evaluate auto worth

[annalynn]

what site do you recommend for evaluating the worth of an automobile? I just checked mine and am shocked to find out that mine is worth much more than I thought!

And in this case that is NOT a good thing!

[annalynn]

My state says:

Motor vehicles to $2,550 in auto insurance if vehicle(s) lost, damaged or destroyed (may not be doubled)

Do I need to check what it is insured for? What exactly does this mean?

[ccsjoe]

anna, according to my attorney, use www.kbb.com private party value, NOT trade-in value.

[appleae]

And our Atty instructed us to use the KBB trade-in. It really depends on where you live and who is the Trustee.

[ccsjoe]

And our Atty instructed us to use the KBB trade-in. It really depends on where you live and who is the Trustee.

Yup. As I've learned, a lot of this is subjective and at the discretion of the trustees.

[SunshineGal]

The best thing to do is ask your attorney because this seems to be district specific. In our district they use Nada retail value which is way high! We paid for a certified appraisal which brought it down by about 35%.

[gman]

I have no idea what the rule is here in Northern Georgia.

However, I must say that after observing a slew of 341 hearings, the Trustee showed very loose standards when people were stating their real estate value. He simply wanted a basis - and I saw person after person "wing it" with answers like "we listed it for X and got no offers" and "we looked on zillow.com". Not a single person had a professional appraisal.

My plan for my car is simple. I am getting a cash quote from a dealer (not a trade in - but a cash quote to buy with no requirement to buy another car.) In my case, I already have a cash quote from CarMax - but I figure any written quote from a dealer would do.

I figure this will give me a LOWBALL number as the higher the number, the worse for the debtor.

Just my 2 cents - not legal advice.

[tcreegan]

vehicle insurance value

Hi Annalyn,

Motor vehicles to $2,550 in auto insurance if vehicle(s) lost, damaged or destroyed (may not be doubled)

Do I need to check what it is insured for? What exactly does this mean?

My read is that this means if you are getting a check from the auto insurer for a lost, damaged, or destroyed vehicle, you can exempt up to $2550 of the claim.

On the value issue, I can only add don't overlook the condition of the car. Worn upholstery, a couple dents, don't use the "good" condition value.

Good luck to you with this,

Tom in Colo

[sophia]

Find an certified auto appraiser that is licensed & has submitted appraisals for BK before. It cost us about $60 bucks each for our 2 cars. The difference in my case between KBB and his appraisal was over $2k between both cars we had appraised. Helped us big time. Just a thought.

[annalynn]

good advise! under normal circumstances I would have been thrilled to find out it was worth so much--but not now!

I guess getting all those "clunkers" disposed of has increased the value of the few used cars left!

[ccsjoe]

Make sure you check what your district's trustees will accept, some are very specific.

[kevano51]

my problem is that my car has quit working, i dont know if its the alternator or the transmission dropped or what, but i would think the courts would take into consideration the working condition of the vehicle?