What to do with a totaled JK

[brennaman]

My son was in a wreck with his JK. (not his fault, someone ran red light) Although there was not that much damage, insurance totaled his Jeep. He had a 2014 sport, and insurance is giving us $20,700. There are quite a few good parts on this jeep (all 4 doors, engine, transmission, transfer cast.....) About the only bad part is the left fender and bumper. We can buy the vehicle back for $10,700, and the body shop that worked on it will give us $11,000. ($300 more than what we pay the insurance for the vehicle.) Should I go with letting the body shop buy it from us? Or should I try to shop around for another body shop that will buy it? I have never been in this position before, and not really sure what route to take. Thanks Phil

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[vegasblue]

If they totaled it and are paying out $20,700.00 there has to be some decent damage. Air bags all deploy?
Part of me says keep it, invest half the difference, and have some fun with your son modifying it when you get it back.
Other part wonders what is "unseen"?

 

[DaltonGang]

Not worth the paperwork, and taxes, for that little money.

 

[GATORB8]

If there's no intent on salvaging it yourself, I personally wouldn't mess with the buyout for only $300.
Do you have to pay sales tax on the salvage purchase?

Also, have you looked at if the offer is fair? Random Autotrader w/in 50 mile's of St Louis:

40k = $27.5k
80k = $25k
95k = $26k
140k - $18.5k
145k - $19.5k

 

[brennaman]

Thanks all I will try to answer all the questions. Airbags did not deploy, from the looks of it is looked very minor. But we were told the frame was damaged, minor, but there is frame damage. If we have the body shop repair it, it will cost us $10,000 for the repair. So, $21,000 payout from ins., $10170 to buy it back, and $10,000 for repair. With that my son will have his jeep back, with a salvage title, and money is awash. I do not think we want to do that, so we will take the ins. money and figure out what the best way to get the most money out of it. It is looking like selling it to the body shop for $500 over what we have to pay the ins. company to buy it back. That will be the least amount of work.

I do not have to pay any tax if I sell it to the body shop. It is just $300 more in my pocket, and all I have to do is provide the body shop the title, and they write me a check. So if there is no other easy option, this is what I will do. There are no tax implications for me in this transaction. In fact, the more I can sell it for, the less I have to pay on sales tax on the new vehicle we buy for my son. (Missouri will deduct the price of a car you purchase, by the amount you sell a vehicle for. Or another way to put it, you only pay sales tax on the price of your new car, minus the amount you sell your old car for).

I do think that the offer is fair. He had a sport, with 136k on the odometer. So almost $21k is fair in my opinion. ( I am on the other side of the state, near KC, but I did look at what I could buy a replacement jeep for near me)

Thanks all

 

[GATORB8]

Thanks all I will try to answer all the questions. Airbags did not deploy, from the looks of it is looked very minor. But we were told the frame was damaged, minor, but there is frame damage. If we have the body shop repair it, it will cost us $10,000 for the repair. So, $21,000 payout from ins., $10170 to buy it back, and $10,000 for repair. With that my son will have his jeep back, with a salvage title, and money is awash. I do not think we want to do that, so we will take the ins. money and figure out what the best way to get the most money out of it. It is looking like selling it to the body shop for $500 over what we have to pay the ins. company to buy it back. That will be the least amount of work.

I do not have to pay any tax if I sell it to the body shop. It is just $300 more in my pocket, and all I have to do is provide the body shop the title, and they write me a check. So if there is no other easy option, this is what I will do. There are no tax implications for me in this transaction. In fact, the more I can sell it for, the less I have to pay on sales tax on the new vehicle we buy for my son. (Missouri will deduct the price of a car you purchase, by the amount you sell a vehicle for. Or another way to put it, you only pay sales tax on the price of your new car, minus the amount you sell your old car for).

I do think that the offer is fair. He had a sport, with 136k on the odometer. So almost $21k is fair in my opinion. ( I am on the other side of the state, near KC, but I did look at what I could buy a replacement jeep for near me)

Thanks all

Sounds like you've covered all your bases, and the tax credit for the sale seems to definitely sweeten the deal for your effort.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Can you post some pics?

 

[JEEPT]

My son was in a wreck with his JK. (not his fault, someone ran red light) Although there was not that much damage, insurance totaled his Jeep. He had a 2014 sport, and insurance is giving us $20,700. There are quite a few good parts on this jeep (all 4 doors, engine, transmission, transfer cast.....) About the only bad part is the left fender and bumper. We can buy the vehicle back for $10,700, and the body shop that worked on it will give us $11,000. ($300 more than what we pay the insurance for the vehicle.) Should I go with letting the body shop buy it from us? Or should I try to shop around for another body shop that will buy it? I have never been in this position before, and not really sure what route to take. Thanks Phil

Is the $20,700 actual cash value or does that include sales tax? If the $20700 is the ACV from the insurance company you should also recoup sales tax on top of that amount. So if sales tax in your area is 7%, that would be an additional $1449 in your pocket.

 

[IceBerg]

The payout from insurance is an OFFER. Do your research before you accept and make sure it is fair. If it needs to be higher provide examples of other jeeps on the market.

Unless you are going to restore it yourself and keep it do not buy it. Its value will drop considerably should you ever decide to sell.

 

[brennaman]

I will answer all your questions with one reply.
Sorry I don't have any pics, it is at the shop in the town my son is going to school. It looks great. Like I said most of the parts on the vehicle are fine, but the frame did get tweaked a bit. So repair is about $10,000, so ins totaled it.

I am not sure what sales tax you are talking about JEEPT. I know all states are different, but in MO, there are zero tax implications with the payout, or any tax I will owe on this vehicle. If we buy another vehicle, we can subtract $20,700 from the purchase price of our new vehicle, and only pay sales tax on the lowered amount. But as far as sales tax on the $20,700, there is no tax.

I understand the amount from the insurance is an offer, but it is a fair offer. I would say it is very even with what Jeeps of its age and mileage are going for in this area. And I agree, we do not intend to purchase it back from the ins. company.

I was just wondering if there were any options that I had not thought of. Like maybe call other shops that do salvage autos, and see what they will offer me, or is it worth parting out from my garage, the engine, transmission, body parts etc. But it sounds like that is more of a PITA than it is worth.

I think I will just buy it back from the ins. co. for $10,700, sell it to the body shop for $11,100 and get the rest from the ins. co. That is at least $400 more than the insurance company only. thanks

 

[JEEPT]

I will answer all your questions with one reply.
Sorry I don't have any pics, it is at the shop in the town my son is going to school. It looks great. Like I said most of the parts on the vehicle are fine, but the frame did get tweaked a bit. So repair is about $10,000, so ins totaled it.

I am not sure what sales tax you are talking about JEEPT. I know all states are different, but in MO, there are zero tax implications with the payout, or any tax I will owe on this vehicle. If we buy another vehicle, we can subtract $20,700 from the purchase price of our new vehicle, and only pay sales tax on the lowered amount. But as far as sales tax on the $20,700, there is no tax.

I understand the amount from the insurance is an offer, but it is a fair offer. I would say it is very even with what Jeeps of its age and mileage are going for in this area. And I agree, we do not intend to purchase it back from the ins. company.

I was just wondering if there were any options that I had not thought of. Like maybe call other shops that do salvage autos, and see what they will offer me, or is it worth parting out from my garage, the engine, transmission, body parts etc. But it sounds like that is more of a PITA than it is worth.

I think I will just buy it back from the ins. co. for $10,700, sell it to the body shop for $11,100 and get the rest from the ins. co. That is at least $400 more than the insurance company only. thanks

In essence the insurance company is buying the vehicle from you. You are not trading it in on another vehicle, it's totaled. So if you were to go purchase another jeep for $20700 you would have to pay sales tax on the $20700. The insurance company should pay you the additional amount to cover the sales tax. That' s why I asked if the $20700 was the actual cash value of the jeep or did the $20700 include a sales tax allowance.
ACV + sales tax= insurance payout

I totaled a car one time., blue book value of the vehicle was $15000. I settled with the insurance company for $15000 plus $1050 for sales tax. That way I could purchase a vehicle of equal value. If the dealers in your area charge a dealer fee, also try to negotiate that into into your settlement. If you don't ask, you won't get.
Compare Kelly Blue Book retail values with NADA retail book value. Use the higher amount to negotiate a settlement. Nada will be probably be higher. Go to Nada.com or KKB.com.
Good luck.

 

[brennaman]

In essence the insurance company is buying the vehicle from you. You are not trading it in on another vehicle, it's totaled. So if you were to go purchase another jeep for $20700 you would have to pay sales tax on the $20700. The insurance company should pay you the additional amount to cover the sales tax. That' s why I asked if the $20700 was the actual cash value of the jeep or did the $20700 include a sales tax allowance.
ACV + sales tax= insurance payout

I totaled a car one time., blue book value of the vehicle was $15000. I settled with the insurance company for $15000 plus $1050 for sales tax. That way I could purchase a vehicle of equal value. If the dealers in your area charge a dealer fee, also try to negotiate that into into your settlement. If you don't ask, you won't get.
Compare Kelly Blue Book retail values with NADA retail book value. Use the higher amount to negotiate a settlement. Nada will be probably be higher. Go to Nada.com or KKB.com.
Good luck.

In MO, if I buy another vehicle for $20,700, I pay no taxes because of my loss of $20,700 in the Jeep. As long as it is done within 6 months of the loss.

 

[ECP]

The payout from insurance is an OFFER. Do your research before you accept and make sure it is fair. If it needs to be higher provide examples of other jeeps on the market.

Unless you are going to restore it yourself and keep it do not buy it. Its value will drop considerably should you ever decide to sell.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

OP - you can negotiate the settlement. I suggest you do a search of "Totaled vehicle valuation" and your state and contact someone>

The insurance company is trying to pay as little as possible. As an example, my truck was totaled last month, first offer was $5400 - they were comparing 2wd V6s to my 4wd V8. Gave them my comps and suddenly the offer goes to $6600. They don't want to budge until I tell them a professional adjuster quoted me $8500. The offer is now at $7700 (which I'm going to take).

That's 40% more than their original offer!!

 

[Mgg253]

In MO, if I buy another vehicle for $20,700, I pay no taxes because of my loss of $20,700 in the Jeep. As long as it is done within 6 months of the loss.

Jeept your not correct for taxes in MO. Brennaman I am not sure you are either and I highly recommend checking further. I believe You will get a sales tax affidavit for the amount the insurance pays for the vehicle less the buyback. That could be applied towards your next vehicles taxes. Also you could create a bill of sale from the sale of the vehicle to the body shop to offset taxes on the next vehicle bought. The thing you need to check is can you apply both to the purchase of a new vehicle. I don’t believe you can since it’s coming from the same vehicle.

Admittedly I’ve been out of Missouri for 5 years and my knowledge may be outdated or foggily wrong. But I’d recommend checking!
Best of luck!

 

[zrickety]

I have a friend that negotiated with Geico on the payout for his car...it took a long time, they basically met him in the middle even though he technically never accepted. I don't think I would fool around with haggling, not even sure I would bother with the extra $400 but that's your call. It sounds like a fair value to me, take the money and run. Buy one that hasn't been wrecked.
Also love your Snazberry 2 door...don't see many of those!!

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