The Toyota

It's January 10, 2023. Exactly a month ago, on December 10th, Nuria (my significant other) was in an auto accident. It was the other driver's fault. Finally, today, the other driver's insurance company made an offer on the damage to Nuria's car. The car, a 2009 Toyota Camry LE with 57,362 miles at the time of the accident, was totaled. Nuria paid $14,867 for it last July, five months before the accident.

The other driver was at fault so his insurance, Progressive, is responsible for making us "whole." Today, we received a phone call from Progressive and they are asking us to accept their offer of $10,812.  

We have looked at many cars online, and we found one that is comparable to the one that we lost. It's a 2010 Toyota with 38,242 miles for $13,000. It's the same color, inside and out, as her Toyota that was totaled. But it has had one accident and two owners. Her previous Toyota had no accidents and one owner when she bought it.

Not stated in the advertised price is the fact that this dealership adds $675 to every purchase as a "paperwork fee." I know because I have done business with them. Thus, if we buy the car, the real price will be $13,675.

If we take Progressive's offer, we will have to add $2863 dollars (total: $13,675) to get close to the $14,867 car she was driving in December. 

Here's a thought: why won't Progressive pay us enough to buy a 2009-2010 Toyota Camry LE with no more than 60,000 miles? The car that was totaled was in excellent condition—fit, finish, paint, and interior. They are offering about 80% of what we need to get a car similar to the car she had. Except the car she had, at the time she bought it, had no accidents and one owner. 

Now I know that her car had depreciated during the time she was driving it, but five months? Really? It probably didn't depreciate enough to offset the higher price, due to inflation, of an identical auto now.

I'll keep you posted on what happens. Maybe Progressive will restore Nuria to the car she was driving without making her pay 20% of the purchase price. And maybe not. I'll let all of you know what happens.

This is the blog post about Nuria's accident: Nuria Part 2 

UPDATE:

I had a long conversation with a Progressive agent. I couldn't budge him from the original $10,812 settlement offer. He said he could not offer more than that amount, nor could anyone at his company. He emphasized that the insurance offer is not a replacement value for the car. The insurance offer is based on the value of the car at the time of the accident, as reported by J.D. Power. (J.D. Power owns N.A.D.A., which lists the value of cars.) He said that auto insurance companies always reimburse the insured in the amount computed by a company like J.D. Power, and this is called an "arm's-length transaction," because the insurance company isn't responsible for computing what the value of the car was when it was damaged. 

I understand what the insurance company is doing, and my response to the agent was, "You're telling me that you will pay me a 'wholesale' value for the car, whereas I have to pay a 'retail' value to replace the car." He agreed with my assessment, that that is what is happening. Nevertheless, Nuria can't buy a car like the one that was destroyed with the money that Progressive will pay us. We must add money to the insurance money in order to replace the destroyed car with a similar car—same model, year, mileage, etc. That's how insurance works. So, I'll say it again. Insurance will not pay replacement value for your loss. It will pay to repair the car, but if the car is not repairable, it will pay you the value of the car at the time of the loss, which may be, and probably will be, less than retail price for your car in your area.

Bummer.