CRASH! BANG! Gone in a flash

So I was recently involved in a car accident (not my fault), and MPI has written my car off. After receiving my notice, I was offered a dismal $3492 (after taxes)for my awesome little 4 door. Feeling a little insulted, I said I'd get back to them on the value. $3500 won't get me far in today's car market, unless I want an old beat up jalopy. How can I get more money out of my car than they offer?

Give them reasons to believe it is worth more than they are offering: repair bills, new tires, add-on's, listings in the auto-trader...

Just don't accept their offer. As Grumpy says - make your case - pick up an AutoTrader and clip out comparable local vehicles. They hope you roll over easy - just be clear that you won't.

one of my neighbours ended up with $2500 more then their initial offer.

With a bit of research you should be able to get basically whatever your car would have been worth on the used market. As suggested above, find the highest 4 or 5 comparable listings in the Autotrader, online, ebay etc. and use that to set an average dollar aomunt for what you feel your vehicle was actually worth. Hopefully this is a number higher than what MPIC is offering you. Once you have an average value established, then look for any reasons you may feel yours is worth more than the average, as mentioned above stuff like recent repairs, exceptionally good condition, low mileage etc.

I had to deal with them a few years back on an almost new vehicle that was written off, and while their settlement was still a few thousand less than the outstanding loan amount I was able to get $4,500 more out of them than they originally offered after about a week of negotiating.

What year, what model is your car? Why are you holding that back.
$3450 will get you a 2000 Chrysler van.

Find a copy of the Kelly Blue Book and find out exactly what the market value is for a car of your make, model, year and condition. I've noticed the Blue Book value is usually considerably higher than what the insurance czars want to give you.

I had a 1999 Honda Civic 4dr. SE with 198,000 KM . Whatever you think of the age or the KM's, my car was extremely well maintained at a Honda dealership by one mechanic (my friend) all the while I owned it. I have the majority of the parts receipts to prove it. When the accident happened, my car was in the process of getting some preventative rust maintenance done on it, ensuring that no rust would be present on the vehicle in the coming years (not that it was yet either).

Dude, Hondas are awesome, and drive forever. They also retain their value well. Check Craigslist/Kijiji for similar cars and see what they're going for. I see a range from $2999 - $7999 in BC. I don't know how MB prices compare.

wpg_idiot wrote:I had a 1999 Honda Civic 4dr. SE with 198,000 KM . Whatever you think of the age or the KM's, my car was extremely well maintained at a Honda dealership by one mechanic (my friend) all the while I owned it. I have the majority of the parts receipts to prove it. When the accident happened, my car was in the process of getting some preventative rust maintenance done on it, ensuring that no rust would be present on the vehicle in the coming years (not that it was yet either).

Pfft.. done deal.. Get the friend to say what it was worth. or better yet the dealer, as I assume you have a good relationship with them

I am driving a Honda, 1999, Accord, with 200,000 KM and I expext to get another 200,000 KM's out of it.
You need to contact a Honda dealer, and they will get you to whomever is selling their used , older trade ins.
From the sellers you should be able to get what your car would sell for on the open market, which I believe is how MPIC would get to their price.
What do you think the car is worth? And what do you base your valuation on?
My experience with MPIC is that they use the registrations of what those cars have been sold for as their offers for compensation.

You may not be happy to hear it but 3500 to 4000 seems fair for a 99 Civic with 200k on it based on the other similar model year Honda's currently on the market. Considering you could turn around and buy a 2005 with way less mileage for as little as 5000, your not getting a terrible offer for yours. I'd say get as much as you can knowing that anything over that initial offer is more than fair.

grumpyrom wrote:You may not be happy to hear it but 3500 to 4000 seems fair for a 99 Civic with 200k on it based on the other similar model year Honda's currently on the market. Considering you could turn around and buy a 2005 with way less mileage for as little as 5000, your not getting a terrible offer for yours. I'd say get as much as you can knowing that anything over that initial offer is more than fair.

I'd be happy getting half of that for my 95 Civic.

At first I though 3500 was on the high side, untill I looked at the Autotrader....the range for 98/99's seems to be around 2500 to 4000 asking price. Based on that information, 3500 is pretty fair.

For those that work around them, the 99-00 1.6L Civic's are notorious for being excellently reliable cars. Not long before the accident, I was clocking 57mpg highway and about 42mpg city (repeatedly). Not bad for a 12 year old.