YoZUpZ

Just a hypothetical question. I had a lady almost t-bone me today (would have been her fault)... so I was wondering a little about insurance.

I know if I were to get in a wreck and it were my fault, my insurance company would give me the value of my car... However if I had gap insurance, it would make up for the difference.

Lets say however that I owed more money on my car than it was worth, and that lady would have hit me and the car was totaled. Would her insurance company just pay for their determined value for the car? or would they pay for the rest of the loan on the car? I'm sure this happens all too frequently, is there any way to get the remainder of the loan from the person or their insurance company, or would you just be sore out of luck without gap insurance?

Also, what do the insurance companies go by? Trade-in value, Private Party? or Retail Value? Also, what about having aftermarket parks (volks for example), could you get more money out of them for that?

OverBooster

Regardless of fault, the most you would get is actual cash value (ACV). Which in terms of your auto is the current market value minus a reasonable amount for depreciation. Most insurance companies use the national auto dealer association (NADA) guide to determine the value of the car. They will also cross reference other sources for accuracy. Aftermarket parts are typically not covered unless you have your policy specifically endorsed to.

If you are upside down on your loan and someone else totals your car, that is your tough luck. The other persons insurance company is not and should not be responsible for your poor financing situation. In this situation having GAP would be a good decision. I was joking with a dealer today that I would have purchased GAP on a Z06 because I know I would kill myself in it.

dombey

actually, "poor financing" is in the eye of the beholder. Is it not just as poor to put say, 10k down on a car, then get t-boned by a drunk driver and receive the market value of your car as it is to put nothing down, be backwards on the car, and end up owing some money after the accident? Do the math, it is equivalent.

If you think you will be backwards on the car for a long time (ie you took a 5 yr loan and own say, a mitsu or something), then GAP insurance is a cheap way to avoid ever owing a large sum out of pocket.

Your best bet, should you get hit and owe more than the insurance company will pay you, is to call your lawyer - my wife is an attorney and in her last job she did this kind of thing on a daily basis - you wouldn't believe how bad insurance companies screw you just for the sake of screwing you. How backwards can you possibly be? A few grand? Shouldn't be a problem to get most if not all of that back.

If you're really worried about it, find something that hurts, call your lawyer, and then go to the doctor... then you have something to hang over their head.

YoZUpZ

Thanks for the info ya'll... I'm not worried about it, and I don;t think I'm negative in the S, I put $5k down when financing it. A work associate got in a wreck about 2 weeks ago, and it was his fault (now he owes a bit of money on it and is out of a car)

I was just wondering about all of this because drivers here totally suck, and I've almost gotten hit a couple of times recently and have just wondered about different situations. Numbers vary widely on this car. I was bored at work and looked at some different things on KBB and found out that "suggested retail" for my S is $19,000, "Private Party" is $16,000, and "Trade-in value" is $13,000... and just randomly looking on the Infiniti website, they would offer $9,000... so I was just curious as too how little a company would give you, cause the possibly of being upside down in this car seems to be higher than any other car I've owned before... I got the GTO new at $25,800... G35 used at $25,125 (KBB and NADA showed value at $29,000-32,000) so I was just tossing thoughts around in my head

OverBooster

This is the reason why everything is binding arbitration nowadays. Cut out the attorneys and move straight to mediation. Everybody wins...except overpriced lawyers

Brennon

Unless the insurance company (Allstate = Satan) doesn't want to give you a freakin dime regardless of anything.

Did I mention that I really despise Allstate? It's okay though, as much as they're making my life miserable, I'm making there's miserable. It's a mutually horrid relationship.

dombey

guess who represents you at the arbitration or mediation? My overpriced lawyer wife. Trust me, you'll get spanked around w/o a lawyer on your side.