S2000 Dream Car Turns Insurance Nightmare
Reddit user owned his AP2 S2000 for around a year before it got rear-ended. Now, he is fighting insurance over its repairs.
Warning, this story is not for the faint of heart. If you can’t stand to see a gorgeous S2000 get destroyed, proceed with caution.
Just seven months ago, Reddit user Senseighostly posted a picture of his AP2 S2000. It is certainly not short on excellent parts, including a carbon fiber hood and hardtop, both by Mugen. Additionally, it has a JS racing diffuser and side skirt set, as well as a Voltex front bumper. Clearly, this car is well-loved and cared for. More recently, he posted the above picture, showing it sporting a set of Volk TE37 wheels. However, less than a week after this post, disaster struck.
Unfortunately, this beauty of an S2000 was the victim of someone on their phone.
“My girlfriend and I were on our way back from breakfast when a guy on his phone hit us while we were waiting to turn into my girlfriend’s neighborhood. Hit me on the side bc he came from the other side of the street. The hit caused the entire rear chassis to shift, which then caused both fenders to buckle. Not only that, the crash beam was halfway torn off the car and that force pulled and damaged the frame where the crash beam attaches to it,” said Senseighostly
While seeing your car get destroyed is bad enough, this is, unfortunately, not where this story reaches the worst. Unfortunately, he created another post stating that the at-fault driver’s insurance company did not deem the car totaled, and they offered him $9,100 to repair the vehicle with a fair market value (FMV) estimate of $11,000. Interestingly, this puts the damages well above 75 percent of its total value, meaning most insurance companies would total the car out. However, he believes that given all the work, restoration, and parts that have been put into it, the FMC should be $22,000, and said he thinks he should get $18,000 out of it.
Overall, this is a sad case of the risk you take with significant investments in aftermarket parts. Most insurance companies will not factor them into the cost of the car, and the money is as good as gone. We wish this guy the best of luck and hope the insurance company will work with him in recouping some of the costs associated with the build.
Photos: Reddit