Should I push back at Geico's settlement offer, and if so, how?

February 1, 2020 2:20 PM

My 2009 Honda Civic (31k miles) was the subject of a hit-and-run. My insurance (Geico) is offering $8600. KBB estimates trade-in value at $5371. Carmax has 2009 Civics selling for $12k with 64k miles. Should I push back at my insurance and how? I'm in the Bay area.
posted by invisible ink to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

Response by poster: This is my 1st experience with insurance declaring my car as a total loss. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
posted by invisible ink at 2:25 PM on February 1, 2020

Our car was totaled last year. We were able to get a little more money out of the insurance company by 1) asking if they could give us more & showing the cost of comparable cars for sale and 2) giving them receipts for repairs we'd recently had done. It didn't cover the full cost of the repairs, but we at least got back a little bit of what we'd spent.
posted by belladonna at 2:46 PM on February 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

Are they taking the car as well in this settlement? Or do you get to keep it to sell as a salvage vehicle? That matters a lot in this scenario.

Also, are those Carmax vehicles in your area? Consider that Carmax are always at the top of the price chain.
posted by Brockles at 2:47 PM on February 1, 2020

Response by poster: Brockles: Yes, they are taking the car. The comparable vehicles I found on Carfax are in WA (i.e. not in my area).
posted by invisible ink at 2:51 PM on February 1, 2020

Best answer: The comparable vehicles I found on Carfax are in WA (i.e. not in my area). Then their prices are not at all relevant. You can only use comparable vehicles, MUST be in the same state and also better in the same area, to argue your car is worth more than you are offered. Prices seem to be in the $5k-7k range for Honda Civics in your area, and on a ten year old car, low mileage only makes a small difference. The age presides to dictate value the older the car. It would seem that if you were selling your car, $8k-9k would be likely as a final price, so it really seems to be a decent offer from an insurance company.

It seems to be a fair reflection of what the car is realistically worth. It would be worth going back and asking if they can do better, or negotiate for a rental car while you look for a new one or something similar but you are not at all being lowballed, as your initial comparative example seemed to sucker you into.
posted by Brockles at 3:15 PM on February 1, 2020 [12 favorites]

You can certainly negotiate. I did when my car was rear-ended and totaled. I verbally gave them evidence of what cars of the same age and mileage were actually selling for in my area, and after a bit of conversation, they bumped up their offer. Be unfailingly polite and pleasant, and just cite your evidence that comparable vehicles are worth more.
posted by snowmentality at 4:03 PM on February 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

It is worth noting that a lot of vehicles in the area are selling for considerably LESS. So do more research and make sure you have a case before you put your head above the wall on this. They can revise it down as well as up, so you'd need to show that comparable cars are majority more valuable than the offered value, which based on my quick look is not actually the case. Can you find cars with a higher price tag? Yes. But, as mentioned, carmax cars are always listed high because they are vetted pretty thoroughly. Autotrader suggests a much lower median price, which is more realistic as a metric for your likely value if you'd sold the car.
posted by Brockles at 4:09 PM on February 1, 2020 [2 favorites]

Best answer: 31k is uncommonly low mileage for a 10 year old car. You can call them and question how they figured the value based on the age, mileage, condition. They always ask for the mileage, so they should have a record. You can and should negotiate. Tell them it's very hard to find comparables, but low mileage means that car had another 10 years in it.
posted by theora55 at 7:27 AM on February 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

Before you negotiate, write down all the reasons you should get more, comparable estimates from edmunds.com and others. Don't rush, check your notes. You are likely to get more. I had a car totaled and got more
posted by theora55 at 7:29 AM on February 2, 2020