hey Scotty, My wife's 2015 Lexus RX450 was rear-ended by a Hyundai ioniq, insurance wanted to total it, but I said it is still fixable and still drives fine with the damage, the car only has 38,564 miles so it was worth a lot. the body shop said they could not bend out the body, but they said that they could cut out a rear-end off another Lexus at a junkyard, and weld it back on. so the question is should I total it and get $25,000 to buy a new one for $55,000, or spend the money to get it fixed and lower the value, but save $30,000.
If it's totaled by insurance, it'll have a salvage title making it practically worthless. I'd take the money and start over.
"start over" meaning buy a new one
insurance did NOT total it yet, I just had the body shop see what they could do, because I really don't want to pay $30,000 for a new one that cost $50,000. insurance payout is only $25,436
If can be repaired properly and save you from spending $50K, minus the insurance payout of $25,436, get it fixed. What is the repair estimate?
$3500-$4500 is what the body shop said because they have to saw out the rear clip of the SUV and weld the new piece on, so we need a rear hatch, rear end replacement, bumper, taillights, and all the sensors and backup camera reprogramed.