The Porsche 959 is a very rare, very fast sports car made by Porsche. It’s known for being technologically advanced for the time it was built. Because it’s rare, owning one usually means paying close attention to maintenance and parts.
A “total loss” means the insurance company decides it’s not worth repairing your car. Instead, they pay you based on what they think the car was worth before the crash.
The guest is saying insurers sometimes don’t play fair when handling claims. That’s why it’s important to understand how they calculate the settlement and to keep good records.
An auto-damage appraiser is the person who figures out how much it will cost to fix the car after an accident. Their estimate can affect whether your car gets repaired or declared a total loss.
A bumper is the part at the front or back meant to take impacts. If it’s damaged, it can be expensive to fix because it may need replacement and repainting.
A door is the outer panel you open to get into the car. If it’s damaged, the insurance estimate may go up because it could need repair, replacement, and repainting.
A fender is the metal panel above the wheel. If it’s bent or cracked, it may need repair or replacement, which can change the insurance repair estimate.
The hosts are talking about insurance companies using computer tools (and AI) to estimate what your car is worth. The worry is that the system may assume things are fine without actually checking the car closely.
“Dealer-ready” is the idea that a used car is supposedly checked and ready to sell. The concern here is that the label may be used to justify a settlement even if the car actually has problems.
An affidavit is a sworn written statement used in court. The point is that it’s not just a casual claim—if it’s wrong, it can seriously affect a legal dispute.
The Volkswagen EOS is a Volkswagen with a convertible-style roof. The story is about a car that looked “ready,” but when the door was opened, water came out—suggesting it wasn’t actually in good condition.
If water is getting into the car after repairs, it usually means the repair wasn’t sealed properly. That’s a sign the car may have more damage than someone is admitting.
NADA guides are another pricing reference that estimates what your car should sell for. Insurance companies use it to help calculate your settlement.
Company
Galvs
This sounds like another pricing guide the insurance company might use. The host isn’t even sure it’s still around, which suggests these valuation sources can vary.
Deductions are the reasons the insurance company subtracts money from the car’s value. If you don’t understand what they’re subtracting for, you may end up with a settlement that’s lower than it should be.
Insurance reports sometimes use categories like “normal” to describe damage. The host is saying that “normal” can be used in a way that hides how bad the damage really is.
Vehicle condition classification is how insurers categorize damage severity (e.g., “normal” vs worse) for valuation purposes. Misclassification can reduce settlement amounts because the insurer assumes the car’s condition is better than it actually is.
The headliner is the material on the ceiling inside the car. If it’s torn or burned, it’s a real damage item that can affect how much the insurance pays.
They’re talking about a 2014 Toyota Avalon with around 75,000 miles. The insurance company offered a low amount after taking deductions, and the host is showing how that can happen.
To argue for a fair settlement, you want to point to cars like yours that are actually listed for sale. If the insurance company’s number doesn’t match those real prices, you may have grounds to dispute it.
The segment explains how insurers determine the value of a “total loss” (what they’ll pay you) using regulated factors. The speaker highlights that the valuation is formula-driven—often based on depreciation and published pricing data—rather than what it truly costs to replace your exact vehicle in your local market.
They’re saying Massachusetts has rules about how insurance companies must calculate what your car is worth after a total loss. Even with rules, the numbers can still come out too low.
This is the idea that a car’s value goes down as it gets older. Insurance uses a “value after depreciation” number instead of what the car would cost to buy today.
This is a pricing number from a guide that insurance companies use. It’s supposed to estimate what the car would cost to buy, but it can still be off from real-world replacement costs.
If your car already had damage before the accident, that damage shouldn’t be paid for again. The idea is to subtract the value of the old damage first, then calculate what the new damage actually cost.
CCC is a company insurers use to look up car values. If their system assumes your car only has “normal” condition issues, it can lower the settlement compared to what you’d expect based on real-world dealer pricing.
The division of insurance is the government office that’s supposed to help when insurance companies act unfairly. The concern raised is that complaints don’t always lead to real follow-through.
“Fair value” is the amount the insurer should pay for the vehicle based on market pricing, condition, mileage, and comparable sales. In disputes, the key issue is often whether the insurer’s valuation method is applied correctly and consistently.
A condition adjustment is a valuation factor used to raise or lower a vehicle’s estimated value based on its condition (paint, wear, damage history, etc.). The transcript suggests this adjustment was being applied in a way that reduced payouts beyond what the stated guidelines would support.
If you can’t get a fair settlement, some people take the fight further legally. That can mean pushing for documentation and challenging the insurer’s valuation method.
The transcript describes “guidelines” that appraisers are supposed to use when valuing vehicles for settlements. The dispute centers on whether those guidelines are actually followed, and whether insurers/appraisers can explain or produce them when challenged.
A settlement is the money the insurance company gives you after your car claim. The problem is that the “value” they use might not be enough to buy the same car again, so you may have to pay extra yourself.
This is when someone else causes the crash, and their insurance should pay for your losses. The discussion here is about how the payout can still feel unfair even when the other driver is clearly at fault.
Concept
lender calls the insurance company
If you financed the car, your lender may need to be involved when insurance pays out. The lender wants to make sure the money goes toward the loan, which can influence how the claim is handled.
Gap insurance helps if your car is totaled and the insurance check isn’t enough to pay off your loan. It covers the leftover amount so you don’t have to keep paying for a car you no longer have.
“Upside down” means you owe more money on the car than it’s worth. If the car gets totaled, you could still owe the difference unless you have coverage like gap insurance.
They’re saying you should keep records—like receipts and listings—so you can prove what your car cost and what similar cars cost. That can help if the insurance company tries to offer too little money.
Taking lots of photos and videos before the insurer finalizes things helps prove what condition the car was in. That can matter if you think the insurance payout is too low.
Company
claim-maxx.com
They recommend looking up claim guidelines on a website so you know what the insurance company is supposed to do. Having that info can help you argue your case more confidently.
Concept
attorney general complaint
You can also complain to your state’s attorney general if you believe the insurance company acted unfairly. It’s another way to escalate the problem when you’re not getting results.
Small claims court is a simpler court process for smaller disputes. The idea here is that if the insurance company paid too little, you can bring your evidence and ask the judge to decide.
Actual cash value is basically what the insurance company thinks your car was worth right then, after depreciation. If they pay you less than you think it’s worth, that’s when you may need to challenge the settlement.
A “reservation of rights” is a way to accept money from an insurance claim without giving up your ability to fight the decision later. It helps protect your options if you believe the insurer is still wrong.
A public adjuster is someone you hire to help you deal with your insurance company after damage. They review what you’re owed and help push for a better settlement, usually for a fee.
“Totaled” means the insurance company decided the car isn’t worth fixing. Instead of paying for repairs, they pay you based on what they think the car was worth before the crash.
The “first offer” is the initial settlement amount the insurance company proposes, often before they’ve fully accounted for comparable sales, condition, mileage, and missing deductions. Negotiating from that starting point is a common way to correct undervaluation.
A “total loss” happens when the insurance company decides your car isn’t worth repairing. Instead of paying for repairs, they pay you money based on the car’s value, and that amount can often be negotiated.
Smart Electric Drive is a small car that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. Since it’s electric, you need a way to charge it at home or at a public charger. People bring it up when discussing what charging setup works best.
The Dodge Charger is a performance car made by Dodge. It’s known for having powerful engines and a sporty feel. People talk about it a lot because it’s common, and used ones can need different repairs depending on the year.
Level 2 charging is the faster way to charge an electric car at home. It uses a 240-volt outlet (like the one for an electric dryer or stove), so it can add more charge in less time than a regular plug.
240 volts is higher power than a normal wall outlet. EV chargers use it because it lets the car charge faster.
Term
NEMA 540
This is the type of special 240-volt plug/outlet the charger is meant to use. If your garage outlet isn’t the right type, you can’t just plug it in—you’d need the correct outlet or adapter.
Maguire's is a brand that makes products to clean and protect your car’s paint. The host likes it because it’s straightforward to use and gives good results.
“Ceramic” products are meant to add a protective layer on your car’s paint. The idea is that water and dirt don’t stick as easily, so cleaning is easier.
Window cleaner is designed to make glass look clear and streak-free. It’s meant to remove fingerprints and haze from windows.
Car
honda suv
They’re talking about a Honda SUV that has warning lights showing up on the dashboard. The dealer said it was caused by a sensor, which is a small part that sends information to the car’s computer.
A sensor is a small electronic part that tells the car what’s going on. If it’s broken, the car may show warning lights, and replacing it can fix the problem.
Concept
warranty coverage vs damage during repair
They’re talking about a common warranty situation: the warranty may pay for the broken part, but it might not pay for new damage that happened while the mechanic was taking the part out. It depends on what was damaged and why.
They mention rust because it can make parts stick and break during removal. If the car is much rustier than expected, the dealer may argue that extra work or damage isn’t covered the same way.
Heater controls are the buttons/knobs that control the car’s heat and fan. The host is explaining that newer cars use plastic clips to hold panels together, and those clips can break when you take things apart.
Clips are the plastic fasteners that snap panels together. If a clip breaks while the mechanic is taking the dash apart, that’s usually part of the repair process, not something the customer did wrong.
Concept
disassembly damage vs customer fault
Sometimes a repair requires taking things apart, and while doing that, small parts can break. The point here is that if the mechanic had to take it apart correctly and something broke during that process, the customer shouldn’t automatically be blamed.
This is the system that watches your tire pressure and tells you if something’s wrong. Sometimes the display can show dashes or blank readings, and that can make it harder to figure out what’s actually failing.
ABS is the safety system that helps you stop without the wheels locking up. In this story, the ABS light and behavior show up during normal braking, which usually means the car thinks there’s a problem it needs to correct.
They’re talking about a 2016 Lexus ES 300h. The car has a dashboard warning related to the tire pressure system, and the fix may be covered by a Lexus service bulletin if the diagnostic confirms it.
A service bulletin is like the manufacturer saying, “We know about this problem on some cars—here’s how to fix it.” It’s not always automatic like a recall; the dealer may need to run a diagnostic first to see if your car matches the issue.
In dealer terms, a diagnostic is the process of checking the vehicle’s systems (often with scan tools and test procedures) to confirm the cause of a symptom. Here, the diagnostic determines whether the TPMS/related issue matches the service bulletin coverage or whether the customer will be charged.
“Dashes” on the TPMS display usually indicate the system can’t provide valid pressure readings (or the sensors/data aren’t being received correctly). The speaker notes that after a second inspection, the actual numbers returned, which suggests the issue may be intermittent or related to sensor communication or module behavior.
AllData is a service information platform used by technicians and DIYers to look up repair procedures, wiring diagrams, and manufacturer bulletins. The speaker mentions using it to find bulletins, reinforcing that service bulletins are a key resource when diagnosing intermittent issues.
The discussion contrasts normal published bulletins with warranty coverage and “extended service contract” style programs. In insurance/repair situations, whether a repair is covered often depends on whether there’s an official extended warranty or customer-interest program tied to the specific failure.
Tire pressure monitoring is the system that warns you if your tires aren’t at the right pressure. Sometimes it needs to be turned on or reset so it can read the sensors correctly.
A tone ring is like a patterned metal ring near a wheel sensor. If it gets rusty, the sensor may not read wheel speed correctly, and the car can think there’s an ABS problem.
The transcript notes that rusty tone rings were commonly seen on General Motors vehicles, especially trucks. This is useful context because it suggests the speaker has seen a pattern of ABS sensor/tone-ring corrosion issues in that brand’s fleet.
“Customer interest bulletins” are typically communications that address issues that affect customers and may lead to goodwill repairs, extended coverage, or special handling. The transcript links them to “extended service contract” style coverage, implying they’re checking for programs that could apply to the ABS/tire-pressure concern.
Metallic brake pads have more metal in the pad material. They can stop well, but they may create more dust and their performance is tied to brake temperature.
Brakes often work better once they’re warmed up. When they’re cold, the pad material may not grip as strongly, so stopping can feel less effective until you’ve driven and braked a bit.
The brake rotors are the metal discs your brakes squeeze to slow the car down. When you brake hard for a while, they heat up a lot—so much that they can look red-hot.
When you install new brake pads, you usually need to “break them in” so they work smoothly. Some people try to rough them up by hand, but the goal is the same: make the pad and rotor surfaces mate properly.
Concept
track vs street brake performance tradeoff
What brakes you choose depends on how you drive. Normal street driving usually benefits from cleaner, quieter pads, while track driving needs pads that can handle repeated hard braking and heat.
They mention a 1969 Camaro as an example of a car that might go to the track sometimes. Track driving puts more heat and stress on brakes, so pad material choice matters more.
Brake dust is the fine particulate created when brake pads wear and friction material transfers to the rotor. Ceramic pads are often marketed as producing less dust, which helps keep wheels cleaner and reduces cleanup.
The story illustrates how insurers may discount or reduce claims based on perceived minor issues, even when they affect the vehicle’s condition. Documenting damage (e.g., interior stains) and pushing back can lead to a higher settlement amount.
Cold cranking amps (CCA) measure a battery’s ability to start an engine in cold temperatures. A higher CCA rating generally means the battery can deliver more starting current when it’s freezing, which helps prevent hard-start issues.
Fuse troubleshooting means checking the electrical safety switches (fuses) when something stops working. If one fuse is blown, it can cut power to the computer or key systems and make it look like the whole setup failed.
ECU stands for Engine Control Unit (or, in some vehicles/engines, a control unit for engine functions). It’s the computer that manages key systems, and if it loses power (for example from a blown fuse), the related electronics can go completely dead.
LIVE
W. A. T. T. presents John Paul, the car doctor, all things automotive. Have questions? Call
or text 781-837-4900. Now, here's John Paul, the car doctor.
And good Sunday morning, everyone, and welcome to another edition of the car doctor program on
959 W. A. T. D., your award-winning, self-sure radio station. My name's John Paul, the car doctor here
to help you with your car problems, and someone told me recently this is my four-year anniversary
on W. A. T. D. Jesse, that sounds correct. That went by fast, huh? I thought so. Well, but maybe it
was. Who knows? Time flies, I guess, so... Me and Ray Brown are on our hundredth year. Hundredth
year. You know, I've heard that. Yeah, yeah. Good ol' Ray. I'm pleased to know he likes my
program. He likes it so much that he didn't even hear my joke in the studio next to me,
which makes me think that he's not even listening to the program. That's unfortunate for all of us.
Which is good to know. We have talked to our next guest before, but I think it's time to
do it again. Michael Parsons, he is with Source One Financial Group. Michael, good morning,
and welcome back to the car doctor radio program. Good morning, John. Thank you very much.
First off, tell us why you keep... You email me from time to time with some information that kind
of frightens me a little bit about what's going on when, you know, something happens to your
vehicle. You get in a car crash, and insurance companies get involved, and it doesn't always
go the way people want it to. Well, unfortunately for me, I run an auto-finance company, and I have
to deal with insurance companies on a daily basis related to total losses. And for most people,
that only happens once in their entire lifetime. But what we're seeing now is a level of fraud
and cheating on the part of the insurance companies that is almost mind-boggling.
You mentioned once before, and, you know, when I was many, many years ago, I went to school to
become an auto-damage appraiser. And back then, it was pretty... I shouldn't say pretty straightforward.
It was probably as subjective as it could be, because there wasn't computers and various tools.
It was... You had to have some actual experience to figure out, you know, how much it was going to
cost to repair that fender and door and bumper, or perhaps somehow determine what the loss was
for the vehicle if it was a total loss. Today, a lot of that's done with computers, and now AI,
from what I understand. And there's a lot of jumping to conclusions. Is that a good way to describe it?
I wouldn't... It is a jump to conclusion on the part of the insurance company to simply say that
every car at every dealer lot is dealer-ready, regardless of its actual condition.
But what I'm finding most disturbing now is the company that's backing up that statement
that all cars are inspected vehicles at dealer lot is really gone one step over the line
and produced in a lawsuit, a statement that says that they go from new car dealer lot to new car
dealer lot and inspect all of their used car inventory. But with the dealer principal or general
manager, who supposedly walks them around the lot with all the keys for all the used cars,
lets them climb inside, open the hood, and look at the vehicle, and that's how they rate the cars
or the inspected inventory as dealer-ready. And just the assertion is so ridiculous that somehow
a $250 a month employee of this company is walking around the lot with curb chambers
opening car after car because Mr. Chambers is taking his time to walk around the lot with them.
And so when I received this affidavit from this company, I felt it was important to share it with
you and begin to share it with people in general. Say there's one thing to make an assertion,
but it's entirely different when you do a court filing and you put in an affidavit that's just
passively false. Just in an attempt to cheat people out of $1,500 when they're in a total loss.
Yeah, it's sort of interesting. I mean, you use the dealer example that the car is in
this dealer or customer-ready condition. And I remember looking at a Volkswagen EOS once
and it had some obvious body repair done to it, at least it was obvious to me. And
it's 100% ready to go car. And I opened up the car door and two gallons of water came out of the door.
And it was sort of like, oh, yeah, well, it rained and it's convertible and they'll get wet. And I'm
like, no, this car is a wreck. This isn't a 100% ready car. But on the other hand, if I
was, if I had a five or six-year-old car and something happened, I got in a crash,
maybe it was my fault, maybe it was someone else's fault. And the insurance company said,
you know, we looked up the value of your car based on retail sales, based on
Kelly Blue Book, based on NADA guides, based on Galvs, if they still exist,
based on all these other characteristics, your car is worth X amount, except for the fact
we made some deductions off those values because of something. And it's that
unknown that they took off the value that people don't always question, do they?
They never question it almost. I mean, and most, the sad part is most people don't know why
that additional deduction was made. Because I deal with so many total losses, I've actually
been able to get from the insurance company the supposed reasons for the deductions.
And usually, they're just things that aren't true. When they declare the damaged car to be
normal, for example, if your car is ever deemed to be normal in a report that you received from
your insurance company, that means it has burn holes, tears, or rips in the headliner, feet,
and carpet. Now, I don't know about you, John, but I don't think
normal wear are rips and tears in the headliner of a car. I think there's a relatively
extraordinarily bad thing. But yet, that is how most, not most, 97% of consumer cars are rated.
And so as I'm going through this process with my company, every once in a while,
someone reaches out to me and asked me for help. And back this week, there was a gentleman from
the Cape who contacted me and he had a 2014 Toyota Avalon. He was 75 years old. The Carly had 75,000
miles on it. It's a great car. And we're pretty sure that was going to be the last car of his
existence. The insurance company offered him $6,000 for his car with a whole series of deductions
related to condition. And so this gentleman was out looking for a new car and reached out to me
to help him with this insurance claim. And the only vehicle he could find that was comparable
was a 2015 Toyota Avalon that was on the market for $14,000 almost more than twice what he was
being offered on this vehicle. Yeah, I just while we were talking, I just quickly typed in 2014 Toyota
Avalon. And the cheapest one I can find is $8,650 and it has 205,000 miles on it.
Right. The one that the one that's similar to the one you describe with under 75,000 miles on it is
14,000 another one 16,000. So that $6,000 settlement doesn't even get them barely gets them
a deposit to replace the vehicle. And the worst part here is this poor gentleman is 75 years of age.
This was his retirement car for lack of a better term. And you know that somebody who has a 2014
and has owned it from new has treated that car really, really well. The idea that there's a car
dealer that has a better quality or better conditioned motor vehicle than that 75 year old
man is hard to believe. By the time a car gets to be 12 years old, the one on the deal a lot and
the one in your driveway are pretty similar at that point. There's not much the dealer can do,
but lipstick on that peg for lack of a better term. So when I get something so
egregious as the affidavit that led to this telephone call this morning,
I feel it necessary to share with everyone. And I certainly share it with the state regulators and
I share it with the Attorney General's office and I share it with the Division of Insurance
and I hear nothing back. There are more than 100,000 total losses in Massachusetts annually.
The average person gets underpaid by about 15% on their total loss and we don't see our regulators
doing anything to help. Well, let's start with a little bit of the basics. How are
insurance loss values determined? When this fella with the 2014 Avalon and they came up with this
$6,000 price and you and I both know it's going to be impossible to replace that vehicle
with such low mileage for anywhere near close and to a certain extent a 12 year old car
doesn't make a lot of differences as 75,000 or 125,000. The mileage starts to the mileage
doesn't come into play quite as quite as much as it does when it's when it's a two or three-year-old
car. But how how are these prices determined? Is it is it a dartboard on a wall? They throw a
dart at and go that's $6,000. How does it happen? There's actually a regulation in Massachusetts
the insurance company is supposed to do is take into account four factors. The first one is
relatively easy. It's the depreciated purchase price and how and that's more important for a
car that's much newer obviously. The second one is a retail book value for the vehicle
and usually data is the Bible in that regard. The third piece is supposed to be a survey of
locally available vehicles of like kind and condition and that one you and I both know
you can just do a google search to see what's available in the area. Like I did 10 seconds ago?
Like you did 10 seconds ago and then what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to
deduct any pre-existing damage. So if there's you know a prior accident you take that value away
and that's the regulation. Unfortunately the vast majority of insurance companies now
are paying no attention to that regulation. They don't look at the original purchase price
and very few look at the book value and most rely on a product called CCC
one market valuation report and that value always comes in low
and the reason it comes in low is because the insurance company's appraiser states that your
car is normal wear while everything on a deal a lot is supposedly dealer ready
and so there's a 15% decrease in value applied. But it's one thing to say it and let's go back
to that normal wear and tear that seems to be the key piece here the normal wear and tear
and I'll throw my wife under the bus a little bit here you know she's a smoker but she hasn't
smoked in a car since you know 2009 but somebody could oh there's there's smoke damage or there's
something but in fact there isn't in fact when she gave up smoking in the car I think I glued her
ass tray shut so that idea that they go that's normal and like you pointed out normal to that
is different and I and I'll go to like leasing when you when you turn a lease car in you're
responsible for anything above normal wear and tear well that could be a scratch the size of a
quarter and the and the the dealership could go well you know you're responsible for that
it certainly isn't called normal if there's holes in the headliner
and I would agree with that I mean certainly in the current time so many of the guidelines that
have been promulgated by this company are are back from the 1980s when there was velour cloth
interior of cars so many watering cars you can't punch a hole in the seats easily no one smokes
in the vehicle anymore um the carpets aren't of a material that will take a tear easily at this
point so it's this the insurer it's the insurance company is looking to game the consumer and the
consumer being willing to be gained gained to a certain extent on their um on the price
we really reliant upon the government at a certain point to regulate our insurance companies
and when there are complaints made to chase them down but the insurance the division of
insurance just doesn't do it they don't pursue these claims they don't check for us when someone
files a complaint with the division of insurance for the attorney general's office related to the
value of their car you and I never hear about it um and this is affecting more than a hundred
thousand of our fellow citizens on an annual basis it's really shameful lots of people go ahead
and what it sounds horrible um and this sort of this sort of started when you when you were
looking at total losses and you what what made the the light go off for you that said wait a
second these numbers are you know 15 percent or more out of whack with real life what what
made you decide to try to champion this um well fortunately for me i had several hundred
several hundred examples um of these reports and i had several hundred examples of calculations
that we had done to fair value of cars and i began to see that in the report themselves very deep
within it there was a condition adjustment that was being taken by the by ccc one and i began
drilling down on that condition adjustment both in the forms of requests to insurance companies
who couldn't answer the question for me but then began litigating litigating against those
insurance companies to get the answer and once i received the answer it was really shocking
because there's actually supposed guidelines that are used and these guidelines are used by the
insurance companies appraiser um but when we reached out to those insurance companies appraisers
they claimed to have never seen them and so it seems to be a systemic industry-wide practice
that is very well hidden to hide the truth from everyone
so at that point i began to share it with others like yourself but i also began to share it with
the regulators and what was most disturbing was the regulator's response appeared to be well
it's only 15 percent but if we take the example of the gentleman down on the cape here's a guy
who had a car from 2014 through 2026 for 12 years in a row he paid his insurance claim
he did everything he was supposed to do the car was never in a prior accident
and suddenly he gets hit by a third party and he's getting cheated out of eight thousand dollars of
value how is that fair how is that right and who's going to take up that individual's defense
seeing politely he's the 75 year old man that car was going to last him through the rest of his
life and now he's compelled to go out and spend what half of his social security for the year or
maybe a third of his social security for the year to buy the same car that he was in a couple of
weeks ago it just seems inherently unfair it does and what happens when when you as potentially the
lender calls the insurance company up and goes hey look you know you offered this guy six thousand
dollars the nearest comparable vehicle to this is ten thousand dollars what's the response
um to this response to my company is we get paid but we only get paid as as to what we are owed
and so if we use the following examples of the insurance company offering six
my company is to owe ten but this car is worth 14 my fight goes away when i get to ten
and because of my reputation the insurance company pays the ten
that doesn't make the consumer whole in fact the vast majority of consumers in the commonwealth
now who are buying a new car will also buy gap insurance from the same insurance company
which is shocking so people are adding fifteen hundred dollars to the purchase price of their car
or a thousand dollars to the purchase price of their car so they won't end up in this quote
unquote upside down position that doesn't really exist it's a it's a tremendous money maker for
the insurance company so what's someone to do i i think it was uh you know years ago when i i'm
i'm screwing up the phrase here a little bit but i think it was like sid's clothing or something
said a informed customer is our best client or something like that um what what what what's
a consumer supposed to do what how are they supposed to handle this maybe even preemptively
before anything even happens what should they be talking to their insurance companies as they're
buying insurance should they just should they try to document vehicle purchases and then
sort of what's going on around them at the same time how do they or or do they or should they
be constantly taking pictures and videos of their cars to document the overall condition
how what's what's a consumer to do i i would suggest for the consumer to start with when
they get in a situation where their vehicle is a total loss is to make sure as they're emptying
the vehicle out of their personal belonging they take a lot of pictures they take pictures of the
interior they take pictures of the headliner they take pictures of the rest of the car to prove
the car had been maintained in a decent way um number two i would suggest that when they're
talking to their insurance company that they might go out to a website like claim act um which is
dlaim-maxx.com um and just print off the guidelines so that they have them um to understand what's
going on and finally file a complaint file a complaint with the division of insurance
file a complaint with the attorney general tell them that you were cheated tell them that this
is not right um and last but not least small claim um judges magistrates are really decent people
and it takes a lot for most people to get angry enough to sue their insurance company
and if you go into court in small claims you're going to win and the reason is is that you're
going to be there you can have a value to your car you're going to say that you were cheated
and the judge is going to believe simply because you're there that there was something wrong with
this value um if you're getting paid less than the native value of your car you should complain
um does the judge and based on your experience i mean you use the word cheated is the word is that
is that a maybe a strong enough word um you could use the word fraud um but most people
most people are not going to listen or most uh judges won't listen to that it is relatively
amazing john that source one has been doing this now for over 10 years and we've never made it to
court we've never gotten in front of a judge in a jury to be able to explain this in each and
every instance we have been paid what we were owed plus all of our attorney's fees and interest
um over the last 10 years so if you're willing to stay the course you rarely come up short
well you know you're you know you're a financial company you're you you do loans you do other things
um but somebody who you know like maybe this guy on the cape you know paid cash for his car in
2014 um how does it work when someone comes to you and says i need your help because um
i'm not getting paid what i should from the value of my car what
how's it how's it work between you and that person um i take a few minutes because i'm
lucky enough to be able to do that and sit with the person and talk to them explain to them how
they just were cheated and then what i give them is a formula is called the reservation of rights
so that they can reserve their rights and accept the payment from the insurance company
and then turn right around and take them to small claims but i also say to them go to your agent
you were a decent customer for a long time this individual had both car insurance and home
insurance with this agent and explain to the agent how you're being cheated and tell them that
you're going to move your business unless they do something to help and that does work remember
the agent currently works for the insurance company but if he sees that you're going to
move your car insurance and your home insurance as well to another agency you're going to get a better
response now when a home has damage and someone hires a public adjuster the public adjuster gets
kind of a piece of the the increase the increase um does that is that how it works for you as well
no i mean um i don't do this for i do it for profit at work of the finance company
well i'm assisting when i'm just assisting someone who's just been in a total no i'm not looking for
any compensation the answer is is that person's already been through a trauma right yeah they're
their car was totaled and now they're their insurance company is not treating them fairly
for me to take a half an hour or 45 minutes of my time to share with them what they need to do
um that that's just being a decent neighbor can't ask for more than that if people want to find out
more information about what you're doing maybe even be able to help you with your you know going to
the state going to legislators to look at these kind of issues uh what what can they do where can
they go how can they how can they help themselves but also help the rest of the residents in
massachusetts my email is on my uh on a website called claim max b l a i m dash m a x x dot
com um and they can send me an email through that portal and i'll get back to them um the people
that i really want to hear for from more than anyone else are the regulators um the idea the
the idea that a hundred thousand people in the commonwealth are being injured on an annual basis
should shock everyone the idea the idea that millions of people in the commonwealth are buying
an insurance product gap insurance um that they don't have to should shock everyone and as consumers
you really expect that the regulators will be out trying to assist and that they just seem
to be missing the boat on this issue well michael i want to thank you for taking some time out of
your sunday morning and educating us and you know making us aware that the number is just not right
and you know let people know that you know whether they you know live in massachusetts or live in
i'd owe you know whatever it is don't don't accept that first offer from the insurance company
it's it's chances are buried in that offer is some deductions that shouldn't be there
that is entirely the truth i mean at the end of the day with a total loss insurance you're
selling your car to the insurance company don't take the buyers first offer um negotiate and
negotiate well with knowledge yeah and you know it's you know the the insurance company's job i guess
is to pay as little as possible i guess that's what their job really is when you get when you get
right down to it and as a consumer your your job is to try to get the maximum value out of what
you've been paying for for however long you've had car insurance so um there is there is that
negotiation that needs to take place and i think you've opened up a lot of eyes this morning about
this and i truly appreciate it thank you very much i hope you have a great sunday and congratulations
on four years all right thanks michael take care bye bye we need to we need to pay some bills uh my
name's john paul this is a car doctor program you'll see on 95 9 w atd we'll be right back
assistance whether you're in your own vehicle a friend's car or even a rental combine that with
great rates of insurance hotel gas and buying savings and discounts on 8700 brands and you're
covered on and off the road get a special membership offer today at aaa.com slash joy that's aaa.com
slash joy
hi this is jeff nealy and this is joe clav and i'm steven davis we're humble roots tune into
twilight showcase radio hosted by sandy stride and keith james on 95 9 w atd and 95 9 w atd.com
and of course visit twilight showcase dot org twilight showcase tonight from eight to ten
on 95 9 w atd honored with a lifetime achievement award from the national highway traffic safety
administration he's john paul the car doctor on 95 9 w atd
and in case you're wondering what was going on my uh my wife has my wife has gone back up north
for the week she went to go get her car and apparently there's a low tire so they're trying
to chase around trying to find an air compressor her and my nephew and uh sorry i get a little
distracted so got that over with i think but i think i only have one plug-in air compressor one
battery air compressor i'm sure they'll find their way they'll get it taken care of it's just
you're not there so it's always a little difficult um couple things couple uh things
this week that uh sort of just showed up at my door one of them was a smart electric vehicle
charger from a company called msi and i'm not sure why they sent it to me because i don't really
have a use for it so i asked them to send a return label but on the other hand it's pretty slick it's
a level two electric vehicle charger it is designed to plug into a standard 240 volt
outlet like you would plug in an electric stove for instance so if you have an electric outlet
available or you have say you have a you know say your washer and dryer is in in your garage or
something you could simply unplug it and plug this in and get you know faster high-speed charging so
the only direct wiring you have to do you don't have to wire to the unit you only have to wire to
a plug which actually makes it much more convenient i think it uses a what's called a nema 540 so
40 amp 240 volt outlet um again it wasn't something it just sort of showed up and i don't have an
electric vehicle so they're going to be taking back uh something else that showed up in the mail
was from a company called pharma c ph a r m a c and it's a odor eliminator spray and maybe they
think i smell bad but um it is um it's one of those things that actually doesn't cover up you know
it's not like an air freshener it's actually designed to make bad smells go away and it uses
the main ingredient seems to be hydrogen peroxide and it has it has a pretty neat little scent to it
so it doesn't doesn't smell bad um some of these things kind of smell very chemically so this
doesn't and then the other thing that showed up this week um i've always been a fan of maguire's
products since i can remember the first thing i ever waxed i think maguire's always
was a good product i always knew i could kind of stand by it it was easy to recommend uh i was
always very happy with it um you know whether it was your scratch remover their wax their car wash
products i'm a fan of their waterless car wash products where you just kind of spray it on you
use a lot of microfiber cloths but you spray it on wipe it off spray it now if it's now if you have
winter grit and grime i wouldn't really recommend it but if you have just typical couple weeks
worth of dust and dirt on your vehicle stuff works really well um and maguire's i don't think
has ever sent me a bottle of car wax but they but i've always been a fan well this week i got
some products from mother's car care products and they sent me a few to try out and i guess i've used
purchase mother's products in the past because i think at the local auto zone store that seemed
to be more of what they carried so i would buy it um and it was fine but i always sort of went back
to maguire's because i just seem to like their products um i met barry may and it may have to
do with i met barry maguire a bunch of years ago and i had barry maguire on a on the radio show a
bunch of years ago maybe that's why i like their products i i he just seemed a very approachable
guy there was a guy you know barry maguire but i got these mother's products in the mail
and one of them was um a car wash product and everything seems to have the word
ceramic in it these days but their car wash product worked pretty good and they also have a
ceramic type uh spray wax i can tell you it's really good and for some reason i always thought
i thought years ago mothers and maguire's merged together that is not that is not the case
they also have a a glass product that i tried and i've i've been a sprayway fan for years i
always like sprayway uh window cleaner this is called revision it's glass and surface cleaner
stuff works works really well i i've i've been pretty sold on that they also have a waterless
wash and wax um they sent me a little bottle a little then these are like trial size sent me
a trial size bottle of it i have purchased their products in the past i wasn't as i like i kind of
went back to the maguire's even though literally they look identical you put the two products
side by side they're the same color they have the same smell just about so uh i always thought that
was i that's i think that's one of the reasons i thought they were the very same company but
they're not there's they're a different company um but i've tried some of their products now and
the ones i've looked at the ceramic uh wash and wax product really i really liked it and the ceramic
spray wax product i did both my my car and my wife's car and i don't know they came out really
good our phone number 7818374900 7818374900 uh let's talk to john and melrose john good morning
john jesse sorry you keep catching me off guard uh are we going to the phone call yeah okay sounds
good john yeah yeah you know we apparently apparently jesse is cooking breakfast for
everybody at the station this morning so yeah yeah me too um the reason i'm calling i have a
who owns a honda suv now it's probably a handful of years old i'm not sure um but she said she had
problems with all the life on their dashboard coming on uh so she brought it into the honda
dealer honda of boston and they said it was a sensor which they changed the sensor and it worked
but they also told her that we're the sensors located or whatever which i don't know where um
and that was covered under warranty and they said that if they damaged the portion where this sensor
i guess it screwed in or whatever uh if they if they damaged that section where they extracted
the sensor that it wasn't covered under their warranty even though they damaged it taking it
out of whatever it was screwed on now does that sound right to you no where no it would be held
responsible no i mean with i mean if for instance and what year car did you say this was uh i don't
if she lived right on the ocean and she never took care of her car and it had an excessive
amount of rust and they're like you know this isn't normal um we will try our best with what we can do
but um you know this is way rustier than what we would normally see in a vehicle this old
um then maybe there would be some additional labor that might go to her side but for the most part
because the way the cars made um and and i'm guessing it was probably some kind of wheel
sensor or something that they had to get to um yeah no i mean that's part of that's part of the job
i mean that's all it comes down to that's part of the job you know the sensor is the sensor is
like you said whatever the sensor is was covered under warranty
so if it's covered under warranty the labor to take the part in and out are covered under warranty
now maybe the dealer maybe the dealer is not happy with the amount of warranty money that the that um
the meaning that that honda's paying him but that doesn't give them the right to just say hey look
you know you'll be responsible for anything additionally on top of that that that's not right
even if they have caused the damage if they have caused if they have caused the damage they're
responsible to fix the damage uh yeah uh well apparently they didn't damage whatever uh said
could happen right um but i was just curious if they were you know trying to pull the wool over
i you know i it sounds it it sounds it a little bit i mean for instance let's take some dash
component let's let's say the the heater controls stop working and you know it used to be years ago
everything was held in with screws you take the screws off the place would come off you
be able to get to whatever you now they're all held in with clips and the clips are terrible
and a lot of times you go to take something apart and the clip breaks and you know it but that's
that's not your fault that's what happens and you have to be you have to be very very careful
to disassemble things without breaking stuff and right you know for for for them to say you know
well you know when we went to take it apart it broke well if it has never been if no one has
ever been in there you know playing around well that's not that's not your fault as a consumer
that's that's something between them and the manufacturer and no no that's unfortunately
that's part of doing the job you know if if it's if it took longer than what they expected because
something broke and they broke it well they gotta fix it yeah that's kind of what i figured also
yeah uh but you know listening to your program today i had to ask that question yeah yep yep all
right all right thanks john all right take care bye bye thanks uh let's go over to micah and bridge
water michael morning john good morning well see we got jesse must be done cooking breakfast for
everybody at the station so yeah the grill is off okay um yeah um i had called you a few months ago
whatever it was about a tight pressure monitor system that was coming in i asked you should i get it
fixed and you said yes um kind of an update about a week and a half ago uh the abs would if you blinked
your eyes you would notice that the icon comes on but you do notice because your foot's on the
brake and all of a sudden it starts to do the abs thing instead of you stop it where you think you
are the brakes give up then come back on and you're a little further along anyways i took it and uh
uh i took it to juniors and they were unable to figure out what the problem was the batteries in all
of the uh you know the type to monitor the working they're fine remind remind me remind me again what
kind of cowardice sure sure okay so it's a 2016 lexus es 300 h i'll help you here so they were unable
to because it doesn't set codes and that was one of the things and i ended up calling up lexus
come to find out it's not a recall but it's the service bulletin that they're extending till
august and here's the deal tomorrow i go and they're going to do a diagnostic and if it's
the problem that they're covering under this service bulletin uh it'll be free otherwise
if it doesn't come up under the diagnostic then it's 2018 dollars so um it seems to be that's an
issue and it's something that so that they must have either information or equipment i mean i know
that you have to buy modules and things like that to update and observe you know for your
um scanners and stuff but um so i'm going tomorrow and hopefully they're going to tell me oh yeah
that was the problem and uh you know it's going to be fixed otherwise if it doesn't and here's the
thing john the tire pressure monitor the numbers themselves the actual readouts were always dashed
for the last three months yeah well the gentleman even they took it out a second time well now all
the numbers have come back and i'm going oh good i i'm going to go to lexus well there's no problem
everything's fine and that's what's going to go but it just was a service bulletin after a diagnostic
and they're extending it until log so we'll see what happens though i'll let you know if it's yeah
if it's no that's interesting because i mean while we're talking i was just sort of looking now i use
all data for looking up bulletins and things like that as does jr's automotive i think he
uses all data and mitchell and i think he uses everything you find um it's interesting that
that isn't that isn't a published bulletin um you know as we're and i looked under brakes i looked
under tires and wheels nothing nothing that would really affect that um there is a bulletin about
an abs pump but there there's no mention about um there's no mention about any extended warranty on
it and there's also um there's a there's a mention about tire pressure monitoring it's called system
initially initialization it's basically just turning it on but um but the uh the only the only
one i can find that has to do with abs is that there's an abs warning light bulletin that
comes on and that one that one is actually that's that's a big job that one's um that one's replacing
the the abs booster pump assembly and um but i don't see anything here that says oh we've extended
the warranty for 10 years or anything yeah so we'll find out tomorrow you know june did everything
they could they they did everything you know they said well maybe it could be just a rust on
a tone ring and all that and that that was that was exactly what i was thinking when you first said
that was you know it sounds like it sounds like a rusty tone ring which we haven't seen so much in
we used to see that all the time in general motors vehicles especially the trucks the tone rings would
get all rusty and all of a sudden now you know abs is not supposed to work under say five miles an
hour because if it did you'd never come to a stop you'd just keep rolling so um but when the tone
ring got all rusty it would it would confuse the sensors and you'd have more weird problems so yeah
that's kind of what i expect i thought you're going to tell me how they found a rusty tone ring
and you know can you do anything about that no so i'd be interested to see what the dealer has to
say and how how they're going to do this and again i was kind of looking at uh you know the
all-day uh system also lists something called customer interest bulletins which are which are
ones that are the other ones that are sort of you know extended service contract kind of things and
again i i don't see anything that is abs tire pressure monitor related anything like that so
let's let's see what they say we'll kind of go from we'll we'll wait to hear back
i will and interesting enough the way the abs was coming on was when i was coming to a stop
literally line so that was interesting when you think you're going to stop here and then next
video wait a little and then yeah all right john i know you that's so good all right all right
thanks mike all right take care um jesse up to you go to tom and kinkston or take a break
let's start break take a break real quick so we're not wasting time why don't we take that quick
break it'll only be a minute tom stay right there we will be with you in less than 120 seconds
you're listening to car doctor perma 95 9w atd we'll be right back even car geeks and do it
yourself or rely on triple a to give them extra peace of mind on the road triple a offers 24 7
roadside assistance whether you're in your own vehicle a friend's car or even a rental combine
that with great rates of insurance hotel gas and buying savings and discounts on
80 700 brands and you're covered on and off the road get a special membership offer today
at aaa.com slash join that's aaa.com slash join tune in to 95 9 w atd monday nights at
9 p.m. to hear masasoya today an hour dedicated to introducing you to the students staff
and faculty of masasoya community college each show you'll hear uplifting stories discover the
latest news and learn more about the community that makes up masasoya community college monday
nights at 9 p.m. on 95 9 w atd make an appointment sunday morning at 11 for john paul the car doctor
on 95 9 w atd now back to the car doctor and welcome back to the car doctor program on 95 9
w atd let's go to tom and kinkston tom good morning good morning okay here we go all right
i'm confused again oh well i spent most of i spent most of my life confused i was gonna say
that's old natural you know um going to breaks metal or ceramic now i heard from one of the tv shows
they're saying ceramics nice yeah less dust but if you really want to stop use metal well i don't
think they mean metal i think they mean metallic and pregnant breaks yeah yeah um you know i have
ceramic pads on my car i didn't notice any difference between those in the original brake pads
felt the same um higher metallic content will give you better stopping but also they tend to be
more temperature related so the brakes need to get warm in fact um on exotic cars race cars
performance cars the brakes don't work hardly at all when the brakes are cold that's why a lot of
times you'll see when they put one of those in car cameras on an indie car you'll see the brake
rotors turn cherry red because the metallic pads are just that when i was in when i was in seabring
um a month and a half ago or two months ago whenever it was there i was watching one of the
guys take a new set of brake pads and literally rubbing them on the concrete to try to rough up
the surface so we'd get better stopping out of them which exposed more of the metallic so
ceramic to me for the majority of people i don't personally i don't think it's going to make any
difference in stopping distance over what's there from the factory um well let me give you
if you say you say you had a you know 69 Camaro that you occasionally put on a track somewhere
yeah you might want to go with a heavy metallic pad that's going to give you a little bit better
performance but for the average car i think a good set of ceramic pads is great
if you do a lot of stopping goals say for example in expressway or 3a 53 139 stopping
goals stopping goals stopping goal or you're always applying the brakes are you better off with
ceramics or you're better off with i i i say you're better off with ceramics for if nothing else
in the lazy reason that the brake the the wheels are going to stay cleaner there's going to be
less brake dust but um performance wise with performance why performance wise i think they're
going to be the same wonderful wonderful when it coming back i don't know i don't know that way
i know i know yeah yeah um you know it it's one of those things that um you know it's been it's
been not a fantastic winter down here um and it's been you know which i i say that but
it didn't snow so you know it's fine so you know you talk about the insurance companies
had a friend of ours that got in a car accident um a ups uh hit her in the rear which pushed her
into another vehicle in front yeah long story short the insurance company want to give her 800
they deducted because there was french fries stains on the front seat on the side and stuff like that
after i got food talking insurance company she got about 2100 talk about difference oh yeah yeah
no it it it i you know and i say this with a little bit of a grain of salt though but you
know insurance companies jobs are to pay as little as they can you know that's their job um and don't
accept the first offer i i just for fun just googled ceramic versus metallic pads to see if
anything's different it says here's what it says uh ceramic pads very quiet metallic pads are louder
brake dust low metallic pads are high stopping power smooth and moderate
metallic strong and aggressive uh heat handling moderate uh metallic handles heat better so if
you were driving down my washington here's a here's one rotor wear much higher with metallic pads
so if you're trying to get two sets of brake pads out of every set of brake rotors ceramics are
definitely the way to go and it says best used um daily driving metallic pads better off for heavy
duty or performance driving so exactly what i was saying so google google and i agree so there you go
you got it dr google yeah yeah i know i know john have a good week uh you as well tom take care
all right take care bye bye well i got stuck in not well i shouldn't say not following the basics
i was tinkering with my little boat i've mentioned i've had a little a little boat and i decided i
my neighbor gave me a gps for it so i didn't really want it for the gps i wanted for the
speedometer because i swear three days after i bought this boat the speedometer stopped working
because it uses an air tube that got clogged with sand and they always go bad nobody they never work
so it's gps has a speedometer on it so i'm like perfect so i mounted it in the dash for water
of a better word so i'd go to do that put it all in hook it up it doesn't work so we huh well then
i go to like do something and everything's dead everything's completely dead so i start with the
battery like you're supposed to check the battery battery's good 12.6 volts 900 cold cranking amps
no no issues there um crawl upside down underneath the dash area check all the fuses
check more fuses finally determined there was a fuse that was bad that ran the main ecu of the
little outboard motor but it took me forever to follow no wiring diagrams but you know from a to b
that's all you want to get to took a while to get to that and uh several hours speaking of hours
our hour is up that music means we need to go want to thank jesse for doing everything he does in
the studio and our guests for calling in from source one financial until next week make sure
you where you see belt drive safely be good to your car and if you see an emergency vehicle by
the side of the road slow down or move over save lives talk to y'all next week bye bye
About this episode
Source One Financial Group’s Michael Parsons joins John Paul to break down how Massachusetts insurance total-loss settlements get undervalued, often through condition deductions and low valuation reports. They discuss a case involving a 2014 Toyota Avalon valued at $6,000 despite comparable cars listing far higher, plus concerns about insurers labeling serious damage as “normal wear.” The conversation covers how settlements are supposed to be calculated, why consumers should document vehicle condition, use published guidelines, file complaints, and consider small claims. Later, listeners get quick Q&A on warranty coverage for sensor work, tire-pressure/ABS service bulletins, and ceramic vs metallic brake pads.
In this episode we talk with Michael Parsons CFO Source One Financial Corporation who explains what happens when your vehicle is declared a total loss and how to get the maximum payout. I also tried out a pretty good odor eliminator from Pharma-C and did a bit of cleaning with Mothers Car Care products.
