Defective Car Parts: When It’s Time to Total Your Car

Your vehicle’s gas tank, seat belts, tires, and airbags must all work properly to ensure your safety. However, if the failure of any of these auto parts caused you to become hurt in an accident, it may be time to total your car. Here’s how to know the right time to do so and the best way to recover your financial losses.

What Constitutes a Total Loss?

A vehicle is considered to be totaled when the cost to repair it is more than its cash value (ACV). In Texas, the insurance company of the driver who caused the accident makes this calculation. To do this, it takes several factors into consideration, including vehicle age and condition, odometer reading, local market worth, depreciation, and its features.

Many insurance companies in Texas use their own formula to determine how much to give you for your vehicle. What’s the problem with this, you may ask? In negotiating with an insurance company, you are highly unlikely to get anything near a fair amount for your loss. Not only that, but they may also try offering you a cash settlement for your vehicle.

Although this settlement may seem like a large amount, don’t be fooled; that amount may come in at a number that’s well below what you incurred in damages and repair costs. You do have the option to turn down what you feel is an unfair settlement, but, if you do, you could be in for months of delays and brush-offs.

Salvage

If it’s a totaled vehicle, it will still have value as a salvage vehicle. As such, the insurance company will keep your vehicle and pay you what it has determined to be the vehicle’s cash value. You can get your vehicle back, but you must pay the insurance company the salvage amount. Then you’ll still need to spend money on repairs and re-registration.

You Have Options

Instead of accepting an inadequately low settlement offer or paying an insurance company to get your car back, you can go to court to get a fair amount. However, in order to do this, you’ll have to present evidence that the insurance company’s previous offer was too low. Examples of evidence include documentation of maintenance and upkeep, estimates from vehicle appraisers, and pictures of your vehicle before the accident.

Another option to get you the money you deserve is to make a strict product liability claim against the manufacturer of whatever component failed in your vehicle and caused your financial loss. However, this can be tricky if the manufacturer tries to blame someone else for the failure of their product.

In both cases, the knowledge of an experienced car accident attorney is your best chance of a fair settlement.

100 Years of Combined Experience

If you’re looking for compensation in a car accident lawsuit, look no further than Schechter, McElwee, Shaffer & Harris. We put our 100 combined years of legal experience to work for you. Call us today to book your free consultation: (713) 574-5089.