Expert: Bennie719 - 3/7/2008

Question
I got rear-ended and my 2005 Chevrolet Aveo hatchback was totaled.  I tried to negotiate with the at fault insurance company (The other driver was sited with careless driving) but they are only willing to give me NADA value for the car.  This comes to about $9,500 but the research I have done going on autotrader.com, local car lots and Kelly Blue Book tells me it will cost $12,500 to replace my vehicle.  What would be my next step to get more money out of the insurance company when they said take it or leave it?

Answer
Hi Brian,
You are entitle to be paid fair market value plus sales tax and prorated license fee for your car.
If you wish to contest the amount that you are being offered, you will need to secure computer prints from KBB, autotrader and written quotes from the dealers that you have visited.  You can also go to kbb.com and have them search within a 25-50 mile radius for cars that are available and print those quotes.  
The insurance company will point out that these are merely the ASKING price and not the lowest price that you could negotiate if you were in the process of buying the car.
Therefore, you should get the dealers to quote you their lowest 'willing to sell for' price.
I have run two comparison quotes with KBB and NADA in my area for a top of the line 2005 Aveo with the normal optional equipment.
NADA has a high quote of $8,800 and KBB a high quote of $9,300.
I also had KBB do a search for available cars within a 50 mile radius of my home.
The highest price was $7,990 for a 2005 model.  For all model years between 2005 - 2007, the lowest price was $5,000, the highest price was $11,995 and the average was $8,800.
Gather all the quotes that you can and then try to negotiate a better price with the insurance company.
I hope this information will be of help.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Good Luck,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area