Wife's fine, but the car isn't - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Doctordestiny · 02-21-2009, 10:52 AM

Anyway, the wife crashes our Camry the other day. She's fine, just some soreness. The Camry's written off. Here are my questions.

1. The Camry is 1999 with very low mileage - about 135,000 km. The insurance adjuster hasn't told us yet what they'll pay us for it, but I'm guessing it will be low compared to the low mileage. Can a person contact the adjuster to remind him of the low mileage, which should increase the car's value? Might that work? Has anyone tried that?

2. I need to buy a brand new car. I'm thinking maybe a Toyota Corolla, the Lexus equivalent or maybe a Honda or Acura. I'm smart enough to know not to pay the sticker price but I don't know what to pay for a new car, particularly in this day and age with the economy in shambles and cars aren't selling well. If the new car is, for example, $25,000 what should I reasonably pay? This would be a cash purchase.

All advice is appreciated.

Eagle Eye · 02-21-2009, 10:58 AM

Use CarcostCanada.com to determine any incentives and a get good idea of what the vehicle is actually worth.

I think that it is like $20 and you can use it up to 5 times

pepper24 · 02-21-2009, 10:59 AM

Firstly, glad to hear that everyone is ok. That's the most important thing.

From experience the insurance company will factor in the mileage but in reality it's still a car that is 10+ years old and probably not worth that much. After about 7 years any car with low or high mileage is prone to some large expenses. I am assuming since it's a 1999, that you or the original owner bought in 1998.

From experience, I wouldn't tell the dealer that you are paying cash right away. In reality they don't make much on the mark up of the vehicle and rely on financing to make up for that. If you're paying in cash, then you don't need financing and they'll be less inclined to give you any deals. Try to hold out telling them this as long as you can.

I hope this helps.

burn_this_city · 02-21-2009, 11:00 AM

Ive read some rumors that many of the import manufacturers will start heavily discounting the surplus inventory soon. You may want to wait a few weeks to see if deals start coming out. As far as the insurance adjuster, they take mileage into consideration. If you are unhappy with the value, you can always hire a private adjuster to assess it for you.

fredr123 · 02-21-2009, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctordestiny

Anyway, the wife crashes our Camry the other day. She's fine, just some soreness. The Camry's written off. Here are my questions.

1. The Camry is 1999 with very low mileage - about 135,000 km. The insurance adjuster hasn't told us yet what they'll pay us for it, but I'm guessing it will be low compared to the low mileage. Can a person contact the adjuster to remind him of the low mileage, which should increase the car's value? Might that work? Has anyone tried that?

2. I need to buy a brand new car. I'm thinking maybe a Toyota Corolla, the Lexus equivalent or maybe a Honda or Acura. I'm smart enough to know not to pay the sticker price but I don't know what to pay for a new car, particularly in this day and age with the economy in shambles and cars aren't selling well. If the new car is, for example, $25,000 what should I reasonably pay? This would be a cash purchase.

All advice is appreciated.

RE #1: Do your homework. Scour the Autotrader and similar sources for cars with similar features, mileage and age as yours. If the market says a 99 Camry with low mileage is worth $X then you can make a reasonable argument supported with actual data that the adjuster should be paying $X.

Doctordestiny · 02-21-2009, 11:36 AM

We bought this car brand new so there has been no other owner. Thanks for the good advice. Keep it coming. I don't think we can hold out for a few weeks for deals that may materialize.

Ice · 02-21-2009, 11:39 AM

Definitely don't tell your car salesman you're paying with cash. I prefer to buy cars outright and the salesman will negotiate the price of the car because the interest rates aren't very flexible. They would rather you finance the car than pay cash so they will not negotiate to the lowest price for a cash sale. They will keep lowering the price in order to present you with a really nice low monthly payment. Last time I bought a car, at the end of the negotiation I simply told the salesman that I spoke to my husband and he'd rather I just write a check for the car. He couldn't really add the 5000.00 back on at that point.

This also works if you bring your won fianncing. My brother didn't have cash for his last truck, but got financing from another bank where he was approved up to a certain amount so he could write the check up to that amount. At the end of his negotiations he told the salesman their rates weren't very competitive and would use his outside financing. He saved big also. Of course, the outside financing was appealing at 1.9%.

GreenTeaFrapp · 02-21-2009, 11:48 AM

http://dealfinder.org/

Doctordestiny · 02-21-2009, 11:52 AM

Dealfinder looks interesting. Has anyone used it? Does it save money? I kind of like this idea - get them to do the work once I've found the car I want. I don't like to negotiate and never feel like I've had the best deal I could get. Testimonials from folks here for dealerfinder would be appreciated. The testimonials on the website are impressive.

Nancy · 02-21-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredr123

RE #1: Do your homework. Scour the Autotrader and similar sources for cars with similar features, mileage and age as yours. If the market says a 99 Camry with low mileage is worth $X then you can make a reasonable argument supported with actual data that the adjuster should be paying $X.

Many moons ago I had a friend who worked as an adjustor. They will look at the Autotrader prices but they discount the ask prices in the Autotrader because most vehicles sell for 20% below ask (or something like that). Book values still reign supreme. The low mileage may not be worth as much as you think. (an extra $1000 maybe.)

Doctordestiny · 02-21-2009, 04:58 PM

Anyone know what Lexus compares to the Corolla?

Can a Corolla pull a large utility trailer loaded with a few hundred pounds?

Raekwon · 02-21-2009, 09:11 PM

Our company uses autosource for their ACV (Actual Cash Value) I would wait for their offer and if it seems low to you then find some comparable vehicles to use to state your case. What at 1999 is going for these days i'm not sure as I havn't done auto claims in a couple years. Just remember its not the insurance companies job to replace your vehicle but to give the the ACV of the vehicle. Property claims on the otherhand are replacement costs. Feel free to ask me any insurance claims related questions and I can usually help just keep in mind my specialty is injury claims settlements.

Winsor_Pilates · 02-21-2009, 09:19 PM

OT: everytime I look at this thread title, my mind seens "fine wine" instead of "wife's fine" strange

fredr123 · 02-22-2009, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancy

Many moons ago I had a friend who worked as an adjustor. They will look at the Autotrader prices but they discount the ask prices in the Autotrader because most vehicles sell for 20% below ask (or something like that). Book values still reign supreme. The low mileage may not be worth as much as you think. (an extra $1000 maybe.)

Thanks for the insight from the inside.

It's been my own experience, however, that my approach can be successful to some extent. If you think you're being lowballed, you have to have something to back it up. Doing some research based on the Autotrader and other similar resources gives you something to rely on rather than just complaining about the adjuster's numbers.

OzSome · 02-22-2009, 02:40 PM

too bad for the car but good that your wife is okay.

In my experience, I had this accident in 2005 where the insurance wants to total off my car. They thought it would cost them more to repair than to pay for my car. I had a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 and had low mileage in it. Low mileage did not matter as they based the car on how old it is. I called a few used car place and just pretend I am looking for specific car to buy then I asked my brother to talk to their used car manager and give me an idea on how much my car worth. I was told just a little more $6,000.00 so when the insurance called and offered to pay $7,500, I just went for it. Car depreciates the value more and more every year. I suggest to ask around before you agree. You might not get much since your car is almost 10 years old.

Doctordestiny · 02-22-2009, 08:30 PM

My totalled Camry has almost-new winter tires. Does anyone know if they'll let me take the tires before they junk the car? I bought those tires and had them mounted on winter rims and would love to have them for the next car (assuming they fit, which they may as I'll be going to another Toyota).