Daily rear ended (totaled). How to get the most from insurance?

MTBSully

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Thanks to suggestions from my brothers here on SVTP, I picked up a 2006 E55 AMG last fall as my new daily. For the past 8 months it has been rock solid and a great car, absolutely my best daily driver to date.
IMG_20190601_124537_799.jpg


Sadly, a 2006 Tacoma pushed her shit in last week, and I am afraid she will be totaled. I am totally fine thankfully. The e55 took it like a tank.
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Her insurance has accepted full liability for the accident and will be inspecting this car this week, they are 95% sure it will be totaled.

My question is this, how do i get the right money for the car? KBB says its worth around $10,500, but there is literally only 3-4 others for sale (none with as many options and as new as mine) in a 250 mile radius, and they are all $15k plus? How do I show that this is a rare car that I can't just walk down the street and replace?

Looking for opinions from people who have been in this position before. Her insurance is state farm for what its worth. Thanks!
 

Dave.O

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Good luck, that could end up being you vs Goliath.
Their insurance will low ball you (of course) and hope you just accept it, if you contest they'll just string you out. Happened to me, they have all the time in the world


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BLOWN9646

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Call their insurance company and tell them you want maximum payout for being a rare car. I would think you'll get a decent check
 

Zemedici

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Just be reasonable with them. KBB is not an accurate source anymore unfortunately. As stated above, they will try to lowball you. Explain what you paid for the car, and send the insurance agent you're working with links to similar vehicles.

They generally want to treat you right on the car so you dont go after them for medical, I've noticed (lots of car accidents, none have been my fault lololol)
 

StrayBullitt

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Actually I think they owe you and should pay fair market value for the Car. Fwiw I was rear Ended once and my car was totaled, I was paid out what think was fair market value for it then or very close. Paid 15 for the car, had it for close to 2-1/2 years and they paid me out 12,700. They Even itemized $ for the exhaust I had on it. Just my exp. though and this was 11 years ago.

I think you'll be fine and wouldn't stress it until the time comes, that's a really nice car. There's no way I could see 10,5 being the pay out on it.
 

CV355

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Get as many comps as possible, itemize everything including recent sizeable repairs/maintenance/etc. Let them give you their first assessment, then pull the comps out and tell them to average based on those values. Must be apples to apples or it hurts your case. At the end of the day, don't sign anything unless you're absolutely certain you can live with it. All they are trying to do is settle out of court for the least amount possible.

Unfortunately I've played this stupid game more times in the last 2 years than I ever wish to again. Dumb SC drivers, I tell ya.


Yous guys are ****in delusional. The insurance industry is a ****in business wit a business model.
That model doesn’t include treatin people fairly.

^ Case and point. They just want to settle out of court. They are so numb to appeals to emotion, the same way doctors are numb to buttholes.
 

KilledbyKenne

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I just went through this this last winter. The insurance company said they have a database comprised of what similar vehicles are actually selling for, so sending them for sale ads is pointless because they don't care about what a few nut jobs have their cars listed at. That was my experience, hopefully you get a fair offer.

Good luck
 

03Sssnake

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Yous guys are ****in delusional. The insurance industry is a ****in business wit a business model.

That model doesn’t include treatin people fairly.

No doubt they will try to stick in his ass. However with enough pushback he may be able get close to market value, cost of replacement if he were to buy another one.
 

black4vcobra

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You might be surprised. I was in a car accident back in February and dealt with State Farm when a 16 year old female driver pulled out in front of me in the little 98 Civic my wife had since she was 17 and they offered me $2200 + tax and title for the car based on comparable vehicles for sale. I wouldn't have been able to sell it for more than $1200 I bet as it had 165k on it and a little rust over the passenger rear wheel. Between the car, 2 days lost time at work and pain and suffering, I ended up with $5k.

Of course, don't take their first offer.
 

CV355

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I just went through this this last winter. The insurance company said they have a database comprised of what similar vehicles are actually selling for, so sending them for sale ads is pointless because they don't care about what a few nut jobs have their cars listed at. That was my experience, hopefully you get a fair offer.
Good luck

That's exactly how my first round of arguing went with an insurance company. My next argument was to force them to itemize all damages and compare the values, since they were fighting us on totaling the vehicle. Itemize it, all of it.

They came back with bogus figures like "Hood: $75." I went "where in the actual hell can you find a hood that is $75 that matches the quality and wear level of a brand new car? Please, tell me, because I want to do a lot of shopping there." We argued for about 2 hours on the phone over every single item. I then provided them an itemized list based off my findings. The adjuster goes "we're not responsible for returning your vehicle back to the same condition it was in, just to "industry standard of acceptable."" My response was "not good enough, I'm not signing a damn thing."


You might be surprised. I was in a car accident back in February and dealt with State Farm when a 16 year old female driver pulled out in front of me in the little 98 Civic my wife had since she was 17 and they offered me $2200 + tax and title for the car based on comparable vehicles for sale. I wouldn't have been able to sell it for more than $1200 I bet as it had 165k on it and a little rust over the passenger rear wheel. Between the car, 2 days lost time at work and pain and suffering, I ended up with $5k.

Of course, don't take their first offer.

State Farm was good to us, so much so that we switched over to them. Allstate and Progressive can both go straight to the bowels of hell.
 

03Sssnake

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I just went through this this last winter. The insurance company said they have a database comprised of what similar vehicles are actually selling for, so sending them for sale ads is pointless because they don't care about what a few nut jobs have their cars listed at. That was my experience, hopefully you get a fair offer.

Good luck

Some are much worse to deal than others. I’d still comprise a list of comps for cars in your area, instead of rolling over and taking it in the ass.
 

B7BlownSnake

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I've only dealt with AAA (me and the other driver had AAA) for totaled cars, but when my first 13 Boss 302 was totaled, they had it listed as a special/rare car. It was a year old, they said the KBB value was probably too low, and only a handful were for sale at the time. They just paid me full sticker price.

Someone ran a red and totaled my mom's 15 SLK55 AMG a few years back. Car was 2 years old, and had a KBB value of 57k or something. It was flagged as a rare car, the insurance could only find a handful for sale, so they cut a check for 71k. Talk to the insurance agent and see, they will probably work with you on a true, fair value.

If not, as others said, lawyer up!
 

earico

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Just went thru this with my son's 02 WRX beginning of this year. Girl from school rear ended him in a lifted Tundra. The defendant had a Farmers policy. They comped used cars for sale within 500 miles from me. They even covered the carbon fiber hood that was damaged. They ended up paying me about $2k over what the KBB or NADA was.

Just don't be an ass and try to work with them. If they aren't game then be an ass and maybe lawyer up.

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CobraBob

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Clean examples around here still easily go for 16K. I’d find as many for sale listings in that range and show them that’s the cost to replace this Teutonic masterpiece.
I would do this for sure, but.....Bruno is spot on correct that the insurance company won't likely be looking to treat the OP fairly. They're goal is to accept their liability but protect their bottom line. They're in the business to make a profit and reduce a loss, not to give the OP the best payout or what he believes is a right payout.

I do hope the OP gets what he considers a fair deal in the end. I really do.
 

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