My Camry was in a fender, hood, bumper, and headlight bender

[Xist]

Mom's second plan was that I ride down with my sister, buy a car, and drive back.

I only reached out to dealers for talking to insurance.

"We're not paying you $8,000 for your car! We're not paying you $4,000! There is a low-mileage Camry for less than $3,000!"
"It sold. Do you want me to forward the e-mail?"

Well, the $3,500 one is still available--after 23 days!

Offer tree fitty?!

The one complication is that in 3 hours my sister and her friend filled up the minivan with garbage.

Mom's can is full of weeds.

They may need to stop by the dump in order to make room for me,

[JSH]

The insurance company is required to pay the amount to fix the car or purchase a comparable replacement. They aren't required to provide a better car than what was lost. They will have data on the going rate. Calling Xist's Camry mechanically sound is a bit iffy and it certainly had cosmetic issues. You can find ads for a running Camry in the area in the $3,000 - to $4,000 range. Asking for 2 or 3 times that is nuts and just going to shut down any negotiations and move it to arbitration.

Clean 2006 Camry LE with 146K miles in Phoenix for $3000
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/c...527449603.html

As to the claimant holding the cards - not so much. Generally the insurance company holds the final card which is binding arbitration. I ran into this when my wife's super rare 1987 SRX250 was damaged by the moving company on our move from Tennessee to Alabama. They started by offering blue book which was very low due to basically no data. I countered with the handful of listing and sales of similar bikes. We went back and forth for 3 months before the mover's insurance company laid done the trump card in a letter saying that they were done negotiating and the case would move to binding aribitration as dictated by the small print. Oh, and they get to choose the judge to be the arbitrator and the location. Please be in Chicago at xx time on yy date. We were a bit less than $1000 apart at that point.

[Xist]

I reached out to the dealership and haven't heard back, but as I mentioned, it isn't on their site.

Even if they still had it, how much would tax, title, registration, $499 dealer doc fee, market adjustments, and dealer installed options total?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

I reached out to the dealership and haven't heard back, but as I mentioned, it isn't on their site.

Even if they still had it, how much would tax, title, registration, $499 dealer doc fee, market adjustments, and dealer installed options total?

The insurance company doesn't have to find you a vehicle - just establish the value of your vehicle from comparable sales. As I mentioned multiple times - the insurance company will have that data already - there are companies that compile sales transaction data. If you attempt to prove that data wrong and claim a higher value based on things like Craigslist ads you can expect to receive back ads supporting their price.

I have no idea how much your state charges for registration, tax, and title - it varies from state to state even county by county and city by city within a state. Consult your old posts. If I recall correctly you have looked this up repeatedly during your past car shopping sagas.

[redpoint5]

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying, as we both agree that insurance is only responsible to replace what was lost.

I didn't run any of the numbers, so any reference by me to a dollar amount is simply in reference to what Xist is saying.

My point though is that if the lost car was mechanically sound, and the amount to replace it isn't enough to buy a mechanically sound vehicle, then there is cause to reject the settlement offer.

I gave my anecdote where insurance paid 2.5x more than their initial offer because there weren't any comps with 220,000 miles that could be purchased for their offer. Had insurance showed me an example of a comp that could be purchased for that amount, I'd have taken it. Instead, they saw things my way. I didn't get a dollar more than the value of the vehicle I had lost.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by JSH

I have no idea how much your state charges for registration, tax, and title - it varies from state to state even county by county and city by city within a state. Consult your old posts. If I recall correctly you have looked this up repeatedly during your past car shopping sagas.

The only one of those charges that is actually up to the state is tax. Yes, the state would charge for registration, but the dealership will charge whatever they want.

While a dealership responded that they still had the Camry their site doesn't show it: https://ejcarland.com/current-cars

They only show 4 cars in their inventory.

They don't say they have more vehicles, just "Scroll down for more pictures" and it doesn't show a Camry.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

The only one of those charges that is actually up to the state is tax. Yes, the state would charge for registration, but the dealership will charge whatever they want.

While a dealership responded that they still had the Camry their site doesn't show it: https://ejcarland.com/current-cars

They only show 4 cars in their inventory.

They don't say they have more vehicles, just "Scroll down for more pictures" and it doesn't show a Camry.

It wouldn't be the first time that a small dealership found it easier to advertise on a site like Craigslist rather keep their own website current.

They said they had it - which is the important part. Did you ask what the out-the-door price is?

[Xist]

The Craigslist ad doesn't mention it, but I checked for new ads, found the same car on Facebook, and it mentions "Has a tick."

[Piotrsko]

Without actually listeening, the tick is anything cyclical from a belt going bad, loose valve, to rod knock to transmission failure. Good news, the remaining drive train and suspension may be good.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

The Craigslist ad doesn't mention it, but I checked for new ads, found the same car on Facebook, and it mentions "Has a tick."

See, and that's the kind of crap I was dealing with when trying to get comps for my car. Mine didn't have any noises. Mine had full power. 100% of the accessories functioned perfectly. I had massive cosmetic damage to every panel on the car.

I told the adjuster he can purchase a fully mechanically sound car and then dent in the quarter panels to match mine if he wanted. "I don't drive this car to pick up chicks, I drive it for reliable transportation". He saw things my way and cut the check.