Discussions

My car was stolen, recovered and they offered me a settlement of $800. It's a 2001 Jetta Diesel. It does have some rust but I had a vehicle to drive and it ran and drove good. There is no way I will get anything to drive for $800. Any advice? They say because of the rust it wouldn't pass a safety.

Any receipts for work you have had done? Find a comparable one on autotrader to show the value. Never take the first offer. Take it to arbitration if you have to.

I have always had good luck with mpi and have written off 4 vehicles with deer or hail. I do a search on Kijiji and autotrader for like vehicle. If I had other options or add ons I bring this to their attention and they have adjusted the price. regardless of whether or not you can replace the vehicle for 800 the question is "what is its value as a 2001 Jetta?" should be able to find your facts on line.

Some pretty good advice already given. You can also use tools online to get an idea of the value. Autotrader has one, its pretty decent but not perfect. Can give it a try.  
 
http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/valuations  
 
With the description you gave its probably not worth a whole lot more unfortunately. Might be able to squeeze a few more dollars out of MPI with some comparables etc.

Arbitration is a joke, will cost you more than you will get and they don't care if you cant buy a replacement vehicle, your best bet threaten arbitration and they will offer you 300 more, that's their cost to arbitrate and be done with it.

Midway55 said "Arbitration is a joke, will cost you more than you will get and they don't care if you cant buy a replacement vehicle, your best bet threaten arbitration and they will offer you 300 more, that's their cost to arbitrate and be done with it. "

was free when I had to use it. I was offered 1250 for my car...got 2500.

just do not settle , do not agree to arbitration , after it sits for a while they will get annoyed and maybee become more reasonable , hopefully you can wait them out

Be patient, they want you to make a quick decision, drag it out and there dollars tend to increase.

Never settle on the first offer. Look around on auto trader and kijiji and see how much people are asking for your model and year! If you can prove to mpi that your car is worth more on the market they will absolutely settle for more.

....so it wouldn't pass a safety because of the rust....so what? You weren't going to sell it, were you? A car needs to pass a safety when you acquire it( in most circumstances) but that doesn't mean it has to pass a Safety every time you drive it. Likely 50% of the cars on the road today would not pass safety for things like faulty lights, cracked windshields, exhaust leak, cracked tires and hoses. Hold out for a better offer....You will get it!!

Wrote off my 05 Jetta TDI GLS 2 summers ago, from hail damage. had 280k km, MPI gave me 7000, first offer. I saw they sold it on auction for $3500 later that summer. From what I've seen around yours should be worth at least 2500, hit kijiji like others have said and find similar cars, there are plenty out there.

Thanks everyone. I am going to hold out for more.

above. Mine was written off 3 years ago & MPI low-balled me on their initial offer. I went online & printed off 3 same year vehicles; one in town, one in Virden & one in Winnipeg. Took these in to MPI & got waaay more money.

I have been looking for a vehicle online and yes you do find the odd un saftied one for under a $1000. There are a heck of a lot more out there for 2000 plus. They state needs a windshield and don''t know what else it needs.  
 
Well if you don''t have the deductible a windshield installed was around $700 a few years ago when I priced one, for an un saftied pick up truck.  
 
The truth is online classifieds are full of more dreamers selling, than realists. Some of these newer vehicles 2000 year and newer will make $1500 as is in a trade auction I asked a guy in the know .  
 
I also know what shop hours and parts cost as a mechanic. $3000 for a 20 year old rust bucket with no saftey is crazy, it might need 2000 spending or they tell you just go away it won''t pass due to to much work or rot. I''d say yours is maybe worth 1000-1500 as is on a good day in the trade if it wasn''t damaged and needing to much to saftey it .  
 
Regards Robert  
 
Edited by Farmboy74, 2018-07-27 11:46:31