gota911

I second the "do not underestimate the physical injury you have" comment. A kid plowed into the back of my car in 1978 and I suffered some whip lash. I did get some treatment and felt fine the next 4 to 6 years. Since then, my neck has stiffened up considerably and I have diminished range of motion, especially when turning my head to the left. Don't treat this as a temporary injury because it very well could get worse as you get older.

MJBird993

As much as it pains me to disagree with Dell, he is wrong here. They'll get what they can get, but if they overpay, they'll eat the difference.

Otherwise, all the other info is spot-on. And I also have to add a thumbs-up to the comments about USAA. They are not what they used to be, but they do still provide very good claims service.

Best of luck.

Regards,

Michael

NAvyC4S

I'd be glad to pay the membership fee once I get my car paid for. How would I go about doing that? I do appreciate everyone's advice and I have gotten an attorney for my injuries but they also want to be involved in the property damage battle.

NADA value is $49,000 which is $10,000 less than KBB. I think $49,000 which was collected from auto trader in my area is a good starting point. I think 75% of the alue of my options is fair to add on which would include Sport Techno wheels at $3995 which none of the auto trader cars have, $995 for metallic paint and then the Fabspeed exhaust at $1000 which they agreed to compensate me on. Also, in Delaware we don't have sales tax or registration tax but we do have a 1.75% registration fee which totalled $1600 in my case.

The car is a 2003.

LVDell

A couple points.
1. 75% is NOT a fair add-on for the "options". There is NO market for them in a sale. If anything they may hinder the sale if the new buyer does not care for them (ie, painted wheels).

2. If you were offered 49K for a 2003 with 59K miles you need to seriously think about taking it (or close to it. Trust me, you are NOT going to get much more than 50-52K. You car is VERY high mileage for an 03 and metallic paint doesn't do jack to help you out.

Holger B

Dell is right.

You are trying to determine fair market value. What you paid for options is irrelevant, it's a sunk cost. The only way to prove they are worth anything is to find cars with the same options and see if they sell for a premium to similar cars without.

Insurance people are mostly reasonable. They want to settle your claim and move on. That's not going to happen if you argue that your car is somehow special and more valuable than all the others on the market. Keep your expectations in line with reality and the process will be much quicker and easier. If not, you're setting yourself up for increased aggravation.

NAvyC4S

In our area (Delaware) the values are slightly more than I think some of you expect. I reviewed Black book wholesale values which clearly show in my mileage class the wholesale value in Delaware to be $51950 w/o additional options (wheel package and exhaust).

The car will be parted out. Someone will make out like a bandit with the exhaust and wheels and I would like to see some of that money back in my pocket.

Pictures soon!!!

LVDell

Parted out? So did you buy it back from the ins company? You can't part out a car that is totaled as it does not belong to you at that point. They will not let you "double dip" on the payout.

Anyway, hope you get the best you can get but I hate to break it to you, 52K is NOT wholesale on a 2003 with 59K miles. Just not even close.

NAvyC4S

No, no. whoever buys the car at auction will part it out. and I believe you're right. I don't know what numbers are what. I got the offer of $50,000. should I take it?

NAvyC4S

I accepted their offer of $50,000

LVDell

You are a wise man

That 50K will get you a great car. There have been MANY guys here in the board that have reported getting into a C4S for 45-50K for low mile 2002's in the past couple months.

If you find any that you are interested in start up a new thread and get input from the guys here. There is a wealth of knowledge on this board to help with your purchase. Especially if it is out of town and you need somebody to help with a PPI or even just a quick look at it before you go further.

All the best!

NAvyC4S

Thanks for all the help and I'll post the accident thread so you all can see the mangled wreck that was my car.

LVDell

Post if you must, but seeing mangled Porsche just ruins my day

Wellardmac

Considering that I know the car it's going to be especially painful to see.

Hope the nitrous bottle didn't leak during the accident.

NAvyC4S

I think it exploded with the bottle of tire shine foam. The front of the car was on fire. There is no way it could have survived and I couldn't get to it so I just didn't mention it to the insurance company. I did get the solenoids off at the impound lot.

Wellardmac

Wow! You are so lucky! That could have caused you some serious damage. You're also lucky that the insurance adjuster didn't see the burned out bottle and ask about it.

So where are the photos (and the full story of what happened)?