Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

That would be a heck of an article to read.

qbrozen

qbrozen said:

kyfdx said:

Wrangler 4xe peeps: I'm not positive, but I think the residual dropped by 2%, starting today

Wouldn't surprise me. As long as they still waive acq fee, the lower residual and lower MF equates to less than 1% difference in monthly.

Oh, wow. I totally forgot. The broker I used says we are price protected on the RV. So we get both the lower MF and the higher RV. woohoo. Hey, maybe the wife will like it and we'll keep it. lol.

Michaell

qbrozen said:

qbrozen said:

kyfdx said:

Wrangler 4xe peeps: I'm not positive, but I think the residual dropped by 2%, starting today

Wouldn't surprise me. As long as they still waive acq fee, the lower residual and lower MF equates to less than 1% difference in monthly.

Oh, wow. I totally forgot. The broker I used says we are price protected on the RV. So we get both the lower MF and the higher RV. woohoo. Hey, maybe the wife will like it and we'll keep it. lol.

That's interesting - if the lease is funded by CCAP, I didn't think you could mix and match components from different programs.

andres3

corvette said:

roadburner said:

I believe it was a Mazdaspeed Protege; the guy bought it.

Someone who angrily agrees to a purchase would seem less likely to give a positive survey. I'm sure the game is different now, but my recollection is that dealerships generally used to be allowed to throw out a certain percentage of bad surveys.

I was that guy buying my first new car at Honda. I guess they smelled young-blood in the waters, but they should know dragging out a purchase for hours on end grinding me UP in this case, was going to end badly with bad surveys. I was surprised they "confronted" me about the bad survey results; they should have expected them. He just kind of scoffed when I told him "because you could have given me the same exact deal hours ago!" They probably shouldn't have you fill out the survey while your still there. Better to be emailed the next day and answer in anonymity.

I didn't feel bad about it.

I would not at all be surprised if I fell victim to some kind of "high profit margin bonus." If they were within $100 or something of a "BONUS" for large margin threshold sale, as they tried so very hard to squeeze more out of me. My amount paid was MORE than fair.

andres3

I still haven't lost a single Key FOB. Ever. Not ever.

I probably won't ever either, as I know as well as anyone to treat them like they are a $350-dollar-bill.

henryn

andres3 said:

corvette said:

roadburner said:

I believe it was a Mazdaspeed Protege; the guy bought it.

Someone who angrily agrees to a purchase would seem less likely to give a positive survey. I'm sure the game is different now, but my recollection is that dealerships generally used to be allowed to throw out a certain percentage of bad surveys.

I was that guy buying my first new car at Honda. I guess they smelled young-blood in the waters, but they should know dragging out a purchase for hours on end grinding me UP in this case, was going to end badly with bad surveys. I was surprised they "confronted" me about the bad survey results; they should have expected them. He just kind of scoffed when I told him "because you could have given me the same exact deal hours ago!" They probably shouldn't have you fill out the survey while your still there. Better to be emailed the next day and answer in anonymity.

I didn't feel bad about it.

I would not at all be surprised if they were within $100 or something of a "BONUS" large margin threshold sale, as they tried so very hard to squeeze more out of me. My amount paid was MORE than fair.

I've never filled out a survey while at the dealership. Many years ago, they came in the mail, and more recently, an email with a link. The last two new vehicles I bought (Ford trucks), I never received a survey of any kind or form. Which I thought was a little unusual, the deals went down in a reasonably pleasant manner and I would have given them good marks.

xwesx

andres3 said:

I still haven't lost a single Key FOB. Ever. Not ever.

I probably won't ever either, as I know as well as anyone to treat them like they are a $350-dollar-bill.

That's why the whole thing is so hilarious (for us; frustrating, I know, for you). If you had lost it and that was that, then I don't think anyone, including you, would have ever even mentioned it.

When Mark dredged it up the way he did, I nearly died laughing. In truth, I probably wasn't far from it considering it was way past my bedtime and had been a long day at that!

kyfdx

Michaell said:

qbrozen said:

qbrozen said:

kyfdx said:

Wrangler 4xe peeps: I'm not positive, but I think the residual dropped by 2%, starting today

Wouldn't surprise me. As long as they still waive acq fee, the lower residual and lower MF equates to less than 1% difference in monthly.

Oh, wow. I totally forgot. The broker I used says we are price protected on the RV. So we get both the lower MF and the higher RV. woohoo. Hey, maybe the wife will like it and we'll keep it. lol.

That's interesting - if the lease is funded by CCAP, I didn't think you could mix and match components from different programs.

The MF actually dropped on 06/23. So, technically, the program from 06/23-06/30 has the lower MF and the higher residual.

andres3

https://fox40.com/news/california-connection/dmv-reverses-550000-drivers-license-suspensions-following-lawsuit/

This one hits close to home! You may remember the Traffic Courts and DMV tried to run me over with similar shenanigans for a "fake" and totally baseless "failure to appear" charge, and then got their Collections Agency (Alliance One to name names) goons and thugs to make aggressive/rude calls to me to try and collect.

I'd agree, the DMV cannot rely on the Courts ALLEGING a failure to appear to be accurate, proper, or reasonably valid to suspend someone's license. You need a freaking conviction idiots!

laurasdada

breld said:

laurasdada said:

Mr. breld: curious, what brand of L2 charger did you put in your garage?

It’s an older 32 amp Chargepoint. I bought that a few years ago when we purchased a used BMW i3 so already had it when we got the Leaf, and subsequently the Polestar 2. I had initially thought I’d want to upgrade to a 40 amp model for quicker charging, but realized that it didn’t make any difference for the Polestar, particularly considering I’m rarely below 50% battery anyway…either way, it easily “fills up” overnight.

Thanks. I plan to put a 40-50 amp outlet in our new garage. Probably use the portable charger that came with the A7. But perhaps buy a wall unit similar to yours later.

Met with the builder/designer. She said they'll put in the wiring for such, but won't put in the actual outlet. I asked her to clarify if she meant they wouldn't put in a 240 volt outlet (which they will be doing for the dryer) or a charging station. She wasn't sure the difference, I clarified, but she'll have to check with those more in the know of such things.

benjaminh

Congrats to others who have purchased vehicles in this tough market!

We just purchased today for $18,439 my 2018 Acura TLX 2.4 Tech with 41k miles, which just came off lease today. By working lots of extra hours over a few months, economizing, and transferring the rest, my wife and I were able to scrape the amount together without taking out a loan. And it turned out to be easy to pay it off electronically without even stepping into the dealership.

xwesx

Yeah, have them put the 4-prong outlet in. They are fairly standard, and most 240-volt appliances (I would think this includes charger stations) typically come in such a way that you wire on the correct cord when you install it.

nyccarguy

Congrats! How many miles?

breld

laurasdada said:

breld said:

laurasdada said:

Mr. breld: curious, what brand of L2 charger did you put in your garage?

It’s an older 32 amp Chargepoint. I bought that a few years ago when we purchased a used BMW i3 so already had it when we got the Leaf, and subsequently the Polestar 2. I had initially thought I’d want to upgrade to a 40 amp model for quicker charging, but realized that it didn’t make any difference for the Polestar, particularly considering I’m rarely below 50% battery anyway…either way, it easily “fills up” overnight.

Thanks. I plan to put a 40-50 amp outlet in our new garage. Probably use the portable charger that came with the A7. But perhaps buy a wall unit similar to yours later.

Met with the builder/designer. She said they'll put in the wiring for such, but won't put in the actual outlet. I asked her to clarify if she meant they wouldn't put in a 240 volt outlet (which they will be doing for the dryer) or a charging station. She wasn't sure the difference, I clarified, but she'll have to check with those more in the know of such things.

Just make sure you get an appropriate guage of wire installed that can handle 50 amps (and up). I believe a 6 guage does the trick. As long as the wire is there, getting the outlet installed is pretty straightforward. And just having the raw wire will give you options on what type of outlet or hardwiring a charger if you choose.

mjfloyd1

Well, the insurance adjuster is now at $45600 ish plus tax. The auction value is $45900.

They have deducted $3200 for condition so I offered to send a mobile detailer up to steam clean carpets and seats and wash and wax what was left of the exterior.

I guess I should have had the car detailed before I let my wife drive it to Indy. And I wish it didn’t have a full tank of premium.

He also wants me to turn the rental In tomorrow.

I not so politely said no.

au1994

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. $3200 for condition? That’s reaching deep into the bag of tricks if you ask me.

benjaminh

Has anyone heard from @graphicguy lately? He's been pretty quiet for the past few weeks.

@mjfloyd1 —sorry the insurance co. is putting you through such stress. Apologies if I missed it, but are you planning to get another Audi?

au1994

Wasn’t he going to Jamaica at some point?

mjfloyd1

@benjaminh said:
Has anyone heard from @graphicguy lately? He's been pretty quiet for the past few weeks.

@mjfloyd1 —sorry the insurance co. is putting you through such stress. Apologies if I missed it, but are you planning to get another Audi?

Already bought a 2021 Q7. First driver ghosted me. Hopefully one will pick it up tomorrow. If not I’ll fly and drive it back

oldfarmer50

au1994 said:

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. $3200 for condition? That’s reaching deep into the bag of tricks if you ask me.

Yeah, maybe they deduct for dents and scrapes on a totaled car.

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

Has anyone heard from @graphicguy lately? He's been pretty quiet for the past few weeks.

@mjfloyd1 —sorry the insurance co. is putting you through such stress. Apologies if I missed it, but are you planning to get another Audi?

Didn’t he go on a cruise with his significant other?

qbrozen

mjfloyd1 said:

Already bought a 2021 Q7. First driver ghosted me. Hopefully one will pick it up tomorrow. If not I’ll fly and drive it back

I thought you already had it home.
Remind me, was this the shipper I have suggested? I can't recall as I've passed that info on to many people.

Did you remind the adjuster that you are unable to buy cars at auction? And, even if you were, what about taxes and fees? This is truly absurd. Maybe their method is to drag their feet long enough until projected depreciation catches up with their offer.

au1994

oldfarmer50 said:

au1994 said:

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. $3200 for condition? That’s reaching deep into the bag of tricks if you ask me.

Yeah, maybe they deduct for dents and scrapes on a totaled car.

Your frame is bent but that parking lot ding is gonna cost you. Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

henryn

mjfloyd1 said:

@benjaminh said:

Has anyone heard from @graphicguy lately? He's been pretty quiet for the past few weeks.

@mjfloyd1 —sorry the insurance co. is putting you through such stress. Apologies if I missed it, but are you planning to get another Audi?

Already bought a 2021 Q7. First driver ghosted me. Hopefully one will pick it up tomorrow. If not I’ll fly and drive it back

Back around 1972 or thereabouts, my father was working construction. The company he worked for paid to have his fairly small mobile home (about 10x50) moved from site to site as opposed to paying for motels. On one occasion, it was being hauled from Iowa back to Texas and went missing. It was eventually found parked beside the Kansas turnpike. Let us hope that doesn't happen to anyone here.

mjfloyd1

@qbrozen said:
I thought you already had it home.
Remind me, was this the shipper I have suggested? I can't recall as I've passed that info on to many people.

Did you remind the adjuster that you are unable to buy cars at auction? And, even if you were, what about taxes and fees? This is truly absurd. Maybe their method is to drag their feet long enough until projected depreciation catches up with their offer.

Yes it was Anthony with door to door. First driver said he could not wait even though he accepted it as a noon -2 pickup.

Driver for tomorrow texted me and looks good to go. He grew up 20 minutes from where I grew up and Bloomington is on the way home.

Fingers crossed.

Yes, I sent your MMR and not so nicely reminded him that I cannot buy at auction and those prices were for cars that need refurbishment and transportation to the tune of approx $1750. And that he would need to add 45900+ $1750 + tax

I did tell him that I’d be glad to hire a mobile detailer and pay $400 to get my $3200 back.

I’ll play the waiting game.

Not sure if I should keep rental or not. We could make do but why should I do that?

The finance guy in Iowa knew that we had a totaled car and asked how it was going. Then he said they are using $3000 deductions for condition because used car prices are so high.

corvette

@mjfloyd1 - do you have an insurance agent? They generally don't get involved in claims, but can alert the corporate parent that there is a problem, which might get someone higher up the ladder involved. I think intervention from this guy's boss is probably what needs to happen. It sounds like they are using stale data for their values. I'm not sure whether they're required to disclose the basis of their offer in IN, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

mjfloyd1

He (my agent) is included on the emails.

My agent suggested that I acquiesce to the first bump of $500.

Adjuster says his manager got it bumped the next $500.

They do give me printouts from CCC with 12 comps but most do not have the options that mine has. Most are not available or old so lower value. One even had a bad carfax with a frontal crash.

mjfloyd1

I also reminded the adjuster that even at 49500+ 1750+ tax leaves no dealer profit

au1994

mjfloyd1 said:

@qbrozen said:

I thought you already had it home.

Remind me, was this the shipper I have suggested? I can't recall as I've passed that info on to many people.

Did you remind the adjuster that you are unable to buy cars at auction? And, even if you were, what about taxes and fees? This is truly absurd. Maybe their method is to drag their feet long enough until projected depreciation catches up with their offer.

Yes it was Anthony with door to door. First driver said he could not wait even though he accepted it as a noon -2 pickup.

Driver for tomorrow texted me and looks good to go. He grew up 20 minutes from where I grew up and Bloomington is on the way home.

Fingers crossed.

Yes, I sent your MMR and not so nicely reminded him that I cannot buy at auction and those prices were for cars that need refurbishment and transportation to the tune of approx $1750. And that he would need to add 45900+ $1750 + tax

I did tell him that I’d be glad to hire a mobile detailer and pay $400 to get my $3200 back.

I’ll play the waiting game.

Not sure if I should keep rental or not. We could make do but why should I do that?

The finance guy in Iowa knew that we had a totaled car and asked how it was going. Then he said they are using $3000 deductions for condition because used car prices are so high.

If the rental is on their nickel, absolutely keep it. And if its unlimited miles. drive it every time you think you might need something.

mjfloyd1

@au1994 said:
If the rental is on their nickel, absolutely keep it. And if its unlimited miles. drive it every time you think you might need something.

Yep. I’ve been working out of town a lot with mileage reimbursement

xwesx

mjfloyd1 said:

I also reminded the adjuster that even at 49500+ 1750+ tax leaves no dealer profit

I was going to comment that you're being very generous here. Minimum, they should be at $49K. Realistically, more like $52-55K.

Granted, I have no idea what tax in your state does to the bottom line.

andres3

mjfloyd1 said:

Well, the insurance adjuster is now at $45600 ish plus tax. The auction value is $45900.

They have deducted $3200 for condition so I offered to send a mobile detailer up to steam clean carpets and seats and wash and wax what was left of the exterior.

I guess I should have had the car detailed before I let my wife drive it to Indy. And I wish it didn’t have a full tank of premium.

He also wants me to turn the rental In tomorrow.

I not so politely said no.

OK, now I need to know the name of this insurance company to cross them off my list???

It's not like you had a 10+ year old Q7!!!!! How many miles? That's absurd unless they have evidence of "prior existing damage" but I've seen claims of "prior existing damage" on estimates from adjusters before without any iota of evidence for it.

I think tank of gas should be 100% claimable since it's $75 /tank these days. The at-fault party should happily pay that.

As far as the rental goes, I agree, it should be given for up to a week past the check being issued. It's not reasonable to expect someone to replace a vehicle "immediately" upon payment.

andres3

mjfloyd1 said:

@qbrozen said:

I thought you already had it home.

Remind me, was this the shipper I have suggested? I can't recall as I've passed that info on to many people.

Did you remind the adjuster that you are unable to buy cars at auction? And, even if you were, what about taxes and fees? This is truly absurd. Maybe their method is to drag their feet long enough until projected depreciation catches up with their offer.

Yes it was Anthony with door to door. First driver said he could not wait even though he accepted it as a noon -2 pickup.

Driver for tomorrow texted me and looks good to go. He grew up 20 minutes from where I grew up and Bloomington is on the way home.

Fingers crossed.

Yes, I sent your MMR and not so nicely reminded him that I cannot buy at auction and those prices were for cars that need refurbishment and transportation to the tune of approx $1750. And that he would need to add 45900+ $1750 + tax

I did tell him that I’d be glad to hire a mobile detailer and pay $400 to get my $3200 back.

I’ll play the waiting game.

Not sure if I should keep rental or not. We could make do but why should I do that?

The finance guy in Iowa knew that we had a totaled car and asked how it was going. Then he said they are using $3000 deductions for condition because used car prices are so high.

Were the tires used up? I've been hit with the "betterment" charge of 20% for tread since the tire was damaged and my life span was only 80% left.

Lastly, and most importantly, can you prove you still had 2 Key FOB's?

andres3

mjfloyd1 said:

He (my agent) is included on the emails.

My agent suggested that I acquiesce to the first bump of $500.

Adjuster says his manager got it bumped the next $500.

They do give me printouts from CCC with 12 comps but most do not have the options that mine has. Most are not available or old so lower value. One even had a bad carfax with a frontal crash.

Make your own printout using Autotrader or some other online seller/lister and pick those Q7 prestiges!

oldfarmer50

henryn said:

mjfloyd1 said:

@benjaminh said:

Has anyone heard from @graphicguy lately? He's been pretty quiet for the past few weeks.

@mjfloyd1 —sorry the insurance co. is putting you through such stress. Apologies if I missed it, but are you planning to get another Audi?

Already bought a 2021 Q7. First driver ghosted me. Hopefully one will pick it up tomorrow. If not I’ll fly and drive it back

Back around 1972 or thereabouts, my father was working construction. The company he worked for paid to have his fairly small mobile home (about 10x50) moved from site to site as opposed to paying for motels. On one occasion, it was being hauled from Iowa back to Texas and went missing. It was eventually found parked beside the Kansas turnpike. Let us hope that doesn't happen to anyone here.

Was anyone living in it?

mjfloyd1

2018
36388 miles
They only have one key fob. I have the other one in my pocket. I’m going tomorrow to get everything out of it from Copart in Indy. I’m gonna take the all weather mats and put the carpet mats in.

Tires had 4000 miles - they gave us an extra $200

Some of the autotrader ads do not have carfax. I spent a lot of time picking each one apart.

I asked for Monroney labels one each comp to prove that they were not truly comparable but I have received exactly zero. I did provide them with my Monroney label to show that mine had adaptive suspension. How could you miss that though?

henryn

oldfarmer50 said:

henryn said:

mjfloyd1 said:

@benjaminh said:

Has anyone heard from @graphicguy lately? He's been pretty quiet for the past few weeks.

@mjfloyd1 —sorry the insurance co. is putting you through such stress. Apologies if I missed it, but are you planning to get another Audi?

Already bought a 2021 Q7. First driver ghosted me. Hopefully one will pick it up tomorrow. If not I’ll fly and drive it back

Back around 1972 or thereabouts, my father was working construction. The company he worked for paid to have his fairly small mobile home (about 10x50) moved from site to site as opposed to paying for motels. On one occasion, it was being hauled from Iowa back to Texas and went missing. It was eventually found parked beside the Kansas turnpike. Let us hope that doesn't happen to anyone here.

Was anyone living in it?

Living in it? If you mean, was someone actually in the mobile home while it was being moved, then the answer is no. If you mean, was it someone's home, did they live in it immediately before the move and immediately after the move, were all of their possessions present in the mobile home, then the answer is yes.

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let you ride along inside the mobile home while it is being transported. The insurance company would have a fit, and it's probably against the law.

henryn

mjfloyd1 said:

2018

36388 miles

They only have one key fob. I have the other one in my pocket. I’m going tomorrow to get everything out of it from Copart in Indy. I’m gonna take the all weather mats and put the carpet mats in.

Tires had 4000 miles - they gave us an extra $200

Some of the autotrader ads do not have carfax. I spent a lot of time picking each one apart.

I asked for Monroney labels one each comp to prove that they were not truly comparable but I have received exactly zero. I did provide them with my Monroney label to show that mine had adaptive suspension. How could you miss that though?

It's a funny thing about "evaluations", something I picked up on several years ago, first from my own dealings with buying, selling, and trading in. And then from following the RWTIV forum here for a long time. "Packages", for the most part, don't add to the value on a trade in, or to the wholesale value. When @qbrozen looks up a value for someone in these forums, the "packages" generally aren't a part of the valuation. Trim level, yes, packages, no.

For instance, on a Honda Accord, the EX-L will definitely be worth more than an EX. And Hondas don't really have packages, just trim levels. But let's take the Ford F150 as a counterpoint. F150's have both, trim levels and packages. The Lariat trim level is definitely worth more than an XLT. But if you have an XLT with the 302a package, which costs about $3.5k more than the 301a package, that doesn't count into the wholesale or trade-in value. You can actually option up an XLT to the point where it costs more than the bottom level Lariat, but when you go to sell or trade in, it will be worth less than the Lariat.

And this is not a universal rule. 4WD will add to the value of either the XLT or the Lariat, for instance. Some parts of this make no particular sense, but it is what it is. Someone here in these forums, a former car dealer if I'm remembering correctly, made the observation a number of years back that you were never going to get back the money you spent on options. Not even close.

mjfloyd1

It seemed line adaptive suspension added $1500. The luxury package added $1800 (alcantera headliner and massage seats) but luxury package cost $5500

qbrozen

That’s what I’m always saying. It is just like real estate. They always say you are much better off with the smallest house in the neighborhood than the largest, when it comes to value. There are some cars where it works a little backwards. I believe it was Bill who used to say that luxo cars are assumed to have leather, power seats, and moonroof. So they don’t ADD value. But if you DON’T have them, then you deduct.

All that said, there is definitely something wrong with the comps being sent over. I tried looking into them and the only ones that MIGHT have actually been comparable were no longer for sale. His adjuster used like 3 from the same Audi dealer. I went to that website and found 2 that were very similar, yet priced about $5k-$7k higher. I suggested @mjfloyd1 send those listings back and say “ok, I’ll take one of those. Send the check.”

mjfloyd1

Yes I did tell the adjuster that Audi Indianapolis had two comparable for sale, one for 52k and one 54k.

Radio silence

oldfarmer50

henryn said:

oldfarmer50 said:

henryn said:

mjfloyd1 said:

@benjaminh said:

Has anyone heard from @graphicguy lately? He's been pretty quiet for the past few weeks.

@mjfloyd1 —sorry the insurance co. is putting you through such stress. Apologies if I missed it, but are you planning to get another Audi?

Already bought a 2021 Q7. First driver ghosted me. Hopefully one will pick it up tomorrow. If not I’ll fly and drive it back

Back around 1972 or thereabouts, my father was working construction. The company he worked for paid to have his fairly small mobile home (about 10x50) moved from site to site as opposed to paying for motels. On one occasion, it was being hauled from Iowa back to Texas and went missing. It was eventually found parked beside the Kansas turnpike. Let us hope that doesn't happen to anyone here.

Was anyone living in it?

Living in it? If you mean, was someone actually in the mobile home while it was being moved, then the answer is no. If you mean, was it someone's home, did they live in it immediately before the move and immediately after the move, were all of their possessions present in the mobile home, then the answer is yes.

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let you ride along inside the mobile home while it is being transported. The insurance company would have a fit, and it's probably against the law.

No, no, I was joking of course but I couldn’t help but wonder if when it got abandoned along the roadside someone didn’t take up residence in it. You hear so many stories of people squatting in vacant homes I wondered if the same would happen to an empty trailer.

mjfloyd1

@qbrozen - I just looked and those two 2018 Q7 prestige’s are gone. They have a 2019 for 57500

xwesx

mjfloyd1 said:

@qbrozen - I just looked and those two 2018 Q7 prestige’s are gone. They have a 2019 for 57500

Maybe you could contact the dealership and finesse the sale price out of them. How much more proof would the adjuster need than THAT?!

corvette

I would hazard a guess that over 90% of the first party total loss claims a carrier deals with are on something like a fifteen year old Sentra that is worth $5,000 on a good day, and might require deductions or additions of a few hundred bucks either way for equipment and condition. It sounds like they're not equipped to deal with a higher end vehicle.

stickguy

anyone know the rule on a total? Do you have to take a check, or can you ask for a replacement? If so, give them the sticker, tell them to find a relatively exact replacement, and buy it for you. If nothing else, would prove to them that their offer is nonsense.

28firefighter

You can take them to arbitration or court if you don’t want to accept their settlement. Sounds like they’re trying to hose you, @mjfloyd1

henryn

stickguy said:

anyone know the rule on a total? Do you have to take a check, or can you ask for a replacement? If so, give them the sticker, tell them to find a relatively exact replacement, and buy it for you. If nothing else, would prove to them that their offer is nonsense.

I rather expect the law varies by state. I do know, from personal experience, here in Texas you have a choice between a cash settlement and a equivalent replacement. And you can be quite choosy about the replacement.

andres3

henryn said:

mjfloyd1 said:

2018

36388 miles

They only have one key fob. I have the other one in my pocket. I’m going tomorrow to get everything out of it from Copart in Indy. I’m gonna take the all weather mats and put the carpet mats in.

Tires had 4000 miles - they gave us an extra $200

Some of the autotrader ads do not have carfax. I spent a lot of time picking each one apart.

I asked for Monroney labels one each comp to prove that they were not truly comparable but I have received exactly zero. I did provide them with my Monroney label to show that mine had adaptive suspension. How could you miss that though?

It's a funny thing about "evaluations", something I picked up on several years ago, first from my own dealings with buying, selling, and trading in. And then from following the RWTIV forum here for a long time. "Packages", for the most part, don't add to the value on a trade in, or to the wholesale value. When @qbrozen looks up a value for someone in these forums, the "packages" generally aren't a part of the valuation. Trim level, yes, packages, no.

For instance, on a Honda Accord, the EX-L will definitely be worth more than an EX. And Hondas don't really have packages, just trim levels. But let's take the Ford F150 as a counterpoint. F150's have both, trim levels and packages. The Lariat trim level is definitely worth more than an XLT. But if you have an XLT with the 302a package, which costs about $3.5k more than the 301a package, that doesn't count into the wholesale or trade-in value. You can actually option up an XLT to the point where it costs more than the bottom level Lariat, but when you go to sell or trade in, it will be worth less than the Lariat.

And this is not a universal rule. 4WD will add to the value of either the XLT or the Lariat, for instance. Some parts of this make no particular sense, but it is what it is. Someone here in these forums, a former car dealer if I'm remembering correctly, made the observation a number of years back that you were never going to get back the money you spent on options. Not even close.

You can use the insurance company argument against DV claims against them though. Say you buy an equivalent Q7 and the purchase is made. This is a real world transaction at real world prices. They shouldn't be able to argue with a receipt!

Of course, we all know they'll say you "didn't negotiate reasonably." With a DV claim, it's "asking prices are inflated" and trade-in values are "deflated."

andres3

corvette said:

I would hazard a guess that over 90% of the first party total loss claims a carrier deals with are on something like a fifteen year old Sentra that is worth $5,000 on a good day, and might require deductions or additions of a few hundred bucks either way for equipment and condition. It sounds like they're not equipped to deal with a higher end vehicle.

So you mean I should forgive Geico's attempt to replace only 1 tire on a quattro AWD vehicle? Maybe they didn't realize AWD can be finicky to treadwear and depth?

Honestly, I think it's just that they are cheap you know whats acting in bad-faith. They have no problem sending out ridiculously high quotes more than double my Geico quote renewing on the 4th! But when the shoes on the other foot... watch out!

Somehow, I don't think paying Progressive $2,400 for 6 months of insurance would get me a better claims experience at claim time than paying Geico $1,200. Call me crazy!

At least with the "cheap" (if you can call it that) insurance, I can tell myself I know I'm buying a bunch of scum bucket human scum-run insurance that's designed to be cheap; so nothing can surprise me at claims time.

If I paid top dollar and was treated poorly, I'd be 100X more irate.

But in private let me tell you how I really feel about people that work in Insurance.