about recovering my truck or one like it!?

[Robert]

i recently got in my first ever accident, my 2002 toyota tacoma pre runner was a total loss according to the collision repair people, the claim adjuster is going to give me what its worth,the blue book value has it at 6500 to 7200 in good condition witch falls in my category,Now when i look at auto trader,Craig's list and about 10 other auto centers the value of the truck is 8000-10000 ,my question is ,did i loose out on this deal even if the other party was at total fault in witch we determined that already,am i going to get less than what i had because the other driver was careless,im dealing with AAA. ps could i reject any small offer they give me, all i want is my truck or one like it any help would be appreciated

 

[Roger]

I have heard complaints similar to this about AAA insurance before, and is one reason I do not use them for car insrance. Insurance companies use a variety of ways to come to fair market value. They will keep old newspaper ads on used cars on a computer, and will call long after the vehicle is sold and ask the owner what it was sold for. They keep an eye on craigslist , and your local papers within a hundred miles, and look on places like nada.com to get a price and then using thier own mystery formula manage to come up about 2 grand short? that sound about what thier " fair market value " ? This is where you stand up in life and make a choice, I would politely, but firmly turn down thier first offer. What else can you do? Most people are afraid of insurance companies and just roll over and accept it, Not me, and I suggest not you either. My roommate recently had them pull this on her, we refused thier offer, printed a nada guide page showing "fair market value" was higher and got an independent estimate (you are entitled to other estimates besides just AAA ) and they came back with a better offer.
It sucks that we lose our stuff because of no fault of our own, to add insult to injury is no longer necessary. Always act with professional courtesy, no matter what, ( I went out to the woods with the names of the individuals written on watermelons and shot the crap out of them) so what ever works. Do your research, prove what you say, and if the offer is too low, do what needs to be done.

 

[jarretts]

whoever your fighting with to get more money from just let them know your truck wasnt trashed when the wreck occured and there fore you would like one in the same condition. if yours had low miles and no flaws find one on craigslist and tell them thats how much you need. but really a 02 tacoma pre runner isnt worth 10k unless someone has put major money into it. its about a 10 year old truck so around 8k should be what your range is maybe alittle less.