1988 90 Quattro rear-ended and totalled in Canada

[Kurt Nolte]

Radek wrote:
> Hello group;
>
> I got rear-ended here in the Ottawa area a couple of days ago.  On a
> highway, a girl in a Tercel tried to squeeze into the right lane behind me
> at the moment the whole column started breaking.  She hit me pretty hard.
> The whiplash is healing, but the car is not good.  Driver-side rear quarter
> is damaged, including the longitudinal beam in the trunk that is partly
> crushed.   Only the spare wheel kept the left fender in shape.  Insurance
> appraiser says the car is most likely totalled.
>   

Yowch. Sounds pretty totaled to me too, but I'm neither a collision 
expert nor an insurance appraiser.
> Any advice on what to keep before the car goes to the scrap yard?  Anyone
> interested in parts (many new ones on this car), please let me know
> off-list, I'd save them and you can have them for nominal cost.
>   
The drive train? Get another Quattro and you'd have a nice set of spares 
in case you needed them. Engine, any good mounts left, fuel tank, 
unbroken glass, front doors if they're still undamaged, seats, interior 
trim (especially dash panels, as there's probably a market for them 
somewhere where it's sunny and UV radiation is damaging), wheels... 
yeah, I've stripped a few cars going to the crusher before. And I'm a 
packrat.

Unfortunately, I was usually stripping them for friends of mine, and 
didn't get to keep all the parts. We once let a '68 Mustang that had 
been rear-ended and totaled go to the crusher with only the basic frame 
and rear body panels still on it. Everything else was sold off. Owner 
made almost five grand off of the parts.
> I got pushed into the car in front of me, causing minimal damage.  However,
> the insurance says I could be held partly responsible for causing damage to
> the car in front of me.  I was keeping a safe distance, but how can I prove
> it?  My line of thinking is that the severity of damage at the back clearly
> shows it was the impact that threw me into the car in front.  Any advice on
> how to deal with insurance?
>   

Sounds like the accident that totaled my sister's Kia. Four car 
collision: Expedition, Saturn sedan, her Sportage, and a mid-90's 
Ranger. She got hit by the Ranger, was plowed into the Saturn, which 
pushed it up under the Expedition's rear bumper. The Saturn, her Kia, 
and the Ranger were all totaled. The Expedition got off with only a new 
bumper needed.

The police ruled it the Ranger driver's fault after consulting with 
collision experts and Accident Investigators, and the Insurance Company 
didn't challenge it. They've been pretty reasonable from what I've seen; 
keep your fingers crossed, make sure you tell them the truth and don't 
try to fudge, and hope for the best is all I can say.

Best of luck to you,
-Kurt
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