Insurance Arguments over E500 Value

[remotemark]

Somebody crashed into the front of my 94 E500 this morning while we were sitting at a red light. Nobody got hurt, but the crashing car was a Toyota Sequoia urban assault vehicle and its bumper was higher than mine and ended up a foot or two into the hood. I can't open the hood at the moment and can't totally assess the damage, but I know the grill, lights, bumper, hood, at least one fender, radiator, fans, and probably the steering pump are trashed. My fear is the insurance people will offer me the KBB $6-7k range and total the car out and I won't be able to fix it for that.

I'm wondering if anybody out here has been in a similar situation with an older MB and had any luck bucking the KBB and Edmunds, et al valuation scales with a rarity/collectibility argument and how they went about demonstrating a higher value.

One professional/collector of 500Es has offered to talk to the adjusters, but I'm hopeful that I can find someone who has actually fought this fight and find out how it went.

Thanks,
Mark

[davidmash]

Been there, done that and got the T-shirt.

I got rear ended by an Explorer whos bumper was higher than mine. Trashed the whole rear end (both quarters, trunk w/spolier lights … etc). I had to go through 3 or 4 adjusters before I got to one who would listen.

First thing, do your research. Go through Ebay, want ads… etc to see what they are going for. Similar mileage, maint .. etc. State Farm wanted to offer me $5k and I told them to stuff it. Show them your main records and everything else.

I had to eat a little of the repair cost (about $700 IIRC). I went out and found a clean salvage trunk/spoiler and my body shop took care of the rest. State Farm forked out about $4,500 to $5,000 (not sure as it was several years ago) and I still have my car.

I got the right person and had the evidence to back my claim. I got lucky. You have nothing to loose if you fight them on it. As hard as it was, don’t antagonize them. The urge to b!tch slap the adjuster will be over whelming. Just breath deep and think of the car. Kill them with kindness and if that does not work …. Just leave the kindness part home.

Good luck.

edit: If you end up eating part of the loss, make sure that the insurance company does not give you a salvage title and does not list the car as salvage anywhere. That was a big part of my fight with State Farm. They wanted to sell me the car back as salvage and I told them no, this was just a value issue and that if they were going to give me $x.xx to fix the car I would get it fixed (they did not know about me getttiing the trunk my self) so State Farm said fine and gave me a clear title.

[nissanzx1]

Your car has a NADA retail of $17,250. It would take one heck of a hard hit to total it out. The adjuster will most likely want to repair your car with your described damage. Unless the damage is over about $12-13K, then the car will most likely be repaired. I'm just guessing your damage estimate could be about $5-6K.

Don't forget--you can always get your insurance company involved--then later--the two insurance companies will subrogate the claim and you may very well get your deductible back. The point being, your insurance company is MORE likely to treat you better as you are their customer.

Good Luck, and I am sorry for your loss. At this point, finding a GOOD shop is the most important thing next to dealing with the adjuster(s).

-GH

Originally Posted by remotemark

Somebody crashed into the front of my 94 E500 this morning while we were sitting at a red light. Nobody got hurt, but the crashing car was a Toyota Sequoia urban assault vehicle and its bumper was higher than mine and ended up a foot or two into the hood. I can't open the hood at the moment and can't totally assess the damage, but I know the grill, lights, bumper, hood, at least one fender, radiator, fans, and probably the steering pump are trashed. My fear is the insurance people will offer me the KBB $6-7k range and total the car out and I won't be able to fix it for that.

I'm wondering if anybody out here has been in a similar situation with an older MB and had any luck bucking the KBB and Edmunds, et al valuation scales with a rarity/collectibility argument and how they went about demonstrating a higher value.

One professional/collector of 500Es has offered to talk to the adjusters, but I'm hopeful that I can find someone who has actually fought this fight and find out how it went.

Thanks,
Mark

[remotemark]

Where did you find the NADA value? Both Kelly Blue Book and True Market Value came out significantly lower than that.

[TheEngineer]

Try to bribe the adjuster. Works every time!

[deanyel]

Originally Posted by remotemark

Where did you find the NADA value? Both Kelly Blue Book and True Market Value came out significantly lower than that.

If your KBB came out at $6k-$7k as suggested in your first post you're doing something wrong - high teens is more like it.

[Jim B.]

Having comparable sales figures, obtained from Autotrader, craigslist, ebay, KBB, Edmunds, ads in the newspapers and so on never hurt, nor do extensive service records is a pretty good idea, too. It helps prove the fair market value of the car is what you claim it is.

However, when it is a special interest car, or a rare one, -- and I know EXACTLY what the E500 is!!!---by the way,--- you should SERIOUSLY consider hiring a professional automobile appraiser. Yes, it may actually cost you a few hundreds of dollars to have that done, but the results are usually inarguable, it is like an investment to do that sometimes, that will pay you back far higher than what the appraiser's fee cost.

A guy who owned a body shop and dealt with insurance adjusters (called adjusters because they "adjust" downwards the figures submitted by the policyholders and body shops, told me this a long time ago and I never forgot:

"It is much easier to start our by being really hard nosed and tough, and then easing up a little bit later, than to start out by being a nice guy and getting tougher aas you go along"

Wise advise, and I think it applies to MOST dealings in this life, and not just insurance adjusters.

As to the insurance adjusters, how do I know they are like that?

Because I used to be one of "they."

[Hatterasguy]

Unless your 500E is beat to death its worth $10k. Book value has got to be mid teens on it as said above.

Tell them the idiot they insured decided to hit a very expensive car.

[xtreme barton]

just see what they want to offer you .. i was in an accident a year ago .. looked my value up on KBB and thats what i expected to get .. come to find out they went by dealership prices and what they would have gone for in the condition it was in .. i was happy with the offer ... dont be intimidated .. they are not the cops .. you have a little more say in what happens and what you think is fair as long as you have the paperwork to back it up

[Educaid]

You kinda left out the part that you just got the car a month ago. I assume you paid the market price for it and therefore that's what you should get for it if its totaled. What did you pay? Sounds like you want more than what you paid for it.

[remotemark]

Originally Posted by Educaid

You kinda left out the part that you just got the car a month ago. I assume you paid the market price for it and therefore that's what you should get for it if its totaled. What did you pay? Sounds like you want more than what you paid for it.

I paid 11k for it. I don't want more than that, I just don't want them to insist on totalling the car and giving me the salvage title if the repairs are around 8 to 10k. I want the car and I want it repaired.

I only drove the car about 250 miles.

[tvpierce]

Originally Posted by Educaid

You kinda left out the part that you just got the car a month ago. I assume you paid the market price for it and therefore that's what you should get for it if its totaled. What did you pay? Sounds like you want more than what you paid for it.

You can't logically make that assumption. Maybe there were extraordinary circumstances that affected the price (estate sale, seller moving out of town, seller lost job… needs money, etc.). Maybe the seller just didn’t know what the car was worth.

When the car was purchased, and for what price are immaterial. If he was able to negotiate or leverage a deal on the purchase, that’s his business – it in no way affects the value.

By that logic, if he bought it through an estate auction for $1000, that would be the value? Absolutely not!

And a very important point about retail value versus private party value: There is a certain amount of risk associated with buying any used car. Buying from a dealer minimizes that risk because you get some sort of warrantee – usually 30 days. But you pay for that reduction in risk. If you settle for the “private party” price you’re assuming an unreasonable amount of risk so that the insurance company can save a few bucks. Remember, you were sitting at a stoplight doing nothing wrong. Part of making you whole is NOT exposing you to an unreasonable degree of risk.

Another quick note: The insurance company is going to want you to sign off on the work, so they can close the claim quickly. There is no advantage to you by doing this. Let it lay for a few weeks or a month. Make sure no other damage crops up that is a result of the accident. Because once the claim is closed, you’re out of luck. Don't be unethical, but don't be stranded either.

Again, good luck.

[remotemark]

My shop estimated $6-8k barring any big surprises. Looks like I may have to have the valuation fight.

As for the recent purchase issue, I agree with TVPierce, why should the valuation be based on something other than value? At the end of the day, I am not looking to make a profit over my 11k purchase price, but I did also spend $850 in registration taxes and $700 to have the car trucked to me. I can't view those costs as amortized in any way as they came out of my pocket a month ago. If they total the car, I won't feel unethical arguing for a payout which includes those additional costs.

[nhdoc]

You haven't even been made an offer yet and you're already anticipating a fight. State Farm is probably one of the better companies, so sit back, relax, let the adjuster do his thing and see what they say. Why get worked up over an issue that may never develop? You may just be pleasantly surprised with the way the whole thing gets handled...if not then you at least know what direction you can go.

It seems to me that if you paid $11,000 for it and only drove it 250 miles since then you have a pretty convincing case right there for establishing its minimum value...nobody will want to argue with a straight face that the car depreciated substantially in 250 miles.

[xtreme barton]

i wouldnt sign off on a set price unless i absolutely new for sure it was going to be more than needed ..

what is your insurance company saying ? ask advice and state your issues .. u should be able to get this taken care of without shelling out any dough