2011 Hyundai Sonata - totaled by the insurance company
The dealership replaced the engine and it only has 14K miles on it. Does that affect the resale value? It has 147K total miles and was in excellent condition.
Not sure what you are asking ? Do you think the insurance payment is too low or are you thinking of buying this salvage titled vehicle .
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I think the insurance offer is too low. We are in the process of sending documentation of the engine replacement and then they will reassess but they implied it won’t matter much. After we have the final assessment we will request their report so that we can do our own research.
No one on a forum can give you an answer to this question .
You think car is worth more? Do you have proof of similar cars being sold for your price you want? You are saying your low mile motor is worth more? The motor that has same defect as original motor?
That’s NOT the way it works. So after you put the new engine in did you notify your insurance company so they could raise your rates due to increased value of car? New parts on an everyday vehicle isn’t going to effect it’s value much if at all. I have had insurance companies lowball me. So I did research and found other vehicles same age and same condition that were selling for more. I was able to get a few hundred more on settlement.
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The engine did not have a defect. The check oil light had the defect that resulted in the engine being replaced.
The engine was replaced just before we bought it.
Time to move on
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If the offer was otherwise acceptable, the engine isn’t likely to be worth enough to make the fight worthwhile. If they offered you trade-in value, that’s different. The insurer should pay to replace the car with a similar one even if the price is $5000 more than it would have been one year ago without COVID effects. It’s market price for a comparable vehicle, lightly used engine or not.
Not an uncommon issue when someone has recently replaced a major component and then the car is totaled.
The key language in most policies is “Like kind and quality”, which is basically Book Value.
The exception is when you have a restored, unique or specially modified vehicle (a time traveling DeLorean), in which case you would have purchased a “Defined Value” policy stating the amount of loss you and the insurer ageed on in the event of a total loss.
In your case, I think the best you can hope for is a Book quality upgrade.
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Motor was replaced 14k miles ago. Long time
It seems like an unwritten rule of nature that once putting a lot of money into a car, someone runs into it and destroys it. In my experience the insurance company doesn’t really care if a lot of work has been done to it when they determine value. You can look at general values for similar cars as a comparison to use for your case. But a new engine really doesn’t improve value much. In fact depending on the circumstances, it may signal a car that has not been well maintained. Not in this case but in general I would be a little leary of a car with a new engine.
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Now don’t take the oil light malfunction too seriously. There is no reason for the oil light to go on unless way low on oil or worn engine causing loss of oil pressure. Most cars never have the light go on.
The new engine is very common on your model. It is a huge issue. Most similar Hyundai’s/Kia’s with your mileage likely also have new engines. They are replaced by the manufacturer for free. A general rule is that a new engine increases the value over a bad engine, but generally doesn’t significantly increase the value versus an original in good condition.
Yep, we’ve had other posters ask how much replacing the engine decreased their car’s value.
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The car is worth $0 with a bad engine, or at least only worth whatever scrap metal is.
The rest of the car had 147,000 miles on it. So with a functioning engine… the car is worth whatever a car with 147K miles on it goes for today.
Sorry, but don’t make this hard.
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I think a 2011 car with bad motor is worth at least 34% retail.
If the new engine increased the value of the vehicle significantly, then you should buy the totaled vehicle back from the insurance company and then sell the engine and junk the vehicle yourself.
So op should buy the vehicle back, remove the engine . . . assuming they even have the tools and knowledge to do so . . . list and sell it on ebay or craigslist, then junk the vehicle?
Too much hassle
Not enough profit
I think this is a bad idea
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