My car just caught on fire :(

[DarkCaporaL]

Well I got a phone call from ICBC today. Total write off. How sad is that.

The guy I spoke with was really nice but unfortunately said "When it comes to RHD vehicles we really don't even try to fix them".

Could of seen that coming a mile away. They write off RHDs that get rear ended and would only need a bumper...lol

I would buy it back.

[GTR--J]

That situation really sucks! I haven't met you yet, which GTR do you have? Do you have any pics of the fire?

[frankiman]

i'd would buy it back, its not too badly damaged, theres a ton of money to be made off it!

[RHDskyline]

Oh ****. I would buy it back


Question:

How would it have worked if you didn't contact your insurance company, fixed the car yourself, and kept driving the car.

I was talking to Oakville and he said that in Ontario its against the Law not to report an incident involving your car. In Alberta, its not against the Law

Just wondering how that would have played out had you not reported it?

[SkunkWorks]

Well I got a phone call from ICBC today. Total write off. How sad is that.

The guy I spoke with was really nice but unfortunately said "When it comes to RHD vehicles we really don't even try to fix them". So let that be a warning to anyone who damages their baby!!

Oakville, I still dont have a clue how it started, which sucks because no one can learn from this fiasco.

And Snow it looks like your prophecy is coming true, good or bad haha

The hunt for a new GTR is now on. She's got some big shoes to fill. RIP "Kelly"

Wait, I thought you said insurance wouldn't cover it?

Why would it be totalled if it's not going to be covered in the first place...

Confused.

[Rocketeer]

Skunk, I said I DO have insurance. Anyone with normal Comprehensive insurance through ICBC will be protected against fires fyi.

GTR-J, yeah man it really sucks! I was so close to having her in peak form, its too damn bad you didnt get to see her! We'll meet up when I get my next one. She was the 'ghostrider' GTR, flat black rims, tint all around. Pics of aftermath in my first post.

As for buying it back, I will definitely consider doing this as I was told due to the fact that she was a fire claim, they were going to crush her! What a way to go, and I'll be damned if Im goona let that happen. Cant ever drive her again tho, as once your car is declared salvage, they can only be a parts car. It's still pretty early on in the ICBC process but I can tell already they're going to try and shaft me. Bring it, I say.

RHDskyline, great question. I actually thought the exact same thing today, but I dont really want to pay like $5000 outta pocket for the sake of still having my baby. I mean whats the point of insurance then? Still interesting to think about, considering how things seem to be progressing with ICBC

[RHDskyline]

I'm not liking the ruling in BC. If you have a salvage title here you just need to take the car through a whole inspection. Checking frame, and everything.

Thats really stupid.

It would have costed 5000 to get her up and running again?


I'm sure you will make some money on parting it out, sucks you can't have the shell registered again. Maybe someone in the states wants a drift/track car

[M13]

They can't crush it.

It's your car, you can buy it back.


Good luck with the rest of process, sucks it's holiday season when your mind should be peaceful and not dealing with ICBC asshats.

[M0nkeyMark]

aww man not the skyline =(
she's just wounded all you need to do is heal her
good luck homie!

[frankiman]

quick note btw,

it cost me 1800$ to buy back my car,
and i sold 7500$ off it, plus alot of parts i kept and put on my current GTR

thats added to the 9000$ the car was insured, and 2200$ in parts that they gave me on top (because all the parts were new(ish) and i documented everything), minus my 600$ deductible

so, i've actually made money crashing my car, but i did work 300+hours taking it fully apart and selling those parts

[Snow]

Even if it's salvage title I thought you could fix it, have it inspected and re-register it. I'm pretty sure I've owned a car that had a salvage title. It was from flooding/water damage. Rebuild, inspection, good to go.

I would very seriously look into doing that. Hell if they say you could re-title it I would consider buying it out... Kinda want a GTR anyways!!

[M13]

quick note btw,

it cost me 1800$ to buy back my car,
and i sold 7500$ off it, plus alot of parts i kept and put on my current GTR

thats added to the 9000$ the car was insured, and 2200$ in parts that they gave me on top (because all the parts were new(ish) and i documented everything), minus my 600$ deductible

so, i've actually made money crashing my car, but i did work 300+hours taking it fully apart and selling those parts

but what happened to your premium?


Chris, once ICBC writes a car off (especially a RHD) it will be near impossible to tag it as a resalvage title.

[Snow]

I guess I haven't necessarily seen it happen with RHD's but I've seen tons of other cars rebuilt. I mean with this one it should be ok... If it was rear-ended, suffered major body or frame damage I could see it being a pain in the ass to do... but with something as simple as this fire...

I mean if it passed inspection the first time to be registered, it should be good to go once the fuse box, hood, battery, wiring harness, etc is replaced. I mean if you took in those pictures to the inspection, and they knew it was written off by fire, they would likely only inspect what was damaged, and not necessarily anything else. Especially with that size of a fire, it's not like it would have heated the frame enough to warp or anything.

But that's just what I would assume. I could be totally out to lunch. That and ICBC inspectors could basically be trained to not let any rebuild RHD's pass. Which would be BS but hey, welcome to ICBC I guess...

[M13]

The main issue for fire damage is the weakening of metal structure.

High heat distorts the metal alloy crystalization and weakens it. They can use that as an excuse for not being salvageable.

He's much better off buying it back then selling parts

[Rocketeer]

M13 you're right on the money. There is no way to tell how compromised the frame is due to the fire. Unfortunately, ICBC said they cannot even sell it back to me as a parts car, saying that unless you have the facilities to properly dispose of chemicals & other harmful substances that were in the car you cannot have it.

Also, the estimator I met with seemed to have a huge grudge against skylines. He openly told me he dislikes RHD vehicles (which made me wonder why I am having someone who's biased against these cars; estimating one). There were other weird things too, like when he said "Oh I see you've got the GTR shocks in there" when in actual fact they are $2000 Tein coilovers. He also said "The body lines look funny", apparently indicating he thought it was a "$10000 GTS"!!!!!!!!

I need to make some phone calls I think!