Appreciate cifus advise on this..
opinion from loss adjustors or car owners with similar kind of experience are most welcomed..
car is almost 2 years old (recond built in 2008), victim of a reckless driver..
Thought the car is repairable as what mentioned by the workshop but friends told its totalled - due to structural damages.
Workshop could be conflicted if declared as total loss as no earnings to the workshop as payment will be direct to owner - frens told..
but frens could be wrong as they are not expert in this field..
insurance co / loss adjustors might be conflicted too right? as they trying possible ways to cut costs for their paymaster..

my worried is in term of roadworthiness, if the car can be repaired without compromising safety, why not?
but the workshop said this need 5-6 months to repair- the earliest could be 3 months.. if not a major issues, why taking so long?
what do you guys think?




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Left A-Pillar affected, can claim total lost for this. Tell the adjuster to check with Puspakom if he says can be repaired.

you will likely need to change the top. that means sawing it up and replace with a donor car. that alone will fail your jpj inspection and its not safe unless you fancy a topless car in your next crash.
perhaps the repair shop got no confidence in finding a donor part.

claim total loss.
dont bother fix.
side pillar, A pillar integrity compromised.
you fixed also it wont be as strong as it used to be.
in case another accident happen in future, the car wont be safe. you might be killed inside.

thanks Alg7_munif, how bad is A-Pillar affected which can be deemed as total loss?
workshop told if i go for total loss, i'll incur more losses as the insurance will only cover up to market value as determined by them/not insured amount..
as for me, if really it compromise safety, i wouldnt dare to take any risk..
they further told that if the cost of repair is not exceeds 65% of the market value, this cannot be deemed as total loss, which they told it the repair cost wont meet the total loss criteria (cost of repair below MV) - this is due to fact that the MV for this car is still high..engine no problem i guess, as the car hit from the left and car turn turtled..

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Added on November 23, 2012, 9:56 amthe workshop said, just replace the roof, a-pillar is not badly affected - i really not sure..
the car is damn good protecting myself and family without any serious injury..




This post has been edited by zack2381: Nov 23 2012, 09:56 AM

who told you this (bolded sentence)? if its workshop, I think they want to earn insurance claim, thats why.
I dont think your car even when fixed will pass puspakom (unless tutup-mata method)

As what other forumers have said, A pillar is gone and so is your roof crumple zone. Big chance the donor car will be a write off itself so you're just putting parts from 2 damaged cars together.

If you do want to repair it, check the cost. It'll easily be 40% of what you paid for the recond car. So its basically 140% of what the car is worth ... and even if you sell it right after the repairs, what would people pay for it ? RM10k ?

This post has been edited by corad: Nov 23 2012, 09:59 AM

if after repair, you get hit again on the same spot, you might not be so lucky anymore.
dont risk it.

my case is worst than this
and yes, it can be repaired like new car
just send it to panel workshop that approved by your brand car (Toyota/Mitsu/Honda), not by insurance agent recommended
for my case, it took 2 months to complete everything

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=1097140&hl=

I guess you are likely to sell off your car after repair anyway. The next victim will kena

the workshop cum insurance agent told me..
i did raised issue about puspakom - he said, this need to be arranged by the car owner, once the repair works has done..
at this moment, i'm still collecting views from different sides before concluding whether which one is right..seems that most of the views that the car is totalled..

either way, both doesnt make me happy - but what i care the most is the roadworthiness - safety..i cant tolerate on this..

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Added on November 23, 2012, 10:12 amhi there, about your car, was the A-pillar affected?

was told that if a-pillar affected, the car wont go straight anymore..hence the safety issue..

how old is your car at the time of accident?






This post has been edited by zack2381: Nov 23 2012, 10:12 AM

Zack, please spare a few minutes and watch this video-clip. View until the end where the guy sits into the 2 crumpled cars.
then you'll understand why most of us suggest you go for total-lost claim.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjxM9chAe1k

This post has been edited by motomeiji: Nov 23 2012, 10:22 AM

it was 11mths old that time
the A-Pillar only kena lil bit
there are other factors too before they can claim your car as total loss

i) true, double check your insurance agreement

ii) engine
iii) floorpan
iv) chasis

these i know after that accident
coz i was like u, try convincing the workshop and adjustor to claim total lost but they can't

anyway, as long ur car will be repaired in panel workshop (get advised from your car manufacturer, not insurance agent), do not worry bout the outcome coz the will replace all broken parts with original parts. dont repair, just replace any single part to a new one.

the car will be 99.99% like new

1. Cut and shut (potong-sambung) A-pillar are not allowed. The car will be deemed as kereta potong.
2. New (or sourced from donor) rooftop can be installed with sealer compound and spot welding.
3. Damaged A-pillar can be pulled with car chassis straightening bench.



The car still repairable. However, your safety will be compromised due to structural integrity weakened.

A-pillar pulling.


Rooftop replacement.

A pillar is the most important structural point in a car. if it is busted the car would be non-roadworthy. The next time u get into an accident it would probably break into and cuts you in half.

Stop trying to save the car coz next time it wont save u.

Bright side, u only need 1/2 coffin.

Fixing the A-pillar is not recommended since the material is already weaken by the impact and pulling it back into shape will make it even weaker. The A-pillar is actually part of a larger piece called "side panel outer". Just google for this and you will see that it is a big piece of stamped sheet metal.

Actually any parts can be replaced/fixed if you have the infrastructure, a normal workshop is less likely to have the correct equipment for a major part change.

Just take a soft metal spoon and bend it out of shape, then bend it back into its original shape. Can you get the spoon to be as hard as it was?

This post has been edited by alg7_munif: Nov 23 2012, 11:20 AM


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thanks ..
at first, i never thought about issue on A-pillar has a big implication to the safety - total loss scenario if the car badly damage esp on engine parts - like ur car..so at first, i dont bother about total loss issue..but now im worried already after receiving more and more opinion highlighting this..

some people might say, just claim insurance and fix the car, the sell it off. but that is irresponsible, bro. have you watched the videoclip link i shared earlier?
they used 2 exact similar cars, crashed together. the "repaired" one cause the driver to be crippled forever while the never repaired one the driver is saved entirely.

thanks for highlighting..i dont know to what extend i could sell the story of the safety issue when loss adjuster and workshop seems to share the same objective (which raises a doubt of conflicted issue) at the expense of my safety of the road user.. seems we dont have sufficient law to protect the car owners on this.

The Car is a total loss. If the Insurance Company wants to repair the Car, you should make a complaint to BNM.