Model 3 totaled! please advise

[ddreww]

So I recently found out that my 2020 Model 3 Stealth was totaled. I was rear ended so it wasn't my fault at all. I only had my car a little over a year and it had 13,000 miles on it. What ACV do you think I should accept from the other insurance company? I paid around 53k for the car (not including tax). I'm also pretty upset because my car was a stealth version and I dont think stealths are available in the 2021 models. A piece of me wished that they fixed the car even though I know it's better off being totaled because I don't think I will be able to find it again. Anyways, I was just looking for some advice please!

Thanks,

Drew

 

[Needsdecaf]

I found that when my car was totaled, my insurance company comped what other similar vehicles were selling for and used the average of those values, adjusted for mileage. I think they used 3 cars, kind of like a home comp when you get a loan. I was pretty satisfied with what they gave me. The values they used were pulled from ads from sources like cars.com, etc.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

get a lawyer. wife's car was hit about a year ago. get a lawyer. insurance companies will try to screw you over...

 

[sewing1]

If their insurance company doesn’t offer to pay for a new Model 3 I would contact a lawyer.

 

[Phlier]

I found that when my car was totaled, my insurance company comped what other similar vehicles were selling for and used the average of those values, adjusted for mileage. I think they used 3 cars, kind of like a home comp when you get a loan. I was pretty satisfied with what they gave me. The values they used were pulled from ads from sources like cars.com, etc.

@ddreww If the insurance company you're working with does what @Needsdecaf 's did, make sure you let them know that your car was a Model 3 Performance. For the 2020 model year, that really is what your car is; the stealth was a version of the Model 3 Performance. While it could be argued that previous model years "stealth" cars could have been considered a version of the LR AWD (They just added a bit to the LR AWD price to get you a "stealth" performance), the 2020 model year was different, in that you paid the full Performance price, and the option to turn your car into a "stealth" Performance was done by selecting options from the Performance configuration page. That was how it was done for the short period of time that you could actually order a stealth performance off of Tesla's car configurator.

Don't muddy the waters with your insurance company by trying to explain the differences between your car, a LR AWD, and a "regular" Performance. Your car is a Model 3 Performance, period.

 

[Needsdecaf]

get a lawyer. wife's car was hit about a year ago. get a lawyer. insurance companies will try to screw you over...

How about actually seeing how it plays out first? My insurance company was great. Actually asked me if I wanted to total or if I wanted to keep the car since the estimate was so close on the line. My car was hit on Tuesday and by Friday we had both agreed on a value and the car had been declared a total. I had the money on Tuesday.

I know not every insurance company is so easy to work with, but man, lawyer up instantly? Why?

If their insurance company doesn’t offer to pay for a new Model 3 I would contact a lawyer.

So his used, 1 year old with 13,000 miles car is totaled and he deserves it to be replaced with a new one? Hmmmm..... I think not.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

How about actually seeing how it plays out first? My insurance company was great. Actually asked me if I wanted to total or if I wanted to keep the car since the estimate was so close on the line. My car was hit on Tuesday and by Friday we had both agreed on a value and the car had been declared a total. I had the money on Tuesday.

I know not every insurance company is so easy to work with, but man, lawyer up instantly? Why?



So his used, 1 year old with 13,000 miles car is totaled and he deserves it to be replaced with a new one? Hmmmm..... I think not.

Because you'll lose time. We had to sue (or threaten to I guess) our own insurance company who low balled us hard on her model 3, after weeks of back/forth on repair vs. total. Tesla certified shop said total it. We said total it. They shipped it 3 different places over 6-8 weeks of jerking us around. We had enough. Within 48 hours of our lawyer on the case, car was classified totaled and negotiations began.

Then on to the actual human injuries...

To each, their own, but that was our experience.

 

[RedWhite19]

get a lawyer. wife's car was hit about a year ago. get a lawyer. insurance companies will try to screw you over...

Getting a lawyer is the only way to go. It never cease to amaze me that people do not lawyer you after an accident.

Lawyer up!

 

[Needsdecaf]

Because you'll lose time. We had to sue (or threaten to I guess) our own insurance company who low balled us hard on her model 3, after weeks of back/forth on repair vs. total. Tesla certified shop said total it. We said total it. They shipped it 3 different places over 6-8 weeks of jerking us around. We had enough. Within 48 hours of our lawyer on the case, car was classified totaled and negotiations began.

Then on to the actual human injuries...

To each, their own, but that was our experience.

In my case, I would have lost time. Sorry you had a bad experience.

Getting a lawyer is the only way to go. It never cease to amaze me that people do not lawyer you after an accident.

Lawyer up!

It amazes me that people pay for insurance and then automatically assume that the company they're paying for a service is instantly going to screw them the first opportunity they have. Yes, I'm aware of how insurance companies work. I've seen The Incredibles (sarcasm).

Maybe you guys just need to pay for better freaking insurance that actually does their job instead of having to fight the company you're paying money to in the first place.

 

[RedWhite19]

In my case, I would have lost time. Sorry you had a bad experience.




It amazes me that people pay for insurance and then automatically assume that the company they're paying for a service is instantly going to screw them the first opportunity they have. Yes, I'm aware of how insurance companies work. I've seen The Incredibles (sarcasm).

Maybe you guys just need to pay for better freaking insurance that actually does their job instead of having to fight the company you're paying money to in the first place.

Best of luck!

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

In my case, I would have lost time. Sorry you had a bad experience.




It amazes me that people pay for insurance and then automatically assume that the company they're paying for a service is instantly going to screw them the first opportunity they have. Yes, I'm aware of how insurance companies work. I've seen The Incredibles (sarcasm).

Maybe you guys just need to pay for better freaking insurance that actually does their job instead of having to fight the company you're paying money to in the first place.

right... blame the victim. check.

 

[AdamVIP]

You will get what anyone gets in this scenario. They are going to pay you for the current value of the car. Your best best right now is to find comps in your area of used cars around the same mileage and features. That way you are ready for the lowball and can counter with more realistic offers. Its not a done deal till you sign off on it so wait till you have a proper offer. There's really no reason to get a lawyer unless you are injured and even then only if you are injured beyond their limits. In the unlikely event the other insurance company wont pay you can go to your insurance company and they will pay you and collect from the other company. That's what your premiums pay for.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Seems easy. Just do some shopping for equivalent Stealths of the same year and mileage and options, and tell the insurance company that's the replacement value, so that's what they have to pay. Then buy one of those cars, and be happy.

 

[ddreww]

I appreciate all the responses! My insurance company just called me and said they are looking around the area to value my car. I tried looking around too and couldn't find many model 3 performances for sale and the ones on sale were still on the expensive side. Hopefully everything works out.

 

[CapeOne]

I appreciate all the responses! My insurance company just called me and said they are looking around the area to value my car. I tried looking around too and couldn't find many model 3 performances for sale and the ones on sale were still on the expensive side. Hopefully everything works out.

Whatever value the insurance company comes up with (which you can try to negotiate if not satisfied with the offer), they will also add sales tax in MA like most other states. So, if they say the car is worth $45k then the full payout will be $47,812.50 with tax.

 

[Jay24]

I appreciate all the responses! My insurance company just called me and said they are looking around the area to value my car. I tried looking around too and couldn't find many model 3 performances for sale and the ones on sale were still on the expensive side. Hopefully everything works out.

Just know that when they provide you with a valuation, they have to show you the comps used to reach that value. I'd highly recommend looking at each of the comps to ensure they are true comps. The good thing about Tesla's is that they are all relatively similar with only a few differences that would impact the value outside of condition and mileage.

 

[Phlier]

I appreciate all the responses! My insurance company just called me and said they are looking around the area to value my car. I tried looking around too and couldn't find many model 3 performances for sale and the ones on sale were still on the expensive side. Hopefully everything works out.

Hey Drew, I'm the guy that, in an earlier post, mentioned that you should make sure your insurance company knew that your car was a Model 3 Performance, and offered the advice of not muddying the waters by trying to tell your insurance company the difference between a LR AWD, your "stealth" Performance, and a standard Model 3 Performance. While I still stick by that, there is another option you might want to consider...

While all Teslas have done well regarding value retention, the "stealth" Performance models have done *very* well. If they are allowing you to submit cars to them to look at to determine valuation, it might be worth your time to specifically look for 2020 "stealth" Performance vehicles. They have retained their value so well that for a short period of time, my (used) 2019 stealth was actually worth more than what I paid for it! I haven't looked at prices recently to determine if that's still the case (I can't imagine it is), but I do know that overall, the "stealth" vehicles have retained more of their original value than other models.

If you can somehow convince your insurance company of this, you might end up coming out better in the long run.

I'm sure that there are more than a couple of us that are really interested in how this works out for you... keep us posted?

I'm sure sorry you lost your unicorn car. Makes me sick just thinking about it. Your car was my first color choice, too. But since I slept on it, it got sold out from under me (12 hours!), and I had to settle on blue.

 

[ddreww]

Hey Drew, I'm the guy that, in an earlier post, mentioned that you should make sure your insurance company knew that your car was a Model 3 Performance, and offered the advice of not muddying the waters by trying to tell your insurance company the difference between a LR AWD, your "stealth" Performance, and a standard Model 3 Performance. While I still stick by that, there is another option you might want to consider...

While all Teslas have done well regarding value retention, the "stealth" Performance models have done *very* well. If they are allowing you to submit cars to them to look at to determine valuation, it might be worth your time to specifically look for 2020 "stealth" Performance vehicles. They have retained their value so well that for a short period of time, my (used) 2019 stealth was actually worth more than what I paid for it! I haven't looked at prices recently to determine if that's still the case (I can't imagine it is), but I do know that overall, the "stealth" vehicles have retained more of their original value than other models.

If you can somehow convince your insurance company of this, you might end up coming out better in the long run.

I'm sure that there are more than a couple of us that are really interested in how this works out for you... keep us posted?

I'm sure sorry you lost your unicorn car. Makes me sick just thinking about it. Your car was my first color choice, too. But since I slept on it, it got sold out from under me (12 hours!), and I had to settle on blue.

Hi Phlier, thanks for the advice! I actually tried to look for some stealth models but cant seem to find any! maybe no one wants to sell it, haha. The blue is sick too, is it a stealth model as well? I will definitely keep you posted on how everything turns out. I wonder if they will come out with a 2021 model 3 stealth, so far i've heard tesla will not be doing it.

 

[ddreww]

Whatever value the insurance company comes up with (which you can try to negotiate if not satisfied with the offer), they will also add sales tax in MA like most other states. So, if they say the car is worth $45k then the full payout will be $47,812.50 with tax.

forgive me if i'm wrong but I read somewhere that insurance companies are not obligated to pay you back for any sale tax for cars?

 

[Needsdecaf]

Best of luck!

Read what I wrote above. I had an accident in my Model 3 on a Tuesday. My car was declared totaled on Friday with a value I had been consulted on and was happy with. I received funds the following Tuesday. 7 days on an 18 month old car with 35k miles. So I've been well taken care of.

Also had a flood in my house. They had a remediation contractor at my house next day (would have done that night but I told them not to worry about it). Zero money out of pocket except deductible. House repaired well to my standards (a builder).

Sorry if I don't share your doom and gloom.

right... blame the victim. check.

That's an absurd statement. How did I ever blame the victim? I simply said....let the insurance company do what you pay them to do. You guys are all "lawyer up, guns blazing, you're getting screwed!" before anything even starts.