And your insurance company, which had "totalled" the car offered you insurance again? *NM*

Some time ago I shorted out the controller under my driver's seat because water leaked into my cabin. My car has been with my (trusted for many years) mechanic for a while until he was able to get to it. He is still working on it and thinks all I have to do is replace the unit, which he thinks he can do with a unit from a junkyard. Because all of this is expensive, though, he as advised me to get the insurance people in.

Given the age (2001) and mileage of the car (140K), he suggests the possibility the insurance company may declare the car totaled. He thinks the car is worth saving, though, and suggests that if they were to do that, I should take the settlement, which he says means they would take title of the car, but that I could then buy it back from them for a fraction of the settlement and pay for the repair for the remainder of the settlement and a relatively little out of pocket expense.

Does this make sense?

2001 Base, purchased in 2004, replaced engine at 130K+, RIP 2017

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

I realize some companies drop you after an accident.

But that part was done. The only question was:

1. take the 100% payout and walk away, or
2. take about 85% payout, and keep the car. Sign that i wont make any further claims on that incident

Car was back on the policy when complete. To re-insure the car they required a physical inspection.

My insurance company is pretty good - known to be "not predatory".

Totaling is just a financial calculation to limit their losses and avoid scams. I don't see where they would care one way or another. Saves them a tow.

Just ask. Make sure you also don't get a salvage title. My title never left my hands.

G

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Great, thanks. I'll keep the board posted on this.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Quote
JackintheBoxster
Some time ago I shorted out the controller under my driver's seat because water leaked into my cabin. My car has been with my (trusted for many years) mechanic for a while until he was able to get to it. He is still working on it and thinks all I have to do is replace the unit, which he thinks he can do with a unit from a junkyard. Because all of this is expensive, though, he as advised me to get the insurance people in.

Given the age (2001) and mileage of the car (140K), he suggests the possibility the insurance company may declare the car totaled. He thinks the car is worth saving, though, and suggests that if they were to do that, I should take the settlement, which he says means they would take title of the car, but that I could then buy it back from them for a fraction of the settlement and pay for the repair for the remainder of the settlement and a relatively little out of pocket expense.

Does this make sense?

No. Not really.

I'm a bit leery of your "trusted" mechanic and what I believe to be a mispresentation of the cost of getting the car back on the road.

A new security module is not that expensive. One from a salvage vehicle even less expensive. You might even be able to send the original security module to a place that rebuilds these. There's a place in Florida that I read has a good reputation.

Unless your car is in sorry condition it is worth way more than this should cost. If the car is otherwise in good shape I'd just fix the thing and leave the insurance company out of the picture.

Ordinarily, I would think this is good advice -- and you've given me very good advice on this board before.

In this case, though, I really think my mechanic is trustworthy. A few years ago he replaced my blown engine with a lower-mileage used one -- with great success -- and he has kept this car and our 240K-mile BMW 3 Series on the road and humming, at every juncture going out of our way to save us money. He also detests the insurance companies, followed by dealership service departments.

He is now searching for a salvage unit and I am certain he'll do his best to save me money and save the car. I think he just brought this up as a possibility of the insurance company wants to total it, but he's not pushing it.

Thanks for you your advice, though, I'll keep it in mind.

You should shop around for a module from a scrap yard - it may change the dynamic. regardless, it may make sense to take the total loss offer ( based on a costly module) and fix it (with a cheap module).

I did this once too- insurance company totaled the car because a hub needed replacement, and it was an OLD car (300k). I got a junk hub, pressed in a anew bearing, and was GTG. Again, title never left my hands, insurance company was happy to be rid of the car.

G

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

I'm pretty sure you can replace the unit for about $500 and it should take less than 30 minutes to do.

That said, I would check the fuse on the unit and also check it for water and try Pedro's revival trick.

Either way you should also fix the problem that is causing the water leak.

Sorry, just read the body of your msg. Very good advice, thanks.

... keep in mind that they are not reprogrammable.
So you need to get the Central Locking Unit the ECU and the key.
You need to make sure that it's a matched set coming out of another car with the same model year as yours.
When you replace the ECU and the CLU take the key that came with the set and remove its immobilizer pill and transfer it to your key.
Then everything should work.
Happy Boxstering
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Try searching for Boxster immobilizer.