So long story medium, my Dad got in a fender bender a couple weeks ago in his '91 Accord. Not much damage, but as the car wasn't worth much, it was totaled, and they signed the papers yesterday and insurance took it away. I got kind of upset at that because I would have paid them the difference between "we give you the car back with salvage title" and "we keep car and write you a check" which was something like $400, replaced the radiator, and used it as a daily.

The question is this. Once the insurance company has a car like this in their possession, do they generally just sell it to a salvage yard? Or would they try running it through an auction first to see if they have any takers? If so I'd be interested to try to buy it, since I know the history of the car since 2001 and the damage, other than a busted radiator, is only cosmetic. And if that is the case, are any of these things open to the public? It would be very nice to have a car that gets good mileage on regular and to be able to mostly park the Marauder, which I can't sell (upside-down due to the disappearing market for gas guzzlers) and can barely afford to keep fueled since I get about 17 MPG average, and only takes premium.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 11:44 PM. Reason : d]

6/5/2008 11:43:16 PM

Your best bet is to call the insurance agent with whom your dad has been dealing and ask him to give you any leads and keep you posted on the car.

Who knows...He might even give you a second chance.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 11:47 PM. Reason : l]

6/5/2008 11:47:22 PM

as far as i know they should giv you the option to buy the car. when i totaled my car back in like '02 the insurance company said they'd sell it to me for 800

6/6/2008 2:40:53 AM

^They did. The problem is, my parents did not take that option, and the first I'd heard that the whole thing had happened (last night) the car was already gone.

6/6/2008 8:23:22 AM