So some strong winds yesterday blew down a decently sized tree in my back yard which ended up striking the side of my house and then finally smashed into the top of my car. Does anyone with experience of this kind of thing have any advice on how to deal with insurance? I have comprehensive with Farmers. Thanks.

 

Oh boy so sorry !! That is tough to see.. ;(
if you have comprehensive im sure itll be covered ? Only way to find out is call and claim
hope it works out for you

 

Problem is, will they actually pay out what it's worth?

 

Since you have comprehensive, your insurance company will pay for the damages minus your deductible. Unfortunately, looks like the car is a total loss.

 

 

Wow, thought my two days with no electricity was bad. That sucks.

I don't have any experience with trees, but you may want to look into your homeowner's insurance. They may just refer you to your vehicle insurance, but it doesn't hurt to check it out. Regarding what it's worth, that's the fun part. Most (if not all) insurance companies go off comps (not KBB or NADA) and they do the picking. The problem is when there are no (or no good) comps. I had to fight it out with my insurance co. and i was not at fault. I ended up using a third party appraiser, St. Lucie Appraisal Co.

https://stlucieappraisal.net/
https://stlucieappraisal.net/total-l...-compensation/

It was well worth the money i paid to get compensated for what the vehicle was worth. If you have time on your hands, you may want to think about buying it back and parting it out, especially if the engine is in good shape. It's a pain, but you can get twice what you pay to buy it back, especially if the interior is black.

Good luck

 

Homeowners Insurance wont help unless the tree belongs to someone else, then their homeowners insurance should cover it.

Your car insurance company will try to low ball you on the value of your car. They will get away with it if you dont have any data to show what cars like yours actually sell for. It will be your job to find comparable cars that have been sold (or are for sale), and submit them to Farmers. They wont do it for you.

Sorry to see what happened to your car

 

So should I pull up past sales on Craigslist, ebay, or the rx7club.com classifieds? Or all of them?

 

Look for any and all ads that will support your version of your cars value. It does'nt matter where they come from.

 

So the offer that insurance gave is about 13k if I keep the car, 16K if I let them have it. That means as is, it's worth 3k to them. Should I keep it and use and part it out, or should I just let them have it and save the hassle?

 

I'm the local guy that sent you an IM on Facebook and I'm still interested in seeing the car. That decision is best made on your behalf, if you part out or buy another shell and swap parts over how long will it take to you surpass your buyback price in cash or value and will it be worth your time. Does a $13k payout exceed your current bottom line on the car?

 

PM me on FB again, not sure which guy you are.

 

$16 seems a little low. How many miles on your car and engine? And ask for their comps. $3k for what you have now is probably fair, but will be a pain to get back.

Reach out to Fritz Flynn for his (educated) opinion on the valuation of a comp and the car you have now.