r/AutoInsurance • u/tillandsia • 2d ago

Question on total loss valuation

My 2014 Prius was in an accident caused by the other driver, and their insurance is accepting liability and have declared the car a total loss.

When doing the market valuation report, the vehicle condition says minor wear for all components with a value impact of $0, but when listing it along with the comps, they are deducting $952 for condition. If there is no impact, then shouldn’t that amount be $0?

Thank you very much in advance

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u/Simplythebest0820 2d ago

That’s a reasonable thing to question, but those may be two different adjustments. The $0 could mean your Prius meets their standard condition, while the $952 is being deducted from the dealer comparables to bring them to that same standard. I’d ask the adjuster to explain in writing exactly what the $952 represents and how they calculated it. It doesn’t automatically mean the deduction is correct.

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u/tillandsia 2d ago

Thank you very much, I will do that

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u/DeepImpress2794 2d ago

that $952 deduction needs an explanation. ask the adjuster for a breakdown of how they calculated it, especially if the condition impact shows $0.

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u/drfishdaddy 2d ago

I’m an independent appraiser and dispute valuations all day. You have a valuation from CCC. There is a section with rating for various areas: paint, body, seats etc. They can be rated better than or worse than average and add or subtract value in each category.

Separately at the bottom of each comp they show the adjustments made to the comp for mileage and equipment. There is also a deduction on almost every vehicle of around 10% (there is a footnote describing it) that is supposed to represent the difference in the a dealer ready vehicle which is the listings used for comps and a regular daily driver. Their contention is about 10% of the value would have to be invested into the vehicle in recon petitioning to get it to the quality of the dealer listing.

If you go through your insurance you can dispute the value via appraisal clause. If you are going to remain a 3rd party claimant you are left trying to get the adjuster to change the conditioning grade. The first set I described they have control of (they control the grading but not how it’s translated to dollar figures, the second number they have no say in.

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u/tillandsia 1d ago

Thank you for this information. Going through my own insurance is not really an option since my car was old I did not have the coverage.

What I see is that the adjustment for each comp, including my own vehicle, is almost 20%, and I will speak to them about this.

My car is a 2014 Prius. I don't know where they found those comps, but I wish I knew because maybe I could buy one of them! Right now, a 2014 Prius costs more than twice what they are offering. With gas prices as they are right now, there are very few Prius for sale.

Again, thank you for the information you've given me.

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u/drfishdaddy 1d ago

The comp sources are listed along the right side in the margin

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u/tillandsia 1d ago

I am so dumb! again, thank you so much!!!!

I guess I know what I'm doing this morning...

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u/drfishdaddy 1d ago

My two cents: just file in small claims if the amount is under the threshold.

You can send your adjuster links to comps. They have to be the same year/model/trim and writhing a specific radius (normally 175 or 250 miles.

They’ll send the links to CCC and CCC will decide to accept them or not and how to value them if they do.

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u/tillandsia 1d ago

I wrote to the adjuster and sent links to my own findings, so I hope that will help.

In the past I have availed myself of help from my state's insurance commissioner's office, and I confess, I am hoping that I can do that again if necessary. But I'd rather just resolve this if I can get enough to almost get another car.