My car was parked at a park and some *** drove into back of my car while i was away. My car is chrysler cirrus 1997 and fairly mint condition. Insurance company says that it costs more to fix my car than its value and said they want to pay me $4,000. Fine, my car wasn't new but it was doing its job well and i feel that $4,000 is not enough for me to buy any decent car like mine. I am furious. Any suggestion??? I am not familar with this. Please give me some suggestions!!!
2006-09-22 14:47:09 · 16 answers · asked by just a girl 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Insurance & Registration
I paid $17,000 when i bought my car 7 years ago.My car was gonna serve me well for another 7 years or so, if it was for this accident. Okay, time passed and car value went down...but $4,000 is too little...
2006-09-22 14:59:08 · update #1
Fair is where you go to get cotton candy and funnel cakes! It's not the same to each person. The insurance company is only obligated to put you back in the condition you were in before the accident. Before the accident, you had a vehicle that was very special to you and got you where you needed to go, but it was only worth 4k. To pay you more than that or enough to buy a brand new vehicle is not the purpose of insurance. They will offer you actual cash value, which basically means what it would cost you to buy another 1997 Cirrus (we're talking a car that's closing in on 10 years old- there really is no "fairly mint condition"). Total loss offers are somewhat negotiable, but they may already be offering you over the ACV to settle in the interest of being fair. Maybe you could get a little bit more, but don't expect it. Total loss evaluations already assume the vehicle has been maintained as well.
They are perfectly within their right to handle the claim that way. It's industry standard. As far as suing goes, or getting an attorney, property damage evaluations differ greatly from injury claims. It's hard to put a value on someone's pain, but vehicle damage can be appraised line by line and values can be shown in writing with proof and are not difficult to prove. An attorney will be unsuccessful getting more, and you'd still have to prove that the insurance company's evaluation was wrong (i.e. provide documentation to prove the value is more) if you went to court.
2006-09-22 15:00:00 · answer #1 · answered by Chris 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I bought my 1999 Chrysler Cirrus with 112,000km's on it for $7,000, no rust and mint. I've had my car for almost 2 years, it's got 180,000km's on it, rust spots, and scratches on it that I didn't even do. Someone backed into me and rippled the paint and also got this more scratches that I didn't do and it's probably not even worth close to that any more. How many km's/miles were on it? It doesn't matter if someone else did the damage, unless you're willing to pay to fix it or not, it's not going to be worth as much as you paid for it. So lets see, you paid $17,000 for it, knock off $5000, so that's $12,000 the day you drove it off the lot and you've had it for 7 years, wouldn't be worth much anymore.
I'd have to say that $4000, is pretty decent amount for a car, and honestly who knows, your car is probably worth around that much anyway. Good luck making the right decision!!
2006-09-25 15:21:24 · answer #2 · answered by kittlesworth 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First thing you do is go online to Kelly Blue Book and Nada websites....find out how much your car is actually worth. Print out the facts....if your car is showing that it's worth more than they offering then you have some proof to get more money out of them. If your car is not worth the 4 that they are offering you, then you better take the money and run...
Does your car have new tires? Did you put in a new cd system?
How about a new engine? Anything you have done to the car that is a improvement should be considered. One lady got $500 more from one insurance company because she just replaced her engine with less miles...
I know this sucks, but that is how insurance companies claims work. Thank God you had insurance, because if you hadn't you would be out a lot more. I know your car was great and it meant a lot to you, worth more to you then they are offering, but the sad ffact is...it's not to them. Something else you can do, have pictures of your car before the accident, go to a couple of used car lots, and have them write you a estimate on what they would ask for the car if they were selling it on their lot.
Good luck to you, and God bless us all..........
2006-09-23 12:20:29 · answer #3 · answered by totallylost 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Insurance companies generally will only pay you blue book retail value on a total loss. You can verify that they are offering fair market value by looking up your car at http://www.kbb.com
I did a quick check on that car, and retail is close to $4,900 if it was in excellent condition. You should check the site against the equipment and condition of your car.
Some insurance companies may try to offer the private party value or even the trade-in value. You are entitled to full retail value of your car, so check the value on the site and use that as evidence to substantiate your claim that the owe you more for your car.
If they are offerning you book value, it is possible to argue the point with them sometimes, if you do it carefully. Provide proof to your insurance company that you can't replace it with a like vehicle for what they are offering. Copies of local sales ads would help.
2006-09-22 22:10:13 · answer #4 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There's nothing you can do about it. I'm sure the estimate wasn't that far off though. Check http://www.kbb.com for the estimated value. I entered info for a base model at an average mileage of 85K and in fair body condition in San Diego and came up with a value of under $1800 so the insurance company is probably being fair.
My '91 Acura Legend was stolen and found completely stripped and I too was told by the ins. co. that it would cost too much to restore it so they gave me a check for $4000. I was able to find something decent-in fact, it's better than what I had stolen from me! Look, sh!t happens. You just gotta stop whining about it, get over it and get out there and look for something suitable. You're lucky you had insurance to begin with and got anything at all!
2006-09-22 22:20:40 · answer #5 · answered by elk312 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Log on to nada.com to find the real value of the car. Car's aren't good assets to hold on to their worth and that $4000 is decent for a car that is 10 years old.
2006-09-23 01:33:04 · answer #6 · answered by PeppermintandPopcorn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The day you drove it off the lot, the car was then valued at $8,500. Cars always depriciate half when you buy them. It sucks!
They base these values on the costs of similar cars at dealers, etc. They also consider how many miles were on it and such.
2006-09-26 11:49:51 · answer #7 · answered by mktobyjo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's unfortunate. I have to think of it as the risk I take to be on the roads. Be thankful you didn't get injured. Also remember that it may have been on the verge of giving you mechanical grief anyway and you may have escaped having to deal with the expenses an aging car starts to present you with.
2006-09-22 23:06:14 · answer #8 · answered by waplambadoobatawhopbamboo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can get a decent car for that but you could get ripped off by a used car dealer. I know it stinks but that's all they are going to do for you so you will have to take the money and get another car.
If it's not enough, you have the option of suing the person who hit your car for additional damages.
2006-09-22 21:50:10 · answer #9 · answered by Mama R 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ok your 4 cyl. economy car was smashed 10 years old too! Take the money and run! Good down payment for your new car. You were looking a little worn down in the cirrius were you not? Imagine your self looking in the reflection of the windows at the supermarket saying gee I look great in my new XXX and only 400 a month! That's one good XXX
2006-09-22 21:58:16 · answer #10 · answered by John Paul 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋