- Been there. Put new tires on my old Accord a week before it got rear-ended—felt like I was tossing money straight in the trash.
- Insurance adjusters must have a “selective vision” mode. Upgrades? What upgrades?
- I swear, unless you’re rolling up in a 1967 Shelby, they just see “old car.”
- At this point, I keep receipts mostly to remind myself how much I’ve spent... not that it helps my wallet.
I get the frustration—just put new brakes on my old Camry last year, and two weeks later it got sideswiped. Insurance didn’t care about the upgrades, just the “market value.” It’s wild how they’ll total a car over a dent if the numbers line up. I keep every receipt too, mostly as a reminder of how much I’m never getting back... but hey, at least I know what I put into it, even if the adjuster doesn’t.
They really do just look at the “actual cash value” of your car, not what you’ve put into it. Here’s how it usually breaks down: they estimate what it’d cost to fix the damage, then compare that to what your car’s worth on the market. If repairs hit a certain percentage of the value (sometimes 70-80%, but that varies by state), they’ll call it totaled. Upgrades like brakes or new tires almost never get counted unless you specifically added coverage for aftermarket stuff. Frustrating, but that’s the math they use. I’ve seen folks try to argue receipts—almost never works unless it’s something major and documented.
That’s pretty much what I’ve heard too, and it’s always bugged me.
- Had a buddy who put a bunch of money into suspension and wheels, then got rear-ended. Insurance just shrugged at the receipts. They only cared about the “book value,” which felt like a slap in the face after all that work.
- I get why they use market value, but it seems off when you’ve kept your car in way better shape than average. Like, shouldn’t maintenance count for something?
- The percentage thing is wild too—my state uses 75%, but I’ve heard others are way stricter or more lenient. Makes me wonder if people ever try to negotiate that number or if it’s set in stone.
Has anyone actually gotten an insurer to budge on the payout by showing detailed records or is that just wishful thinking?
I’ve tried the “look at my folder of receipts” approach with insurance after my old Accord got sideswiped. They barely glanced at it—felt like I was showing off my kid’s art at a tax audit. Maintenance and upgrades just don’t seem to move the needle for them, unless you’ve got some rare collector car. The percentage thing is weird too; my cousin in another state had his car totaled for way less damage than mine. It’s all over the place.
