My 2000 Mercedes C280W was pretty much totalled in a car wreck. I now need to settle with the insurance company, but I have a bad feeling I am going to come out on the wrong end of this deal. My dad paid $39,700 for the car brand new in 2000. I got with 24,000 miles on it, and it had 47,000 miles when it was totalled.

KBB says the car is worth 13 -15, 000. I can't find one on the internet with similar miles for under 18,000. Can anyone tell me what this car is really worth??

 

Go to NADA.com and go to used car prices, follow the instructions and it should give you a good estimate.

 

Forget Kelly, NAADA, or any other print source. Check what the dealerships are asking for the same year/model/mileage car. By law you have a right to get a comparable car to the one you lost, so your
car is worth what it'll cost to buy another one just like it. Check all the dealerships within a hundred miles of you as well as the major on-line car sellers (autotrader, etc). Also factor in any repairs/modifications you recently made
on your car. Here's where high dealer prices actually work in your favor. If you can't find one for under 18K then that's at least what it's "worth", but if you find dealers asking more, and these
cars are comparable to yours, then demand this price for a settlement. Keep insisting you're not going to accept anything less than what it'll cost to get a car as good as the one you lost and the insurance company should sooner or later settle for that.