Topic: Is your car a total loss? Beware Car Dealers bearing Quotes

[toolatecrew]

A month or so back I participated in a thread regarding the value of a total loss vehicle. I chose to remove some of the posts as they may have revealed if not privileged information they may have provided a little too much .
I think I’m in a position to share a recent experience that might give people some insight and warnings into the valuing of a vehicle when it’s a total loss.  (I’ve changed names, Vehicle information to protect the innocent plus I’ve altered the figures by a a set % across all figures so no one could know who’s vehicle this is)

I’ll start with the moral of the story: Car dealers are not your friend, they are not experts in calculating total loss vehicles and they are not there to help you get what you deserve for your total loss..they are there to sell you cars and make $.

The insured Mr. Smith had totaled his 2006 Camary. The insurance company had an appraiser get 3 dealer quotes and came up with a value  of 8400. Mr Smith wen to the dealer where bought the Camary and the dealer said “Well we have an 06 Camary right here on the lot we can put you into today but no way we can do that for 8400! Here is a copy of the ad for the car take it back to your insurance company and tell them you want 13 500 and we can sell you that car. “ Well 5K is a lot of money so Mr. Smith told the insurance company they were ripping him off.

The insurance company agreed to get a 2nd opinion and have an independent 3rd party company come up with a value So the ACV comes back from the company at  9300. Higher for sure and the Insurance company agrees to pay the higher figure. But Mr. Smith waves the dealer ad for 13 500 and says rip off. So off to court.

Mr. Smith shows the judge the dealers ad. But then finds out that the appraiser actually called the dealer for a quote on a 2006 Camary and the dealer quoted the appraiser 8500! Impossible says Mr. Smith I have the dealers ad. But the dealer did not come to court to support his claim..the car dealer was no where to be found.
The decision comes back that the ACV of the car as determined by the court is $9,300 based exactly on the 3rd party evaluation. Mr Smith isn’t getting 13 500..but wait Mr Smith needs to pay for costs of the expert witnesses now he’s getting $ 8800.

So what do we learn:
1.You are not obligated to take the first offer. Do your research. Ask for an independent 3rd party appraisal. Mr. Smith got $300 more than the first offer. Had he accepted the 3rd party appraisal he would have gained $800. The insurance company is not your friend. The law requires they give you an amount equal to the ACV of the car no more no less. As long as the ACV figure is supported by evidence

2. Car Dealers are not your friend. They are there to make money. They are not experts in total loss values they are experts in selling people cars for the largest profit possible. They are not unbiased. When push comes to shove they won’t be in court testifying on your behalf.

3. If you do have a 3rd party value, review it. Make sure all the information is correct. Understand what it means and where the data comes from. Know if they use 1,2 or 30 vehicles in their data. Don’t try to dispute it with one or 2 hand picked ads.

4. Read your policy. Know what it entitles you to. Is it ACV or is it replacement value. Policies and laws differ form province to province and insurer to insurer. 

In order to get what you deserve you need to know what you are entitled to and you need to deal with the right sources and people. Remember the only person on your “side” is you. Justice is blind and unbiased and courts don’t give sympathy to the little guy even against big bad insurance companies

[5 Wheel Drive]

"Remember the only person on your “side” is you"

I couldn't agree with that statement more!  You have to look out for yourself, because noone else will. 

After Forester #1 got written off, the aftermath of dealing with insurance companies was 100 times worse than going through the actual crash.  The only reason I got all my out of pocket expensed finally covered by the other person's insurance is because of me.  I pestered, called, wrote, faxed for over a year before I got my money out of them.  Let's just say I "wasn't in good hands".  My own insurance company was no help either, they weren't the "good neighbor" they claim to be.

As for replacing the car, did that myself too.  They want you to use some replacement service.  They won't give you any price until you sign an agreement to buy the car from them.  It was no problem getting another Forester.  But, there was no guarantee what Forester I would get.  I wanted another dark grey 5 speed, that's what we bought, that's what I wanted again.  I might have ended up with, say, a red automatic, and I would have had no choice but to take it.

Sorry for the rant...sore spot!

[toolatecrew]

Not a rant at all.

People often focus on the very cheapest cost for insurance. From working with many insurance companies I can say that's not always a good idea. Insuance is a product that you hope you never need to use. The only thing in most cases that is different from one compnay to another beside price is the service you do get if you actually need to use it.

In order to look out for yourself the #1 thing you can do is read your policy (and any other stuff that comes along with it). Its amazing how many people either don't get somthing they deserve becuase they didn't know they deserved it or that spend time and money fighting for something they think they are entitled to byut their contract clearly says they are not.

This example highlights it. ACV is not the same as replacment value. What you paid for the car or owe on the car really has no bearing in most situations. Its also shocking how many people think that saving the extra $50 that getting depreciation protection on a new car costs is worth it.

[5 Wheel Drive]

In my case, I live in Ontario where we have no fault.  The crash was in Maine.  In Maine, it's a tort based system, they don't have no fault.  The lady that hit me was found to be 100% at fault, which means her insurance company was on the hook for everything.  I had to pay for 2 rentals (1 to finish the holiday, 1 to get back to Ottawa)out of my pocket, which is all I was trying to get back.  Because we have no fault here, my own insurance company (not anymore, BTW) only looks after you and it apparently wasn't up to them to get my $$$ back from another company.  Between that, and the REALLY f'n bad service from her ins. co., it was incredibly frustrating.