insurance claim feedback... what is this 1995 325i worth?

[FiveSpeedSquirrel]

Okay so i am a total loss adjuster and I just got this claim for a 1995 325i sedan, 5-speed. I was dreading the claim because we BMW owners are notorious in the insurance industry for demanding more than what a car is worth. I have made several adjustments to this guy's claim to try and settle, but he is convinced he deserves more. His car has a crapload of miles on it. I am just curious what you guys think about our offer. Here are the specs:

1995 325i sedan, dark green
5-speed
243,000 miles
power sunroof
leather
$3500 in repair invoices over the last year (cooling, tune-up, struts, ECU, etc)

The interior leather is somewhat torn, what you would expect for the mileage. The exterior is very clean and doesn't really show its age.

We are offering $4200.

Keep in mind this is meant to be a private-party value, not NADA or a dealer price.

He keeps saying that the only $4000 325's that he can find like his are pieces of crap... he doesn't seem to think the mileage affects his car's value all that much.

Any thoughts?

[James Crivellone]

If I spend 3500 bucks on a car that is worth 4000 over the last year and was offered $4200, I'd be rather irritated...although I just hate insurance companies!

[fire6-27]

I'm going through something similar now with an insurance company but I'm on the other side. I haven't gotten an offer as of yet but I don't have very high hopes.
First of all I think its cool that you care enough to actually ask this question.
Did you ask him what he expected to receive? Maybe he's not too unreasonable and it could save you alot of time and hassle. Probably not but maybe worth a try.
Personally I just want what I paid for my car which I considered fair and I've seen others sell in the same ballpark. Maybe I'm being unreasonable but I wasn't at fault and should be able to get my car back like it was before I was hit. Sorry I'm a little passionate about this at the moment because of my circumstances.
Again, kudos to you for asking on this forum.

[FiveSpeedSquirrel]

If I spend 3500 bucks on a car that is worth 4000 over the last year and was offered $4200, I'd be rather irritated...although I just hate insurance companies!

But that's what I am asking... are you saying you believe it was worth $4000, less the repairs spent, but with the high miles?

He got around $350 for the repairs alone, this is included in the value. I know that's only like 10%, but I don't think maintenance adds much more to a car's value than that. FYI, he hasn't touched the engine or transmission with all those repairs.

[fire6-27]

I'm going through something similar now with an insurance company but I'm on the other side. I haven't gotten an offer as of yet but I don't have very high hopes.
First of all I think its cool that you care enough to actually ask this question.
Did you ask him what he expected to receive? Maybe he's not too unreasonable and it could save you alot of time and hassle. Probably not but maybe worth a try.
Personally I just want what I paid for my car which I considered fair and I've seen others sell in the same ballpark. Maybe I'm being unreasonable but I wasn't at fault and should be able to get my car back like it was before I was hit. Sorry I'm a little passionate about this at the moment because of my circumstances.
Again, kudos to you for asking on this forum.

[fire6-27]

How did I just post that twice?

[FiveSpeedSquirrel]

I asked him what his demand is, he wants $4700. But unfortunately, I can't pay it just to settle the claim. My ability to freely negotiate on values is very limited by my company. We basically need to change a condition rating, obtain repair receipts, or establish that our value is grossly inaccurate and just go with a book value (we have already done the first two of those). My boss would never let me use a book value for his car because the mileage is so high, and book values are notorious for underestimating the impact that high mileage has on a car's value.

I hear you, Fire6-27, when you say you want what you paid for a car. The problem is, A LOT of people go to buy-here pay-here dealers and overpay for a car. I'm not saying that's what you have done, just pointing out that purchase prices widely vary depending on the knowledge of the buyer. We have to pay claims based on a value derived from realistic sale prices in their area, so if a person does their homework and pays a fair price, they will likely get about the same amount on their claim.

[hugh jass]

I wouldn't pay more than $4200 for an early e36 with almost a QUARTER OF A MILLION MILES ON IT. just because they guy spent a bunch of money on maintenance doesn't make the car worth more.

[JeffNJM3]

Im not sure how VA works, but in NJ there are 3 steps to eval based on state law. Have you run a comp? Let him find a car for sale locally at a dealer and then have your eval company(audatex or ccc valuescope i assume) price his car based on the car for sale. Sounds like he is already close to what he wants, and with that kinda miles I think he is getting a pretty good offer.

[gobuffs]

$4200 is more than generous IMO.

The $3500 he spent in repairs is irrelevant.

[FiveSpeedSquirrel]

Yeah we use CCC Valuescope... cool to meet someone who knows this stuff. It's actually an Illinois claim, though. If we could find a car similar to his, I would like to go the route you suggested. But it's hard to find a car in very good condition with so many miles. If he could find something at least over 200k miles, that would help, but he just isn't finding anything. We already have three vehicles in our market search that have over 200k miles, and they all support the figure strongly. There is one at a dealer with 212k selling for like $3900, and that's a dealer price.

The reason he wants $4700 is because the car he has found is around that price, but the car he found has 150k miles and he doesn't think the mileage difference should be a big factor. He believes his maintenance basically cancels out the high miles.

[xLibelle]

give him what he wants. hes not asking for much and its bad enough for him that he has lost his car. It sounds like it was in good condition and if milage is whats holding you back, stick it because these cars are worth it. obviously you cant cheat the miles but it cant be hard to roll the difference off on to something else about the condition of the car.
Ive been in a couple situations where its a german car at a loss... its no fun trying to find a replacement for the quality of vehicle that you expect.

[nando]

$4200 is being very generous!

[delfin]

I'd say something like $4500, which is a very generous price saying that e36 m3's usually go for about $8000.

[FiveSpeedSquirrel]

give him what he wants. hes not asking for much and its bad enough for him that he has lost his car. It sounds like it was in good condition and if milage is whats holding you back, stick it because these cars are worth it. obviously you cant cheat the miles but it cant be hard to roll the difference off on to something else about the condition of the car.
Ive been in a couple situations where its a german car at a loss... its no fun trying to find a replacement for the quality of vehicle that you expect.

Thanks for playing, but I didn't ask for advice on how to do my job. I just wanted to know what you guys thought about the price. Please read post #7 for an explanation of how I have done everything within my power to give him as much money for the car as possible.