This is just about concluded.

Progressive called me this morning and said the report he ordered was bad. He said something about $11k but said he was going to throw it out because he knew I would not agree. Ok so far. His next step was to go on AutoTrader and look at comps. Three 2004s nationwide. He threw out the cheapest (he said it was in my original appraisal from Sept, plus it has aftermarket wheels that I say devalues the car and he agreed anyway). He took the average of the other two and that was pretty much the offer.

Now, before I give all the numbers I will finally divulge that my appraisal that I paid for back in Sept said $20,220. I expected the actual negotiation to come back around $18k based on fair dealer retail comps. That never happened. Instead, this terrible saga happened.

So the two offers I was presented with were:
- Progressive retains salvage. Market value: $20,706. Add some fees and sales tax and the total settlement offer is $21,730.42 and they keep the car.
- I retain salvage. Market value: $20,706. Add some fees and sales tax, but subtract salvage value of $9,226.59 and this settlement offer is $12,428.83 and I keep the car.

Interesting notes on the salvage thing. Because the value is so high, if you compare to the damage estimate, the car isn't actually totaled. The reason we are able to total the car is because the salvage value is so high, and Progressive can make some money back (they won't total a car if fixing it is cheaper). The way this was computed is to look at historical Copart sales and come up with a percentage value and he came up with 44%. Hence this seemingly fake salvage value of $9k. This must be how they came up with the original salvage value of $1376 (also fake, but low, as opposed to $9k which is high). Anyway, I said, what if I pull the wheels off and stuff. He said if I modify the car, they will have to negotiate for actual value and if that value falls too much, the car can no longer be totaled. So, I won't be keeping the car. Nor will I jeopardize this transaction by removing items.

So that's it. I signed and returned the form this evening and I assume this will close tomorrow. Maybe next week some truck from Copart will come and take it way and I'll get my garage back for a car that isn't totaled (my S550).

Closing thoughts. This should not happen. I was right about the laws and regulations and learned more than I ever wanted to know about how this process works (and doesn't work). I want to know what is changing at the state level (perhaps a bulletin) or at Progressive, or both, and will be following up with the state at the very least. Clearly this guy got calibrated and decided this was way better than a lawsuit. Of course I tried to threaten this months ago (I was right, in the end) but they didn't understand. All along I knew this was an education issue and there you go.

My appraisal guy did SO MUCH WORK for $250. My god. Can't recommend this guy enough. His name is Seth Stairs, and his company is Ready2Appraise (Diminished Value | Total Loss car | Loss of Use Appraisals | Ready2Appraise.com). He also owns this company: About our appraisal service in Fresno, Ca. (allied-appraisals.com).

The moral is, if you are insured for ACV and you have an appraisal clause in your insurance policy contract, you can do the same thing. But you may need to fight for it. I win. The end.

 

Thanks for keeping us all updated. Very important info going forward for anyone with a similar loss. $21.7k is great for you, at least all this hassle paid off in the end. Something definitely shook up Progressive to offer this.

 

Made a send off video. Kinda cheesy but whatever.

 

Dont care too much about what other people think about this video. Some people think a car is just a simple means of transportation, but I think most (if not all) of the people in the W211 AMG section think about that differently

 

https://www.copart.com/lot/40153623/...-amg-ri-exeter

I'll just leave this here for fun.

 

^ thats cold bro

 

Could have poured hot sauce all over the cockpit and they would have marked it "BIOHAZARD" and you could have bought it back for $500 😂

 

Anyone see what this sold for? It apparently ended today at 10am. Missed it.

 

So last I saw, it was at $3,400 as of 11:41 this morning. Yes that's right, it was supposed to close at 10am but bidding was somehow continuing. Maybe they have a rule that extends the time if there is still activity. Oddly, there was no reserve initially but I guess at some point Progressive requested to add one. I don't know what the final bid was, nor do I know if it met the reserve.

Maybe if someone makes an account we can check more of this information?

 

They usually sell around $4500 in this condition

 

Plus the extensive Copart fees and in certain states sales tax that isn’t carried over to the next state. That $4500 car is now a $6500 car or more.

 

According to Carfax, this car just passed a safety and emissions inspection in NY on 5/5. About 125 miles added after accident. I hope the owner posts here assuming they aren't trying to flip it. Title still says salvage.

 

Wow! Good for you, @kevm14 ! I may have missed this point, but who's insurance company was Progressive? Yours? You said the guy behind you had Esurance (an Allstate company, but on the cheap end). Or was that the car in front because the guy behind was a Lincoln and Esurance guy was a Corolla? Regardless, I really hope your insurance wasn't dicking you around. Did the cops ever determine who was at fault? Did that play into this whole saga?

 

Yes Progressive was mine, and was dicking me around. Fault was determined using a default strategy.

Actually, I just re-skimmed the police report. The driver of the stupid Corolla that cut me off and slammed on the brakes was driving with an expired license!! They also wrote in an address for me that I haven't lived at since 2015. Fine job.

Anyway I couldn't really find anything in here for fault. But again I think the default strategy ended up at either 50% fault for me (since I was rear ended but also rear ended the Corolla), or 25% fault for me (because half of my front end accident was actually the fault of the Lincoln behind me). But I had collision coverage, so that means everything is coordinated through my insurance. I guess the point is, their cost was on the order of 25% of the final payout but that didn't seem to matter to them.

To date, I haven't asked what they think the value of my E63S is. But, I can just look up NADA.

 

Extremely detailed and informative thread here. Thank you for sharing all the ins and outs of "insurance".

If you happen to be looking for a replacement, I have an 04 all original 1 - owner California car that just turned 50k miles I will reluctantly be having to sell soon here. Picked it up earlier last year. It literally is in amazing condition and well maintained and serviced.