the gap? sorry I lost the thread name

[Huw Powell]

> >Her car is a 99 Acura Tl with navigation. The
> >car is considered a total loss with $17k+ in
> >damage. Before the claim was filed with the
> >other insurance co., her insurer offered $21k.
> >She paid $33K+ for it, along with a long list of
> >recent warrantee work. A new navigation system
> >(1 1/2 weeks old), new brakes all around, new
> >headlights and front bumper( those HID'S get
> >stolen like crazy), paint work, $500+ in tune up
> >work, new tires and wheels, and low miles; 30k.

> >How do we recover the gap between what we paid
> >and what we're going to get?

There are two "gaps" here, in a sense.

If you can make the case that the car was "perfect" prior to the wreck,
it was worth 24k, and that is 3k more than you were offered.  Fight for
it, you should get it if it can be justified.

The other gap, between that 24k hypothetical current value and the 33k
paid when new, was "recovered" during the process of driving that
once-new car for 30,000 miles.  The cost of driving a new car is heavily
reflected in depreciation.  Owning it for three years and driving it 30k
miles costs $9,000, in this case.

> I just went to kbb.com, and the retail price for your friends car (that's
> the price you would expect to pay if you bought the car used from a dealer,
> and including every option) is only $23,925.

--
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/

http://www.humanthoughts.org/