Anyone near Covington, LA?

[twentyeight]

Our '98 New Beetle got absolutely smashed while parked on the street by a guy with a BAC of over .15. He was insured by a company that is staffed by the rudest, most dishonest people I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I hope the lies will turn out to be funny at some point in the future (people always make a profit when they sell cars, therefore all cars appreciate in value as they age ) but right now it's just obnoxious.

They used a car at Arabi Wholesale Center of Covington, LA as a comparable vehicle, which they state is in excellent condition. It's apparently a Canadian car, with the odometer in kilometres, but it's really difficult to get information about the condition when everyone else involved wants to claim it's plated in gold.

If there's anyone in the area who wouldn't mind helping out a fellow TDIer, I'd like to know the general condition. Bonus for a few quick pictures. I would really appreciate it.

 

[Lightflyer1]

Better to know what their offer was than trying to determine the condition of a car long distance. There are many for sale here between $1500 and $4000. From the picture on their web site if this is the one (only one in inventory) it isn't in anywhere near excellent condition. Replacement hood missing VW emblem. Broken front grill.



Check out my build thread in my sig below for an excellent condition Beetle. Have them call me! $9k (Just kidding! Not for sale.)

 

[twentyeight]

The car is listed here: http://www.arabiwholesalecenter.com/1998_Volkswagen_New Beetle_Covington_LA_259427896.veh

They're asking $4k, and the insurance company claims it's in such excellent condition that, to bring it down to "good" condition its baseline value is $2,866. They're then using that to calculate the "baseline" value of my car at $2900, which they then devalue heavily (>50%) for light hail damage. One of my arguments is that this vehicle, being a Canadian import with a mismatched hood should not be adjusted down so far (i.e. my baseline value should be higher).

There have been several issues with this claim that have all come out in their favor. It's difficult at this point to take their word for it. We're not talking a ton of money here, I just want a fair resolution to a situation I didn't ask for. I can't come close to replacing the vehicle for what they're offering.

 

[Lightflyer1]

That car is way overpriced to start with, which works out in your favor. As I said there are quite a few for sale here in the $2500 +/- range. How do you know it is a Canadian import? Shouldn't really matter anyway. Unless your car was spectacular (and it sounds like it wasn't, hail damage) I would think $2k.

 

[AnotherPerson]

Im from metairie. Its hard to find cars out here. We managed to grab one we had seen for years when we saw him get a new golf tdi. We also had a mint yellow 99 beetle that a drunk t-boned about 2 years back. Car had 80k miles on it :\

Current car has 244k miles and we are doing a lot of major work on it trying to make it last to 500k

 

[AnotherPerson]

Lets add a laugh. That car is still up for sale. We managed to get a jetta out of slidell from a guy on here for a good deal since the car has some work done to it.

 

[twentyeight]

Ended up finally taking a check for ~$1600 and retaining the car for parting out. USAA is a joke. Absolutely evil people. They have held us up at every turn, lied repeatedly, told us that our insurance is responsible, etc.

Their main "comparable" was a theoretical vehicle they asked a "well-informed dealer" about the valuation of. They claimed they spent the time on the phone to discuss options, etc. We followed up with the "expert" and found out it was their high-school aged secretary who told us she answered that she didn't really know, but "I guess" the number that they told her was fine. She then asked us to be put on our do-not-call list, so it's clear she was telling the truth when she said she didn't know what was going on. The whole thing is just so rigged in their favour it's ridiculous.

Just got a letter from the victim services unit informing me the guy got off on 2/3 charges.

So yeah, a laugh is right. We sure learned our lesson regarding parking on the street in a residential neighbourhood.