totaled!

[Elixer]

Some moron hit my car a few days back and today, it was deemed totaled, since they claim that the repair cost is greater than the value of the car.

I was looking at the blue book value, and the range is 4500 - 6600.
The total repair cost is around $4600+ and 'hidden' damage, that they can't tell unless they start tearing apart the car.
The body *was* in good shape before, the interior was spotless, and everything on the car worked fine.

Question is, it seems insurance is doing a lowball on me? I already tried arguing for a higher value, but they site the age of the car, and that it was in a wreck before (that time, it was $3000 damage--again, wasn't my fault)
Since in both cases, it wasn't my fault, I assume that the insurance company didn't actually pay anything, and that the person who's fault it was paid (well, their insurance did).

Anyone run into this kind of a situation before, and if so, how did you handle this?
The worst part is, a)no car, b) if I say yes to the check, then I get no more rental car, and of course, I still have to find another car, so I can get to/from work.

Frustrating!

 

[Saga]

Insurance will always lowball you. That is why insurance is a scam.

 

[angry hampster]

So they're offering you bluebook and you say they're lowballing you? What the hell?

 

[Billb2]

If you have some recent repair bills that may get the insurance Co to raise the value of your car.
It's worked for me in a similar situation.

 

[Elixer]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
So they're offering you bluebook and you say they're lowballing you? What the hell?

The low end of the bluebook. I would call that lowballing.

Originally posted by: Billb2
If you have some recent repair bills that may get the insurance Co to raise the value of your car.
It's worked for me in a similar situation.

I told the agent about the brand new tires I got, and they he just said, it won't make that big of a difference in the end, but he will check with his boss about this.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Saga
Insurance will always lowball you. That is why insurance is a scam.

:roll:

 

[Throwmeabone]

Why do you think a car that has been in an accident before should be on the upper end of the blue book value? The values are somewhat inflated anyway so you probably are getting a fair deal.

 

[Elixer]

Originally posted by: Throwmeabone
Why do you think a car that has been in an accident before should be on the upper end of the blue book value? The values are somewhat inflated anyway so you probably are getting a fair deal.

I guess, since it didn't have one spot of rust, and it was very well kept. (It only has very low miles on it. (40K for a 9 year old car)) Engine is fine, no leaks, or any other known problem.
I was hoping for around $5500, not $4500. If it didn't have any accidents, then I would expect $6600.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Elixer

Originally posted by: Throwmeabone
Why do you think a car that has been in an accident before should be on the upper end of the blue book value? The values are somewhat inflated anyway so you probably are getting a fair deal.

I guess, since it didn't have one spot of rust, and it was very well kept. (It only has very low miles on it. (40K for a 9 year old car)) Engine is fine, no leaks, or any other known problem.
I was hoping for around $5500, not $4500. If it didn't have any accidents, then I would expect $6600.

Really? You'd expect maximum blue book if it didn't have the prior accident? So it looked like it just rolled off the assembly line? No scratches (as in, none, zero), no dents, absolutely no wear on anything? You're aware that fewer than 10% of all used cars fall into the category that would get them maximum blue book, right? I can guarantee you that your car wasn't in that 10%.

A car with $3,000 worth of accident damage in its past will never be even in the middle of blue book value (unless you're talking about a fully-restored classic like a '60s Mustang or Chevelle, etc). Even mid-level Blue Book assumes a clean title history, an accident with $3,000 in repairs is definitely not a "clean title history". As far as the "no rust" bit goes, a model-year 2000 car from Alabama damn well shouldn't have any rust on it. What's so special about a Southern car without rust? If you were in Maine or New Hampshire or someplace like that, it would be different, but Alabama cars are pretty much expected to be rust-free.

Also, what car is it? What option packages does it have? Have you checked Craigslist to see what comparable models are selling for in your area? You really don't give us enough information to make a fully-informed judgment, other than to point out, as we have done, that the most probable situation is that you have vastly over-estimated the value of your vehicle.

ZV

 

[RedArmy]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Elixer

Originally posted by: Throwmeabone
Why do you think a car that has been in an accident before should be on the upper end of the blue book value? The values are somewhat inflated anyway so you probably are getting a fair deal.

I guess, since it didn't have one spot of rust, and it was very well kept. (It only has very low miles on it. (40K for a 9 year old car)) Engine is fine, no leaks, or any other known problem.
I was hoping for around $5500, not $4500. If it didn't have any accidents, then I would expect $6600.

Really? You'd expect maximum blue book if it didn't have the prior accident? So it looked like it just rolled off the assembly line? No scratches (as in, none, zero), no dents, absolutely no wear on anything? You're aware that fewer than 10% of all used cars fall into the category that would get them maximum blue book, right? I can guarantee you that your car wasn't in that 10%.

A car with $3,000 worth of accident damage in its past will never be even in the middle of blue book value (unless you're talking about a fully-restored classic like a '60s Mustang or Chevelle, etc). Even mid-level Blue Book assumes a clean title history, an accident with $3,000 in repairs is definitely not a "clean title history". As far as the "no rust" bit goes, a model-year 2000 car from Alabama damn well shouldn't have any rust on it. What's so special about a Southern car without rust? If you were in Maine or New Hampshire or someplace like that, it would be different, but Alabama cars are pretty much expected to be rust-free.

Also, what car is it? What option packages does it have? Have you checked Craigslist to see what comparable models are selling for in your area? You really don't give us enough information to make a fully-informed judgment, other than to point out, as we have done, that the most probable situation is that you have vastly over-estimated the value of your vehicle.

ZV

I love you. :heart:

 

[Vette73]

I was about to post about the same as Zen. What is the year, make, model, and all options? Do you have any pics?

Check autotrader/craigslist/etc... so see what cars that are the SAME (year-make-model) are going for. If it much higher then their offer then print 3-4 good ones out that are the SAME as your car and send those to the insurance company.

 

[bruceb]

I got my insurance State Farm to pony up $5500 when my Grand Prix was rear ended in Nov 2007 .. Their initial offer was like $4100 .. but I had just installed a new tranny which was bought from GM and the rest of the car was sound. Damage was trunk lid, trunk floor and bumper cap. It cost me just about $4k or so at the body shop to fix it. I would not have done so, had the quarter panels been buckled. So in my case, the extra went to new struts and since it was not my fault, I ended up collecting (about 9 months later) my deductible (500) and my car rental of about $450 while my car was in the shop for 8 days or so

 

[StageLeft]

To me the number seem to gel well. I think this is legit. They are saying repairs are at least bluebook and that's without any possible hidden damage. From their end it's a safe bet. I'd take the cash and buy a new car. Buy a 2000 Nissan Maxima, 5 speed SE and live LARGE.

 

[Elixer]

Thanks for the input guys.
Guess I was too much of a neophyte in these things.
Car was a fully loaded camry, live in the rust belt (MI), no dents at all.
Looking at craiglist, a similar car with about 30K more miles goes for $4900

 

[alkemyst]

I had this thing happen with my 1998 240SX. They claimed a value of $5000-6000 and repairs being more than 50% was a total.

My car is mint, down to the mats. They had to send a special adjustor but my car was repaired. They reported the effective age at about two years.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: Elixer
Thanks for the input guys.
Guess I was too much of a neophyte in these things.
Car was a fully loaded camry, live in the rust belt (MI), no dents at all.
Looking at craiglist, a similar car with about 30K more miles goes for $4900

The fact that the car has already been in an accident means that it is probably worth less than the Camry with 120k on it.

The insurance company are also playing it safe, all it take is for them to find one piece of hidden damage to bump up the total bill by a grand putting the repair cost at about $5600 dollars.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Elixer
Thanks for the input guys.
Guess I was too much of a neophyte in these things.
Car was a fully loaded camry, live in the rust belt (MI), no dents at all.
Looking at craiglist, a similar car with about 30K more miles goes for $4900

Ah, I was going by the location listed in your profile (which was Alabama).

Still, unless the car lived in a climate-controlled bubble, I find it very difficult to believe that it was truly in "excellent" condition. Everyone always thinks that their car is "excellent" and 9 times out of 10, they're wrong.

Stop focusing on mileage. A car that has had $3,000 in accident damage is worth less than a car with 100,000 miles. That's just the way it works. Large amounts of accident damage are huge red flags to buyers and represent a significant reduction in the value of the car. They really do make the car's resale value significantly less. If you take the little quiz on the blue book website, you'll find that it places your vehicle in "Fair" condition, even assuming that everything is perfect and the only negative is the fact that it's had $3,000 in accident repairs.

ZV

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Stop focusing on mileage. A car that has had $3,000 in accident damage is worth less than a car with 100,000 miles. That's just the way it works.

LOLWUT?!?!

I beg you to post this on RENNLIST!

jesus

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: Saga
Insurance will always lowball you. That is why insurance is a scam.

Err...maybe things have changed...but last time I totaled a car (mechanic, test driving a car he was working on, pulled out in from of me...whoops!) I got a nice amount for the car I had.

granted, this was in 96. The car was an 87 Cutlass w/ 148k miles. I had an offer to sell it for $1200. Insurance gave me $4300 (above book at the time). I was pleased

 

[alkemyst]

key difference is an 'employee' caused your accident. Business lawsuits are an animal insurance wants to quell quick. Big difference in a national trucking company vehicle broadsiding you vs welfare mom with her 30 kids in a minivan.

 

[Elixer]

Started the process of checking out some cars, and the Carfax service don't seem to be very accurate. The car that is in question here, says it never had any previous crashes. (No accidents or damage reported to CARFAX.) So who reports to Carfax about these things?


Matter of fact, it has a spotless record. Everything is listed as "No issues Reported."

So, do insurance companies use a more accurate service for finding issues or what?

 

[CRXican]

Carfax is bogus. I still can't figure out who reports to them but it's not a lot of people. I'm not even sure insurance companies do.

Autocheck seems to be pretty common now.

 

[HannibalX]

Originally posted by: Saga
Insurance will always lowball you. That is why insurance is a scam.

Yeah, it's a scam alright, like when you are sitting in a hospital dieing after a car wreck and will need $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 in surgery to survive and could never hope to have that kind of cash on hand; then the car insurance co. comes in and says "we'll take care of it". Yeah, it's a huge fucking scam. :roll:

 

[crosshairs]

Originally posted by: iFX

Originally posted by: Saga
Insurance will always lowball you. That is why insurance is a scam.

Yeah, it's a scam alright, like when you are sitting in a hospital dieing after a car wreck and will need $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 in surgery to survive and could never hope to have that kind of cash on hand; then the car insurance co. comes in and says "we'll take care of it". Yeah, it's a huge fucking scam. :roll:

QFT....