This. I've negotiated 5-25% higher payoffs for about 7 cars I've had stolen or totaled.

The car is worth what they sell for on the open market in your area. They'll give you a printout with the info of what comparable cars have sold for. You can't really argue with those, but you want at least 3-5 examples. Then, you get their value rating as to the condition of your car.

You'd be surprised on how much the condition rating can affect the value. For example, I keep my engine and tranny very "clean" using engine degreaser every month or two. I told them that, showed them pics (or just told them to look closely at their own pics they took) and showed them I don't have an "average" greasy, dirty engine compartment. That was worth about $600 bucks right there. Amazing.

It's a hassle, but you can get a lot more money. You do your homework, stand your ground, make clear concise demands with good reasoning, and you'll get a lot more usually.

 

BTW, I just got about 9K for my 03 with 181,000mi. That was up from an initial offer of $6500.

 

Hey, I don't know how this turned out or what advice you ended up getting as I only read the main post But this same exact situation happened to me, same insurance company, almost same damage and same story... Only difference was the car involved. They did the same $900 coverage for rental up to 30 days but they took my rental back after 7 days and I was stuck without a car and their explanation made no damn sense. The adjuster came out and didn't even look at the damage which was mainly the transmission and just said it was totaled Long story short they offered me $1.4k for my car or $600 and I keep the car. It was a fully built ls/vtec turbo 95 civic. After arguing with "my insurance company" for about a week I did some research... You need to find every single pricing point of your car within 100 miles, dealers and private owners. I even called private owners and asked them for VIN #'s because my insurance insisted on having this, I compared their pricing they gave me to shit boxes with 200k miles and even lesser built cars than mine that were being sold between the $4000-$5000 range... The civic crowd was a little skeptical of being asked for VIN's. After doing this they finally sent another adjuster out and inspected my car inside and out using all my receipts for parts and pricing of other boosted civics in the area, most with less work than mine. They ended up fixing the damage to my car instead which was just a little paint work on the front bumper and a new transmission. So basically argue your ass off and you will have to do some work to make them budge, there are also lawyers that will fight the insurance company for you but I'm guessing they just do the same thing I did and take a % :/ Btw, every USAA claims person I talked to during this time (I think about 4 or 5) treated me like shit and told me I didn't know what I was talking about, so watch out for this because these are tactics they use to make you think there is nothing you can do about it.

 

Mine has the looks of a ap2 and the feel of a real "mans" car still revving to 9k. Lol, I'll PM you the ad.
[/quote]

If he doesn't buy your car, PM me...

 

Sorry everybody about the lack of follow up. It was a long struggle with insurance, but I got them to up their offer from $14k to $16.2k. I sent them countless cars as comparison, because all of their comparables were in poor condition and had about 20-30k more miles. They still shot down the cars I sent because they were either a model year off (older included), or they apparently were "over priced." The last part pissed me off. I told them to find some more comps themselves and they looked and found some more. They upped the offer to $15.6, but I refused it and told them I wouldn't take less than 16. After another week of no car and no word from them, I called them. I never speak to the same person apparently, so it talked for about 25 minutes while this new person looked everything up, and said they upped the offer to $16.2. I accepted it and signed over the title.

Fast forward another week or so, I had been looking at cars for a while. After much research I decided I wanted an 06 because of a few tweaks they added to the interior, VSA, and drive by wire for future modding. I ended up in a BB 2006 with 68k miles for $16.2, so I broke even except for taxes. The car isn't perfect, needs a lot of paint work and a few dents need pulling. Had some horrible exhaust on it and a cheap ebay intake, but that has all been fixed. Right now I'm pretty pleased with the car, but it doesn't feel the same as my old AP1. The ride rolls a lot more, the steering isn't as 'eager' so to say, and the car overall doesn't feel as tight and stable. I'm going to upgrade the suspension in the future, and ay consider changing all the bearings to try to tighten things up.

Overall, I am not pleased with USAA because of the rental situation(the total bill for the rental car was less than half of the $900 that is paid for in my policy), the fact that I have a different agent every time who tells me wrong or conflicting info, and the botched 'inspection' they did in Tennessee which lead to me shipping the car to VA only to find it had a broken subframe. I suppose I am whole again considering I'm in another S, and I have the chance to rescue it from a life of abuse (looks kind of beat up in a few areas). I've definitely changed my driving style from before the accident, because I know how much of a pain and heartbreak it is to destroy something I put my heart into. My advice to anyone in the same situation is to determine how much it would cost to replace your car, and then don't budge from that number.

 

The mods that you have on your car don't really matter. They offered you $1.4k for your civic because that is what it's worth. They aren't insuring your new motor or turbo kit or anything else that you added extra. If you want all those parts insured expect to pay additional premium for the coverage.

 

Oh yeah I know that lol... I had my receipts, they just wanted comparison on modified cars. They ended up appraising it for close to 5k so they just fixed the damage instead, I was just trying to tell the guy they will bullshit you until you give up, so just don't give up. And like he said, every time you call you get a different representative and have to explain the whole story over.