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Originally Posted by freebeard
I commiserate. I totalled my car on black ice a few years back, and it took almost daily phone calls to three different offices in my own insurance company, contesting their estimation, and citing Oregon State law where it differed. IIRC their original offer was ~$2800, the final check was ~$5500. I was out of pocket another $800 to the body shop for up and extras, and they didn't get the color matched.
Perhaps the path forward is to think about whether this particular example of this particular [reconstructed title] car is what will make you happiest. In my case I didn't want to be the guy who took another 'old' VW off the road. Old is in single quotes because 1971 is the latest model year car I've owned. I switched because of fit and finish.
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I've had a similar experience. A guy rear-ended my 1996 Subaru Legacy on my birthday and totalled it. I spent the next 3 months arguing with his insurance on the payout amount. They offered $1,000, but there were no mechanically good examples of that car for that price. I finally settled at $2,500. I then replaced the car with a $17,000 TSX, which still seems like a lot of money to spend on a car.
In high school I drove a beautiful red 1969 Beetle. I raced it everywhere like a go-cart, and even rolled it once. I could fill the gas tank, hand the attendant $10, and get a couple bucks back. Those were fun times, but having to do frequent valve adjustments is annoying. Getting exhaust in the cabin whenever the heater is used was also annoying.
Anyhow, I'm loving my plug-in Prius. So far it's gone everywhere I want to go, handles emergency maneuvers well (stability control), gets phenomenal fuel economy, and has enormous utility.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ksa8907
I'm not a proponent of insurance fraud, but you may want to consider the power of a medical claim. It may help in negotiations if they know you have them by the balls. The at-fault insurance will throw money at you to reduce their liability.
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Hmm, I'm not sure about using deception to achieve justice. This has me re-evaluating my philosophy.