I went through this hell last summer. What I can tell you is get every piece of supporting documentation available and have it ready they asked me for all receipts. They look at everything when adjuster inspects the vehicle. I also scrolled through all car sites looking for comparables my issue was it was a unique car and was difficult finding comps since mine was such low mileage and pristine. Gather all you can as well as KBB stuff and they should also provide you their report which you can also negotiate from, I'm not gonna lie this won't be fun but good things are your family is ok and you've done work before so now your a pro on the second one when you find it

Just be ready to support your argument and you will be fine. I held to my guns and got a very good price and do not keep the car I did and ended up with a bunch of parts I never sold and then couldn't find anyone to take the carcass as there wasn't much meat on bone left.

Thanks much. I am gathering all of the receipts and such now, and have started looking for comps.

I also found a company here locally that will review the appraisal from the insurance company, and will give you an estimate of value based on their research. For a small amount more, they'll give you a report to use to negotiate. That way, you have some idea of where you'd end up before you pay more.

I really don't have a place to store the car for parts, so I doubt I'd try to do that.

Thanks again.

Well, it's official declared a total loss today. Now starts the hard work.

Glad to hear everyone is OK. That's what is most important.

To address the insurance issues:

• The maintenance work you performed will be recovered indirectly because you could claim the vehicle was in "excellent" condition as opposed to "good" condition. This is similar to how a buyer would view it. They would not pay you the actual costs you put into it but they're much more likely to pay a higher amount for it because it's in "excellent" condition (just throwing out condition qualifiers).
• You may receive some compensation for performance / aftermarket items. The insurance company gave me extra for custom wheels I had on my car which was totaled. They also gave me extra for the performance exhaust on a sport bike which was totaled.
• I've really not had a problem with an insurance company low balling me on the value of my vehicles which have been totaled. The insurance company paid me fairly for both the aforementioned vehicles (in fact I received more for the motorcycle than I paid for it). Perhaps it was because these vehicles were not new and, for the most part, fully depreciated at the time of loss.
• Very, very, very pleased with State Farm. Always have had great experiences with them.

Let us know how it goes. I think you'll be treated fair without much effort.

Very encouraging - thanks. I know I would pay more for an X5 with all of the work that I just did on this one, knowing I wouldn't have to do it for 75-100k miles.

Will report back once I get more info - just taking baby steps.

Well, I added up all of the preventives I've done, and it is $3,300 over the past 4 months. I was really planning on this car being around for awhile.

I would seriously doubt that the insurance would pay the $3300 preventative above what the car is worth but some of it can be accounted for their evaluation. For instance if a new transmission had been installed then some value of the transmission would be factored in since most others would have 100K+ miles on them. Normal wear and tear items would not carry to much evaluation weight.

I agree with this. Insurance companies don't consider maintenance / repair items to directly add to the value of the car. He'll get some of it back indirectly because the maintenance / repairs are what separates a "good" condition vehicle from an "excellent" condition vehicle. Therefore the insurance company is likely to give him more for his vehicle but it won't be "here's an additional $3,300" for what you just put into it. It's also unlikely the difference between what they would have given him and what they will give him will be dollar for dollar so he'll take some loss on this maintenance work.

I obviously don't expect to get it all back, but I would think it would add something. Maybe the condition difference.

We'll see.

I'd be surprised if you didn't recover a portion of the money through a condition difference. Unfortunately it's unlikely you'll know what it will be (as I doubt the insurance adjuster would know). One thing I would recommend is mentioning it to the adjuster. You never know...he may be willing to bump it up a little as a result. Never hurts to ask.