[aqua]

I just want announce to all that our odyssey was in a accident last week. Had rear ended a tractor head during a right turn manuever. And found out from insurance that it was a write off last Friday. Too bad because we had this odyssey for 7 years and very well maintained. We are still waiting from the insurance how much will be the writeo off amount going to be.
Thanks everyone.

 

[rberman999]

aqua,

Sorry to hear about your accident. It will be hard to replace a well maintained Odyssey for what the insurance company will want to give you for an 11 year old vehicle. With that said do your homework and find out what your vehicle is worth for its condition and don't be surprised if the insurance company low balls you. Remember you don't have to accept what they first offer you, the settlement is a negotiation process, they want to give you as little as possible and you want as much as possible. The only way to get a fair settlement is to know what YOUR vehicle was worth and then stick to your guns, just make sure you have supporting documentation. Lots of luck, Russ.

 

[gregersonke]

Don't take anything less than 6.5-7.5k plus all the maintenance reciepts you've done in the last 6 months. That's about the low end of what its worth. At the dealer, they typically sell for 6-8k.

At the poorly maintained end of the market they go for 4500. Yours obviously wasn't so you should get a bit more out of it.

At the under 100k well maintained end of the market they go for 9k.

Send them a fax with all reciepts and records, pictures, documentation, tell them you want at least 8.5k plus reciepts, give them a time limit to accept the offer, then, let them negotiate it down a little from there. You want to start with a high offer first.


http://insurance.freeadvice.com/information/auto/article/61

 

[gregersonke]

update???

 

[aqua]

The insurance is only offering me $3500 they said because my mileage is 390,000km.

I did fax the the invoices repairs on still waiting for their response.

Thanks

 

[gregersonke]

The insurance is only offering me $3500 they said because my mileage is 390,000km.

I did fax the the invoices repairs on still waiting for their response.

Thanks

Maybe in toronto, look on craigslist and see what kind of pricing they are going for locally. I did some searching and even out there they still go pretty high priced. The low end of the market with that kind of mileage is 4500 so I wouldn't take a dime less than that plus reciepts out there.

The prices I gave where what they go for here in the San Francisco, CA area.

 

[rberman999]

aqua,

Sorry to hear about the low value offer. I can understand your frustration over your loss and the seemingly poor offer from the insurance company. Unless you have replacement coverage (in general, automobiles are insured with depreciation added into valuation) then insurance companies will only offer what your vehicle is worth and no more. So the issues is an 11 year old Odyssey with roughly 240,000 miles (390,000 km) is only worth so much. Your best defense is to have a GREAT offense. If you can get valuations (for 390,000 km for mileage) from the on line services Kelly, Edmond's and most importantly NADA in excess of $3500 coupled with on line ads of well maintained 2000 Odysseys for more than $3500 (MUST BE VERY HIGH MILEAGE VEHICLES) then armed with that information you will be able to get a better offer. Just remember once you start this approach you will be showing the insurance company you are one of a few that they will need to negotiate with to obtain a settlement (most people just accept what is offered). With no supporting documentation (and I have to say I think ~$3500 is fairly generous for a 2000 Odyssey with ~240K miles) then I suspect you don't stand much of a chance of getting much above the original offer. Lots of luck and let us know how you make out. Russ.

 

[aqua]

Hello Russ,

Just an update about our insurance payout. They only payout will be $4149.95 tax in. The total loss adjuster said he cannot do anything more than this amount. Guess I have no choice but to accept the offer.

Thanks again for all your insights and comments.

 

[Igobuk]

Hey Aqua,

Sorry for the loss. Is the insurance company letting you keep the Odyssey? Because then you could maybe fix it for less than the check they give you and still keep it or is it beyond repair?

Sometimes they total a car because the repair is more than the car's worth but the car may still be repairable.

I had an '89 Plymouth Acclaim that got rear ended parked in front of my house. They totalled it because it was 10 years old at the time and not worth much by "the book" but they let me keep it. The car was driveable so I just kept the money and kept using the car for another 5 years. I had to fold down the rear seat though to get into the trunk, but it didn't leak.

I could have fixed it with the check but I used the money for my credit card bill instead.

After the tranny gave out and it finally died... I parted the car out and got a few hundred bucks. I was able to sell the factory alloy wheels, the engine and little items like power mirrors, factory radio, power seats, etc. Gotta love eBay.

If they let you keep it, you can also consider parting out the Ody to make some of the difference back and put it towards your next vehicle if it is beyond repair.

 

[rberman999]

Igobuk,

As a condition of the settlement the insured must sign over title to the insurance company. They then sell the vehicle for salvage. Now if an insured wants to buy their wreck back the insurance company will usually sell it back to you but at an inflated price (more than they will get for salvage).

aqua,

Sounds as if you got a fair price for your vehicle, I sold my 2000 Honda Odyssey, private party for $3600, it was in excellent condition but had ~146K miles. Just could not get a better price, but I was happy since it was $2000 more than the dealership offered in trade.

Lots of luck, Russ

 

[Igobuk]

Igobuk,

As a condition of the settlement the insured must sign over title to the insurance company. They then sell the vehicle for salvage. Now if an insured wants to buy their wreck back the insurance company will usually sell it back to you but at an inflated price (more than they will get for salvage)...

Guess I got lucky. Perhaps my Acclaim wasn't worth salvaging to them. Good 'ol American vehicle depreciation.