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State Farm will not pay replacement cost of totaled car

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pangie

Junior Member
Texas
I have been trying to settle a claim with State Farm for nearly two months. My car was totaled in an accident which was not my fault. They are offering me a thousand dollars less than what it cost to replace my car. Their claims adjusters are rude and seem to be having a good time with my situation. They paid a rental for five days. I paid for a rental for five days out of my own pocket. I cannot do this anymore. I am having to depend on friends and relatives to take me to and from work. I am not going to take their small offer.....No way. What can I do to get the fair market value for my car?

Angie
 


JPeas

Junior Member
Make, Year Model of our car? Mileage?

1. Ask dealer for a printout of the value. Some dealers will do that as long as you bought the car from them.

2. Look at newspapers and online car sales. Locate several examples of car sale with the exact same car as yours. You can always use these examples to defense yourself w/the insurance and in front of courts.

3. If the value of your car is below the small claims court limit, you can consider the court option.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
KBB is USELESS. Don't even bother.

Unless the car you are trying to buy is the exact same year, make, model, mileage, and CONDITION of your old car, then you are not going to get that price. You are going to get the actual cash value of YOUR car immediately prior to the accident, not the cost to replace with a similar car.
 

seagoing

Member
In my daughters situation ,like yours.We printed out Autotrader ads for the same vehicle with the closest milage and options.In her case she was then given almost 3000 dollars more.We also googled things like replacement value from auto accident etc.What we found were sites that said the Ins.co must make whole.KBB does tend to have inflated prices.I like Edmunds.com for a more realistic price ,even when I buy a used car.The dealers love to use KBB.
 

seagoing

Member
Check this website http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/12hiddenWaysToSaveOnAutoInsurance.aspx?page=all
OK Zinger,ADVERTISMENTS from DEALERS MAY be considered as REASONABLE TRUE MARKET VALUE.Does that help,or do you want to continue splitting hairs.
The reality is ,it worked for my daughter .My local auto body shop owner told us to do the research and also gave us the website ,which is one of many that explain how you need (TO BE MADE WHOLE)The ins.co.tried to total the young college students vehicle for $3000 less than they agreed to pay at settlement.A settlement my daughter would have never received if not given some good advice through experience.That is what I was sharing with the OP.WE submitted at least a half dozen ADVERTISEMENTS some of higher value and an agreement was made .Also sumitted was a statement that should the ins.co find and deliver the same vehicle ,in the condition and approx.mileage she had.Regardless of color.She would accept.They sent her the check.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
The dealer's 'take price' is better then an advertised price, but an ad would be considere acceptable (if not ideal) evidence. It would be weighed against the rest of the evidence and value would be determined from the total picture.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
As I said, an advertisement does not PROVE value. It can help support a claimed value, but, in and of itself, it does not PROVE value.
 

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