Making up the gap on a total loss?

[Eric_R_Kissell at email.whirlpool.com]

Scott,

Was the $33k what your friend paid new for the car in 1999 or was the car
purchased used for that price recently? When was the $33k actually spent?

If that was a recent used purchase, $33k seems on the high side. The $22k the
insurance company offered seems more like I would expect to pay for a 1999 Acura
today.

The insurance company only has to replace the car at fair market value today,
not when she purchased the car. If she has a 1999 Acura she purchased recently
with $11k of improvements then I suggest she take the best insurance company
offer she can get and buy back the car at salvage value. Then she can transfer
the $11k worth of improvements from the old car to the new one she gets for
$22k.

Eric Kissell