I have to fix or replace a 2009 Corolla. It’s mostly been a short haul, “around town” vehicle, with a few central Florida road trips mixed in a year. I’ve had it 5 years and put about 6,000 miles a year on it…..now it has 51,500 miles. Last Sunday a lady failed to put her car in gear when she parked and her Escalade rolled down a little incline and popped my left rear end, sliding my vehicle halfway into the next parking space to the right. The rear end damage was not extensive, but a pretty bad structural push in on the left rear and the trunk is off allignment. She has USAA, some kind of military insurance agency. I went to one of their approved local mechanics to get an estimate so I’d have their lifetime guarantee. He hadn’t finished working it up when I left Wednesday, but he thought the repair figure was going to top $5,000.
He didn’t call me as promised on Thursday, so I called USAA directly on Friday to find out my options. They’ve moved my case to their “Total Loss Adjustor”. They gave me options:
A) turn the title over to them, and get a cash settlement on a new vehicle of up to $10,043.25 (list price, plus they will also add on Florida sales tax, for total payment of $10,715.61 + title and liscense fees.
B) I can get paid for repairs of the Corolla up to $8,449.68. I’d like to keep a small inexpensive utility vehicle, so if I replaced it I’d still probably get a Civic or a Corolla (maintenance-wise, I’ve had the best results from them, and when I used to read consumer reports, they said the same thing about Honda and Toyota having the best records…….don’t know if it’s changed now). I’ll probably purchase in Tallahassee.
It’s strange that she even mentioned a repair figure that high. The mechanic must have been in contact with them. Unless when he found out how much they could pay, he raised his price. I left a message for him to confirm the estimate for me on Monday.
On option A, I forgot to ask them if I could identify a higher priced vehicle, say $12,000, and pay the difference out of pocket.
I paid zero attention to the local auto market the last 5 years. But when I got the 2009 Corolla in 2011, I think I paid $14 thousand something for it, total bill topping $15,000 cash. I’m confused about drive-off value deterioration vs true value. Do I have a chance of finding as valuable a Corolla sitting on the used car lot in Tally for $10,043, than the value my own 2009 one will have with 51,100 on the odometer?
I'm confused on why USAA would offer to pay me $10,715 as well as tag and title, if the repair could be done for $8,000. Let alone if it could be done for $5,000. But I haven't had to go through an auto claim in probably 30 years.
He didn’t call me as promised on Thursday, so I called USAA directly on Friday to find out my options. They’ve moved my case to their “Total Loss Adjustor”. They gave me options:
A) turn the title over to them, and get a cash settlement on a new vehicle of up to $10,043.25 (list price, plus they will also add on Florida sales tax, for total payment of $10,715.61 + title and liscense fees.
B) I can get paid for repairs of the Corolla up to $8,449.68. I’d like to keep a small inexpensive utility vehicle, so if I replaced it I’d still probably get a Civic or a Corolla (maintenance-wise, I’ve had the best results from them, and when I used to read consumer reports, they said the same thing about Honda and Toyota having the best records…….don’t know if it’s changed now). I’ll probably purchase in Tallahassee.
It’s strange that she even mentioned a repair figure that high. The mechanic must have been in contact with them. Unless when he found out how much they could pay, he raised his price. I left a message for him to confirm the estimate for me on Monday.
On option A, I forgot to ask them if I could identify a higher priced vehicle, say $12,000, and pay the difference out of pocket.
I paid zero attention to the local auto market the last 5 years. But when I got the 2009 Corolla in 2011, I think I paid $14 thousand something for it, total bill topping $15,000 cash. I’m confused about drive-off value deterioration vs true value. Do I have a chance of finding as valuable a Corolla sitting on the used car lot in Tally for $10,043, than the value my own 2009 one will have with 51,100 on the odometer?
I'm confused on why USAA would offer to pay me $10,715 as well as tag and title, if the repair could be done for $8,000. Let alone if it could be done for $5,000. But I haven't had to go through an auto claim in probably 30 years.
