1998 Toyota Camry totaled

by Guest » Mon Jun 14, 2010 07:40 pm
Guest

A person in PA rear-ended me and pushed me into a Jeep. They have state farm who says my car is totaled, they estimate that the damages are 4281.00 but there might be more once the hood is open. I live in Florida, the car is drivable. When I talked to the claims dept., 4 different people told me the car was worth over 5000.00 and when I asked what the exact value is one girl told me it was just under 5300.00. It took them 3 weeks to come to the conclusion that they were responsible. (There was a question about whether or not the driver had authorization to be driving the car). When the totaled department called they offered 4008.00 plus tax and title which comes to 4431.47. The car is a very clean 1998 Toyota Camry, 4 cyl with 130580 miles on it but I replaced the engine with a 2000 engine with 70100 miles on it, so the engine right now has around 87000 miles on it. They have the salvage value at 974.00. They say they don't use any blue books, they have a company that looks up 30 comparable cars in my area and comes up with what they consider fair. I really want to keep the car, I can do the repairs myself. I want to know what the True Market Value really is and what my rights are. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my first time on this site. Thanks

Total Comments: 8

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 09:01 pm Post Subject:

I ran these numbers and what they are offering you seems to be right on the money. Although if you could provide some info on the options and model of the Camry (LE, Limited etc) we might be able to see how acurrate that number is. You can use autotrader.com and see how the comparable vehicles in your area match with theirs.

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 09:35 pm Post Subject:

Its a 1998 Camry LE, the only extra option is a rear spoiler. Autotrader has 10 cars listed within 50 miles of Orlando. Highest price 6694.......lowest 4500.....average.....5394

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:53 pm Post Subject:

LE 4 or 6 cyl?

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:50 am Post Subject:

With zero options and deductions for not having some of them I'm still coming in around 5350.00. Does your vehicle have ANY unrepaired prior damage?

Is this 4008.00 plus tax and title which comes to 4431.47 offer with you keeping the car? Or them taking it? If this is less the salvage value I think you're right there.

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 08:16 pm Post Subject:

Actually I typed wrong, its 4088.00 plus tax and title which totals 4431.47. Thats with them taking the car. Thats part of my point, the claims dept. said it was worth 5300.00 before tax and title, but the totaled dept. is only offering 4088.00 plus tax and title. Like you said 5350.00 would be reasonable but they are only offering 4088.00.

Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:55 pm Post Subject:

Search for comparable vehicles in your areas, go find them if need be to see how they compare in condition to your vehicle. If any of them compare to your vehicle's condition, provide the carrier with this information and ask them to up the offer. This is going to about your best option to get more $.

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