[s-cars] Ever heard of this? - Lower control arm & science

[QSHIPQ at aol.com]

My father used to do accident reconstruction and analysis for accident investigations (and he had scrabble abrevs after his engineering doctorate as well).  I used to be transfixed with the stories and learned well the problem with these "chases" are a couple fold.

First, these engineering places are expensive.  Usually used by insurance companies when facing huge liability losses (i.e. wrongful death cases).  In the case of a couple of sheet metal repairs or even a sheet metal total (esp on an audi), the insurance company won't be doing a damn thing other than writing a ck.  JUST the procedures to figure out how to test this component will probably cost more than the total outlay of this claim.

Second, IF anyone wants to pursue this investigation privately, then all related expenses are theirs until liability or payment is made.  Years in many cases, AND you can't do a darn thing with the car until the case is settled.  The insurance company <all> usually has some fine print as to maximum time to claim, which will expire during your private chase.  The rate of return and risk of none, pretty much makes this a no brainer.

Third, IF you get paid by the insurance company, you are no longer an interested party.  IOW, you accept the payout by the insurance company, the car is theirs.  As such, you can't claim interest in any further action, unless the insurance company is on your side.  Even then, insurance company lingo usually includes a clause in the payout that specifically eliminates you from collecting on any action they may pursue.

Fourth, suing without actual significant damages, is hardly self serving, and any attorney will chase this "cause" at your expense, but ask them what they think first.

I'm looking at this whole thing and thinking sh*t happened, and insurance is for exactly that.  More than insurance?  Best of luck, that's a train well routed into your wallet, and it's gonna cost you more than peace of mind.

My advice?  Get the documented value of your car as high as you can, print off receipts, overvalued marketplace ads for like cars, and get the best reasonable settlement you can from the insurance company.  And don't forget to take the family to church next Sunday, the audi gods were most kind considering what "might" have happened.

Scott Justusson


In a message dated 5/5/2003 10:21:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, dburig at igsenergy.com writes:

> and your
> family are well.
> Another thought into the fray...
> In a previous life, one of my customers was the Battelle Memeorial Institute
> www.battelle.org. They do engineering and design work for every imaginable
> industry.  (Food, Military, Automotive,etc.)  Anywho, one of the projects
> they worked on was establishing the cause of the failure of
> the cabin door
> that