Insurance question

jmaxwell · 05-12-2009, 12:57 PM

My son's girlfriend managed to get into an accident (not her fault) that may total his '01 Volvo S40. The other driver's insurance is MetLife. At any rate, how do I arrive at what the value of the car should be? It wasn't pristine, but it was in very good shape. Do I look at the NADA book, Kelley, or ? In addition, the accident just really knocked the front bumper off and pushed the rebar and radiator support over a bit, so I'm tempted to have him settle for less and keep the car. We'll just put a new bumper on and put it on the frame machine to straighten up the gaps.

How do I determine what's a fair deduction if he keeps it? Any advice?

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

Likely recent comparables like auto trader, cars.com, etc. Similar optioned, year, mileage, condition. Print them out for their adjusters benefit.

myamoto1 · myamoto1's Garage

Make sure you submit any invoices for recent work you may have had done. I had a tractor trailer run over my (parked) car. Less than 8k miles prior to the accident, I had the head gaskets replaced and a few "while you're in there" repairs done. That bumped the settlement up almost a grand.

Zeke · 05-12-2009, 02:58 PM

You settle for replacement value. In my case, an '89 Chev PU, I could not find one on the market. So, I pointed out the recent repairs, the overall condition and the lack of trucks for sale anywhere near the figure they were offering. Then, when they came up a bit (or quite a bit), I started the idea of me buying it back. Since it was still in my possession, that figure was pretty easy to negotiate. One minus the other and they sent the check.

Beware of the 2nd person you end up talking to. That one will be paid on performance, IOW, the amount of payoff.

jmaxwell · 05-12-2009, 04:12 PM

Thanks for the help, guys. I had thought you only did a market survey when the car was a collectible or something. Guess I've been kind of lucky in not having to total a car before. I'll start on the research.

wreckersteve · 05-12-2009, 04:27 PM

They will use a third party to come up with the price. Ask for the report with ACV ( actual cash value).