On Wed, 18 Jun 2014 10:44:50 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
wrote:

Situation: 10 YO vehicle, 160k miles, excellent condition, inside and out.
Hood, windshield, fender, etc. is crushed by fallen tree during a storm.
Vehicle has comprehensive coverage. Ins Co has not seen the vehicle yet,
but based on the age and damage, the owner assumes his Ins Co will say the
vehicle is totaled.

Are there any special strategies for dealing with the Ins Co? Obviously the
settlement won't be enough for a new vehicle, but can a higher settlement
be negotiated based on the previous good condition of vehicle? Anything
specific to say (or not to say) to the adjuster?

I did not read all the other replies yet so some may have covered
this. This past April I was sitting at a traffic light and a lady
texting on her phone rear ended my 14yo PT Cruiser w/102K miles, never
in an accident and meticulously maintained. Her insurance company
would only total it because CT has a law that states the insurance
company only has to pay 75% of average fair market value. Although I
obtained several estimates for repair (all over $5K) the insurance
only offered me approx $3.6K. I was very unhappy. I contacted my own
insurance co for advice (useless) and our states insurance department
(also useless) so based on information I found searching the net I
made pdfs of all my maintenance records and auto parts purchases over
the past year and send them off to the ins adjuster. I also wanted to
purchase the car back as salvage.

After weeks of back and forth negotiation I settled on a total of
$4.9K and received their check shortly thereafter. This amount
already included my buy back of $250.

Next I found an independent repair shop that had good reviews from
friends and online and visited them for help. I told them my dilemma
and they agreed to incorporate used parts where they could to keep the
costs down. They repaired by back end and replaced the rear
suspension with one obtained from a junk yard where the donor car had
damaged its front. Bottom line, I've just had the car back a week
today and I couldn't be happier. My TOTAL cost was $3.4K so I had a
little funds left to purchase a Starbucks coffee.

Hope this helps. Good luck.