Car totaled, no injuries. Suggestions on how to leverage their Insurance Adjuster?

[Mech_Man]

I need some advice about how to pressure an insurance company to pay me Replacement Value for my car that their person totaled.

I was rear-ended by an inattentive driver, fortunately no one was injured. The police report makes it very clear that the other driver was at fault, so their insurance adjuster isn't disputing their responsibility.

However, they are offering compensation based on AutoTrader listings of local average cars and from research done by a company called CCC Valuescope, which picked other regional cars listed in classifieds and by dealers, also for average cars. While their number is a "retail" number, not a wholesale one, it is based on cars that I don't feel are representative of the value of my car. Their 'average cars' are easy to find, and don't have the options mine had.

My contention is, my car was a 1997 e36, 2-door, MT, Sports, with-OUT sunroof. It was of low mileage, in very good condition, I was 1st owner with full maintenance documentation.

I feel they owe me a value it would take to actually purchase a very close Replacement Car. That is to say, if I had to go by the replacement car, I wouldn't accept one that wasn't the same year, same style, MT, 2-door & no sunroof (I'm a very tall guy so those features took me a long time to match when I first got the car), and very clean. Their 'average cars' were any kind of 3-series, 1997. Most of their 'equivalent cars' didn't even list what kind of tranny it had.

I priced a car that was a much closer match to what was totaled, and the difference in values works out to be about $3,000. I feel that this is enough to fight over, but the total value of the car is above the threshold of Small Claims court. I've contacted several lawyers to see if they'd be interested in filing a civil claim, but none were, since there is no Personal Injury claim (AKA big buck$) aspect.

The insurance adjuster just repeats his position, and says that his offer is the most he can do.

Any suggestions ???? TIA!

For those of you who have not experienced this ultra-hassle, here's a few tips if you get in a wreck and it's the other driver's fault. In addition to all the standard tips and suggestions.
1) No matter what, regardless if you feel 100% OK, you should go to a doctor the very next day. Tell them that you were just in an auto accident and need to be examined. This sets a baseline in case you do end up with a stiff neck and more. I didn't do this, as I didn't feel I'd been hurt that much, but it also meant that I'd tossed away 80% of my bargaining position.
2) Do NOT let the other insurance company take possession of your car. Mine was towed from the accident site over to the towing company's temporary lot. There it stayed, at $25 per day until I made the mistake of agreeing with the other driver's insurance guy when he asked if they could tow it to one of their lots. Doing so tossed away almost all the rest of my bargaining position since they no longer had that daily fee being added to their cost. So now my car sits on their lot, and they really don't have any reason to negotiate.

[TLudwig]

I'd try to continue negotiations with documentation based on the cars you consider reflective of the replacement value. Write it up and organize it in a very direct, professional manner. In my experience, I've found that insurance adjusters often value form as much as substance.

You may also contact your own insurance company and see what your adjuster recommends.

The small claims court limit is $5,000. The difference between your and the insurance company's positions is only $3,000, but you're correct that you can't bring a small claims lawsuit. The problem is that in your current position, you'll have to sue for the full replacement amount that you're seeking, which will be more than the small claims limit. You can't wait to bring a small claims suit for the $3,000 difference after the insurance company pays you what they consider replacement value because they'll make you sign a full release/waiver of claims before they pay you.

[drivinfaster]

+1 on the facts and figures, as well as contacting your insurance company. maybe you can negotiate better with them on the value of the vehicle. either way, the more that you have on your side of the table, the better. get a list of options from the dealer by the vin and get them from the 'comps' as well if you can.

maybe you could even find other models that are 'above' yours as illustrations to use as comparisons (such as an m with auto vs an m with manual, and such) on just how far off their comps are to try to close that $3000.00 window.

regardless, glad to hear that you are ok. good luck on your negotiating.

df

[Mech_Man]

Thanks for the tips,
I had already done all the research, put it in an easy-to-read spreadsheet and sent it to him so he could see where I got my numbers, including links to the AutoTrader sales that were more close to what My car was.
He just repeated back that he was using his numbers. It's obvious that he is either restricted by policy, has no real reason (disregarding the need to be 'fair') to look at my numbers, or both, to close the value gap.

It really makes me wish I'd ended up with a stiff neck. I won't say in a public form that such could have been faked, but if I'd had some real problems, you know they'd be quick to settle.
I'm actually a little sorry that BMW made my car so crash-worthy!