01-22-2015, 08:53 AM
Well I learned a very "good" lesson yesterday. If you are like me and drive older rare-ish birds... check the insurance companies 3rd party assessment of the value of your vehicle. They just kick out reports as fast as possible and don't really look at things correctly.
I get the call from the insurance company... they tell me "oh we assessed the value of your truck as $721, minus your deductible of $500, we will be sending you a check for $221" I immediately call BS on the poor insurance lady who is telling me this is what her report says. I said something like "Lets use some common sense... can you get a running, driving, 4wd pickup truck that can pass inspection for $721?!?!?!" she replies "well I guess you can in your area since the report says so." (I text Sylvia and I get the... take what you can get, it was an old beater... I wasn't satisfied)
SO... I am a little ticked at this point... and I ask to see the report. and she tells me "well if you are going to dispute the report you are going to need 3 dealer quotes for similar trucks... same make, model, etc within 100 miles... and fax it to me." So I start searching around the internet and there are NO trucks like this one. within 15 minutes or so the report shows up and I see spreadsheets and stuff... I get to data analysis.
Condition of my truck... crappy.... that's about all they got right. They didn't get all the accessories on my truck correct, they didn't take into account my truck is a 4x4, etc etc. they had 5 comparable trucks and all but 1 is 2wd. They also used private party sales for 3 of the 5 trucks... but I have to dispute with only dealer quotes? fuck that. so I keep searching and the one 4wd they have doesn't have lots of options on it... and its $3950
so I call back to dispute the report because they are using all 2wd trucks and not making an adjustment on price because of that "small detail"... the new lady on the phone was much nicer. she goes over everything with me, we check more boxes on my truck, she conferences in her boss... they put me on hold while they search for a truck, they conference in the manager at the company that ran the report... we ALL try to find more trucks... the only truck is that PA truck. The assessment company manager says "we need to adjust the price on that truck because its located in PA and if it were a VA truck it would be worth 10% more because of PA rust" ....
it took a little over an hour but I got a GOOD price out of the company. I'm guessing time well spent.
I get the call from the insurance company... they tell me "oh we assessed the value of your truck as $721, minus your deductible of $500, we will be sending you a check for $221" I immediately call BS on the poor insurance lady who is telling me this is what her report says. I said something like "Lets use some common sense... can you get a running, driving, 4wd pickup truck that can pass inspection for $721?!?!?!" she replies "well I guess you can in your area since the report says so." (I text Sylvia and I get the... take what you can get, it was an old beater... I wasn't satisfied)
SO... I am a little ticked at this point... and I ask to see the report. and she tells me "well if you are going to dispute the report you are going to need 3 dealer quotes for similar trucks... same make, model, etc within 100 miles... and fax it to me." So I start searching around the internet and there are NO trucks like this one. within 15 minutes or so the report shows up and I see spreadsheets and stuff... I get to data analysis.
Condition of my truck... crappy.... that's about all they got right. They didn't get all the accessories on my truck correct, they didn't take into account my truck is a 4x4, etc etc. they had 5 comparable trucks and all but 1 is 2wd. They also used private party sales for 3 of the 5 trucks... but I have to dispute with only dealer quotes? fuck that. so I keep searching and the one 4wd they have doesn't have lots of options on it... and its $3950
so I call back to dispute the report because they are using all 2wd trucks and not making an adjustment on price because of that "small detail"... the new lady on the phone was much nicer. she goes over everything with me, we check more boxes on my truck, she conferences in her boss... they put me on hold while they search for a truck, they conference in the manager at the company that ran the report... we ALL try to find more trucks... the only truck is that PA truck. The assessment company manager says "we need to adjust the price on that truck because its located in PA and if it were a VA truck it would be worth 10% more because of PA rust" ....
it took a little over an hour but I got a GOOD price out of the company. I'm guessing time well spent.
#99 - 2000 Civic Si (Future H2 Car, Former H1 car)
IPGparts.com, AutoFair Honda, Amsoil, QuikLatch Fasteners
NASA-MA Tech Inspector (Retired)
IPGparts.com, AutoFair Honda, Amsoil, QuikLatch Fasteners
NASA-MA Tech Inspector (Retired)