My wife was recently in an auto accident with the Prius. She is ok, just a little bruised up, so anything else that happens is inconsequential compared to her well being. She was at a 3-way intersection, went on the green and another driver ran the red and it her on the driver's side. Our insurer, AAA, called last night to indicate that the Toyota Collision Center in North Little Rock is going to total the vehicle. AAA is waiting for the documents and photos before they approve that. I was hoping for a repair, since we don't have arider that will replace our 2010 with a new Prius. AAA will give us current market value for the car. What's the best way for me to determine market value for the Prius? I'd like to make sure AAA doesn't low ball us. Now we've got to decide whether to buy a new prius or used. We sure weren't looking to buy a new car now. AAA does have a rider that would have replaced the Prius with a 2014, but we didn't have that. Does anyone have that kind of rider on their insurance? How expensive is it? If anyone has any kind of suggestion on how best for us to proceed with this matter, please let us know.
Typically insurance company riders that replace cars with a newer one don't go for 4 model years, but I could be wrong. I've seen 1-2 models replacement but not 4. However, if still would have preferred keeping the car because you liked it, how about having AAA replace it with one the same model year and similar mileage? It's the best way to insure you get "market value". Otherwise do your research, find out how much it would cost to replace the same car, then see if it matches AAA offer. Be sure to includes sales tax in the 'replacement' value.
I had a car totaled recently (fortunately not prius). Here is what I did. I checked the value of the car using 3 different online tools (KBB, TMV, and NADA). The value ranged from 5,800-7,800 (I used retail pricing and excellent condition options as the car was recently detailed and with new tires, but it was more realistically just a good condition overall). BTW, NADA had the highest value. The insurance ended up offering slightly over 7,800 (after a huge and stressful delay in the whole process). I tried to negotiate more to cover the sales tax, but they flatly refused and wouldn't budge. I took it. For over $1000 less I bought another toyota that was 4 years younger and with 30,000 fewer milers, but was smaller with fewer options. I'm happy. I hope it lasts.
So you're saying that the insurance company offered an amount on the high side of the three different tools. That's encouraging.
The insurance offer included sales tax. The referenced value did not. Shop around for your car and save the listings. Liberty Mutual is AAA's insurance carrier in NJ.
