect bikes to buy, one with a good title and one with a salvage title I would pay 25% less for the salvage bike.

[jagec]

Originally Posted by jdub

$2,600 sounds like a good price to me, but if I'm following everything here you'd be selling the damaged bike and buying an identical one ('07 650 Strom?). Why not just take the insurance money, buy the wrecked bike back, fix it and pocket the change?

I'd be buying the ABS version. The current bike doesn't have ABS. Considering the paucity of ABS bikes on the market, I'd probably be hanging on to this one for a few months.

Originally Posted by drewtherev

Kiss this bike goodbye. Take the money and buy something else to replace it. I guess a few questions to ask yourself is
* If you saw this bike on CL would your buy it for $2600 and fix it up?
* If you wanted to resell it how much would it cost to fix it for resale?
* Are buyers going to be scared of the Salvage Title?
* Would you buy a bike off CL with a Salvage Title?
* Call the DMV and ask What does it take to get a plate on a bike with a Salvage Title.
* Have you done this kind of project before and enjoy doing?

That is my 2 cent

Andrew

To me, $2600 seems like a screaming deal for an almost-new bike with nothing mechanically wrong with it. I would be replacing the plastics before sale...say $300 worth of plastics.

Yes, buyers will be scared of the salvage title. That's why I wouldn't be charging the full $5k+ that a "normal" 07 Strom would go for. What I'm not ENTIRELY sure about is how scary the salvage title is...if I were buying a bike in this condition, I would think that ~$3k, $3.5k would be a fair price, BUT will the buyer believe me that there is nothing mechanically wrong with it?

As far as the project goes, it would be a piece of cake for me. It's really just as simple as removing some plastics and replacing them with new ones. I'm in the middle of replacing my shocks on my car, and that's a far worse job.

Originally Posted by soewe812

Ask your insurance comapny how much they would pay if it had a salvage title and was in an identical wreck. Then ask how much less your premiums will be due to the much smaller payout. Now go get a different bike after they tell you the premiums are the same. Just sayin'

Now that's an angle I hadn't considered. Still, I'd probably end up keeping it a few months, fixing the plastic, and then when an ABS bike comes on the market making the switch. I might be able to use this as a bargaining chip on the value, though.

[Evenflo76]

Originally Posted by jagec

So basically I was rear-ended a while ago, as detailed in this thread.
Turned out the other guy didn't have insurance, so I thanked my lucky stars that I'd opted for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. I got an estimate...$5100! The only real damage was broken plastics, but they had fork tube replacement, swingarm replacement, and gas tank replacement on the list. Basically if there was so much as a scratch on any component, they were going to replace it. My insurance company took some pictures, and later gave me a call and said that it was totalled. They're offering me ~$7500 (-$100 deductible) to buy a replacement, and will let me buy back the old bike with a salvage title for $2600.

Now the $7500 is a great deal, considering that I'd be buying a pre-farkled bike on the used market anyway (lost my chance at an '07 ABS just a couple weeks ago). Does it seem like $2600 is a good price for an '07 DL650 with minor farkles and a salvage title? I would say Yes, but I figured I'd run it by you guys first. Anyone dealt with the market price of salvage title bikes? I might be trying to fix the plastics, sell this bike with an explanation of the salvage title (no mechanical problems...I could show them the estimate and explain why they listed the higher-dollar items), and buy another one. So basically it comes down to whether YOU (as the used-bike market) would buy a salvage-title 07 for >=$2600.




PS: Get insurance!

Consider the fact that if you buy it back, you will not be able to insure for full coverage/ physical damage. Plus, usually vehicles that have had an accident will have other problems that will creep upon you.

Take the money and run, and be glad it's not any part of you that needs to be replaced. Just sayin...

[Dirtysouth]

You said yourself that the only real damage the bike has is plastic damage. Personally I would take the money, buy back the salvaged bike if you can get a tag for it, fix it up and pocket the rest of the money. You could always use the leftover money to take a trip with, invest it, or buy a second bike like a thumper if you don't already have one. Just my $0.02 but I wouldn't go out and spend all the money on another DL650 when you can buy back yours for less than $3k.

[MC-Leather]

ABS is over rated. Spray the bike down with bed liner and ride it into the ground.