burningbright
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2010
- Messages
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While down in Nashville for a friend's wedding the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, a guy ran a stop sign at an intersection I happened to be going through and totaled my car.
They accepted fault for the accident and State Farm (his carrier) came back with a low-ball offer for my car's value.
The car was a 2005 Mazda3 with 38,000 miles on it and was going to be paid off in two months.
I'm trying to get $11,500 for it because that's the price I've seen similar ones going for on websites like Auto Trader. They're offering me the NADA value (which I understand is lower than market values) plus all the other fees for a grand total of $10,100 and change.
So how do I get my extra $1500+? The State Farm guy is telling me that if I can find other Mazda3's similar to the price I'm asking for in a 100 mile radius then I have to send him the following information for each car:
1. VIN #
2. Dealership
3. Sales person
4. Final negotiated price
The last one concerns me because as a buyer I don't have a legal obligation to negotiate a price, I can pay sticker value, right? As the injured party here that seems like that should be an inconvenience I shouldn't have to be put through and should therefore be allowed to go with the sticker price. And why do I have to look within 100 miles? Why not nation-wide?
Thus far, there are only two cars on Auto Trader within 100 miles that have similar years and specs to mine (manual transmission):
2006 Mazda3 with 77K miles for $10,700
2005 Mazda3 with 81K miles for $9500
Both of these vehicles have twice the amount of miles on them than my car. So how do you put a price on mileage if mine only as 38K miles?
Obviously I'm not in insurance and I've never had this happen to me before so I'm not sure what steps I need to take. Can anybody who has prior experience or is the auto insurance industry provide some guidance here so I don't get screwed?
Thanks!
They accepted fault for the accident and State Farm (his carrier) came back with a low-ball offer for my car's value.
The car was a 2005 Mazda3 with 38,000 miles on it and was going to be paid off in two months.
I'm trying to get $11,500 for it because that's the price I've seen similar ones going for on websites like Auto Trader. They're offering me the NADA value (which I understand is lower than market values) plus all the other fees for a grand total of $10,100 and change.
So how do I get my extra $1500+? The State Farm guy is telling me that if I can find other Mazda3's similar to the price I'm asking for in a 100 mile radius then I have to send him the following information for each car:
1. VIN #
2. Dealership
3. Sales person
4. Final negotiated price
The last one concerns me because as a buyer I don't have a legal obligation to negotiate a price, I can pay sticker value, right? As the injured party here that seems like that should be an inconvenience I shouldn't have to be put through and should therefore be allowed to go with the sticker price. And why do I have to look within 100 miles? Why not nation-wide?
Thus far, there are only two cars on Auto Trader within 100 miles that have similar years and specs to mine (manual transmission):
2006 Mazda3 with 77K miles for $10,700
2005 Mazda3 with 81K miles for $9500
Both of these vehicles have twice the amount of miles on them than my car. So how do you put a price on mileage if mine only as 38K miles?
Obviously I'm not in insurance and I've never had this happen to me before so I'm not sure what steps I need to take. Can anybody who has prior experience or is the auto insurance industry provide some guidance here so I don't get screwed?
Thanks!