What is the best way to determine the fair market value of a car, in regards to settling with an insurance company that decided the car was a total loss after an accident? It’s my insurance company, BTW, not the other guy’s, but I still expect some haggling to occur.
I searched online for sites, went to one and it gave me the Trojan Horse virus. So I am a bit hesitant to continue online, but if anyone knows of a safe and reliable and accurate site, I would be willing to try again.
Also, anyone know in what time frame the settlement should be received by the insured driver? I signed over the car almost 3 weeks ago, and my rental car coverage is almost used up.
You could try looking online and in local papers to see what that particular make, model, and year are going for in your area. I was under the impression, though, that insurance companies are generally pretty adamant about what the “value” of you car is, and are not especially receptive to haggling on the matter.
I’m going to face the problem of insurance when I get the MG back. I can go with a vintage car insurer, but they have stipulations I cannot meet; such as it needs to be stored in an encloded garage (which I don’t have yet), and it cannot be used as a ‘daily driver’ (which I want to do). My insurance company (USAA, who has given me excellent service over the years) says they will only insure the car for its fair market value or ‘blue book’ value, and not the stated value.
I’ll keep all of my receipts for the restoration, just in case anything bad ever happens. (I may also make copies of auction prices, which are often published in my car magazines.)
USAA has an affiliate that does vintage car insurance. I don’t remember the name. I looked up one other place online, and they also had unreasonable restrictions.
Most insurance companies use the NADA guide as a base for determining a vehicle’s value. Another way to determine fair market value is to see what the same car is selling for in your market, FMV is about 80% of that value.
Checked the NADA guide. The high value they give for a '66 MGB is about $6,000 less than the published auction results I’ve read within the last two years. (I don’t remember the specific auctions – and there were a few of them – but IIRC at least one was one of the big ones in Arizona.) I know of one place (although I don’t recall the name just now) that restores sports cars to immaculate condition, and sells chrome-bumper MGBs for $20,000 – $8,000 more than the NADA high value for an overdrive-equipeed '66.
Consumer Reports online is my main source. Very dependable. Also, AutoTrader is a good shopping and reference source. NADA is most widely used…Kelley BlueBook is, from what I’ve heard, put together by the used car industry to justify used car sales prices.
Assuming we’re not talking about a classic car, the three most widely used references are Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds’ and NADA.
My experiences follow:
1.) Pre-WWW, I had a car stolen (1981 Monte Carlo swiped in 1987) and I researched my settle price with the hardcopy version of Kelley Blue Book and a (man, this seems prehistoric) search of the local market via want ads. My insurer (State Farm) concluded that local prices ran ~$300 lower than the national prices Kelley then published. My own research jived with that, and I just took the settlement.
2.) When last I purchased an automobile, during this current Internet age, all three of the above references were way above market, and I purchased my current vehicle at $8-10K below what they were calling. But it was consistent with the local market. So, I’d suggest that you review the local market.
Hey thanks, car guys and girls! I went to NADA and got a pretty good idea, comparable to KBB but a little different. I was told to not accept an amount that seems way too low - even though it is my company and they should be treating me like royalty, I hear they try to low-ball it first time through.
What ever gave you the impression that any insurance company would treat you like royalty. As soon as your claim is paid, look for your rates to go way up, or maybe even a cancellation. Good luck.
:mad: I was assured that, since this was to be handled under “uninsured motorist” and not “collision”, that I would not see increase in rates.
I’m thinking of buying a llama. Or maybe a camel. Smelly but significantly lower cost of fuel and maintenance.
Maybe the guy without insurance who gave false info at the scene of the accident and hit me from behind going 50 MPH should be treated like a criminal, instead of me. Just a thought.
Umm, no- “FMV” is that value. “FMV” is “what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller in an open market”, thus if Stupendous auto dealer is selling the car for $4000.00- that’s FMV. Rrue, “list” price may be slightly above “FMV” depending on hagglong.
1966 MG B fully and recently restored I’m going to offer between $12K - $17K, depending on the quality, on my first phone call to you. That number comes from The Older Car Price Guide. If you don’t like that settlement you have one of two choices: go through your own insurance carrier and see what they offer; or if I AM your insurance guy, we can invoke the appraisal clause in your policy–at our expense–and see what a professional thinks. Johnny, for your antiques I strongly urge you to spring a couple $hundred for appraisals every 2 or 3 years. It’ll make your (executor’s) life much easier when some bubblehead in a Cavalier blows a stop sign and encases you in English Steel. Only a complete prick of an adjuster would argue against a professional appraisal. And, by the way, if you want the MG to be a daily driver I do know of at least one company that can insure it for its appraised value without use restrictions. It’s not a $50/year policy, but then why should it be? You behind the wheel of car worth $16k, 1966 or 2006, poses a similar risk exposure.
Um…the OP. Keley Blue Book is a resource that represents a dealer’s ASKING price for a car. Nobody with half a brain or better pays that. NADA represents what dealers report selling cars for. Better resource. Also sites like Autotrader.com & Cars.com are good. Look for same year/make/comparable mileage as what you lost. Condition of the car will also be a consideration. Heads up: don’t expect anything like dollar-for-dollar reimbursement for repairs, how ever recent. Even if you replaced the engine and transmission with a brand new unit the day before, you have not improved the value of the car by that amount–ALL cars have an engine and transmission. You have only reduced SOME of the reservations a buyer might have concerning the mileage on the car. What would your car have been worth had you NOT replaced these items? The labor prevents a further reduction in value the car would see if it were not running.
BTW: I DO treat my customers like royalty, and never lowball my first offer. We both have better things to do than play games.
Unfortunately, I went through this a couple of years ago and got way less than I thought the car was worth. My opinion was they should pay me what it would cost to go into a used car dealer, find a similar car, and subtracting a little for negtiating pay me this. In other words, how much it would cost to EASILY replace the car. Instead, they use a company, I think it is called CCC. They look in the newspapers and get the average price asked there a similar vehicle. I pointed out that they knew nothing about the condition of these cars, mine was immaculate and extremely low mileage. They said they didn’t care, and anyway my car was a mess with standing water in it and dirt and stuff. I pointed out that the windows had blown out and it had rained, and they said OK to that but still went with advertised, sight unseen, condition unknown newspaper advertisements. I went online and sent them Carmax and used car ads for similar vehicles and they still refused to deal.
Be aware that if the accident is not your fault you can usually get paid for three days car rental whether you really rent or not.