She's Totaled - What I learned about having an electric car when you get in an accident

[fkyct]

Wait? What??? How does one get "hit by a Meth head with no insurance, expired tags and suspended Driver License" and then get restitution?? You have solved the age old question of how to get blood from a stone if this is true!

Since the other driver was uninsured, we claimed it on our Insurance Company as a Collision claim and a Uninsured Motorist claim for the medical bills. It is estimated that 20% of Florida drivers are driving around uninsured.

The car damage was a collision claim. My wife and I were both hurt and were transported to the hospital via Paramedic/ Ambulance. We had to use UM policy to cover the hospital and medical bills.

State Farm surprised us when they were able to recover our deductible subrogation process and then offered and paid each of us separate "Pain and Suffering" payments.

6 month after it was settled I received a $250 check from State Fam. I called them and they said they were able to get the at fault driver to reimburse on a payment plan. The first $1000 would go to use to pay us for the deductible. Over the next few months they sent us the remaining deductible.

---------------

State Farm®

sent an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) on December 01, 2020 to the bank account
you provided to us. If you have not received the payment within four banking days, contact your
banking institution or notify us immediately.
Payment Details

Coverage Amount Paid
2019 Nissan Leaf
Collision $31614.75
Total Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Amount $31614.75

We bought a brand new 2020 Leaf SV for $30,000 after all taxes, fees and factoring in the tax credit.

The other driver who was arrested for leaving the scene and drug paraphernalia.

Here is our damaged Leaf at the auction site after it was declared a total loss.

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[GatorGrowl]

Interesting. I have Progressive, and their app detected the crash. They sent a tow truck, and I had no issues with the doors or towing.
They called the rental car company who met me at the accident site. We drove back to their office and I drove away.
The estimator saw it the next day at the body shop and while the front end was basically ripped apart they paid to repair it.
The only complication was awaiting parts. Refurbished parts from salvage yards came right away, but the Ford parts took a couple weeks. Ended up needing everything forward of the firewall and a new driver’s door. (I have the RWD model.)
When I got the car back, it was fully charged and still drives like new.
I’m sorry you had a sub-par experience, but I live in rural Florida where I didn’t expect anyone to know squat and they all handled it quite well.

 

[SigSauer]

I had the new 2024 MachE for about 2 weeks (having traded in the 2021) when I was rammed from behind by a driver going about 70 MPH. I was driving at 45 the speed limit on a local 5 lane road. The woman who hit me was having some type of mental crisis and never hit her breaks just rammed into my car. It destroyed her car and she never tried to stop and would have kept going if her car would have let her.

The good news we were fine, my brother and I were shook up and unsteady, sore and scared for days but we didn't die.

Then came the fun part. I have State Farm and as friendly as Jake and friends were - they do not have a good process for dealing with electric vehicles that need to be accessed for damage and or body work. They kept trying to set up appointments at collision shops on their lists that would immediately call me and say don't let the tow truck bring it here. Finally after 5 times of this I called the dealer and they did have one place across town that was located behind a Ford dealer and worked in partnership with the. The car was towed there a week after the accident and it took more than a week for the State Farm adjuster to come and inspect the car and declare it a total loss. So if you have an accidently go ahead and call the dealer to find out your options, State Farm won't have the right information in their systems regarding electric repairs.

In case you're wondering - yeas the whole you can't open the doors because the battery and system is now messed up made it extra special hard for the tow truck and the collision center and the adjuster lady. Ford you gotta figure something out on that one.

So now I'm in the market again, and sad my really good deal on a 24 went to waste. Wondering I should look around at other models? What other EVs are you guys considering next?

When your claim is completed, don't for get to claim, Diminished Value. We got hit, everything was fixed, then we asked for Diminished Value and received an additional 4,000 dollars! Sorry about your Mach E, glad everyone's OK

I had the new 2024 MachE for about 2 weeks (having traded in the 2021) when I was rammed from behind by a driver going about 70 MPH. I was driving at 45 the speed limit on a local 5 lane road. The woman who hit me was having some type of mental crisis and never hit her breaks just rammed into my car. It destroyed her car and she never tried to stop and would have kept going if her car would have let her.

The good news we were fine, my brother and I were shook up and unsteady, sore and scared for days but we didn't die.

Then came the fun part. I have State Farm and as friendly as Jake and friends were - they do not have a good process for dealing with electric vehicles that need to be accessed for damage and or body work. They kept trying to set up appointments at collision shops on their lists that would immediately call me and say don't let the tow truck bring it here. Finally after 5 times of this I called the dealer and they did have one place across town that was located behind a Ford dealer and worked in partnership with the. The car was towed there a week after the accident and it took more than a week for the State Farm adjuster to come and inspect the car and declare it a total loss. So if you have an accidently go ahead and call the dealer to find out your options, State Farm won't have the right information in their systems regarding electric repairs.

In case you're wondering - yeas the whole you can't open the doors because the battery and system is now messed up made it extra special hard for the tow truck and the collision center and the adjuster lady. Ford you gotta figure something out on that one.

So now I'm in the market again, and sad my really good deal on a 24 went to waste. Wondering I should look around at other models? What other EVs are you guys considering next?

 

[Eagertrader]

Considering that you were hit by. Vehicle coming at 70mph, you were very lucky that it didn’t do more damage. I would consider getting the same car. It saved your lives!!

 

[dww]

We were rear ended last August and claim is still open. Mach E was fixed for ~$11K. Trying to get diminished value but Farmers (their insurance) is only offering $1K. Might have to take her to small claims court but she didn't seem to be in good financial shape. Everyone tells me you can't sue the insurance company but they will negotiate. In this case they started at $1K but wont' go any higher.

Almost done with our medical......have to go after pain and suffering in a few months.

 

[islandboystan]

For all my complaining about the ‘25 frunk, I’d likely end up with another Mach-e if this happened to me. @melissphillips, let us know how your search goes, what you end up with and how you like it please. That whole “experience” just stinks, glad you’re ok.

islandboystan here again. I am old school but my 2022 Mach-e is fancy except I am embarrassed about I still have to manually pop the hood. ??

 

[GreaseMonkey]

When your claim is completed, don't for get to claim, Diminished Value. We got hit, everything was fixed, then we asked for Diminished Value and received an additional 4,000 dollars! Sorry about your Mach E, glad everyone's OK

Given car was a total loss, insurance pays for the full value of the car and she can’t make a diminished value claim.

 

[dww]

Did you get a good price from insurance? We had our F250 stolen a few years ago and I hired a firm that negotiated with my insurance for more money….they had it valued much higher

 

[superdave80]

In case you're wondering - yeas the whole you can't open the doors because the battery and system is now messed up made it extra special hard for the tow truck and the collision center and the adjuster lady. Ford you gotta figure something out on that one.

I'll figure it out for Ford... for free.

<ahem>

Door handles.

You are welcome Ford.

I am still am amazed that the button idea ever made it out of the concept phase without anyone saying, "This is a stupid effin' idea, guys". I will not ever again buy a vehicle that has push buttons to open the door.

 

[stoopid]

We were rear ended last August and claim is still open. Mach E was fixed for ~$11K. Trying to get diminished value but Farmers (their insurance) is only offering $1K. Might have to take her to small claims court but she didn't seem to be in good financial shape. Everyone tells me you can't sue the insurance company but they will negotiate. In this case they started at $1K but wont' go any higher.

Almost done with our medical......have to go after pain and suffering in a few months.

You should hire a lawyer to handle this. They'll obviously get a small chunk but in the end the overall settlement will be fairly hefty compared to what the insurance usually offers as direct settlement (almost always a lowball offer, as you saw with the diminished value). I believe in most states it's around 2 years after the date of the accident to file suit. You sue the other driver, but the other driver's insurance company will defend them using a hired attorney and payout based on the other driver's coverages. Any difference (money short) your lawyer will force YOUR insurance to cover, and since it was the other party's fault this is not considered a claim/held against you. This will be, and should be, a windfall for you and a lot of litigation.

To anyone else happening to come across this topic -- ALWAYS hire a lawyer in a bodily injury claim. These cases take time, and a lot of negotiation (and eventually arbitration). Insurance companies are not our friends and in cases where fault is clear and injury real, the only way to get properly (fully) compensated is to have a professional navigate this.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

islandboystan here again. I am old school but my 2022 Mach-e is fancy except I am embarrassed about I still have to manually pop the hood. ??

Is your car not updating Stan? You should have a button on the sync screen that displays the mode (whisper, engage, unbridle). It’s next to the trunk lift gate button. If you use FordPass, there’s a button there as well. Honestly though, there’s nothing wrong with using the manual lever.

 

[Star Lord]

I don't know why it took so long and they even bothered to send an adjuster. The standard is EV hit, car totalled. Because that is an automatic battery replacement which is probably way more than even a brand new Mach E off the showroom is even worth.

It can be 30 to 40 grand just for the battery plus the collision damage on top of that.

 

[FordFamily]

DaleL describes how he was able to capture videos from all four views of his vehicle, because that’s standard equipment on his Tesla. I don’t suppose there’s any way to do that on the MachE, is there?

 

[bbulkow]

Agree. The rear quarter panels don't even look damaged.

I'm guessing that any frame straightening on an EV means dropping the battery which adds considerable cost to the repairs.

Yeah the picture looks remarkably light. Good job Ford!

I'm guessing the battery pack has a little damage and that freaks everyone out. There's not a lot of information about the safety of scuffed or damaged batteries. I'm certain Ford has a "don't blame us" posture if anything is even slightly awry - and I don't blame them.

I understand there's a business buying car batteries from cases like this, or batteries which are near end of service life from an automotive perspective, and using them for fixed locations... although I don't know any specifics....

 

[JRB100]

I had the new 2024 MachE for about 2 weeks (having traded in the 2021) when I was rammed from behind by a driver going about 70 MPH. I was driving at 45 the speed limit on a local 5 lane road. The woman who hit me was having some type of mental crisis and never hit her breaks just rammed into my car. It destroyed her car and she never tried to stop and would have kept going if her car would have let her.

The good news we were fine, my brother and I were shook up and unsteady, sore and scared for days but we didn't die.

Then came the fun part. I have State Farm and as friendly as Jake and friends were - they do not have a good process for dealing with electric vehicles that need to be accessed for damage and or body work. They kept trying to set up appointments at collision shops on their lists that would immediately call me and say don't let the tow truck bring it here. Finally after 5 times of this I called the dealer and they did have one place across town that was located behind a Ford dealer and worked in partnership with the. The car was towed there a week after the accident and it took more than a week for the State Farm adjuster to come and inspect the car and declare it a total loss. So if you have an accidently go ahead and call the dealer to find out your options, State Farm won't have the right information in their systems regarding electric repairs.

In case you're wondering - yeas the whole you can't open the doors because the battery and system is now messed up made it extra special hard for the tow truck and the collision center and the adjuster lady. Ford you gotta figure something out on that one.

So now I'm in the market again, and sad my really good deal on a 24 went to waste. Wondering I should look around at other models? What other EVs are you guys considering next?

This matches my suspicion that the State Farm Drive Safe & Save device/system does not gauge the driving manner of an electric vehicle. It only knows how gas-powered vehicles operate.

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