How much was it new? Dealing with an insurance claim...

[69Rustang]

So our 2014 Expedition got t-boned and flipped a few weeks back. My wife is recovering, but The Beast is a goner. Now I am negotiating with the insurance company on a settlement value. They have compared ours to Expeditions that do not have the same options. Ours had the moonroof/Nav/running board package. The others do not, but one has 20” wheels and remote start. Does anyone know how much the 20” wheels and remote start were worth when new? I have our original sticker so I know what the value of our options was, but need to know what the wheels and remote start were worth. I am sure this question is a long shot, but thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[69Rustang]

Update—I actually stumbled onto the answer while doing more research to justify our value. Here is what I found:
- 20” wheels $1,395
- Remote start $345
Not sure why we didn’t buy the remote start when it was actually pretty cheap. Maybe I decided we don’t need that in Southern California?

 

[Aspen03]

I hate insurance companies for this. I've had 4 cars totaled in accidents that weren't my fault and always have to argue. My last one they tried to compare to a car for sale up the road that had 60k more miles and was rusting out. I told the adjuster to **** and find someone who actually knew how to do their job and hung up. Refused to deal with him again. I went round and round the next guy for about a week and we finally decided on a fair price. Fortunately I was in a position i didn't need a quick settlement to get another vehicle at the time and I could deal w them. I think they're used to most people rolling over and taking the quick bucks.

A remote start is going to add zero value to a car. Its a convenience feature that can be added aftermarket for $200 new and the wheels, well all vehicles are expected to have wheels and unfortunately fancy ones add basically 0 value to a car on resale unless you're talking something truly unique or exceptionally pricey like 5k and even then unless you had a rider that covered customizations good luck getting anything extra. Learned that lesson on the 2nd car that was heavily modded. They argued w me and tried to say $9k worth of upgrades were maintenance items.

Moonroof/nav/running boards were probably several thousand dollars worth of a package so I'd gripe a bit but in the end were probably talking a difference of a few hundred in a settlement, they aren't going to add 3k to a settlement because that's what the options cost when new and I'm sure you know this. You can likely find something similarly equipped if you look online. Send them links. Stay in local market because that's all they care about.

Looks like the truck did a good job protecting everyone inside for as hard of a hit as that looks to have been. I've been fortunate enough to have never flipped in any of the 13 accidents I've been in. Been t boned a couple times.

 

[69Rustang]

Hmm, thank you for the reply. You actually gave me some interesting advice and may not know it—patience and persistence. We don’t need to settle quickly either, heck I can wait them out to get my price. We have already bought another Expedition and paid cash. So now I am waiting for their money to roll in, or trickle in anyway.

Meet “New Doug”, because Old Doug (The Beast) is dead (Thor reference—LOL). My wife hates calling it New Doug and is gong to call it Thor. On the other hand, my kids think the new name is hilarious. We found a low mile 2017 to replace The Beast with.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Our insurance company deducted (significantly) for dog hair when my wife totaled her Mazda. I argued that it we were to sell it, we would simply have the car detailed and the adjuster argued that she had to price the car as it stood. Get the F out of here. Are you going to deduct from the value if we didn't hit the car wash just prior to the accident?

 

[Aspen03]

Patience virtually always pays off. New one looks nice. Id like to get ahold of a 15-17 king ranch EL one day in that darker turquoise like color. Gotta wait a bit before they get into my price range though. They ran about 70k new...

 

[69Rustang]

Our valuation report actually said “the transmission fluid is slightly discolored”. I asked them how they knew since there is no dipstick. The response was ‘uuuh, uhhh, I’ll have to check with the lead adjuster’.

 

[Aspen03]

Our insurance company deducted (significantly) for dog hair when my wife totaled her Mazda. I argued that it we were to sell it, we would simply have the car detailed and the adjuster argued that she had to price the car as it stood. Get the F out of here. Are you going to deduct from the value if we didn't hit the car wash just prior to the accident?

In my wife's SUV that I was rear ended in, the impact destroyed the key fob from smacking the dash and flying off the ring. They deducted $125 for it being broken... the car was totaled, frame was crushed in the rear and back doors popped open.

I initially had it towed to the house as the accident happened less than 2 miles away and i left in an ambulance due to severe back pain. Once I heard what they did I threw all of the keys in the trash after I got the direct deposit for the settlement on it. The tow truck had to drag it onto a flat bed while in park hopefully damaging the transmission in the process since that's what was really worth $ for salvage. I said I left them in the car so you could pick it up if I was asleep....was on heavy painkillers, someone must have rummaged through it while you took a week to send a tow truck to get it. Doubt it made a difference to anyone but made me feel better. Lol.

 

[Aspen03]

Our valuation report actually said “the transmission fluid is slightly discolored”. I asked them how they knew since there is no dipstick. The response was ‘uuuh, uhhh, I’ll have to check with the lead adjuster’.

You should drill a hole in the case so you can see for yourself

 

[Trainmaster]

You have to be aggressive with them. Their first offer, as well as their second is never their best.