insurance advice

Can you get your mods off the car?

 

Heh, i'm 17 and i dont know very much about insurance but i googled a few sites for you. I'm not sure if they will help but it may help a little?

http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/vdp/articleId=43771/pageNumber=1
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/Knowyourrights/P35062.asp
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/auto/car-guide-2004/gap-insurance1.asp

 

From what I gather, insurance should pony up enough $ for you to replace the car with essentially the same vehicle. When I had a bike stolen years ago, I was adviced by some friends in the insurance business to bring printouts/copies of ads for similar vehicles (from dealers etc), KBB and Edmunds values etc etc... and to expect that they'd lowball me at first. If they offer you $10K and you know that you'd have to pay $14K to get another 03 wrx sedan in similar condition with similar mileage, they need to do better.

Obviously mods won't normally be covered.

 

make sure you get all of your parts off of your car, do not let them touch the car until you have a check in your hand or a recorded verbal agreement. the retail on your car it 20k i wouldnt accept anyhting but that unless its withing like 500 bucks. i doubt they will give you what you want the first offer, dont accept it, keep fighting.


Alex

 

Most insurance companies will give you cost to replace. That means retail price plus tax. Progressive gave me about 20K - my deductable for my WRX but it had nearly 60K miles on it and it was a 2004.

 

you only get replacement value if you have replacement insurance. what you get is ACV or actual cash value which is not found in any guide. It is done by various companies that supposedly find similar cars in your area that have been sold recently and will therefore reflect those sale prices. Sometimes this is good but most of the time it is bad. If you are using your collision coverage the aftermarket parts will not be covered or taken into consideration unless you declared them on your policy. You should however be able to get all your parts as long as you replace them with the stock parts. I would do this asap if your car is at the tow yard as you might get jacked. Your basic defense against the lowball price will be to find your own price matches and use them vs. your insurance co. if that is what you want to do. If you can't agree then you will have to go to arbitration and pay for your own independant appraiser. They should give you a copy of the report they received if you ask for one. Hope this helps.

there's basically little you can do because it is not just an offer, its supposedly the "Actual Value" of your car. The only neg room you may have is if you recently had a new transmission or new clutch or tires, that sort of thing. You will need receipts though.

 

Milo, I was just going to ask if your car was paid off and if you had gap insurance?. I am sure that it was paid off. I agree with what the other folks said in regards to making sure that you don't let them touch it until after you get a check in your hands. I have been with State Farm for almost 7 years now and they have been very helpful with everything. I also used to work for an agent at SF a while ago and usually they are very good at getting you the best valuation on your vehicle.


Mark

 

by the way, in addition to that ecu, I just so happen to have a stock tbe lying around...lol

 

my experence has been this. the insurance company will only total your car for 1 of 2 reasons. if it has more than half the cars worth in damage or if it has frame damage. my sister fliped a 02 vw bug and they didnt total the car. they fixed it. so first of all you need to find out what the blue book price is for your car. then estimate the damage. if its over 50% of the cars worth your in the cool. also be sure to get everything you want off or out of the car before they give you the check! once the check is in your hands the car is thiers. i once had to track my car down at an auto auction to get an exhuast off of it. i think i have a stock up and a td04 for you if you want. please keep us informed on the parts needed to get it back to stock. i think i know where some shocks and springs are also.

 

I have a stock TMIC....if ya want it.......

 

I also have a few stock pieces still floating around if you need some.

 

Believe it or not, KBB is giving me a value of $21,130 for a 2003 WRX. I would try and get as close to the $21K retail value as possible.

Here is a 2003 WRX for $19K:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...003&start_year=2003&isp=y&lang=en&cardist=132

I think you can get $21K if you really try. I would not settle for much less though.

 

That sounds insane considering I paid $21.5 for my 05 brand new.

 

look, as a business practice most companies will total a car if it is damaged 65-70% of its total worth. the reason is there will probably be a supplement needed once repairs start which would then make the car more expensive to repair than what its worth. The things I've told you is what you can expect. Just don't go into it with a bad feeling to start with.


oh by the way...if you give the Insurance co. permission to move your car out of storage, then that is when they will move it, to avoid storage fees. Not necessarily before you cash the check. Your car may already be salvaged by the time you cash the check.

 

hummm, I'm sure you will handle yourself professionally and will get the most $ for your car.

 

the actual market value stuff is crap, you can get them to go higher, i did by about 1k dollars.

 

Its not crap, you just better be able to back up your estimate with LOCAL sales and very close to your mileage. I'm in the claims dept at The Hartford and see it everyday.

 

it is crap, they tried to compare my cars to a 2.5 rs and a outback sport, they arent compareable.

 

well they were just trying to rip you off plain and simple, that's why you get a copy of the report. it should be several 03' WRX's no other type car.

if you really want to have some fun, Drew could file a BI claim and you could split the $$. I'm sure he's a little sore somewhere... :naughty:

 

oh yeah man, insurance fraud FTW!!! sounds like a real good idea

 

Lol

 

print those and keep them on file so you can whip'em out to the adjuster

 

So is the car def. totalled?

Are you staying in the Subaru family?

 

My friend sold his 03 wrx for $15,500 with 37k miles. The guy who bought it totalled it a month later and got $20,000 back from insurance... :eek3:

 

wow, I am amazed at how they hold their value. I hope insurance gives you a good bit of money for the car. Also, if it is totalled, you might be able to get a cheap buy-back for the salvage parts.

--
Brian

 

hey milo, ask what the buy back is, i may be intertested