Luc Tourangeau Appraisail

05/23/2025

I haven't posted for a while. Life has a way of moving fast. I have been appraising all along but I stopped doing automotive claims after Covid . As the years go by, I have built a solid reputation on specialties. My root experiences are from trucks, heavy equipment and farm equipment. I am really good at appraising and finding causes of damages on RV's as well. Boats too... stay safe everyone....

10/03/2022

12/14/2020

Are air bags important to you ?

I just came from doing an inspection on a damaged car that was rear ended when it slowed down for some deers on the road while a car coming from behind did not pay attention, ramming into the first one at high speed. The first car is a total loss and although all 3 occupants got off with some muscle and back pain, all and all , it could've been much worst.

The first thing the owner told me when I looked at the car was that the air bags neglected to go off. He said it as if he was entitled to the air bags and he was pi**ed off that they did not work for him.

Air bags are not a guarantee and they do not always deploy. The system is also primarily designed to deploy from the car facing an abrupt stop when hitting something, more in line with the car hitting something rather than being hit from another car.

A classic example is from a front impact, triggering front sensors or side sensors that decides from the impact point which air bag to deploy , ie : steering , instrument cluster, seat, headliner etc...

Not wanting to get into technical details that will likely surpass my knowledge of the subject, the air bags systems are designed to help save lives but to activate them, the system needs to be subjected to some predisposed conditions to work effectively.

The air bags deploy when the sensors are triggered. So the first rule of thumb is that if you don't hit the sensor or trigger it from being close to the impact point , most of the time, air bags will not deploy. For example, that I know, most cars on the market today have little to no sensors on the back so in the event of a rear impact, usually no airbags will be deployed.

For the most part, the less expensive is the car, the less sensors it has. Simply put, some cars have tons of sensors, some less. Usually, the most expensive cars have more sensors but some manufacturers will stake their reputation on safety and therefore will likely have more protection built into them than others for the same price . SAAB is a good example, likely at the far side of the safety margin compared to others.

So for today, my message is simply put that air bags are not a guarantee, that some cars have more sensors than others not always based on price alone and that if air bags are important to you, check out how many sensors and air bags are included when you shop for a replacement car.

09/22/2020

WHY SHOULD YOU PAY MORE FOR PARTS WHEN IT'S AN INSURANCE CLAIM ?

Ever wondered why most repairer of non-automotive equipment charge more for repairing your equipment when it's an insurance claim ? This is something that really makes me boil. The machine is not owned by the insurance company , it is own by you. The insurance company only provide cash payment for the cost of the parts and the labor to repair it. When a shop sells the parts for more than normal when it's an insurance job, they are actually price fixing YOUR repair . Ultimately, you are charged more, not the insurance company. Some shops even have a specialist that is assigned all insurance claims. Ever wonder if they supply the repair service for your machine , then why do they need a specialist for the insurance company versus when you are paying out of your own pocket ? As an appraiser, this is a daily struggle, to get the true , un-inflated parts cost to establish how much it will be to fix your machine. Shops have been attempting since the early age of machinery repairs to inflate repair costs when they think the money is coming from an insurance claim. They think there is no harm done, they think it's a big corporation that pays for their desire to make more money of your accident. Ultimately, you as the consumer pays for this overcharge as premium increases for your insurance coverage. So next time you say it's not your problem , you may want to re-think this , every time a shop gets away with this logic, they are learning how to charge more for the same service . If you think it don't get back to you , you are wrong. First your insurance premiums will increase and believe me, if they do it to insurance companies, they do it to others as well.