Totaled 2000 EX 5-spd, Value?

[MusicMan374]

I was in a bad rear-ender on Thursday, someone hit me from behind while I was stopped to make a left turn, she was going the full 35 MPH speed limit and didn't even hit her brakes. Needless to say, the car is totaled Right after it was fully detailed too! The trunk ended up partway in the rear seat, it's a miracle no one was sitting in the back.

Anyway, I've been shopping around on craigslist for similar accords to see what I might be able to expect from the insurance settlement. My car was in really good condition. It only had 111,000 miles on it, 1 year old tires with 2/3 left on the tread, had just been fully detailed (in and out). It was a 5 speed manual,, beige/gold. It had a few dents and dings (nothing major) and it had been keyed in two places, but not very noticeable. Overall it was in incredible excellent condition, engine had just been cleaned, ran perfectly.

Similar accord with 130k and 140k+ miles on them are going for most of the time no less than $4,000, sometimes even $5k or $6k in the Seattle-Tacoma area, where I live. Can I expect at least $4,000 from the insurance company? I'm thinking of holding my line as $4k and not letting them lowball me.

It had aftermarket speakers and head unit, moonroof, alloy wheels as well. Painted trim and mirrors. The only thing it didn't have was the automatic transmission and the leather seats.

If anyone's interested, I have plenty of pictures of the car after the accident. I have pictures of the interior, and the front half of the car that is still in perfect condition. The pictures of the front doors and hood really show how nice of a condition it was in. I really appreciate the help. Since it was such a high speed crash, I don't think they will lowball me, also since they have a potentially huge medical lawsuit on their hands. I'm in a neck brace right now because I can't hold my head up straight without it hurting, have a mild concussion and vertebrae pain in my lower neck/upper back. They've already said they'll include pain&suffering in the medical settlement, which is reasonable, as it was a traumatic experience, but I'm still worried they're going to try to offer me $2500 or $3000 for the car rather than the $4000 at least that I think it's worth. What do you guys think?

 

[Valet]

It's good that you're, I'm assuming, okay.

It's whatever the KBB is.

I'd be interested in those rear photos. Always wondered what would happen in the situation

 

[20-CG5-01]

Insurance doesn't go off KBB because their price isn't even correct most of the time.

They work their own magic with miles, previous condition, year of car, salvage/clean title, if the car is in high demand, and that's it. Doesn't matter if you have new parts or aftermarket.

They don't even check previous history of the car.

I've seen 96 corollas totaled, clean title, 120xxx miles, and they got $6000 from it.

 

[MusicMan374]

Here are some pics: http://sdrv.ms/13Uw2fK You can see from the ones taken of the other parts of the car how nice it was beforehand. I have them in a skydrive folder because they're all too big to upload to this site.

I'm alright, had some trouble sleeping since and I've been a bit jumpy when driving the rental when someone comes up behind me (because I looked in my rear view mirror about half a second before the impact of the collision and saw it coming), and I'm still in a bit of pain but I know it could have been a lot worse. I just hope that this neck pain doesn't indicate permanent problems. I know a couple of people who were in rear enders about like this that have had to have surgeries and other treatment as much as twenty years after the accident. I just hope it heals and it's nothing like that.

KBB value for a "good" condition vehicle (most closely matches the condition of my car) from a private party sale is $4,658. Trade in value is $3,468. I don't think I should let them go any lower than $4,000. Maybe even $4,500 if I wanted to be tough about it.

Then again, I saw on craigslist an accord nearly identical to mine with almost 180k miles on it going for more than the KBB values, almost $5,000. So maybe I should stay on a $5,000 hard line? It was very well maintained, clean title (except for a minor snafu with a curb when I had to replace some suspension in the rear right wheel), and a complete record of maintenance history from both owners. I was only the second owner of the car, bought it at 90k miles. I don't know what I should deem fair, I guess I'll have to wait for the adjuster's opinion.

 

[20-CG5-01]

I don't know about your area, but one of my cousin who owns a autobody shop got a 02 sedan lx model with 120k miles who has state farm got keyed and wasn't deemed a total loss and insurance paid out $4600 + 200 deductable to the shop to do repairs.

Car was in excellent condition and clean title.

Edit: I would imagine if that car was a total loss they wpuld gave atleast gotten 5k+

 

[MusicMan374]

Wow really? Well one, $4600 do repair a keyed section of paint? They must've repainted the whole panel for the affected panels. Two, that's pretty good that they paid it out. When I slid into a curb on a slick road going ~20mph Allstate said I almost totaled it out even though it only needed $2400 worth of work. The rear right suspension kit had to be replaced, had to buy a new wheel, and the rear subframe had to be replaced (which we got from a junkyard car to avoid totalling the car). Weird. My car only had 95k miles on it at the time, in excellent condition. Maybe they were just saying that to get me to keep the repair costs low, intimidation technique. Who knows. I'm hoping to get absolutely no less than $4,000 for the car. I understand it's wrecked now, but they're supposed to value the pre-accident condition of the car, right? I'll see what the adjuster ends up saying, I just was looking for a ballpark minimum hardline and it looks like that line is somewhere between $4k and $5k.

 

[Valet]

Maybe I'm just an asshole. But I'd be milking a lawsuit out of it for personal injury.

And considering what happened you'd be hard pressed to find a judge that would even question you after you went to a doctor complaining of neck pain.

 

[MusicMan374]

A lawsuit is just such a pain in the ***. I know they are already going to offer pain and suffering in the medical settlement which is separate from the vehicle settlement. They told me to take as much time as I need with the medical settlement, and not to settle until I feel the same as I did before the accident. I'm already seeing a therapist for unrelated issues, but this will more than certainly be the topic of my next appointment on Monday, since I've had trouble focusing since the accident and flashbacks are common. I saw a doctor the day after the crash, and am following up in about a week about what pain might still remain. I've also documented my lost wages, they will be paying for that as well. I am going to ask my doctor's opinion on the possibility of future complications from the crash, and any future problems with my neck I might have, and if he says there's a possibility, I will likely ask for $20,000 or more in the medical settlement.

I think they know how serious of a crash they're dealing with and they're being very careful with how they treat me. For god's sake, the impact was so powerful that the hinge that adjusts the position of the driver seat back completely broke, and the seat back fell on the rear seat. My car key was bent when I took it out. Honestly, the seat back giving way and falling backwards is probably the reason my back didn't break.

Needless to say, I won't accept a small medical settlement. My guess is I won't have to go to court over it, if I even threaten a lawsuit they'll give me whatever I ask for I'm sure.

 

[Valet]

I guess lawsuit wasn't the right word cause what you're saying is what I was thinking.

I just meant milk every penny out of it.

 

[MusicMan374]

Yeah I will, especially because of the risk of medical problems down the road.