Vehicle totaled

[DebbieG]

My husband wrecked our 1995 Ford Explorer Sport last night on the ice. He rolled it and more than likely it will be totaled. We'll know in a few days. Fortunately, he walked away from it although he kinda looks like a prize fighter today due to the air bag.

We have never had a vehicle that has been totaled and I wondered, since I never trust insurance companies, how much were not going to get. We are not going to replace it since it was a 3rd vehicle (the oldest of the 3).

Does anyone know what insurance companies use to come up with the value of the vehicle? I've gone to Edmunds, NADA, and Kelly Blue Book websites and they all stated different amounts.

We bought the vehicle new and it has been insured with the same insurance the entire time so they know it has never been in a wreck (we've never had a claim on it). It WAS in very good shape and had almost 170,000 miles on it and we planned on it giving us a few more good years. I know that will be considered high mileage but that's not bad for a 10-year-old vehicle. It looks bad now so how would adjusters know what kind of shape it was in before it was wrecked?

Also, if they come up with an amount that we don't like, do we have any options?

Is there anything else we need to think about that I haven't mentioned?

I just want to make sure we handle this correctly at the right time.

Thanks for any help/suggestions, Debbie

[terafferty]

get a lawyer it was a Ford Explorer, so it was the motor company, firestone tires, and ....as well as your husband's fault for driving wreckless sue all of them

[SQLit]

My insurance company would give you squat for a 10 year old 170k vehicle. My insurance company considers low mileage below 5k a year. Ask the agent what the process is and have him explain every step to your satisfaction. Be polite but insistent.

Squeaky wheel, WILL get greased.

As for the value take a average of low book and that is the ball park your looking at.

[John Hines]

They use whatever they use. Which is to say, they will use which ever book they have been using for years.

The insurance adjuster will ask you. At least that is what happened in my case, when my car was torched.

Depends on what is in your policy, and if it has any provisions for an appeal.

[Jim Rusling]

The wife and I had ours totaled on 12/31 by a girl that ran a red light. Ours was a 1993 Explorer with just 120,000 miles. I will also be interested. There are some pictures of ours at

[DebbieG]

Jim,

Wow! I hope no one hurt too badly. What a way to end 2004.

You haven't been given an estimate after 10 days?

Thanks for sharing, Debbie

| | The wife and I had ours totaled on 12/31 by a girl that ran a red | light. Ours was a 1993 Explorer with just 120,000 miles. I will also | be interested. There are some pictures of ours at |

| | -- | Jim Rusling | Partially Retired | Mustang, OK |

[Jim Rusling]

The wife and I both walked away. The fire and rescue people could not believe it. We are both a little sore, but getting better. The insurance company did not take possession of the car until last Thursday. The holiday weekend slowed things up. I should be getting an offer sometime this week. It was a 95 T-bird that hit us and threw the Explorer into the air and on the roof. I was very pleased with the outcome all things considering.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

I called a friend of mine who does body work for All State and state Farm and give him the info to run on his computor program that the insurance company uses. If he programs in the 170,000 miles it will come back at about $4,565.00+ . If he does not put in the 170k miles like most does , it should come back at about $4,850.00++ . Now you still have to concider sales tax , new licence plates, inspection, and make ready [ plugs, wires, grease, oil change, and computor check up ] on a replacement truck.

Now when it comes to it being in good shape or not. Well when the subject comes up. You say it was in mint condition and people from far and wide would drive to come see it because of it being such a good mint condition. I have people on the street stop me to ask me how i was able to keep that truck in such good mint condition. It was so good of shape i was thinking about putting it in a car show next month. Don't accept nothing but MINT CONDITION WROTE ON IT.

Now I would be wanting $5,000.00 + + if it was me. I would have $5K+ on the brain.

TURTLE

[Tom]

We are not

What does your policy say about paying up when you are not going to replace the vehicle? I suspect that might make a difference in the settlement amount.

[bumtracks]

I read in a forum somewhere I cant find now... lady totaled car and insurance offered blue book and she wanted replacement & insurer told her to find exact yr and similar miles,,, only then would the insurance co wrote her a check for a replacement. She found one - Difference in price was extreme. I forget but blue book was say $5k and only thing she could find was say $8k. She stood her ground for her required replacement then just pocketed the bucks, like you, she didn't need it anyhow.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

You have me on this one. What would the reason you was going to do with the replacement truck or if you was going sell it after they pay you for it or fix it. I have never hear of any section on a insurance policy as to what you was going to do with a auto after you have been reinbursted for it and would make any difference in the price you would receive for it.

You should explain this one to me for I'm all ears here.

TURTLE

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Glad he is OK, that's no. 1 important. Don't expect too much. Can't just win against big insurance company. If you want fight, they'll wear you out. Hope you have more than one vehicle in the family. Good luck, Tony

[Joshua Putnam]

Most insurers use an industry database that tracks all sorts of variables on used vehicle sales -- they'll adjust the value based on mileage, mechanical and cosmetic condition, option package, etc. They'll get back a report ten pages long with details of your car and the comparables. Go over that report carefully and pick out any errors, it can make a big difference.

The last time I had a vehicle totalled, the other driver's insurance company got back a CCC report that put the value of my van under $3000, and they wouldn't budge. I put in a claim on my own policy instead, and the exact same vendor, CCC, returned a value over $5000. Accuracy matters.

[Joshua Putnam]

It won't matter for most car insurance policies, they're generally settled at Actual Cash Value.

Other forms of insurance, e.g. homeowners insurance, often pays replacement cost if an item is replaced. e.g. if your 50-year-old house burns down, Replacement Cost coverage would pay to rebuild the house. But if you don't rebuild, your cash payment is limited to the depreciated Actual Cash Value of the house that burned. (The insurance company doesn't want you burning down the house for the cash, after all.)

[DebbieG]

Tom,

I don't know of any wording in an insurance policy for a vehicle about replacing it if it is paid for. If it's in there it will surprise me.

A few years ago, I had put a car in a ditch. Since it was paid for they just gave me a check after the estimate was written. They never made sure I spent the money on the car for repairs. I think they do that only if there is a lien on the car.

Debbie

| What does your policy say about paying up when you are not going to replace | the vehicle? I suspect that might make a difference in the settlement | amount. | |

[DebbieG]

Turtle,

Thanks to you and your friend for taking the time to look that up.

It WAS in very good condition -- the red paint still looked good after 10 years -- in fact, when it was all cleaned up people were surprised that it was as old as it was. It didn't spend a lot of time outside of a garage. We figure if we take good care of our cars, they will take good care of us.

On the other hand, in August 2004, I traded in a 1994 Saturn and it was not in good condition but then again I bought it in that condition in 1999. At the time I just wanted an economical car (I was driving the Explorer and it was not economical. The Saturn was mechanically OK and I didn't care what it looked like on the outside. In fact, when I handed the car salesman the Excel spreadsheet for my Saturn that showed every gas tank mileage, new tires, oil changes, and any repairs since I bought it; he showed it to several people because he'd never seen anything like it. I have a spreadsheet for every car we own. Yes, I'm very anal.

Sorry, I didn't mean to tell a big story...

Thanks again ... that's the figure I'll have in mind. Debbie

| > We have never had a vehicle that has been totaled and I wondered, since I | > never trust insurance companies, how much were not going to get. We are not | > going to replace it since it was a 3rd vehicle (the oldest of the 3). | >

| > Does anyone know what insurance companies use to come up with the value of | > the vehicle? I've gone to Edmunds, NADA, and Kelly Blue Book websites and | > they all stated different amounts. | >

| > We bought the vehicle new and it has been insured with the same insurance | > the entire time so they know it has never been in a wreck (we've never had a | > claim on it). It WAS in very good shape and had almost 170,000 miles on it | > and we planned on it giving us a few more good years. I know that will be | > considered high mileage but that's not bad for a 10-year-old vehicle. It | > looks bad now so how would adjusters know what kind of shape it was in | > before it was wrecked? | >

| > Also, if they come up with an amount that we don't like, do we have any | > options? | >

| > Is there anything else we need to think about that I haven't mentioned? | >

| > I just want to make sure we handle this correctly at the right time. | >

| > Thanks for any help/suggestions, | > Debbie | >

| | This is Turtle. | | I called a friend of mine who does body work for All State and state Farm and | give him the info to run on his computor program that the insurance company | uses. If he programs in the 170,000 miles it will come back at about $4,565.00+ | . If he does not put in the 170k miles like most does , it should come back at | about $4,850.00++ . Now you still have to concider sales tax , new licence | plates, inspection, and make ready [ plugs, wires, grease, oil change, and | computor check up ] on a replacement truck. | | Now when it comes to it being in good shape or not. Well when the subject comes | up. You say it was in mint condition and people from far and wide would drive to | come see it because of it being such a good mint condition. I have people on the | street stop me to ask me how i was able to keep that truck in such good mint | condition. It was so good of shape i was thinking about putting it in a car show | next month. Don't accept nothing but MINT CONDITION WROTE ON IT. | | Now I would be wanting $5,000.00 + + if it was me. I would have $5K+ on the | brain. | | TURTLE | |

[George E. Cawthon]

It won't be much. I bought my 1994 in 98 for $6,000. It still has only 40,000 miles on it and would suspect it would sell for $3-4,000 but whoever bought would be getting a hell of a bargain because it is cherry. The insurance company will likely use the Kelly blue book and it will be the lowest rate because of the high mileage. They don't care what it looks like if it was totaled, they just look at the mileage and the options to see what the lowest cost of replacement would be. Depending on the company, they may just offer you cash, or you may have an option of a replacement of a similar vehicle if they can find one. If you don't like what they offer you could get an attorney, but his cost would be likely much greater than any amount he could improve on a 1995 vehicle with 170,000 miles.

What you might want too worry about is that the insurance on your other vehicles is likely to go up radically or even be canceled.

[Nick Hull]

I would be interested in a comparison between the insurance premiums you paid over the car's lifetime and what they give you for a total.

[TURTLE]

"Joshua Putnam" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

This is Turtle.

I think your making a moutain out of a mole hill here. If the house burns to the ground you get a estimate from a contractor to replace the house as it was and a estimate to replace the content. You give that figure to the insurance company that is the amount of the check is to be written to you minus the deductiable amount. No insurance company has the right to tell me if I replace the house, buy a new one down the block, higher or lower price house with the money , or wait 2 or 3 years before I do anything with the money. Now you might be talking about some fly by nite insurance companys like All State which will try to hold the money back and wait to see what your going to do but if you have a lawyer send them a letter explaining your going to wait and just buy a new home when one comes avaliable on the market. They have 2 choices here. Be in court -- pay all lawyer fees, and 8% APR on the funds during the court time to settle it. or Pay Up. There is so many options as to what you would do that if they was able to tell you what the price would be in different cases. Then they could start telling you what house and contractor your going to use and take over the bidding on the new house and also if you was going to buy a new house already built they would sellect the realestate company to use and tell you what price you would pay for the new one and not ask you nothing as to if you like it or not. It just does not happen this a way.

Now let me tell you what your talking about and it is true as to what you say. It is if you have a '' repair '' to your home by wind , fire, smoke, or storm damage and it was not a totaling of the house but just a percent damage and not a total pay out. They will pay a good per cent at first to start the repairs and when you show the repairs was complete , they will pay the full price or estimate of the repairs. This policy is done by insurance company to make sure the repair was made and they would not be insuring a half damaged house in the furture. It does not apply to total burn downs and total losts.

TURTLE

[default]

Well, what you actually want is a comparison of the insurance premiums minus the liability.. I carry liability insurance, but I figure if my $2000 car gets totalled, I'll just buy a new one. Insurance is for things you CAN'T afford.

--Goedjn