MarsBar
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2008
- Location
- San Jose, CA
- TDI
- B4V#2 "Flash", 2000 Jetta GL, B4V#1 "PaTuDI" (2008-2018 RIP)
To refresh -- PaTuDI my B4V was rear ended by a full sized & loaded Ford Transit van last June and totaled. Liberty Mutual was the other guys insurance and has jerked me around every way they could think of since then. First settlement offer used a wagon in CO with a blown tranny and a sedan in OR, while there were 2 right here in CA.
I ended up having to take the driver and his boss to Small Claims court. Liberty sent them a stack of Car Fax & valuation reports and no one to represent them (lawyers not allowed, but an adjustor or a paralegal could have shown up).
I provided the judge with CraigsList ads of the only 4 comps that came up for sale in the entire Western US from July to September and a table comparing them against each other and to my car. Explained about one year only model, fewer than 600 in existence, 324K miles being in the prime of life for cars that regularly live for 500K miles, that by national average miles/year my car was only 4% over the average, and quoted the Calif Fair Claims Settlement Act requirements (I swear, I'm going to be chanting that damn thing in my sleep!).
Liberty's first offer last summer was $2,960, including 9.25% sales tax & DMV fees. They upped their offer 4 more times as comps were produced and their flimsy excuses for this and that blown out of the water. Final offer was $5,733 total. The sticking points were: assuming that one comp's increased price was a second concurrent listing. . .but they couldn't provide anything to support that (because it wasn't a second listing), and rejecting another comp that had had a ton of neglected/deferred maintenance remedied (they contended it was all mods/upgrades even after being proven not).
Fair Market Value per the comparables even back in July was $6,565 total. In October it was up to $6,714. The judge said that $6,700 seemed a little bit high but $6,500 was fair. So I got a judgment for $6,500 plus court costs of $205. I'm happy, it's a figure that follows the rules.
When the dust settles, I'll be putting her up for sale. The drivetrain is killer, 7k mile old clutch, upgraded to the ALH IP setup, he seats & front half of the body are darn near perfect. But don't get any ideas about the door handles and window regulators! I'm keeping those for when they fail on PaTuDI's replacement.
I ended up having to take the driver and his boss to Small Claims court. Liberty sent them a stack of Car Fax & valuation reports and no one to represent them (lawyers not allowed, but an adjustor or a paralegal could have shown up).
I provided the judge with CraigsList ads of the only 4 comps that came up for sale in the entire Western US from July to September and a table comparing them against each other and to my car. Explained about one year only model, fewer than 600 in existence, 324K miles being in the prime of life for cars that regularly live for 500K miles, that by national average miles/year my car was only 4% over the average, and quoted the Calif Fair Claims Settlement Act requirements (I swear, I'm going to be chanting that damn thing in my sleep!).
Liberty's first offer last summer was $2,960, including 9.25% sales tax & DMV fees. They upped their offer 4 more times as comps were produced and their flimsy excuses for this and that blown out of the water. Final offer was $5,733 total. The sticking points were: assuming that one comp's increased price was a second concurrent listing. . .but they couldn't provide anything to support that (because it wasn't a second listing), and rejecting another comp that had had a ton of neglected/deferred maintenance remedied (they contended it was all mods/upgrades even after being proven not).
Fair Market Value per the comparables even back in July was $6,565 total. In October it was up to $6,714. The judge said that $6,700 seemed a little bit high but $6,500 was fair. So I got a judgment for $6,500 plus court costs of $205. I'm happy, it's a figure that follows the rules.
When the dust settles, I'll be putting her up for sale. The drivetrain is killer, 7k mile old clutch, upgraded to the ALH IP setup, he seats & front half of the body are darn near perfect. But don't get any ideas about the door handles and window regulators! I'm keeping those for when they fail on PaTuDI's replacement.