hernandez_ae

Hi Everyone, I was side swiped by a car on the freeway last night. We spun twice and were driving at 60 mph. These cars have incredible tech. I was not able to hit the brakes faster than the car and we spun twice but came safely to a stop. Just a few aches but really nothing to complain about.

Just wondering what you guys think. Will insurance repair or total it?

rhranac

Hard to say from these photos. A body shop can give you a better idea of extent of the damage. You’re right about the tech and its impact (sorry, no pun intended) on the cost to repair collision damage. My wife’s 2018 Subaru Outback was hit almost the same way your Audi was, when a guy ran a stop sign. At the time of the accident, her Subaru had only 700 miles on the odometer; we had bought it new just a month or two before. Damage came to something like $5k if I recall correctly, which was covered by the other driver’s insurance. There were several sensors that had to be replaced and/or recalibrated, and a fair amount of hidden damage that wasn’t evident until damaged exterior panels were removed.

B6_Dolphin

First off - glad you and your occupant(s) all made it through the accident with only minor aches.

Insurance will total it.

Rear quarter, bumper, tailgate, right rear door, right rear suspension, side curtain air bag(s)? and most importantly - unibody (hidden) damage underneath the body panels, including the "C" & "D" pillars, and likely at the suspension mounts.

When does an insurance company total a car?

Carrying physical damage coverage on your personal auto insurance is optional in the eyes of the state. In the eyes of a lender, on the other hand, you’re required to carry comprehensive and collision coverage that will pay for damages to the collateral on loan.

Unfortunately, some policyholders aren’t familiar with how coverage works and how much coverage pays until they’re in a situation where they must file a claim.

• Physical damage coverage will pay for repairs up to the fair market value of the car
• If a vehicle is totaled, you can decide to keep it or receive a check for full value
• In cases, cars are totaled because of water damage or major structural damage
• Some states have a Total Loss Threshold that states that the loss must exceed a specific percentage of the vehicle’s value
• The Total Loss Percentage in some states can be as low as 70 percent of the Actual Cash Value

If you were to look at your auto insurance declarations page right at this moment, you would find all of the coverage that details just what coverage options you carry on each household vehicle.

Weebl

I'd ask yourself, " Do I want it back?". I personally would take to to the most expensive place.

agroudan

First of all, I echo what others have said, glad that you are OK.

My 2018 Q5 was rear-ended in July, and was eventually declared a total loss, but it took a while to get that resolution.

The initial estimate (based on photos I took from the accident scene) were roughly $8000 for similar damage. It took another 3-4 weeks before I could get an Audi-certified body shop to complete the vehicle "tear down" to determine the actual scope of the damage.

Once they started the tear down, they provided a supplemental estimate that was updated to over $27,0000 damage, which they expected to increase further (and did not include Audi-specific items that the dealer would need to perform). The supplemental included "Unibody-Frame Repair" and "Rear Frame Repair (Ultra High Strength Steel)", and these two items along with the high repair cost triggered the insurance company to declare a "total loss". Keep an eye out for these types of line items in your repair estimate.

Hopefully, you can get the tear down started more quickly with your body shop, that would have saved a lot of time.

I was relieved to know that I would be getting a check, since I felt fairly certain that the car would never be the same after the repair. Instead, I wound up with a 2021 Q5e that I am quite happy with so far.

hernandez_ae

They towed the car to the repair shop today which luckily uses Audi Genuine Parts and is on the Farmer's contracted list. I called today and they said they are not starting repairs until the adjuster comes out. At that point they will start the teardown and then come up with an estimate. They have encountered too many cases where they start repairs only to then end up with a secondary inspection which yields a total loss.

When they towed it yesterday, the rear cover door was opening and closing on its own. I am pretty sure that we will end up in the same boat because the car is only worth 30K at this point so getting to 70% of that will go quickly given how sophisticated the cars are.

I used to complain about how these cars don't feel like cars anymore. The old days of just feeling the connection to the car are gone.

That being said, this car literally saved our lives. We spun around twice on the freeway after being hit at 60+ mph. If I had tried to control the thing, we would probably have rolled over. The Q5 just brought us to a stop with just a little whiplash and some back aches. The airbags did not even deploy.

I am glad to hear that you like your new car. We may end up in the same boat. I'll know more according to the shop by Friday.

Thanks for your input!

hernandez_ae

I hear you. The safety features more than make up for it not feeling like cars used to feel. The car took all the impact and brought us safely to a stop after two turns after being hit when we were driving 60+ mph. It makes me feel so much safer knowing that we are in a car that will literally save our lives and the lives of others.

Weebl

This is why I don't really care about "value" and "cost effectiveness" in purchasing a car. I'd rather walk away. I'm supposing the bags didn't deploy since you weren't coming to a sudden stop, since you were hit in the rear you would be pushed into the seat.

bzcat

I'm pretty certain this one will be totaled. There is structure and suspension damage... the quote to repair is going to be over $20k.

hernandez_ae

The repair shop is waiting on the adjuster before starting any repairs. They indirectly tipper their hand by saying that it has happened in the past that they start repairs only to get a secondary inspection at which point the insurance calls it a total loss.

The repair shop expects to have a definite answer by Friday or early next week.

I'll let you know. I will definitely ask them for an estimate just out of curiosity. 30K of repairs on a car worth 30K kind of makes no sense.

Then you realize that it basically stopped on its own and did not crash into any barriers or into any other cars. That kind of tech is not cheap.